Steve Sarkisian talks TCU, the Longhorn defense, Quinn Ewers, and more in Thursday Zoom
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was available to the media on Thursday for his regular weekly Zoom call. He touched on topics like the upcoming battle with No. 4 TCU, pressuring the quarterback, Quinn Ewers, Veterans Day, and more.
[Get FOUR MONTHS of Inside Texas Plus for $1!]
Here are a few selected quotes from Sarkisian’s time talking to the media.
Steve Sarkisian opening statement: “Heck of an opportunity. This is why you play college football, for games like this. We haven’t been home here for a while. It’s been about a month since our last home game, so I know everybody’s excited. Anytime you have the national attention, whether it’s College Game Day, primetime game, I think everybody’s excited about the opportunity. It’s a great opportunity for the University of Texas, our fans, our students to celebrate Longhorn football. Clearly, we’re looking forward to a great environment in DKR. The crowd noise, the energy, those are all factors and I think our players feed off of that energy. I think it’s an intimidating place to come and play, and I think the fans and students have done a great job of creating that. That being said, it’s a great opportunity for our players to go out and perform and do it at a high level. That being said, I thought our players have prepared really, really well. I thought they’ve built off of what they did last week and continued that process from a preparation standpoint, whether it’s mental, physical, or recovery. I think the guys have really bought into it. We feel fresh and we feel ready to go.”
Steve Sarkisian on why TCU is a good second half team: “I don’t think it’s anything schematic. I think they do a good job of staying the course. They do a good job of playing hard and continuing to play with good effort. They’re obviously a well-coached football team. They’ve got good players. Then once you start to have some of those games like that, they’ve got a great deal of belief that they’re never out of it. It definitely shows up.”
Steve Sarkisian on defending TCU’s explosive offense: “They’ve got a very talented roster. They’ve got a lot of speed on their team. Quentin Johnston is an easy one to point out but they’ve got four or five receivers who can really run. Obviously the two running backs can get it. They utilize the tight ends really well, then the quarterback is playing with a lot of confidence. In turn, when they get the looks they’re looking for, he takes the shots and they go get it. They space you out quite a bit, so if the first guy doesn’t get him on the ground you’ve got to populate the ball because they have the ability to take it the distance. That’s the natural concern when you play against everybody.”
Steve Sarkisian on pressuring the quarterback: “I think it’s big. I think our defensive front, this is a great challenge for them this week obviously with their ability to run the football first with (Kendre) Miller. Those guys can run it. The second part is trying to affect the quarterback. It’s hard to always just sack the quarterback, but if you can affect the quarterback that can be impactful as well.”
Steve Sarkisian on Quinn Ewers and how experience has helped him: “It’s huge. As a young player and as a young quarterback, there’s nothing like experience. There’s nothing like being exposed to different scenarios in-game, being exposed to different defenses, being exposed to tough times, being exposed to good times. Then, how you respond to them. I give Quinn a lot of credit. I thought he bounced backed well. I thought he handled road game adversity much better against Kansas State. Didn’t think for a second he was shell-shocked or nervous or anything like that coming off of Oklahoma State. He handled himself really well. My expectation is he’s going to take a lot of the things from the K-State game, just like he did from the previous games, and he’s going to continue to grow. We knew this was going to be a maturation process for him. To his credit, he’s been coachable, continues to work through it all, and continues to improve.”
Steve Sarkisian on the Texas One Fund: “I think that’s where we’re headed in college athletics right now. The fact that Chris Del Conte, the university have formulated this I think is a positive. I think we’re doing it the right way. Anything we’ve done from an NIL perspective and now on this front has been above board, and they’ve done it in a way that I think is going to become a positive, and there’s room for growth. With the idea that now I can talk to donors about NIL, how to support, and what we’re trying to get accomplished here for our student-athletes, I think is big. It’s not just me. It’s every sport here at the University of Texas. I’ve said this all along, we’ve got the best coaches in the world here on every level. We recruit the best athletes in the world to come swim, play basketball, play football, run track, play volleyball, whatever that is, baseball, so if we can support that on different levels I think it’s all a positive. That’s where we’re headed now. We can agree or disagree with NIL, we’re beyond that. Now, it’s how do we support it, how do we do it the right way, and do it with class the way the University of Texas always does.”
Steve Sarkisian on Veterans Day recognition: “It’s definitely perspective. We’ve obviously got players on the team who have family members, parents, aunts, uncles, brothers who have been in the military or are currently in the military. For us to show our support for all that they do, for the opportunities they’ve allotted us to do what we love to do, which is play and coach football, definitely have an appreciation for that and we’ll do our best to acknowledge them here Saturday night.”
