Steve Sarkisian updates Texas quarterback competition

Head coach Steve Sarkisian updated media on the ongoing Texas quarterback competition between fourth-year quarterback Casey Thompson and second-year quarterback Hudson Card. According to Sarkisian, neither quarterback is making the decision easy, as previously covered in this piece by KXAN’s Jonathan Thomas.

“I had a feeling this would happen, Both Hudson and Casey, neither one is making it easy,” Sarkisian said Monday. “They’re both playing well, they’re both improving, they’re both trying to do the things we’re asking them to do, and that’s what I want them to do.”

Thompson is a bit more familiar to Texas fans. After Sam Ehlinger went down prior to the second half of the Alamo Bowl last season, Thompson stepped in, going 8 for 10 for 170 yards and four touchdowns.

His performance made him the presumptuous starter heading into the spring, and even to an extent, heading into the fall. After all, Texas fans have yet to see Hudson Card play meaningful snaps. Card has not made it easy for Thompson, the two are engaged in a legitimate quarterback battle that’s still too close for anyone to call.

Card, a former four-star recruit, is the hometown kid. Hailing from Lake Travis High School in Austin, Card threw for 6,435 yards, 80 touchdowns and rushed for an additional 1,359 yards and 20 touchdowns over three seasons in high school. Card is a more versatile athlete, having played some receiver in high school. As a sophomore, Card had 1,137 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns while playing alongside future Ohio State star wide receiver Garrett Wilson.

QB competitions aren’t new to Sarkisian

Sarkisian has seen a lot of quarterback competitions in his 21 years in coaching but he claims the one he’s overseeing now can be compared to another competition he oversaw between Matt Cassel and Matt Leinart.

“In my career, we had a really tough one early on when Carson Palmer got done playing at USC We had a pretty good battle on our hands with Matt Cassel and Matt Leinart,” Sarkisian explained to Thomas. “That was a tough call, and, in the end, Leinart ended up being named the starter, but we really prided ourselves on the development of Matt Cassel. He never started a game for us and he still got drafted in the NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.”

With the emergence of the transfer portal, the Texas quarterback competition could develop differently than the situation at USC all those years ago.

Behind Card and Thompson sits freshman quarterback Charles Wright, who was a three-star prospect. Looking down the line, Texas hold a 2022 quarterback commitment from Maalik Murphy, a four-star from Junipero Serro (CA.) with a big frame and a lot of raw potential. Murphy is also the only quarterback of the four mentioned recruited by Sarkisian and the staff. The Longhorns are also prioritizing 2023 five-star quarterback Arch Manning.

With the addition of Murphy to the room, and the potential addition of Manning, the loser of the quarterback competition could move on to a more favorable situation.