AUSTIN, Texas — Sacks. For the Texas Longhorns, they're the defensive must-have stat for the coming season.
The Texas defense generated only 28 sacks a year ago, tied for second-lowest in Mack Brown's 10 years as Longhorns coach. Texas coaches figured the lack of effective pressure on the quarterback was a direct reason the Longhorns' pass defense ranked 109th in the country in 2007 and worst in school history.
It's no surprise that sacks have been emphasized in the early days of Texas' training camp.
Yet, given the highly efficient quarterbacks in the Big 12 this season, the Longhorns could actually improve their pass rushing and not improve their sack numbers from a year ago.
And sometimes, it's not all about registering a sack anyway.
"When we talk in terms of affecting the quarterback, we talk about sacks, we talk about resets, we talk about hits on the quarterback, we talk about batted balls, we talk about (moving) the front and disguising coverage," said new Longhorns defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. " Sacks are important, they're great game-changers, they're great vertical field position changers, they put you behind in down and distance, but it isn't always the answer to affecting the quarterback."
Eight of the 12 teams the Longhorns face this season will run some type of spread offense. In general, spread offenses are designed to emphasize quick, high-percentage passes with a quarterback throwing comfortably and safely from the shotgun.
A year ago, the Big 12 produced seven of the country's top 20-rated offenses. Nine of the top 12 league quarterbacks completed at least 60 percent of their passes and Texas Tech's Graham Harrell, Oklahoma's Sam Bradford and Missouri's Chase Daniel hit higher than 68 percent.
In hindsight, it's no wonder league defenses produced so few sacks.
Kansas State notched 30, or 2.5 a game, to rank 30th nationally and tops in the Big 12. Oklahoma, at 2.28, was second in the conference, with the Longhorns third at 2.15.
Defenses have had to reel back their sack expectations.
"Anything we can do so that the quarterback doesn't get the ball across the line of scrimmage is a good thing," said Texas defensive tackle Roy Miller. "The most important thing is the pressure. Quarterback hits aren't a bad thing."
The Longhorns' sack totals have dropped since 2003. The decreases coincided with the retirement of defensive coordinator Carl Reese, who adored the max blitz, often sending everyone but two cornerbacks toward the quarterback.
From 1998-2003, Reese's defenses produced at least 40 sacks in four of six seasons.
Under Greg Robinson in 2004, Texas produced only 22 sacks, a low for a Brown-led team. Yet the Longhorns went 11-1 and won the Rose Bowl. In 2005, Texas won the national championship with a defense that generated 33 sacks in 14 games.
Muschamp's defense at Auburn a year ago didn't fare well in the sacks category. The Tigers had 22, which ranked 84th in the nation. Yet Auburn boasted the country's sixth-best defense.
Defensive end Brian Orakpo, who had two sacks in Texas' Holiday Bowl win over Arizona State last season, figures to be the Longhorns' top pass rusher. Earlier this week, he acknowledged how difficult it's become to get a sack against Big 12 offenses.
"With offenses nowadays, I'm lined up a mile away from the quarterback," Orakpo said, referring to the gaps some offenses use in their lines. "The sack is a great stat, especially for my position. But the pressure game, that's the thing."
Suzanne Halliburton writes for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: shalliburton AT statesman.com