Ahead of the football team’s first matchup of the season against Colorado State, one key issue that surfaced during the first media availability this week was the fact that the Rams are bringing in a fast route runner in wide receiver and graduate student Tory Horton.

For junior safety Michael Taaffe and the rest of the Texas secondary, Horton will serve as the perfect opportunity to get some true repetitions in tackles and sacks that the defense wasn’t able to practice as effectively during the offseason. 

“(The) main focus (is to) eliminate missed tackles,” Taaffe said. “I think week one, just across the country, the main focus for defensive guys is tackling because you haven’t gone live really in fall camp. And so this is the first type of real, live challenge for defense.”

Similarly, head coach Steve Sarkisian said he wanted to see improvements in tackling from the get-go on Saturday, going hand-in-hand with minimizing some self-inflicted wounds.

“Naturally, you want to tackle as best as you can,” Sarkisian said. “We try to tackle to get our guys ready, but you can never do it enough. But to take care of both sides, this is what you have to do.”

Last year, the Longhorns totaled 28 tackles for a loss of 165 yards alongside 32 sacks for a loss of 220 yards. They ranked first in the Big 12 Conference in total defense, but Texas’ leader in tackles, Jaylan Ford, was outnumbered by 11 other players in the conference for total tackles despite having over 100 on the season.   

Now with Ford gone to the NFL, sophomore linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., senior defensive back Jahdae Barron and Taaffe will be the remaining three out of the top five for most tackles from 2023. 

Taaffe stepped up as a leader on the team and made it clear that reiterating the importance of tackling to his teammates doesn’t hold any value unless he starts taking the reins.

“Tackling is always the main emphasis and that starts with myself,” Taaffe said. “So I’ve got to first take tackling to heart, make every single tackle that is presented to myself but then also preach it to the guys.”

The junior ranked fifth on the team last season in tackles, having 28 solo and 20 assisted throughout all 14 games. Although he registered just 2.5 tackles for a loss of 6 yards and no sacks, Taaffe wants his team to recognize the importance of how one missed tackle can make all the difference in terms of the opponent gaining yardage. 

“We think we made 80% of tackles last year and that’s really good in comparison to across the country. Now if we looked at it, if you just cut it down to 5%, if you make 85% of those tackles, then you eliminate like 900 yards,” Taaffe said. “So a lot of times people look at just how many yards they get in the air … Well, if everybody on the team misses a tackle, then it goes for 99 yards. That’s 99 yards in the air. So if we eliminate those missed tackles, then we’re going to be a dang good team.” 

Taaffe looks to help lead an experienced and dangerous Texas defense. He hopes to make adjustments and immediate improvements within week one, starting with not letting a single tackle slip from their reach.