The Texas Longhorns are in the playoffs for the college football championship. T’Vondre Sweat should be a key factor for the first title since 2006. He didn’t actually want to play football.
By Chris Lugert
Visually, T’Vondre Sweat is exactly what the interested football viewer imagines a defensive tackle to be. 1.93 meters tall, weighs 164 kilograms. The Texas Longhorns star is a monster. But this development took time – and good cuisine.
“I was a small, skinny guy,” says Sweat, looking back on his time at high school. Within a few years, however, he not only grew a lot, but also gained mass, especially during his time in college – which for Sweat has a simple reason.
“I came here and there was all this food. And I took advantage of that,” he said. This comes as no surprise to his mother, Lashunda Ross, as he has always been able to “eat a whole cake in one go”.
His physical constitution has made the 22-year-old one of the top stars in college football. Now Sweat is reaching for the big title with the Longhorns. In the semifinals of the playoffs for the National Championship, Texas will face the Washington Huskies on January 2nd (from 2:45 a.m. live on ProSieben MAXX, in the live stream on ran.de, in the ran app and on Joyn).
The most important thing about college football
The Longhorns have been waiting for the title since 2006, and this year the prospects are bright. This is not only due to quarterback Quinn Ewers, but also to the defensive duo around the two tackles Sweat and Byron Murphy. The duo regularly causes panic in opposing offenses.
“You can’t run the ball inside against them. You don’t even have to try. They change the math,” said a coach from the Big 12 Conference, where the Longhorns last played this year. He particularly singled out Sweat.
It was cookies that got Sweat into tackle football
“Sweat weighs about 300 pounds and can move like that? That doesn’t make sense. If you put two down to block him, he’ll hit both of them,” the coach said. Sweat has long been considered a potential first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. He was recently awarded the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman – offensive and defensive – in the entire league.
It was a long time coming that he would even take this path. Because Sweat wasn’t a fan of tackle football. His mother confirmed that she had to persuade him to give up flag football when he was six years old.
This also required special motivation from his aunt Lisa. Sweat promised to bake him cookies for every first down and touchdown scored. “From then on he didn’t let anyone stop him. But first he wanted to get back to flag football,” said Ross, who has two other sons in addition to T’Vondre.
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College choice because of Durant and basketball
Sweat also played football successfully at high school in Huntsville, Texas, but when it came to choosing a college, another sport came into focus. “He always loved basketball more than football,” his mother said.
The Washington Huskies’ three-headed receiving monster
The Washington Huskies will likely have the most explosive offense in college football in 2023. No quarterback threw more yards than Huskies playmaker Michael Penix Jr. But that’s not just his achievement. Because with Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja’Lynn Polk, the Huskies have a three-headed receiving monster.© Imago
The best receiver trio in college football?
In 13 games, the three receivers collected 195 catches, 2,937 yards and 22 touchdowns – even though McMillan was injured for much of the season. Odunze, the clear No. 1, recorded 1,428 yards and 13 touchdowns, Polk caught 60 passes for 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns, McMillan had 34 catches for 468 yards and three scores. © USA TODAY Network
Rome Odunze: Number 1
Rome Odunze is one of the best receivers in all of college football and is considered a possible top-10 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. The 1.91 meter tall, 98 kilogram wide receiver is an all-purpose weapon and excels in both the deep and short passing game. © USA TODAY Network
Rome Odunze: Contested Catch King
His ability to secure balls spectacularly despite tight coverage is particularly impressive. With 16 contested catches, he has four more than any other college receiver. His feel for the ball is exceptional, giving Odunze the upper hand in most one-on-one situations.© 2023 Getty Images
Rome Odunze: character and talent
Huskies OC Ryan Grubb believes Odunze will have a long and successful professional career – and not just because of his talent on the field. “He is responsible, tough, intelligent and sociable,” enthuses Grubb. Odunze is very mature for his age. “I call him ‘Rome the Philosopher,'” reveals the Huskies coach. © 2023 Getty Images
Jalen McMillan: Bad luck with injuries
McMillan’s season didn’t quite pan out the way he probably would have liked. The 22-year-old even had more catches and touchdowns than Odunze last season, and also got off to a lightning start in 2023, with over 300 yards and three touchdowns in the first three games. Then came the injury that slowed him down for most of the season.© ZUMA Wire
Jalen McMillan: Der Slot-Receiver
Now McMillan appears to be completely healthy again. In the Pac-12 Championship Game against Oregon, he collected nine catches for 131 yards. At 1.81 meters and 81 kilograms, he is physically smaller compared to Odunze and Polk, but shines with clean route running. McMillan mostly operates from the slot and is particularly dangerous in the middle of the field.© USA TODAY Network
Ja’Lynn Polk: Breakout year
Ja’Lynn Polk began the year at number three, but benefited from McMillan’s injury and took full advantage of his increased role in the offense. 60 catches, 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns are impressive. Polk is 1.88 meters tall and weighs 92 kilograms – he is probably the most physical of the three and rarely avoids physical contact.© 2023 Getty Images
Ja’Lynn Polk: Transfer from Texas Tech
Unlike Odunze and McMillan, Polk’s college career did not begin in Washington. The 21-year-old played one year at Texas Tech before joining the Huskies in 2021. His production in Seattle increased every year: 114 yards in his first season, 694 last year and now the 1,000-yard season. © 2023 Getty Images
Odunze, McMillan, Polk: The three-headed receiving monster
On January 1st, the Washington Huskies will meet the Texas Longhorns in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff (live on ProSieben MAXX, ran.de and Joyn). Undoubtedly, the Huskies’ exceptional receivers will also play a role. In April, the path for all three could lead to the NFL. © USA TODAY Network
Hoping to meet his idol Kevin Durant, who also played for the University of Texas and was part of the Longhorns basketball team, Sweat decided against other prestigious colleges such as Texas A&M, Baylor and Houston.
T’Vondre Sweat: Hard shell, soft core
Sweat is the prototype of a “hard shell, soft core” player. On the field he is merciless, but as a person he is a gentle giant. “I like it when people smile,” he said. He even refers to himself as “mama’s boy.”
But here too, a development process took place over the years, as his mother reports from painful memories. “Of all three of my boys, he was the worst,” joked Ross: “He was always causing trouble. He didn’t want to listen at school and just wasn’t able to concentrate. He was very stressful.”
Nowadays he no longer causes trouble and is even an entertainment factor for his teammates. “He’s a goofball,” joked tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders. “He makes everyone laugh all the time. You can just walk up to him and you’ll start laughing.”
Best season of his career
But his opponents have little to laugh about. He had already flirted with going to the NFL last year, but decided to spend a fifth year at college (the 2020 season was not formally counted because of the corona pandemic).
This season he set career highs with 42 tackles, 17 of them solo, eight tackles for loss, two sacks and four blocked passes. The highlight, however, was a caught touchdown pass against Oklahoma State in early December.
Now Sweat wants to help end the Longhorns’ losing streak and say goodbye to the NFL with the championship they have won. Just in case, his aunt should preheat the oven.
2023-12-29 02:17:21
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