Scouts, coaches break down Texas, Alabama - ESPN

Rice football coach Mike Bloomgren has played Texas three times in his tenure at the school. The Owls lost the first two by a combined score of 106-13.

But on Saturday in Austin, Bloomgren saw a Texas program that has upgraded its talent so significantly that he describes the difference as «night and day» to two seasons ago when coach Steve Sarkisian took over.

The biggest difference for Bloomgren in Saturday's 37-10 loss to the Longhorns came on Texas' defensive front. He said the group — led by T'Vondre Sweat, a 6-foot-4, 362-pound dynamo — is a marauding unit befitting of the high-end SEC program Texas needs to quickly become.

«I just think their ability to play on our side of the line of scrimmage time and time again,» Bloomgren told ESPN by phone this week. "[Sweat is] a monster. What he did athletically and the way he ran on Saturday, I was in awe of that kid. There were times in a seven-man protection that he just threw the guard aside and was hitting the quarterback when he was at the top of his drop."

There have been countless calls, pleas and, ultimately, failed declarations of Texas being back atop the college football world in the past decade. Since losing to Alabama in the 37-21 national title game following the 2009 season, Texas' program has been generally adrift in mediocrity. It has failed to win the Big 12 since then, cycling through Mack Brown, Charlie Strong and Tom Herman as head coaches.

From a pure talent perspective, there's an overwhelming belief among NFL evaluators that this Texas team in Sarkisian's third season is completely different. Just like Bloomgren saw on Saturday. ESPN polled more than a half-dozen scouts and evaluators about Texas heading into its marquee game at Alabama on Saturday