Steve Sarkisian provides the latest on Texas quarterback competition
The Texas Longhorns have officially put a bow on training camp as they prepare to face Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 4, but head coach Steve Sarkisian still has not named a starting quarterback.
That didn’t change Thursday — Sarkisian didn’t tip his hand as to who Texas’ Week 1 starter will be, even when asked directly by a reporter.
“No I have not named [a starting quarterback],” Sarkisian said Thursday. “So, I guess there’s nothing to share.”
Sarkisian said Casey Thompson and Hudson Card have been splitting first-team snaps throughout Texas’ preseason practice and will continue to battle for the starting role, previously filled by Sam Ehlinger — a four-year Longhorns quarterback — who was drafted in the sixth round by the Indianapolis Colts.
“The reps have been split,” Sarkisian said. “I think they continue to build. I know that first scrimmage didn’t go the way they wanted it to go, and probably the way I wanted it to go for them, but like I just touched on for the defense, I think it was a really good wake-up call for them. After having practiced well the first week … They’ve just stuck to their training. And hey, I get it — mistakes are going to happen, misreads or whatever happen, but if at least you’re sticking to training you have something to fall back on.”
Multiple reports have surfaced in the past week that Card has taken a leg-up over Thompson in the past few Texas practices, some going as far as to say Sarkisian is “leaning towards” selecting Card. Sarkisian hasn’t given any public hints, but he spoke about the quarterbacks in-depth earlier this week.
Card is a redshirt freshman from Austin, where he played in high school for Lake Travis. He was a four-star recruit entering Texas, and last season he made very brief appearances in a Longhorns uniform, completing one of three passes for five yards and rushing for 11 yards on four attempts. Before college, Card was a decorated high school quarterback that completed 144 of 219 pass attempts (65.8%) for 2,288 yards his senior year, while throwing 24 touchdowns and just five interceptions.
Thompson, by comparison, is a redshirt junior who brings marginally more experience than Card — though both quarterbacks have played mostly garbage-time minutes. In seven career appearances, Thompson has completed 20 of 29 pass attempts, throwing for 309 yards and six touchdowns. A 6-foot-1 signal caller from Newcastle, Oklahoma, Thompson was also a four-star recruit coming into Texas, and he racked up over 12,000 total yards and 154 total touchdowns during his high school career.