Aug 163 min read

Texas Longhorns Defense Toughens Up With EDGE Trey Moore

While Texas Longhorns fans are watching the offense tune-up ahead of the season, don’t sleep on Texas’ defense. One person who promises to make a lot of noise is junior EDGE transfer Trey Moore.

Moore, who played for the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners last season, is turning heads on and off the practice field. He chose to play for Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian over Alabama and Ohio State, among others.

While that’s impressive, many probably want to know about Moore’s statistics. Last season at UTSA, he set the American Athletic Conference on fire. Moore’s 14 sacks led the conference and his 42 quarterback pressures tied him for first in the AAC. His 17.9 QB pressure percentage was second in the conference, while his rate of sacking the quarterback on 6 percent of snaps topped the field.

Texas Defense Gets Boost

For that effort, Moore secured AAC Defensive Player of the Year honors. It marked the first time that a Roadrunners player won that award.

Here are some aspects of Moore's play that Longhorns fans can watch for this season: According to a recruiting report, Moore is viewed as twitchy and quick in short-space areas: "Good acceleration and excellent top speed for the position," the report states. "Very good upper body strength. Frequently aligns as a standup 7 alignment. Teams do seem to run away from him. Remarkably productive with tackles for loss and sacks."

As a redshirt freshman at UTSA, Moore, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 245 pounds, started all 14 games at outside linebacker. He had 59 total tackles, 30 solo tackles, 8 sacks, 6 pass breakups and 5 quarterback pressures. It’s not a stretch to say Moore was a pure monster in his Roadrunners career.

News of Moore’s commitment decision hit on Dec. 23, 2023, bringing head coach Steve Sarkisian a sweet Christmas present.

"He's very twitchy," Sarkisian told Sports Illustrated earlier in Aug. "Trey is not the biggest guy. He's not small, but he's not the biggest guy. He's very twitchy. He has a unique ability to bend when he comes around the corner and get underneath tackles. He's a very natural athlete... He's going against two good tackles in Kelvin (Banks) and Cam (Williams). ... Trey's winning on some rushes, and that's a good thing,” Sarkisian said. "That's pushing those two guys at tackle as well."

Moore and Banks were named to the Lombardi Award Watch List on Aug. 15, and Banks has not been hiding his joy over having Moore on the Longhorns' defense. When asked who’s stood out or made him exclaim, “Wow,” in preseason work, Banks pointed out Moore.

Banks Praises New Teammate

"That man, he can lift some weights," Banks told Inside Texas. "He's very strong. Very powerful. He can lift some weights as well." Banks added that Moore bench-pressed 400-plus pounds "pretty easily."

So, how does a potential NFL Draft pick size up in the eyes of analysts? ESPN NFL Draft Analyst Matt Miller was effusive with his praise: "Hearing very good things about Texas pass-rusher Trey Moore—who transferred in from UTSA," Miller wrote on Aug. 15. "Expectations in Austin, Texas are double-digit sacks. Have heard they think he's a potential first- or second-round draft pick. Early word is he's wowed this staff that saw two top 50 picks last year."

Southeastern Conference opponents are well aware of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and his style of play. But they better not overlook Moore, who just might be another monster for the Longhorns on defense this season.

Come back to College Football Dawgs throughout the season for more Texas Longhorns coverage.