Texas Longhorns defense continues to improve each game

AUSTIN, Texas - The No. 1 ranked UT football team has dominated in their first three games, and they should keep things rolling on Saturday night at home against an overmatched Louisiana-Monroe squad.  

A lot of talk lately has been about UT's quarterback, with starter Quinn Ewers likely out this week with an oblique injury, and redshirt-freshman backup QB Arch Manning filling in nicely for him against UTSA. That performance earned him the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose player of the week award after accounting for five touchdowns, four passing and one rushing in their blowout win. 

But one group that also needs to be getting some love is the Horns' defense.

In three games, they've only allowed two touchdowns and are giving up an average of just six points a game, which is tied for fifth nationally. They've also forced six turnovers.  

"We play hard. We play fast. We play physical defense. You know, we tackle really, really well. We're attacking the football right now defensively. We're creating turnovers. And they're having a lot of fun," said Steve Sarkisian, UT head football coach.

"There's plenty of upside. Obviously, every day we're trying to improve and get better. And the thing is, I feel like the best is yet to come from this defense," said Barryn Sorrell/UT Sr. Edge.

"Our standard this year is to not let anybody get in the paint. That's who we are now. That's our defense now. And so, at the end of the day, Coach PK holds us to that standard," said Michael Taaffe/UT Jr. Defensive Back.

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"A lot of people are hungry and trying to get to the ball. And regardless if one of our defenders misses the tackle. There's always someone trying to clean it up as well. So I'd say we're just hungry. We're playing good ball and understanding our mistakes and what we need to clean up. We're not playing perfect. So we understand that there are a lot of things we need to work on as a whole. But we're learning, and we're growing, and a lot of people are getting out there to play," said David Gbenda/UT Sr. Linebacker.

A lot of players should get to play again on Saturday, Sept. 21, against Louisiana-Monroe. 

The Longhorns are favored to beat Louisiana-Monroe by 44 and a half points.