Just In: One of the finalists for the Thorpe Award is Texas CB Jahdae Barron.

Maybe all the talks worked?

After the 31-14 win over the Kentucky Wildcats in Austin, Texas, senior safety Andrew Mukuba and redshirt junior safety Michael Taaffe showed up to the post-game media availability wearing shirts supporting senior quarterback Jahdae Barron’s Thorpe Award campaign. A few days later, Barron, Downs, and Starks, along with Ohio State Buckeyes safety Caleb Downs and Georgia Bulldogs safety Malaki Starks, were named finalists.

Barron’s stats really do speak for themselves, though. He has 41 tackles (27 solo, 14 assisted), 10 defensive stops, five pass breakups, eight passes defended, one fumble return, one sack, and two quarterback hurries, which is tied for the SEC lead and tied for 12th overall.

The school press said that Barron’s role in the win over Arkansas on the road made a strong case for him to win the award:

With the win, UT now has 10 straight true road wins, which is the longest active run in the FBS. When the Razorbacks lost, Barron had seven stops, six of which were solo. He had one sack, two tackles for loss, an interception that set the tone, a pass breakup, and a quarterback hurry. A little more than five minutes into the game, Barron picked off the pass at the Texas 39-yard line. The offence then scored the first points of the game with a touchdown, giving them a 7-0 lead that they would not lose the rest of the game. On the very next play, Barron made a stop for loss on a third-and-3, which led to a three-and-out.

Later, with 19 seconds left in the first half, Barron recorded a sack on the last play to keep Texas’ 10-0 lead at halftime. Arkansas would not have a chance to score from their 38-yard line. In the fourth quarter, Barron got in the way of the quarterback again when things were very important. Arkansas was close to the red zone on the Texas 26 and the Longhorns were ahead 13–7. On third-and-10, Barron forced an incomplete pass that led to a field goal that kept the score at 13–10. The Longhorns then increased their lead to 20–10 on their next scoring play.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian likes to say that individual honours come after team success. This season, the Longhorns’ defence has had a lot of success, placing second in the country in both FEI and SP+:

In the FBS, Texas is ranked second in total defence (247.5 yards per game), passing yards allowed (143.5 ypg), passing efficiency defence (93.51), passes intercepted (17), and first down defence (162). They are also ranked third in scoring defence (12.1 points per game) and first in the SEC in all of those categories. The Longhorns are also fifth in the FBS in turnovers won (24), ninth in defence of third-down conversions (0.299), eleventh in sacks (3.0), and thirteenth in tackles for loss (7.3). This season, Texas has stopped 80.5 percent of opponent drives, which is third best in the country for defensive stop rate. The Longhorns are the best in the country at stopping plays that go over 30 yards (seven) or 20 yards (22). Barron is a big reason why Texas’ defence has given up only four touchdowns this season, which is tied for the fewest in the FBS.

Barron is also in the running for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which goes to the best defensive player in the country, and the Chuck Bednarik Award, which goes to another great defensive player of the year.