Paul Finebaum questions Steve Sarkisian after 'disappointing' Week 1 performance

Paul Finebaum and Dan Orlovsky criticized Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian for the playcalling in the 14-7 loss to Ohio State Saturday. In a bizarre game plan to some, Arch Manning struggled and the offense never really found any rhythm in the game.

Granted, two elite defenses squared off in this game, but Ohio State did just a little more to win a low-scoring affair. Texas left with more questions than answers.

So what does Sarkisian do? Go back to the drawing board and put it together moving forward before the Buckeyes’ loss haunts them.

“This was a continuum of what we saw in the final drive in the Cotton Bowl,” Finebaum said on Get Up. “Don’t forget, these two played each other in January. Texas has the ball on the three yard line, first down, and they end up giving up a touchdown the other way, because Sark just completely lost it. And that’s what concerns me because we’ve all wrapped our arms around this guy … I know the defense on the other side was elite, but that’s part of winning a championship.”

In the box score, Sarkisian’s offense put up 336 yards, which included 166 rushing yards. But, they were stuffed on fourth down multiple times, including a fourth-and-goal right at the goal line. Not only that, Sarkisian didn’t do Manning any favors, per Orlovsky.

“I love Sark. He was very disappointing to me,” Orlovsky said. “I mean, I’m talking quarterback runs, I’m talking perimeter screens, I’m talking running the football. I mean, I felt there was way too many run-run first. They averaged in the first three quarters, their down in distance to go on third down for Texas offensively was third and seven-plus. You want to get a young quarterback to play poorly on the road, that’s the model to do it. So there’s a lot of burden that has to get carried by coach Sark.”

All told, Manning completed 17 of 30 passes, along with the touchdown and the pick. To Sarkisian, there were glimpses of the former top recruit’s potential and he’s optimistic about the future.

“We saw some real flashes and glimpses of the type of player that he’s going to become here,” Sarkisian said in the postgame press conference. “Sure, he’s going to watch the tape and say ‘man, I wish this. I wish that.’ That’s the life of a competitor, but I think there’s a lot to hold onto of what the future is going to look like for Arch Manning here.”