Steve Sarkisian, Texas to 'monitor' Bijan Robinson's workload

Steve Sarkisian and No. 21 Texas will be in the national spotlight this week, as the Longhorns play No. 6 Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl — and Sarkisian will need Bijan Robinson to perform on the big stage.

College GameDay will be in attendance for the Red River Showdown, and Texas will look for its first win over rival Oklahoma since 2018. If the five-game start to the Texas-Sarkisian era is any indication, the Longhorns will lean on Robinson, the star running back, to produce en masse for the offense to be successful. But after taking 35 carries last week, it’s fair to question whether Sarkisian can expect Robinson to turn in a repeat performance.

Sarkisian on Monday was asked about Robinson’s workload, and he made it clear the Longhorns’ staff will be careful.

“We’ll monitor it,” Sarkisian said of Robinson’s workload. “I think between myself, [running backs coach Stan Drayton] and [offensive coordinator Kyle Flood], we’ve got a lot of experience with dealing with running backs and workloads and how to manage that, [dealing with] specific days and build-up to the game. So, we’ll definitely manage it; we’ll monitor it. But Bijan feels great, if you ask him. I think he feels really good, I think he came out of the game extremely healthy.”

Quarterback Casey Thompson struggled at times last week against TCU, but he got it done when it mattered most. Thompson finished the game completing 12 of his 22 passing attempts, throwing for 142 yards and a touchdown, while also throwing an interception. He wasn’t perfect, but he did enough to push Texas to victory. Sarkisian said his starting quarterback “had a gritty game” last week in the narrow victory — a victory the Longhorns would not have achieved if not for Robinson.

It was Robinson, not Thompson, that willed Texas to victory. The bell cow back took those 35 carries for a whopping 216 rushing yards and two touchdowns, carrying the Longhorns to a 32-27 final.

“He’s obviously in really good physical condition,” Sarkisian said of Robinson. “That helps. That was something we had challenged him early on, coming out of spring ball. Physically and mentally preparing himself for those kind of games, when those games would come up. And he responded extremely well, he really did. And I know there was a level of fatigue there late in the fourth quarter, but I think we can always dig deeper.”

Robinson has had an extremely productive season, turning in 100-plus yard performances in four of Texas’ five contests so far. He’s taken 105 rushing attempts for 652 yards, good for an average of 6.2 yards per carry, and he’s rushed for seven touchdowns. Robinson has also proven himself as a more than capable receiver, with ten receptions for 163 receiving yards and two more touchdowns.

Texas will have its hands full against Oklahoma this weekend, and surely, the Sooners will prep its defense on one principle: stopping Robinson.