Texas Football, 2008, is a gunslingin’ , six-shootin’ attacking offense led by a guy named Colt.
The Longhorns have overwhelmed their foes and buried them in burnt orange and quarterback Colt McCoy has climbed to the top of the Heisman Trophy list.
But don’t forget about the other side of the ball! The Texas Longhorns do play defense. Good old fashioned, knock-‘em-down defense led by a 6-4, 260-pound man-child named Brian Orakpo.
Texas is, after all, ranked No. 1 in the Big-12 in scoring defense and No. 1 in rushing defense, yielding a miniscule 2.6 yards per attempt.
Orakpo is in the middle of it all. He leads the conference in sacks (with 8.5), tackles for losses (12) and forced fumbles (3). He has made every mid-season All-American and is on all the defensive trophy watch lists, including The Lott Trophy®, which goes to the player who has the biggest IMPACT on his team both on and off the field.
He is a fast, strong, hard-charging behemoth who has elevated his game by dedication and ethic.
“God has blessed him with a lot of ability but he has worked hard to enhance the ability he’s been blessed with,” says Texas Defensive Coordinator Will Muschamp. “I’m just real pleased with how he’s played, more than anything with how he’s led this year. He’s been a great leader by example, by the way he works every day on the practice field.”
Twice this season, Orakpo has been named the Lott Trophy® Player of the Week. Those accomplishments alone earned the University of Texas $2,000 to its general scholarship fund.
The 22-year-old Orakpo has gotten better and better. He had a string of five games where had at least two sacks in each of the contests. He outplayed Oklahoma offensive tackle Phil Loadholt earlier in the season and the only thing to slow him was a twisted knee in the Texas Tech game.
Texas Defensive End Coach Oscar Giles says, “His work ethic has been tremendous. He came in as a freshman at just about 200 pounds. Each year he’s progressed because he’s been in the weight room and because of his work ethic, and now, he’s close to 260 pounds and bench pressing over 500 pounds. He’s a tremendous example of someone who puts his mind and hard work together every day. He put it all together, and now you can see the results of it.”
Orakpo’s workouts in the weight room at Texas are legendary. His bench press is now at 515 pounds and he can squat over 600 pounds. “He’s one of the most unbelievable specimens I’ve ever seen,” said teammate Roy Miller, himself a 295-pounder.
“He’s a beast,” Texas cornerback Ryan Palmer said. “We always harass him about how big and strong he is. He’s a great player. He has a lot of speed and power that people don’t think that he has. He’s surprised a lot of tackles when he comes off the ball with his strength. I’m glad to have him on my team.”
Orakpo had a terrific junior season, despite missing four games with a knee injury. He was at full strength by the Holiday Bowl where he recorded a pair of sacks, three tackles for loss and a quarterback pressure against Arizona State to win Defensive MVP honors.
An honor student at Texas, he is widely regarded as one of the rocks on the Longhorn squad.
“Brian’s character is tremendous,” says his position coach Giles. “His family is from Nigeria and he has a brother and sister that he looks after. He does a great job of being a big brother to his little brother who’s in high school right now. He’s also been a tremendous big brother to a lot of his teammates. They really look up to him. He’s a guy I’m proud to be able to coach.”
Orakpo could well be one of the four finalists to be in Newport Beach for the fifth annual Lott Trophy® Awards Banquet Dec. 14.
For more information on The Lott Trophy®, go to Lotttrophy.com
Pete Donovan, Media Director