Here’s how the Texas defense will plug the hole until DT Vernon Broughton’s return vs. Florida
Broughton must sit out the first half against Florida after targeting call vs. Vanderbilt
Texas defensive tackle Vernon Broughton will miss the first half of Saturday’s game against Florida due to a targeting call that happened late against Vanderbilt.
No coach ever wants a player to miss game time because of a penalty. But knowing that Broughton will miss a half, does that change how the Longhorns dole out the practice repetitions?
“I think that about that all the time,” coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I know that you’re like, ‘why would you think about it?’ Because it still is on your mind. You’re like, OK, how do you do it? Vern is practicing as normal.”
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With Broughton out for a half, defensive coaches can get some other defensive tackles some extended action.
“I think it’s a great opportunity,” Sarkisian said. “Jermayne Lole has really come on here in the last month of the season, so we’ve been impressed with him. Bill Norton has stepped up. Alex January has continued to step up. Tiaoalii Savea, we’re going to need more out of him. Like I said the last two weeks, I think Sydir Mitchell had his best two weeks since he’s been here.
“So we’re going to need those guys. They're all going to have to step up that way.”
Lole and Norton transferred to Texas with a ton of experience. Lole played extensively at Arizona State and then briefly with Louisville. In 28 games with the Sun Devils, he had 123 tackles, including 20 tackles for loss with 11 sacks.
Norton played at Georgia from 2019-22 and then played all last season at Arizona. He had 32 tackles with two forced fumbles, five quarterback pressures last season.
Texas will continue to start Alfred Collins, who is now in his fifth season and has appeared in 56 games with 20 starts.
The Horns are generating good pressure off the edge with Barryn Sorrell, Colin Simmons and Ethan Burke. They simply need these tackles to hold the point of attack in the middle. Come halftime Saturday, they’ll get reinforcements with Broughton’s return.
“Florida is a really good running football team,” Sarkisian said. “That’s what they believe in. And so we got to be able to stop the run in this game. We’re gonna need all those guys to step up.”
