HOUSTON — The Longhorn faithful were spellbound.

And the some 300 at the Bayou Events Center ate up every word from Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian at the Houston Touchdown Club banquet Wednesday as much as they did the grilled chicken and mixed vegetables.

And why wouldn’t they?

Coming off a 12-2 season and the program’s first College Football Playoff appearance, Texas posted a third straight top-five recruiting class, struck gold in the transfer portal — and might even more — and then put on an Orange-White spring game that met expectations. No, wait. It exceeded expectations.

That’s what happens when the two backup quarterbacks throw six touchdown passes, the new wideouts look spectacular after some early jitters from Alabama transfer Isaiah Bond, and defensive newbies such as Colton Vasek and Warren Robertson are making plays all over the field. Heck, Sarkisian even referenced walk-ons such as Thatcher Milton and Reese Beauchamp, who made several nice catches. And we learned Ryan Wingo’s the second coming of Roy Williams, but Sark didn’t quite go that far in his praise.

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Now, he didn’t come out and predict Texas’ first national championship since 2005. But the Longhorns will be in that hunt, and he was very blunt about how much he likes his team’s talent and depth. And speed.

He’s really high on the speed.

“I always say it’s a lot easier to score the faster you get to the end zone,” Sarkisian said.

A difference of opinion on the Texas secondary

Texas did plenty of that, throwing deep balls to Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell and getting long runs from Jonathon Brooks and friends.

Now, keeping the other side out of the end zone, that’s something altogether different.

While the run defense was superb last year, Texas’ pass defense was, uh, lacking.

OK, at times, it was just plain bad.

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The last we saw of the Texas secondary, it was getting torched in the Sugar Bowl by Michael Penix Jr. to the tune of 430 yards. The Washington quarterback was so in rhythm that the Atlanta Falcons were impressed enough to take him with the eighth pick in the NFL draft even though they had signed Kirk Cousins just weeks before with $100 million guaranteed.

Michigan didn’t have the same problems. The Wolverines stuffed Penix and the Huskies, allowing them just 255 yards through the air and one touchdown. Michigan also intercepted him twice.

The Sugar Bowl meltdown wasn’t exactly a new development for Texas since it ranked a lowly 116th nationally in pass defense — frequently against backup quarterbacks — and gave up two or more touchdowns through the air in seven games last season.

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And the secondary didn’t look much better in the spring game.

“According to whom?” Sarkisian bristled Wednesday.

Well, I think a lot of folks. Me, for one.

Rod Babers thought so. “It’s a problem,” the former All-American Texas cornerback said in an interview for “On Second Thought” a week ago.

Probably a bunch in the crowd of almost 50,000 at DKR, too.

Other pundits as well.

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Addition by subtraction? Texas hopes so

It was obvious when cornerbacks Terrance Brooks and Gavin Holmes got burned for 75-yard touchdowns.

“Yeah, Kelvin Banks got beat on a play, too,” Sarkisian said. “But I think he’ll be OK.”

So do I.

But given the track record of last season, that doesn’t exactly instill confidence Texas will make light years' worth of improvement in that phase. Brooks actually entered the transfer portal days after the spring game — Babers called it “addition by subtraction” — so it’s pretty clear the coaching staff wasn’t all that enamored with his play. Plus, gone are starting corner Ryan Watts and four safeties who played a lot.

Still, Sarkisian dug in his heels.

He’s actually very big on a stronger secondary this fall.

“Our defensive backfield is probably as versatile as we’ve had in my time here,” the fourth-year head coach said. “And it’s probably the most talented defensive backfield that we’ve had in our time here.”

Jahdae Barron is the key to the secondary

So either the question either hit a nerve or Sarkisian truly expects his secondary to make major progress, which would be welcome news.

For sure, sophomore Manny Muhammad has made big strides at boundary cornerback and appears likely to lock down one cornerback spot. He might even be all-conference caliber in the SEC. Sarkisian said he believes Muhammad is “poised for a tremendous season.”

The field corner spot is up for grabs, with a host of contenders, including Holmes, who started the spring game.

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"We're going to be just fine in the secondary," Sarkisian said. "I think we've got a lot of versatility back there."

He’s high on Holmes, who transferred from Wake Forest but was very inconsistent in his coverage. He expects the 5-foot-11 senior to “make huge strides” in his second season as a Longhorn. We’ll see. And he rattles off returning lettermen such as Jaylon Guilbeau and Jelani McDonald, a special-teams standout who has been moved to safety.

He also includes the possibility of senior Jahdae Barron, the versatile nickel back who filled in at both cornerback and safety at times last season. It was Barron's breakup of Houston’s fourth-down pass that sealed Texas’ win over the Cougars, a critical play that might go down as the biggest in Sarkisian’s first three seasons. Without that play, the Longhorns’ national championship hopes would have been deep-sixed in October, and maybe a spot in the Big 12 title game as well. Barron is as solid as they come.

“I love the fact that Jahdae is coming back for his senior year,” Sarkisian said. “I thought that was a huge win for the Longhorns.”

Barron certainly gives backfield coaches Terry Joseph and Blake Gideon more flexibility with potential moves. And they’ll need to make the right ones if they want to stay in the 512.

“Jahdae wants to play the corner,” Babers said. “But the coaches didn’t trust the nickels behind him. Now I think Jelani and Jahdae might have shown the coaches they can handle the physical parts, and that can help stabilize things.”

Guilbeau started games as a true freshman before injuring his knee. Sarkisian called his spring “fantastic.” And expectations for the undersized Andrew Mukuba, a three-year starter at safety for Clemson, are huge. But he, too, can shift to the star position for added depth there. He might not be as physical as the departed Jalen Catalon, but the oft-injured Arkansas transfer rarely played.

Texas can rely heavily on the ball-savvy Michael Michael Taaffe — whom Sark called “the Professor” — and Derek Williams Jr. in the safeties room.

Then there’s the roll call of highly regarded freshmen, such as 6-2 Kobe Black, Xavier Filsaime, Jordan Johnson-Rubell, Wardell Mack and Warren Roberson. That’s a strong class of rookies who should provide instant help on the four special teams but might not be ready to contribute yet in the secondary in SEC wars.

As strong as Texas looks everywhere else in the starting lineup, the secondary remains iffy at best and certainly not elite. Until they do it.

“I’m looking forward to us finding the right combination as to who’s out there, to where we put the five best guys out there and who’s exactly playing where,” Sarkisian summarized. "We're at a point right now where we don't have to take a whole lot of risks because we are a deep roster.”

All of which should make for a compelling August and beyond. And he clearly can take his time since Michigan doesn’t show up on the schedule until, oh yeah, Week 2.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football must rebuild its defensive secondary for 2024 season