Wisner 'doubtful,' Moore 'good to go,' J. Williams 'available,' and more from Steve Sarkisian's Thursday Zoom

Let’s get right to what Steve Sarkisian had to say on his Thursday Zoom.

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Steve Sarkisian: “This is, for our players and our team right now, an exciting week. We’re going into week four and this is our first night game.”

Steve Sarkisian: “These guys have really been practicing their asses off. It’s not just the front line units, it’s all the way down through our scout teams. It’s been a couple weeks now and then practicing now. I’ve been really proud of them that they just come right back to work. They stay connected, they continue to push one another, and that’s what it takes.”

Steve Sarkisian on Tre Wisner: “Tre is making really good progress right now. I’d say he’s doubtful for Saturday, but I’ve been impressed with the progress that he’s making.”

Steve Sarkisian on the D-line: “Any time you play really good defense, it starts up front. I haven’t been around many really good defenses that weren’t really good up front. I think it always starts up front. That’s been something that we’ve been preaching since the day we arrived. We’ve got to be a dominant front.” — Says that allows them to properly tie things with the back end, disguise coverages, and then speed up opposing quarterbacks’ progressions — “PK has done a great job of tying that group together with Kenny Baker and LaAllan Clark and Johnny Nansen to go along with what we’re doing in the back end.”

Some young guys Sarkisian wants to see Saturday? Young RBs, young receivers. Daylan McCutcheon, Nate Kibble, Nick Brooks, Daniel Cruz, Jordon Johnson-Rubell, Wardell Mack, Jonah Williams, Kade Phillips, young defensive linemen.

Steve Sarkisian says, in reference to younger players he wants to see as part of a larger answer, “I think now having the availability of Jonah Williams, getting him out there.”

Steve Sarkisian on Colin Simmons: “He practiced his ass off yesterday. I haven’t watched the tape today, but he practiced so well yesterday. He practiced hard. He practiced physical. He was running our games really well up front. He affected the quarterback. He was really, really good.”

Steve Sarkisian, in an answer about how players on his offense can help Arch Manning ‘just complete the pass’, mentions the importance of taking practice victories to the game: “I liken it to our defense right now. I would say our defense is having a little more fun than our offense right now. They’re playing with a little more energy. They’re playing with a little more excitement. They’re playing with more confidence.”

Is the Arch Manning we’re seeing on Saturday so far the same Arch Sark is seeing on the practice field? Sarkisian: “I would say no. I would say we get a little different version in practice. Naturally, that’s kind of what I’m talking about, that ability to take Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and play with that same kind of confidence and intent on Saturday. That’s the part for us, is that we see and know what it looks like. My goal is that you all get to see that. That’s what we’re striving for. He had a great week. I’ve been proud of them for that.”

Steve Sarkisian says DeAndre Moore is “good go go. He’ll be rolling Saturday.”

Emmett Mosley is “still limited, but man he’s making a lot of progress. We’re on course for where we wanted to be coming into the season. All signs are pointing up for him moving forward.”

Steve Sarkisian on DeAndre Moore: “He definitely brings the juice. He’s an Energizer Bunny. He’s one of the few guys that was a mainstay starter for us a year ago that has played a lot of football. He has a lot of confidence and can fix things on the field if maybe something’s a little bit off because of his experience of lining a guy up, making sure a certain guy is running a certain route, recognition of coverages when the ball is snapped. His experience is invaluable. His confidence uplifts confidence of players that are on the field with him not only on game day, but in practice and in the meeting room. I do think it will be great to have him back.”

Steve Sarkisian on the three young running backs: “I think they’ve all done well. They’re all kind of in a different phase and have a unique style in the way that they play the game.” — Mentions that more than just taking the ball and running, Sark wants them to understand the blocking schemes, how the blocking schemes fit with defenses so that they can set runs up and hit runs, know where they’re supposed to go with the right timing. — “That’s always the thing with young backs. That’s always one of the challenges.”

Steve Sarkisian on not taking a portal O-lineman: “I think how we’ve done it is we made an emphasis on high school recruiting years ago. The one class, I think we signed seven players. I think the smallest class might have been a 3-4 (man) class. We’ve accumulated a lot of offensive linemen, then we haven’t lost a ton to the portal. Because of that, our numbers were in a good spot. Over the last couple of years, we thought the development of players was good. We didn’t feel like bringing in a guy from another school. Where would he fall in the pecking order of the guys that we had? So many guys going to the portal are thinking ‘I want to go there to start,’ then they look at our depth chart and it’s like ‘well I’m probably not going to start. I don’t really want to go there.’ That’s a little bit of a catch-22 there.”

Could he take a portal O-lineman in the future? As part of a larger answer: “Never say never.”

Steve Sarkisian says he’s in favor of 5 to play 5 as opposed to 5 to play 4 with the 4-game redshirt rule: “To me, why not just give them the whole year and let these guys play? Who knows? If at week eight, you’ve got a kid who could be a backup DE who’s already played four games, you’re trying to balance out should we be playing him or should we not. A guy got an ankle sprain and might be out a week. To me, because of the length of the season, I would just go ahead and eliminate the redshirt and just let him have 5 years to play 5.”

Adds that the four-game rule allows for players to opt out. Sark even mentions the 2024 UNLV QB situation: “When you do that no redshirt year, you eliminate that.”