What I Want to Hear from Steve Sarkisian’s Week 7 Press Conference

I write this article every week ahead of our Monday press conferences with Steve Sarkisian and his players.

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For the past few weeks, it’s been forward-looking and mostly light at its core. Positional battles, thoughts on Arch Manning, what have you.

It can’t be like that after last week.

I already know a few of our readers are going to read the title and immediately head to the thread and comment something about the press not holding Sark accountable without actually looking into the article.

You have to remember, as much as Sarkisian is expected to answer sincerely and with honesty, he can’t throw people under the bus. The situation isn’t so dire that firings must happen tomorrow or that stars need to be benched and thrown to the wayside. It was a bad loss, no question, but Texas truly has to play week-to-week from here on out. Every game is a national championship.

So what do we actually want to hear Sark say today?

Firstly, I want him to hold himself accountable.

Losses are never on individuals. There are too many snaps and too many people influencing every play for that to be the case. But this was the worst Sarkisian and his staff have been prepared for a game since… Oklahoma State 2022? Maybe Georgia last year? That’s in the eye of the beholder.

We need to hear Sarkisian hold himself accountable for what has happened this season, especially because I am beginning to lose faith in his ability to adapt. He was stubborn this offseason about the portal. I wouldn’t quite say he took an egotistical approach, but he clearly was overly confident in his recruiting, development staff, and his coaching ability. Not taking an RB and two or more OL in the portal is clearly the biggest mistake Texas has made all year.

Sarkisian needs to own up to a bad game script on offense and give me anything to grasp onto moving forward. Show me that the scheme will become more QB and OL friendly. Give me reason to think Texas has the playmakers to make it work outside of Manning. Anything that isn’t just coach speak.

Looking elsewhere, we need answers on the offensive line.

What the hell is going on at left guard? Why was Connor Stroh ever given that job in the first place? Why was Nick Brooks the next-best option in his mind? Where is Neto Umeozulu?

Texas has six options at that spot, and I’d argue they’ve picked the two worst to play so far this season.

What are the odds we hear Sarkisian actually dive into that spot on the line and give real analysis on why Stroh has been the option, why Brooks was the choice, and why a Cole Hutson or Umeozulu can’t be there going forward? Probably low, but it needs to be brought up.

Joe Cook and I only get so many questions. By that, I mean we get one each at best per presser. If we could magically give Sarkisian a truth serum like we were in a Tom Cruise movie, those would be the two things we’d ask about.

Otherwise, I hope we also touch on a few different topics: the defensive rotations and availability of guys like Quintrevion Wisner, CJ Baxter, Malik Muhammad, Kobe Black, and Derek Williams. But the final topic that needs to be brought up is how Sarkisian plans to deal with R. Mason Thomas.

We probably didn’t do our due diligence covering Tyreak Sapp before this game. He’s going to be a first-round NFL draft pick, but that was his first true game-breaking performance since his LSU game last year.

Thomas is the next in line of NFL edge rushers Texas will play, with those types coming from Arkansas and Texas A&M later in the year. How are you going to stop the SEC’s third-best edge rusher in terms of pass rush win rate? He’s a freak athlete who is going to feast going against what we’ve seen from Texas’ guards and RT Brandon Baker.

How is Sarkisian going to manipulate his offense knowing Manning will be pressured in true dropback scenarios? How are you going to establish the run to mitigate his ability to freely rush? What about screens, short crossers, or single-back formations?

Texas is in its worst spot as a program since its embarrassing loss to TCU in 2022. On one hand, Sarkisian has been coaching and developing at a fantastic level over those last 34 months. However, the past no longer matters. What is he going to do to salvage what already feels like a lost season?