Texas Spring Game: Longhorns Will Suffer from Lack of Depth on Defense

After a disappointing 2011 season, particularly in Big 12 play, Texas debuted another problem during its spring game: a lack of depth on defense.

During the Longhorns' Orange-White game, a clear need emerged for younger players to step up and fill big roles, and it's something that appears to have both the players and the coaching staff concerned heading into the 2012 season.

After the game, defensive coordinator Manny Diaz told ESPN.com's Carter Strickland, "As of right now, that is still a big task for us. If our second 11 doesn't continue to come on, then we will be exposed and that is fairly obvious."

The problem is the most glaring in the case of cornerbacks Kenny Vaccaro and Carrington Byndom, as well as linebacker Jordan Hicks, behind whom Longhorns are vastly inexperienced on the depth chart. Without players who are able to step up and fill in behind them on the two-deep, it will be hard for this team to establish the dominance it lacked last season in the Big 12.

Head coach Mack Brown insists that throughout the offseason, he has stressed the importance of ensuring depth on the roster, of making sure every player knows his role and is ready to step in and compete at any moment. The deepest teams are the ones that are able to stay tough—mentally and physically—and are able to sustain the unavoidable injuries that run rampant throughout the season.

Brown told Strickland:

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We are trying to get more depth and be competitive. Depth and toughness are the words we have used all spring. We are really trying to send that message to the players. It is about being at least two deep at every position.

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Senior Alex Okafor also hinted at another disturbing trend: a lack of unity on the squad. He told Strickland, "We're going to have to get everybody on the same page. We have to be one unit out there."

Brown's fixation on making sure this squad is deeper than the last is fair, considering the way last season panned out. The Longhorns went 4-0 to start off the season but lost two of their first three conference games and three of four to close out the season.

They finished the 2011 season 4-5 in conference play, 7-5 overall, and though they beat California 21-10 in the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl, it wasn't enough. It's hard for inexperienced teams to be dominant, but when young guys are prepared for the big roles they'll have to fill, that inexperience doesn't matter.

Brown just wants to make sure his team gets it, and that his players are prepared for what they'll have to take on. To be better, the Longhorns must be deeper, and the coach is desperate to make sure his team understands the significance of building a two-deep that is stocked with talent.

Without depth—at each and every position—Texas could be looking at another mediocre season.