The defensive line was good last night against FAU... at least I thought so. Unfortunately, I didn't have my TiVo set up in time to get this game recorded, so we'll poll the audience on this one and see if we can get a consensus opinion.
There appears to be a segment of the fanbase (unclear how large) who thought Texas' defensive line played poorly last night. As Horn Brain notes in his wrap, he and I were excitedly chatting about the game last night, but found ourselves unable to agree on whether the defensive line did a good job.
Most of FAU's passing success came early in the game and, I thought, at the expense of: (1) poor tackling, (2) poor defense of the screen pass, and (3) subpar play from the DBs. Moreover, I thought FAU's failure to sustain that success came in large part because Smith had no time to sit in the pocket, let a receiver get down field, or step into a throw. Miller and Houston weren't recording sacks, but they were driving three linemen backwards and destroying any hope Smith had of stepping into a throw in the pocket. It wasn't long before Schnellenberger just started moving the pocket by sentding Smith rolling to the sidelines in an attempt to buy some time. Orakpo, meanwhile, was hell on wheels, while Henry Melton looked a different player from a year ago. The Owls' attempts to run were wasted efforts.
Without the benefit of game tape, though, I'll consider the question open and ask for competing views. If you thought the D-Line wasn't up to snuff last night, explain what you saw.