5 things to track in the Texas Longhorns spring game
The annual Orange-White Game is this Saturday, April 23 at 6 p.m. It will be the first look at the 2022 Longhorns after Steve Sarkisian’s first season in Austin, a 5-7 campaign that included a six-game losing streak.
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Plenty of offseason changes have been made, specifically to the roster thanks to a number of early enrollees and portal additions. A lot of players are gaining their footing in the offensive and defensive systems, while several are building upon what they learned over the course of last year.
In Sarkisian’s eyes, this spring was 14 practices of improvement.
“I thought this was a really good spring for us,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “I thought that really at every position group, we saw improvement, and that’s the goal when you come into spring, that every time that we take the field you’re striving for somewhere in your game to get better, to find that growth that we talked about before the spring. I thought for the most part, every guy at every position group in some way, shape, or form found that.”
With this being likely the last public look at the team in pads until Louisiana-Monroe visits Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium in early September, here are five storylines to keep track of during Saturday’s event.
Quarterbacks, Quarterbacks, Quarterbacks
Sarkisian calls quarterback the most important position in sports, and with Hudson Card returning from last year and Quinn Ewers transferring from Ohio State, a significant amount of attention will go to the players donning black ‘no-touch’ jerseys.
He praised the playmaking of both quarterbacks during spring drills, and explained how they were adept at throwing deep balls when the situation called for it. Not every throw was perfect, but the timing worked for Sarkisian. He also praised their third-down work before diving into individual praise.
“I think Hudson, naturally, some of the game management things come really naturally to him, just having been doing it with us,” Sarkisian said.
“I think Quinn is a very quick study,” he said. “There’s things that come to him that are new, or a situational thing comes to him that’s new, but he really take the coaching and tries to apply it the next time out.”
“I think both guys have really earned a lot of respect from their teammates, in their approach, to their preparation, and then ultimately their ability to execute.”
How much of the headliners do we see?
Sarkisian was asked if any player won’t see much time on Saturday. Two of the names listed are on the offensive side of the ball, and one is a big-time piece of Texas’ 2022 fortunes. However, the extent of the injury shouldn’t be worrisome.
“Bijan (Robinson) will probably be limited Saturday,” Sarkisian said. “He’s got kind of an ankle sprain, nothing serious, but he’ll be relatively limited. Andrej Karic is nursing an ankle as well. Outside of that, I foresee everybody else playing.”
The actual format
Though it will be the Orange-White Game, it won’t be like an actual game. Sarkisian cited lack of depth along the offensive line as a reason behind the format.
Texas lost Tope Imade, Denzel Okafor, and Derek Kerstetter to graduation. Rafiti Ghirmai and Tyler Johnson, who was not with the team for most of last season, entered the portal. Isaiah Hookfin is recovering from the effects of a motorcycle crash.
Plus, of Texas’ seven-man offensive line class, only Cole Hutson is on campus. Throw in Karic’s limited status, and the numbers just aren’t there to make it work for a full-fledged scrimmage
“We won’t play it like a game with an actual score,” Sarkisian said. “We just can’t do it because of the lack of numbers on the offensive line, but we will have basically a live scrimmage for about 100 plays or so, which should be good, with a pretty good competition in the end in the red area that I know our guys are excited about.”
How does the new era of special teams look?
Texas’ special team duo from 2022 of kicker/punter Cameron Dicker and long snapper Justin Mader are onto professional aspirations. In addition, Ryan Bujcevski, the punter in previous seasons, entered the transfer portal in the offseason.
There’s an ongoing competition for kicker between a handful of players, including Bert Auburn and Gabriel Lozano. Plus, kicker Will Stone and long snapper Lance St. Louis are set to enroll this summer.
But on campus right now vying to replace Dicker as punter and Mader as long snapper are Isaac Pearson and Zach Edwards.
“Isaac, the second half of spring or really the last two thirds of spring, he’s been tremendous,” Sarkisian said. “In both scrimmages, he’s punted the ball really well for us, which has been a real positive.”
“I’d also say at long snapper, we knew what Edwards was, but sometimes now it’s your turn to really be it with Mader being gone, but I think Edwards has really stepped up as well.”
What about the other receivers?
Xavier Worthy is a known commodity at receiver for the Longhorns. Jordan Whittington, so long as he’s healthy, can also have an impact on games.
But there needs to be more than just two to make the offense work. Who else has made strides during the 14 practices?
“I think Isaiah Neyor, I think this spring was huge for him just getting acclimated to our style of play,” Sarkisian said. “Obviously, the system, but you see the playmaking ability. He’s a real weapon on deep balls. In the red area, he’s a big physical guy.”
“Marcus Washington, I think has picked up from where he left off last year where he was kind of a special teams blocker the first half of the season, grew into a role as a regular down receiver for us, and has come back this spring building on where he was, which is a positive.”
Those were the only to draw mention by name. Sarkisian mentioned a need for other receivers contending for playing time to gain a better grasp of the offense.
In 100 plays on Saturday, where back-ups and walk-ons will assuredly rotate in, they’ll have one more opportunity to show a better understanding gained throughout the spring before summer conditioning starts.
