Texas Football: What the Longhorns Must Do to Control UCLA Star QB Brett Hundley

The Longhorns failed in their practice run at UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley, giving up three touchdowns to BYU's Taysom Hill in last week's 41-7 defeat.

To prevent Hundley from putting up an equal or greater performance, the Horns will have to be much more effective on both sides of the ball.

A week after jump-starting Hill's Heisman campaign, Texas will have to slow down the Bruins' more advanced version. Like Hill, Hundley is a load in the open field at 6'3", 226 pounds, but he brings more true dual-threat ability than the BYU playmaker.

	Ht.	Wt.	40-yd Dash*	GP	Pass Yds.	Rush Yds.	Comp. %	TD:INT
Hundley	6'3"	226	4.54	29	7,449	1,168	66.8	56:21
Hill	6'2"	232	4.52	22	4,052	2,036	56.8	27:19

Coming off a 396-yard performance against Memphis, the junior has thrown for almost 7,500 through two-plus seasons as the starter. Looking at his 66.8 career completion percentage, it's obvious why many consider him to be an early pick in a loaded 2015 quarterback class.

On Saturday, Texas can expect former coaching candidate Jim Mora to let Hundley run wild. For the Longhorns to prevent him from turning in his own Heisman moment, they will have to keep him in the pocket and use their offense to keep the ball out of his hands.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Keep Him Inside the Pocket

Texas' defensive strength is its front four. UCLA's offensive weakness is its front line. After what happened last week, it would behoove Texas to exploit its advantage in the trenches. 

The Longhorn defensive line has a major advantage in this game, as noted by ESPN.com's Max Olson:

"

Since 2012, when Jim Mora Jr.'s staff took over, UCLA quarterbacks have been sacked 97 times, tied second-most in FBS. Hundley has already been sacked a nation-leading nine times this season and gets hurried or knocked down on nearly 25 percent of his snaps. Even more damning, he's been sacked 51 times in his career on plays in which a defense sent four pass-rushers or fewer.

"

That should be music to the ears of Charlie Strong and defensive coordinator Vance Bedford. Their defensive linemen alone have already recorded eight sacks this season, and that's with star defensive end Cedric Reed contributing just 0.5 quarterback takedowns thus far.

This was the only position group that looked good against the Cougars, and it figures to be the driving force for whatever success the Horns enjoy on Saturday. These guys sacked Hill five times in Week 2, led by 2.5 from tackle Malcom Brown in a breakout performance, and stayed after him throughout the game.

But when Hill was able to break contain, he was off to the races. Texas' back seven could not handle him once he hit the open field, and Hundley will be no easier to handle once he gets outside the tackles.

For Texas to prevent this from happening, ends Reed and Shiro Davis must keep Hundley in the pocket and give Brown a chance to dominate from the inside again. They'll need help from outside linebackers Jordan Hicks and Peter Jinkens, but the task of slowing Hundley will primarily belong to the defensive linemen.

USA TODAY Sports

Move the Ball on Offense

It's easier said than done with a patchwork offensive line, but Texas has to find a way to move the ball to give its defense a breather. Otherwise, Hundley will wear down the Longhorns just as Hill did in Week 2.

BYU ran 88 plays on the Texas defense, while the Longhorn offense only converted three of its 15 third downs. That's asking far too much of your defense, plain and simple.

A major reason the Longhorns were unable to move the ball was the Cougars' focus on running backs Johnathan Gray and Malcolm Brown. BYU held Texas' two best offensive players to just 2.3 yards per carry, daring first-time starter Tyrone Swoopes to win the game with his arm.

The Bruins figure to take a similar approach, meaning offensive coordinator Shawn Watson must figure out how to create explosive plays in the passing game. Jaxon Shipley (head) sounds like a go, and the Horns still have big-play specialist Marcus Johnson waiting to make an impact. Jacorey Warrick and Armanti Foreman also have some potential in the open field.

Simply put, the Longhorns must establish the run. But to do that, they will have to give the Bruins a reason to pull defenders off the line of scrimmage by showing they can get big chunks of yardage in the passing game.

The alternative is to hope against hope that the defense can hold its own against the dynamic Hundley. As Hill and the Cougars just taught everyone, that approach can only work for so long.