AUSTIN, Texas— Among the phrases on the wall of the meeting room at the Moncrief-Neuhaus athletic complex is the reference to the single that decides football games — "It's all about the ball."
For Texas Longhorns defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, finding defensive playmakers to create turnovers was one of his most important tasks after returning to Austin last December.
After Muschamp's initial calls to Pitt transfer linebacker Rasheem Biles went unanswered because the Texas defensive coordinator had an old number, the two connected, and Biles landed in Austin as a disruptive force.
Throughout the offseason, most of the focus directed at Biles was about his versatility and athleticism because of his effectiveness coming downhill as a blitzer despite his lack of prototypical size or dropping into coverage to take advantage of his background as a receiver and defensive back.
But the first big play that Biles made for the Longhorns showcased his physicality when he forced a fumble by Bobcats running back Taji Atkins midway through the second quarter.
In a well-practiced decision by sophomore nickel back Graceson Littleton, he recognized the opportunity to scoop and score on the "country" fumble, and did exactly that, gathering the football with some momentum and outracing the Texas State offense to the end zone on a 59-yard return that opened up a 28-0 lead less than two minutes of game time after Texas went up by three touchdowns.
To Sarkisian, Biles doesn't get enough credit for the violence he plays with.
"The play he makes to cause that fumble is elite — most guys just are worried about getting the guy on the ground, and he's coming through with a six-inch punch as he's tackling him to knock the ball out. The savviness, the intent, that's hard to coach, but he has those instincts about him, and we'll see it throughout this season," Sarkisian said.
The intent is from more than Biles himself — it's coached into the team by the staff, starting with a turnover circuit Texas goes through every practice after stretching, a hallmark under Sarkisian since he arrived that extended to the defensive coaching staff this week in explicitly challenging their players to punch at the football more violently to create fumbles.
"Man, it's me and him, let me just see what I could do," Biles said of the moment he sized up the Texas State running back.
When he initially executed the punch, he didn't know that he knocked the football loose until he did what he always does at the bottom of a pile — keep on ripping at the ball trying to get it out. But the ball wasn't there, and when Biles turned and looked for it, he saw everybody running.
"Whoa, it worked," Biles thought of his fourth career forced fumble.
The 6'1, 222-pounder wasn't finished getting the ball.
Midway through the third quarter, Texas had gone up by 35 points as Texas State tried desperately to generate some offensive momentum, turning to a misdirection tunnel screen pass to playmaking wide receiver Beau Sparks.
Reading it, and knowing how much the Bobacts valued getting Sparks the ball, Biles was in perfect position and came up with his fourth career interception, albeit the first he didn't return for a touchdown because an offensive lineman hit him right after securing the football.
Rapidly inculcated into the Longhorns culture since arriving in January, Biles knew what to do — when you get an interception, you head to the south end zone where the team's 2,100-pound mascot Bevo XV is housed.
"That's what all the coaches been talking about, all the players been talking about, so since I got the pick, I ain't had no other thought in my mind. Just go to Bevo," Biles said.
And that's how Bevo acquired another football.
The new ball ended up in that end zone, too, as the Horns once again played complementary football, scoring their seventh touchdown of the game three plays later on a 21-yard touchdown run by fifth-year running back Raleek Brown.
After the game, wearing his first cowboy hat that still needed some stretching brought to him before the game by his mother, Biles reflected on the experience of playing in front of more than 100,000 fans at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, the fulfillment of a dream for the Columbus-area product who never got attention from hometown Ohio State out of high school .
"The atmosphere was crazy. I've been dreaming of this, to be honest, like this is what you dream of playing in front of, all the fans, the tradition here. So for real, for real, it was amazing out there," Biles said.
Dealing with the blazing heat was a matter that the strength and conditioning staff solved during brutal summer workouts, creating the space for Biles to make plays and appreciate the moment.
"You can't even express that, especially me coming from Pitt to here, it's different, man," he said.
Like the atmosphere at DKR, Biles is different, too.
Call it a good pairing, like Bevo and footballs just turned over to the home team.
