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LIVE UPDATES: Steve Sarkisian previews top-10 matchup with Georgia

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook12 hours agojosephcook89
Paul Finebaum calls out Steve Sarkisian for Florida comments, throws stray at James Franklin
[Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will be available to the media today to preview the Longhorns’ matchup with the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens. The press conference begins at 11:30 a.m. Longhorn Network will carry the availability.

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Live updates below.

Updates from Steve Sarkisian

Steve Sarkisian: “Obviously, this week is a heck of a challenge going to play at Georgia, the respect that we have for that program and the job that they’ve done not only this season but over the years, what Coach Smart has done. Think they’ve been to four consecutive SEC Championship games. He’s got a couple of national titles. This is a very tough team to play at home. They’re 51-2 in their last 53 games at home.”

Steve Sarkisian: “I think it’s important for everybody. When you play really good teams who are really well coached, you never know what’s going to be the play of the plays that are going to be the deciding factors in game like this. Everybody’s got a role in our organization.” — “Everybody’s got to get themselves ready to play.”

Steve Sarkisian on CJ Allen, Chris Cole, and Raylen Wilson, says those players affect the quarterback: “We’ve got to do a great job of identifying those guys and minimizing their ability to affect the game. Naturally, I think we have one turnover in the last four games on offense. Our ability to continue to protect the ball I think is paramount. Defensively, we’ve got to find a way to get the ball off them whether it’s off the quarterback, the runners, affecting the quarterback in the pocket, or forcing some errant throws. That’s when we’re at our best.”

Sarkisian: “This game against Georgia requires all of its attention that it deserves. That attention isn’t just Saturday night at 7:30, it’s the attention it deserves today at 7:15 this morning in our first team meeting.”

Sarkisian on Taaffe, McDonald, Wingo, says all three practiced today and “looked great. I don’t foresee any setbacks there, so feel good about that.”

Sarkisian on Ryan Wingo: “I think this is what we always envisioned it would be. I don’t think it’s necessarily new. I think it’s just taking some time, and that’s okay. Things take time. What I’m happy about is we’re evolving and getting better as the season is moving on. That’s a credit to those players of working at their craft and trying to improve and trying to get better, whether it’s understanding timing or making plays on the ball, or trusting his speed.”

Sarkisian on Ethan Burke: “I’m really proud of Ethan. He had a great offseason for us. He had a great spring ball and summer. One of the areas that can go a little unnoticed because we always want to look at production is his leadership has been fantastic. That guy has grown up a ton in our program. I’m really happy for him that he’s getting the production now the last few weeks. He was banged up pretty good there over a month ago and we were getting a really scaled down version of Ethan Burke. Now that he’s gotten healthy, he is providing exactly what we need on that strong side to be the player that he is.”

Steve Sarkisian on the OL: “I think there’s a real sense of trust in the five that are out there right now that they’re going to be able to execute at a little higher level than we were executing earlier in the season.”

Sarkisian repeats how important it will be to get Michael Taaffe, Jelani McDonald, and Xavier Filsaime healthy for the Georgia game.

Steve Sarkisian on the mindset entering the final stretch: “Since we lost to Florida, the first bullet point when I talk to the team about what it takes is this is an SEC championship game. That went back now for the last month. This week’s not different.”

Steve Sarkisian on UGA: “Their level of consistency has been pretty high for the last decade, credit to those guys. I don’t know what constitutes a dynasty or not, but these guys have played four straight SEC championship games and are trying for five. I think that’s pretty good especially when a lot of teams and coaches in our conference haven’t played for any.”

Steve Sarkisian on what he saw over the weekend, mentions there were great drives at the end of games and noted how Indiana and Oregon found ways to win on the road. Also says he saw “some trickery across the board.” — “The cream is rising to the top right now. You’re starting to see the teams that are getting better throughout the season and starting to play that way.”

Steve Sarkisian on the key to gameplanning these types of games: “Try to put your players in the best position to be successful. I think we can’t ever lose sight of that. Sometimes you can put in plays or defenses or special teams plays on a whiteboard that look good, but the matchups matter, so you’re always trying to find favorable matchups.”

Steve Sarkisian mentions Kirby Smart texted him while the Bulldogs were on the way to Starkville: “I think our relationship has gotten closer since we’ve been in the league. We have more things to talk about. One thing about him being the head coach at Georgia and myself being the head coach at Texas, I think we have an opportunity to be influential on trying to do what’s best for our game not only in our conference, but in the state of college football. I think us being aligned on as many issues as we can be aligned on I think is good for the sport. We try to do that. We’re not going to agree on everything. He’s a defensive head coach, so he’s trying to get all the rules in favor of the defense. I’m trying to get them in favor of the offense. In the end, I have a ton of respect for Kirby, the job he does, the way that his teams play the game. Ton of respect for him. I always love competing against him. It’s a great challenge, and this week’s no different.”

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