The start of the Steve Sarkisian era with the Texas Longhorns under defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski went exceedingly poorly — after a 5-7 finish, the Longhorns ranked No. 89 in SP+, finishing with the No. 99 in scoring defense at 31.1 points per game while creating only 14 turnovers, tied for 93rd nationally.
Whether the numbers were raw or unadjusted, the Longhorns defense performed poorly as Texas suffered blowout losses to Arkansas and Iowa State in addition to an embarrassing home defeat to Kansas in overtime.
The unit improved considerably in 2022, vaulting to 22nd in SP+ while allowing roughly 75 fewer yards per game on the ground and 12 fewer rushing touchdowns, both second in the conference.