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Longhorns players beginning to trust in new coach Steve Sarkisian

Chandler Vesselsby:Chandler Vessels•09/27/21•

ChandlerVessels

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It takes time for players to get to know and trust a new coach, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian understands that. He believes that his players are finally starting to put their faith in him and the coaching staff just as conference play starts.

That showed Saturday as the Longhorns raced past Texas Tech on their way to a 70-35 victory. They’ll look to keep that offensive momentum going as they face another in-state opponent this week against TCU in Forth Worth.

“I think the players are starting to learn me as well,” Sarkisian said. “My style and how I go about it. A lot of that comes with trust. They know I’m trusting them with some of the things we’re doing and in turn they trust me. We go through a walkthrough on Friday and go through a play, they in their mind know, ‘OK, this is gonna get called in whatever the scenario is in the game.’ First-and-ten, red area, third down, whatever it is. They’re trusting me now. We’re not walking through plays and practicing plays for my health. We’re doing it because we like the call and we’re gonna run it. We want them to execute it so that everybody feels good about it.”

After starting for the first time this season against Rice, quarterback Casey Thompson again led the offense against the Red Raiders. He put up huge numbers, going 18-of-23 for 303 yards and six total touchdowns.

Texas jumped out to a 14-0 lead after one quarter and the outcome was never really in question. By halftime, the Longhorns were up 42-14.

In the two games since losing to Arkansas, Texas has scored a combined 128 points. They’ll have a chance to burn the barn again against a Horned Frogs defense that gave up 42 points in a loss to SMU this past week. They did, however, force three interceptions from Mustang quarterback Tanner Mordecai.

It might have taken a few games, but Steve Sarkisian finally has the trust of his players. The Big 12 is still for the taking, especially after Oklahoma has looked less than stellar in the early part of the year. Can Texas improve to 2-0 in the conference this weekend?