In two critical areas for improvement — tackling and communication — a revamped defensive backfield is performing well.

AUSTIN, Texas — So far, so good.

A year after the Texas Longhorns struggled in the secondary in multiple key areas, an upgraded group that has also benefited from the development of young players has shown improvement through two games.

Only two teams in the country faced more passing attempts than Texas in 2023, a function of an elite run defense that made opposing offenses one-dimensional and an offense that was often able to secure leads, forcing opponents to air it out during attempted comebacks.

But those factors weren’t the only reasons that Texas allowed a completion percentage of 61.0 percent and 7.1 yards per attempt, a number that ranked tied for 51st nationally. And it certainly wasn’t why the Longhorns gave up so much extra yardage after missed tackles last season despite a solid tackling rate of 80 percent.

Three of the five leaders in missed tackles played in the secondary — Taaffe, safety Jerrin Thompson, and nickel back Jahdae Barron — combining for 36 of the 140 missed tackles recorded by Pro Football Focus.

Looking to upgrade the secondary during the offseason, the coaching staff didn’t fight hard to keep Thompson and fellow safety Kitan Crawford or several younger defensive backs who didn’t factor into the rotation. Cornerback Terrance Brooks moved on after giving up a long passing touchdown in the Orange-White game.

Prioritizing finding an experienced safety in the NCAA transfer portal, Texas landed Clemson transfer Andrew Mukuba, who wanted to shift from playing cornerback or nickel back and had the opportunity to reunite with Jahmal Fenner, Mukuba’s high school at Austin LBJ who now serves as the Director of High School Relations, as well as Taaffe and Barron, his training partners under Bernard “Bam” Blake during their high school days.

Texas also bolstered the secondary by reshuffling the lineup, moving Barron from nickel to boundary corner, inserting a healthy Jaylon Guilbeau at nickel, and often pairing Mukuba with Taaffe, backed up by sophomores Derek Williams and Jelani McDonald, who both benefited from an offseason with the Longhorns.

Through two games, the tackling rate in the secondary, roughly estimated based on the number of missed tackles recorded by PFF and the total number of tackles made by the secondary, is at nearly 90 percent through two games with five missed tackles against 54 tackles.

“If I could highlight four or five things from the season that I’ve been impressed with so far through two weeks, I would say our secondary is ability to tackle right now. Especially at the safety spot, they’re not just getting them on the ground, we’re striking people, we’re making hard, tough tackles in the open field,” Sarkisian said on Thursday.

Sarkisian singled much of the defensive back rotation for praise, including Taaffe, Mukuba, Williams, McDonald, and Guilbeau, and mentioning the physicality of sophomore cornerback Manny Muhammad, now the full-time starter to the boundary after splitting time with Ryan Watts last season, playing more than expected as Watts battled injuries.

The improved tackling technique is a credit to the secondary coaches, according to Sarkisian — defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach Terry Joseph and safeties coach Blake Gideon.

“We’ve been drilling this and we’ve been wanting to play a certain style and the fact that Coach Gideon, Coach Joseph have done a nice job with those guys of building their confidence and putting them in position with the fundamentals and techniques to make those plays has been big,” Sarkisian said.

Refining technique is only part of the equation, however, because Texas has been working to build a modern secondary with a high degree of versatility.

“I also think it’s the style of player that we have too — these guys are really athletic people,” Sarkisian said.

“It’s kind of that old way of thinking that the safeties are just kind of your big strong safety types when we try to recruit guys that have really good range, really good flexibility, have cover ability, but yet have the ability to tackle, and I think that that’s showing up for us right now. These guys are tackling at a high level.”

Before the season, Taaffe took responsibility for needing to improve his own tackling rate after missing 10 tackles last season, a whiff rate of 18.9 percent, according to PFF. Taaffe believes he’s improved as a result of a shift in thinking.

“We don’t talk about missed tackles, we talk about go making tackles. There’s a difference mentally — if you talk about going to make the play instead of just don’t miss the play. So that’s what we’ve been focused on. Go make the play. Go make tackles,” Taafe said on Monday.

“If at some point in the season the tackling on the back end starts to slip for Texas, the hope is that the ability to populate the football will limit the extra yardage, an area where Taaffe was happy with the effort against Michigan across the entire defense.

“When you go back and watch the tape, how many white hats were around the ball? Every single one of us was trying to get in on the action, trying to make them feel us physically, that we were going to be here all day,” Taaffe said.

“That was the most important thing, was we were we were all trying to get in on that tackle. If somebody misses the tackle, 10 other guys were there to make the play. So that’s kind of what the theme was for us and as a defense, and just trying to impose our will.”

Communication was also an issue at times for Texas last season, most notably on the game-winning touchdown scored by Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl when Thompson and linebacker David Gbenda weren’t on the same page, allowing Sooners wide receiver Nic Anderson an easy reception in the end zone.

When asked about areas of improvement so far, Taaffe singled out communication.

“The linebackers and the back five, we have to communicate and be on the same page. If it’s zone, talking, if it’s man, not rubbing into each other on pick routes or something like that. I know that happened a little bit last year, so the communication has been elite,” Taaffe said.

The on-field results back up the narrative advanced by Sarkisian and his players. In the season opener against a Colorado State offense that ranked in the top-10 nationally with 305.6 passing yardage per game, thanks in part to throwing the ball enough to slot fifth in passing attempts, Texas only allowed 76 passing yards on 24 attempts, just over three yards per attempt, with two interceptions.

Notably, Rams star wide receiver Tory Horton was limited to five catches on six targets for 31 yards with a long of 10 yards and nine total yards after the catch. On the only deep shot that Colorado State took during the game, a trick play targeting Horton, Barron read it and came up with the season’s first interception for Texas.

Otherwise, head coach Jay Norvell’s team opted against longer-developing passing plays, perhaps in fear of the pass rush of the Longhorns, instead favoring a 32-24 run-pass split that went against the 40-60 split in 2023.

In typical Michigan fashion, the Wolverines wanted to avoid throwing the football given the program’s dearth of playmakers in the passing game, attempting 17 passes in the fourth quarter after only 16 through the first 45 minutes and averaged 7.7 yards per attempt at a time in the game when the Horns could afford to be a little more conservative with their coverages.

And while the defensive line created pressure on Michigan quarterback Davis Warren, the inability to turn pressures into sacks and some poor pass-rush lane discipline allowed him to escape the pocket and make plays, as he did on the lone touchdown scored by the Wolverines, a 31-yard completion that also ranked as the only pass play of 30 or more yards allowed through two games this season.

As with the rest of the Texas team halfway through the non-conference season, there remains room for improvement, but the early returns indicate that the Horns are getting better in some key areas to solidify the back end of the defense.