He found out the game plan on Tuesday and made it four days without spilling the beans.
As Iowa State found out - Rashad Bobino was about to run wild.
The sophomore linebacker leveled quarterback Bret Meyer on the first play from scrimmage. The Cyclones never heard him coming.
Bobino didn't say much to the quarterback after knocking him down.
"What I've learned in my days is - when you hit a guy, real hard - the less you say to him, the more it scares him," Bobino said. "Because, if you talk to him, he's going to feed off of that. He'll go out and try to prove you wrong.
"So if I hit him and not say anything, he's like 'Oh, this guy is serious.'"
The Cyclones were pulling their offensive guards, leaving an open hole for Bobino to crash.
Iowa State kept doing it, and Bobino kept hitting the quarterback.
By conservative estimate, Bobino sent Meyer to the turf about 12 times.
Listed at 5-feet-11-inches, Bobino often gives up six inches to offensive linemen. But don't discount his speed - it comes at a premium in Gene Chizik's system. If you watch pre-game warmups, you can see No. 44 doing his Ray Lewis impression.
His impression carried over to the game on Saturday.
But Bobino wasn't alone. The Longhorns' front seven defenders accumulated 7.5 sacks on Meyer, with Bobino and end Tim Crowder getting two apiece.
The sack numbers were gaudy, but Texas also kept the Cyclones to 21 rushing yards on the game.
Texas' linebackers answered some questions about their mettle against Iowa State. With Drew Kelson and now Roddrick Muckelroy missing time to injury, the unit hasn't missed a beat against the run. That credit should also go to the defensive line, because four games into the season, one thing is clear about Texas' defense.
No one can run on Texas.
Four teams have accumulated a total of 96 yards rushing, or 24.0 yards a game. Compare that to Texas' 907 yards on the ground (226.8 a game).
After four games, the Longhorns sit second in the nation in run defense.
Opponents are also averaging only .9 yards a carry on the ground.
It makes for a long day when running backs can only get 32.4 inches every time they touch the ball.
Of course, the only drawback is teams are out-passing the Longhorns, averaging 209 yards a game in the air. The Longhorns entered the Ohio State game thinking the Buckeyes would try to run.
That didn't work, but it's starting to look like Texas won't get out-rushed this season.
Will that be the case in two weeks against Adrian Peterson and Oklahoma?
Don't ask Bobino. He won't let a secret slip.
Be the first to comment on this article!