What areas need further improvement during Texas' remaining spring practices? Steve Sarkisian has several in mind
The Texas Longhorns are about halfway through their allotment of spring practices with the Orange-White Game just 17 days away. After seven practices, what are some areas Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian thinks his team must improve before April 20?
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According to Sarkisian on Tuesday, his answer to that question has changed some in recent days especially as it pertains to the offense.
“I would have said after practice No. 5, I would have said the run game,” Sarkisian said. “I was like ‘man, we’ve got to get it going.’ Then, the last two practices, the run game has started to come to life. That’s been definitely encouraging.”
The Longhorns are figuring out how to best replace 1000-yard rusher Jonathon Brooks, a task they had a head start on late last season with CJ Baxter and Jaydon Blue taking charge of the run game. They’ll also need to figure out a replacement for Christian Jones at right tackle, a role Cameron Williams has done well to step into this spring.
But with those gains on offense, the zero-sum aspect of practicing against yourself is made evident.
“When I tell you that the run game is getting better on offense, I think we need to shore some things up run defense wise,” Sarkisian said. “If the run game is starting to come to life offensively, then where are the issues defensively? Why is that occurring?”
With regards to the pass offense, Quinn Ewers returns but there are a lot of fresh faces at wide receiver and tight end that need to get on the same page with Texas’ third-year quarterback. Sarkisian said recent workouts have revealed progress toward that end.
“I would probably have said the same thing about the consistency in the passing game, but the last two practices that has shown up,” Sarkisian said. “I just think that’s a little bit, offensively, the byproduct of those guys working through base installation then finding rapport (with) run timing, but also rapport (between) quarterback, receivers, tight ends.”
When zeroing in on the defense, Sarkisian identified turnovers as a place where he’d like to see more progress.
Sarkisian’s team was Lucky No. 13 nationally in turnovers forced last season, tallying eight fumble recoveries and 16 interceptions for a total of 24 (Bowling Green, Clemson, and Cal were the national leaders in turnovers forced with 28). Even with that strong ranking that resulted in a 0.43 turnover margin, Sarkisian wants to see more as far as takeaways considering how much emphasis his program places on possession of the football.
“Naturally, defensively, it’s tough to tell because we’re not tackling as much,” Sarkisian said. “But naturally, we want to get more balls out on the ground. We’ve created a few interceptions. But one area I know we really want to improve on this season is creating those turnovers. That’s always the challenge there.”
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Beginning Thursday, Texas will have seven more practices and the Orange-White game to straighten these aspects out before the helmets and shoulder pads are put away until August.
