Defense sets up Texas to succeed

Offensive records fell. Passing stats glittered.

Texas coach Mack Brown even dropped the "H-word" - Heisman - in reference to his starting quarterback, who threw for a career-high 470 yards in Saturday's 35-3 rout of Central Florida.

But the heart of this triumph, just like the story of this undefeated season, rests in the shadow of Colt McCoy's bloated passing line and Jordan Shipley's 273 receiving yards, a single-game school record.

It rests in the trenches, on the shoulders of a Texas defense that just held its third opponent of the season without an offensive touchdown.

But this time, the second-ranked Longhorns (9-0) stymied a team with legitimate bowl hopes. Texas held UCF (5-4), a contender to play in the Conference USA championship game, to 151 total yards and without a snap inside the Longhorns' 20-yard line until the final drive of the game.

Even then, the Knights needed three 15-yard penalties on Texas' second-team defenders to reach the red zone, where the drive died on a fourth-down stop by safety Blake Gideon at Texas' 5-yard line.

Gideon's tackle received one of the day's loudest ovations from the announced crowd of 101,003 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, as well as a sigh of relief from defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, whose troops registered a season-high six sacks.

"Our players take a lot of pride in keeping people out of the end zone," Muschamp said. "It is the number one stat on defense and the one that we focus on. Regardless of the situation in the game, we want to keep people out of the end zone."

How well the Longhorns accomplish that goal will determine Texas' fate in the race to play for a national title. Much more than 400-yard passing days, which can be misleading. And, in all likelihood, will not be a realistic possibility in a matchup against a defensive team like Florida, Alabama or - yes, TCU - to claim the BCS' crystal football Jan. 7.

That is why the Longhorns were quick to embrace another outing when the defense did not allow an offensive touchdown after similar efforts in wins over UTEP (64-7) and Wyoming (41-10).

"That means a lot. That's always our goal," said safety Earl Thomas, who finished with five tackles. "Any time we do that, you're almost guaranteed a win."

For Texas, it's a winning formula. It has worked well over the last six games, when the offense has been hit-and-miss but the defense has allowed an average of just 182 yards and 9.7 points.

Nine games into the season, it is clear that this Texas offense is solid but not prolific. The ground game isn't great. McCoy remains deadly accurate - he completed 78.6 percent of his passes Saturday (33-of-42) - but inconsistencies surface when he's throwing to someone other than Shipley. Drops and miscommunications on routes were evident, from time to time, again Saturday.

Until the Longhorns' final three drives against UCF, the Longhorns were fighting to protect a 14-3 lead in the middle of the third quarter. Lots of tack-on yards came late, including an 88-yard touchdown strike from McCoy to Shipley that broke open the game in the fourth.

But if the Longhorns' defense had waited as long to join the fray as the late-arriving offense, Texas could have found itself in catch-up mode in the second half.

Instead, Texas stuffed UCF the old-fashioned way: with minimal yards and lots of third-down stops. Central Florida converted just 2-of-12 third downs. Of the Knights' 57 plays, 22 were stopped for no gain or negative yardage.

Spurred by a pregame plea from Muschamp to "finish a little better in the pocket," six Longhorns recorded sacks. Defensive tackle Lamarr Houston had one, as well as three tackles for losses, on a day when he lived in the Knights' backfield.

"He was basically unblockable today," said defensive end Sergio Kindle, who finished with a team-high nine tackles (three for losses), including one sack.

Certainly, it can be argued that Texas did not face UCF's best. Coach George O'Leary chose to sit starting quarterback Brett Hodges (ribs) and starting tailback Brynn Harvey (leg) because of injuries. Both could have played in emergency roles, he noted, but he opted to keep them healthy for C-USA games with title implications.

Afterward, O'Leary did not sound like a coach who thought his personnel decision made a difference in the bottom line. He said Texas would have won and his offense would have struggled regardless of his personnel decisions.

Texas' defense proved to be that overwhelming. Even though it was overshadowed, once again, by McCoy and Shipley.