Skip to main content
Texas
Join Now

Top PFF defensive grades from Texas' 38-7 win over San Jose State

On3 imageby: Justin Wells09/07/25

The Texas defense wasn’t spectacular, but it was strong and efficient in Saturday’s 38-7 win over San Jose State from Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, per PFF.

[Sign up for Inside Texas TODAY and get the BEST Longhorns coverage!]

DEFENSE

DL/EDGE – Zina Umeozulu, 71.2, Ethan Burke, 77.6, Travis Shaw, 70.6, Hero Kanu, 77.1, Trey Moore, 76.3, Maraad Watson, 70.0, Colin Simmons, 65.9, Lance Jackson, 72.1, Brad Spence, 78.2

The defensive front was missing Alex January, but still played well for most stretches on Saturday. Watson led the interior with four tackles and 1.5 sacks. Simmons added three stops and .5 sack, while Burke and Shaw added two tackles each. Freshman Lance Jackson showed glimpses with a pair of tackles and pressures.

LB – Anthony Hill Jr, 71.2, Liona Lefau, 64.8, Tyanthony Smith, 82.4

Smith led the defense with an 82.4 overall grade, collecting five tackles to lead the linebackers. He also notched a 91.4 run defense grade. Hill (four) and Lefau (three) combined for seven total tackles.

CB – Malik Muhammad, 71.4, Kobe Black, 70.3, Jaylon Guilbeau, 66.1, Kade Phillips, 78.0

The corners were surprisingly tested on Saturday vs SJSU. Guilbeau notched a pair of stops and an interception. Black led the group with three tackles. The true freshman Phillips looked great in a limited role.

S/N – Michael Taaffe, 75.5, Graceson Littleton, 51.9, Jelani McDonald, 65.2, Xavier Filsaime, 68.2

The true freshman Littleton led the defense in grading at Ohio State. He had the lowest grade of the defense vs SJSU on Saturday. Taaffe led all tacklers with six stops. Filsaime added 22 snaps too.

Join Inside Texas for Market-Leading Texas Longhorns Football coverage!

InsideTexas.com provides just what passionate Texas fans expect: Market-leading coverage of Longhorns athletics and recruiting.

Join the best Texas fan community and receive all the benefits that come with it:

  • Elite team and recruiting coverage of the program you love
  • Immediate access to any Longhorns break news
  • Exclusive insider practice reports and year-round team info as well as board Q&A’s with IT staff
  • High level discourse with the most passionate and informed Longhorns fans across multiple board forums.
  • Market leading team analysis for those who are looking to increase their understanding of Steve Sarkisian and Pete Kwiatkowski’s preferred concepts
  • So much more!

SIGN UP and ensure no Longhorns information gets by you: Join Inside Texas community today!

You may also like