How Steve Sarkisian will structure training camp ahead of a week one battle with Ohio State
Recently, Texas has had their big non-conference games in Week 2 of their season: LSU, Arkansas, both Alabama games, and Michigan. In fact, the last time the Longhorns had a premier matchup Week 1 was in 2016 against Notre Dame.
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Having a weaker team the first week of the season allows for teams to get reaccustomed to playing in an actual game setting, as well as showing the coaches what they really have in certain players without much worry over losing the game.
But this season, Texas doesn’t have the luxury of a tune-up game week one to warm up before Ohio State. Luckily, Steve Sarkisian is an experienced coach and has dealt with big opening games before.
“I’ve been down this road a couple of different times throughout my career,” Sarkisian said at the Texas High School Coaches Association’s Coaching School this week. “This is probably the most daunting challenge of a first game. Some of those games were neutral sites. Really early in my career, way back in ’03, we opened at Auburn when I was at SC and that was a heck of a challenge. We had a new quarterback in Matt Leinart and a couple of freshman running backs in Reggie Bush and LenDale White.
“We were a young team and had a great defense that year, and found a way to win on the road against what might have been the preseason No. 1 team in the country at the time in Auburn. You just try to tap into those things throughout your career that you’ve been through, and how can you benefit from that.”
So how will Texas adjust this season? They’ll slightly shift their fall schedule.
“The first two and a half weeks or so of training camp have been truly that of training camp,” Sarkisian said. “Then, we’ve adjusted that third week of where we’ve gotten into that first opponent, that bigger opponent. A few years ago, it was Alabama for that week. Last year it was Michigan. This year would be Ohio State. That was really implementing the gameplan for that game, then the fourth week, we would gameplan and prepare for our first opponent.
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“This year, what it will look like (is) more of a two-week process of getting ready for the game. Similar, in a sense, I guess you could say almost to a bowl game. The reality of it is, probably a little more physicality, to tackle, to do those things to make sure that you’re sharp.”
One thing working in the Horns’ favor is that Ohio State won’t have a tune up game either. Last year, the Buckeyes played Akron, Western Michigan, and Marshall before playing their first Power Four team. And the year prior, they played a very weak Indiana team, Youngstown State, and Western Kentucky before playing Notre Dame.
Both teams have inexperience, especially at the quarterback position. But Texas holds the advantage in that Arch Manning has started multiple games, including against SEC defenses, whereas likely starter Julian Sayin has only appeared late in games that were already over. Having your first real game against a very dangerous Texas defense will be very tough for Sayin to navigate without a warm-up game the week before.
The week 1 matchup is highly anticipated, and neither team will have the advantage of a tune up game. But Sark’s experience and the leadership in the locker room will have the Horns prepared for Columbus.
