Steve Sarkisian on Roschon Johnson performance, use of Wildcat offense

It was the Roschon Johnson show on Friday as Texas held off Kansas State to close out the regular season. From what Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said in the postgame press conference, it was by design.

Johnson had 31 carries for 179 yards and a touchdown on the ground to lead the charge for the Longhorns. Sarkisian said the plan was to use Johnson in the Wildcat since quarterback Casey Thompson’s status was up in the air.

Even though Thompson played, Texas still rolled with the Wildcat. It certainly worked out.

“I had a pretty good feeling flying back from [West Virginia],” Sarkisian told reporters Friday. “We knew how that game ended from a quarterback situation. I didn’t know which quarterback … or [if] both of them, would be available to us. Casey kind of got back in the fold a little quicker. Hudson [Card] wasn’t able to [play]. We just felt like we had to have contingency plans available.

“Even if Casey was available, knock on wood, if he were to re-injure that thumb, what were we going to do? So we had to invest some real time in the Wildcat stuff, and then Casey was able to play, but we had already invested that time early in the week on a short week. So those were the plays we were running and it was pretty effective.”

Steve Sarkisian explains what he learned from Texas losing streak

Steve Sarkisian’s first year as Texas’ head football coach went poorly, but at least the Longhorns were able to end it on a high note.

Texas found itself ending the season with fewer than six wins, going 5-7 for the first time since 2016, Charlie Strong’s last year at the helm. Moreover, the Longhorns are not eligible for a bowl game for the first time since then. However, Texas was able to make amends — at least somewhat — in Friday’s 22-17 win over Kansas State. Sarkisian’s team battled back from a deficit, trailing 17-16 at halftime, by scoring two second-half field goals and holding Kansas State scoreless. In the process, the Longhorns broke a tumultuous six-game losing streak, during which Texas lost its AP Top 25 distinction.

“I think we needed to snap that losing streak,” Sarkisian said after Texas’ win. “It was heavy. It was heavy, it was a lot on everybody in the organization, from the top down.”

Texas’ losing streak saw the Longhorns blow some incredible leads, too. First, against Oklahoma in the Red River Showdown, Sarkisian watched Texas blow a 28-7 first-half deficit, the second-largest comeback in Oklahoma program history. Perhaps even worse is that Texas lost three-straight against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor in heartbreaking fashion, as the Longhorns blew a double-digit second-half lead in each contest.