Steve Sarkisian breaks down preparing for two K-State QBs

The Texas Longhorns defense has a unique challenge coming off of their bye week as they take on No. 13 Kansas State on the road this Saturday. Wildcats starting quarterback Adrian Martinez suffered an injury two games ago, and his backup Will Howard is fresh off of a dominant performance in his first start of the season versus Oklahoma State. It’s still unclear who will be K-State’s starter this week, forcing the Longhorns to prepare for two quarterbacks instead of one, as head coach Steve Sarkisian broke down the two QBs ahead of their game.

“I think one the experience of each Adrian Martinez you can’t discount, started a lot of football games, started a lot of games at Nebraska,” Sarkisian said. “I think he’s taken his game to another level now at Kansas State, he’s protecting the ball much better than he ever has, he’s obviously an elite runner from the quarterback position and a more than capable passer.”

Martinez has been electric for the Wildcats this season prior to his injury, throwing for 907 yards in the air and leading all FBS quarterbacks in rushing yards with 565 on the ground, also adding 9 touchdown rushes to his stat line.

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Martinez has been a pillar of Kansas State’s offense all season, but their most dominant performance of the season occurred last week in a game he missed due to an injury, as the Wildcats beat Oklahoma State 48-0 behind a 296 yard, four-touchdown performance by backup Will Howard.

“Will Howard you can see his growth, same guy who started against us last year, but he’s really grown. You can see his comfort level in the pocket and his ability to push the ball down the field,” Sarkisian said. “They do a nice job of scheming things up and getting throws based on the coverages they see and he’s letting it rip.”

Martinez’s injury status is still unclear heading into Saturday, and Howard’s excellent performance in the team’s most recent upset victory throws a wrench into Kansas State’s quarterback situation. But regardless of who’s under center for the Wildcats, Sarkisian believes the game plan will still stay very much the same for them.

“But I will say we found out a year ago, he’s a more than capable runner too. So I don’t think the system is going to change, but I do think we need to be aware of what quarterback is back there because the syle of play in the quarterback could change,” Sarkisian said.