Texas has prided itself on having a stout defensive unit led by Todd Orlando since last season, but in the program’s biggest win of the decade during last weekend, offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s group of players was the telling factor.
Here’s what Orlando and Beck had to say Wednesday ahead of a Week Seven home matchup against Baylor:
Beck talks being sidelined by infection
After missing Texas’ win over Kansas State two weeks ago due to an elbow infection, Beck met with the media for the first time Wednesday since being hospitalized two weeks ago.
Beck, who watched the game from a hospital bed at St. David’s Medical Center in Austin, said the absence was the first time he had missed a practice or a game in his 30 years as a coach.
“A shout out to (St. David’s), man, they didn’t have a TV, they didn’t have the game on,” Beck said. “They wheeled in like a 50-inch with an Apple TV so I can watch the game because I was really going to be hot.”
Texas quickly jumped out to a 19-0 lead over Kansas State, but failed to put any points on the board during the second half. Even amidst a win, the hardest part for Beck was feeling like he let the team down.
“It just was hard not being there, not being involved,” Beck said. “You know, you feel like you let them down when you can’t be there and you work as hard as you can to be around it.”
Beck traveled with the team and coached during last week’s win over Oklahoma. He’s currently wearing a brace on his elbow while he continues his recovery.
Familiar faces, new places: Orlando and Rhule meet again
Prior to his run as the voice of the Longhorn defense, Todd Orlando served as a coach at UConn and later Houston, where he became familiar with Baylor head coach Matt Rhule’s tough offenses.
The Bears, led by Lake Travis product Charlie Brewer, are certainly going to present an interesting challenge for Texas, on account of the previous clashes between the two football minds.
“This dates back to when I was at UConn, we played Temple and played Coach Rhule. Then rolled into Houston to do it so they’ve got a pretty good sense of what we’re doing,” Orlando said.
Though they haven’t faced off at different programs in some time, Orlando said that Rhule’s high-powered Baylor offense — ranking 15th in the country — looks very similar to the style of play that Rhule exhibited as the head at Temple from 2013–2016.
“Coach Rhule, he’s building that program up to be exactly what they finished up with Temple,” Orlando said. “They had a hard-nosed team and they would run the ball at you and had great athletes on the outside. Especially with a young quarterback growing up (and) getting him into this system, you’re going to continue to see them get better.”
