Texas DL T’Vondre Sweat Earns Unanimous All-American Honors
Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat has earned unanimous All-American honors after being selected as an All-American by the American Football Coaches Association, the organization announced on Thursday.
Sweat is the 24th Longhorn in program history to earn the distinction based on the five outlets recognized by the NCAA – the Associated Press, AFCA, Football Writers Association of America, Sporting News, and Walter Camp Foundation – according to a Texas press release.
Sweat is the fifth defensive tackle in school history to be named unanimous All-American, joining Scott Appleton (1963), Brad Shearer (1977), Steve McMichael (1979) and Kenneth Sims (1981). Overall, he is the sixth defensive lineman to earn the honor and the first to do so since Brian Orakpo in 2008.
The winner of the 2023 Outland Trophy and the 2023 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, Sweat is stacking up the accolades after being a key fixture in the nation’s third-ranked rushing defense, which allowed just 80.8 yards per game on the ground.
Here’s what Texas had to say about their newest unanimous All-American in a press release.
The 2023 Outland Trophy Award winner as the nation’s best interior lineman, Sweat has had a breakout season for Texas, establishing career highs with 42 tackles, 17 solo tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks and four pass breakups, while adding a blocked kick on an Iowa State point after attempt that was scooped up by Austin Jordan and returned 82 yards for a two-point score for Texas. The Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year also caught a two-yard touchdown pass in the Longhorns’ Big 12 Championship Game victory over Oklahoma State.
With Sweat in the middle of the defensive line, the Texas defense topped the Big 12 in third-down defense (26.5 percent) and red zone defense (71.4 percent), respectively ranking second and fourth nationally in each category. The Longhorns also rank 13th nationally in scoring defense (17.5 ppg) and 22nd in total tackles for loss (82). The Longhorns have held eight opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing this season, the most since 2009 (10), including a stretch of five-straight games against Houston, BYU, Kansas State, TCU and Iowa State that was the longest for UT since 2009 and tied for the third-longest for a Big 12 team over the last 15 seasons. All totaled in those five games, opponents have rushed for 241 yards (48 ypg) on 118 carries (2 ypc).
No. 3 Texas will face the second-ranked Washington Huskies in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, a semifinal game in this year’s College Football Playoff, on Monday, January 1, 2024. Kickoff is scheduled 7:45 p.m. CT, with coverage on ESPN.
