What will the Orange-White Game look like? Per Steve Sarkisian, it's still TBD
The Texas Longhorns were on Campbell-Williams Field for spring practice No. 13 of 15 on Tuesday, with one more tune-up ahead of them prior to Saturday’s Orange-White Game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
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These practice opportunities are precious, and Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said his team was focused and turned in a good, hard-nosed, physical practice on Tuesday.
A lighter workout awaits the Longhorns on Thursday before Saturday’s spring game. What will that spring game look like?
“I don’t know yet,” Sarkisian said on Tuesday. “We haven’t nailed all that down yet. We’ll probably work on that Wednesday. We are fortunate this spring as opposed to probably the last three springs of just the number of bodies that we have available to us. We’ve got to make two teams out of this thing. How much some of those guys play remain to be seen.”
Sarkisian’s options this year are more plentiful than in seasons past. There have been occasions where lack of players, whether at certain positions or in general, have made a full-fledged “game” a non-starter. 2021 featured 1s vs. 2s, with Casey Thompson and Hudson Card trading opportunities with the first-string offense. 2022 was similar, albeit with Card and Quinn Ewers trading chances. 2023 saw 1s and 2s mixed together before the deep backups started to filter in.
But with 81 scholarship players on campus and almost a full corps of walk-ons available, something very game-like is an option for the Longhorns this Saturday.
“Again, I think we have the bodies this year (where) we can play a game,” Sarkisian said. “I think every year you have to tinker with it. We’ve had years where we haven’t had enough linemen to make two teams and we had to play it offense versus defense.”
When asked if there were any players who wouldn’t be available for the contest, Sarkisian again deflected and said that would be something he and his staff would have to figure out tomorrow. That joined a growing to-do list ahead of Saturday, one that also features figuring out what the game might look like not only from a personnel standpoint, but from the perspective of on-field play.
“Some years, you play live all the way through,” Sarkisian said. “Some years, you play live in the first half and thud in the second half and try not to go to the ground because the bodies may be at safety, or different positions.
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“We’ll navigate all that tomorrow as a staff and try to put two competitive teams together so that, one, our guys get great experience and a lot of guys can play, and, two, give our fans a sense and a feel for the type of team we have.”
