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The Texas defense Utah sees in the Alamo Bowl may be different from the one that struggled all season

San Antonio • Texas coach Tom Herman’s firing of defensive coordinator Todd Orlando spoiled a natural story angle for Tuesday’s Alamo Bowl, as Utah would have faced a formerly successful Utah State assistant coach.

The unanswered question, from Utah's perspective, is how Orlando's absence will affect the Longhorns' strategy. One obvious possibility is less blitzing, after Orlando's ultra-aggressive style apparently cost him his job. Orlando is “a dammed good ball coach, and he has a great system in place,” interim coordinator Craig Naivar said. “We would be foolish as ever to try to reinvent the wheel and try to create something different than what we're doing.