Steve Sarkisian explains why he wouldn't have scripted Saturday any better, especially for Quinn Ewers
Not much went wrong for Texas in Steve Sarkisian’s second opener as head coach. The Longhorns trounced UL-Monroe 52-10 on Saturday with plenty of strong performances throughout. In Sarkisian’s opinion, he couldn’t have asked for a better game for his team to start off with.
Sarkisian broke down the game and the performance of his players after the win, specifically freshman QB Quinn Ewers. He said the game was great for his team because it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. The Longhorns, Ewers included, had to push through some hardships early and Sarkisian says he was happy they showed they could play through their mistakes.
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“I wouldn’t have scripted it any better because we had some adversity tonight, especially for Quinn. If he would have came out and been 17-18 or 17-19, he wouldn’t have had to respond to some of those things,” said Sarkisian. “I didn’t want him to throw a pick on his second pass of his career, but I found out that he’s not going to go in a shell. He’s not going to beat himself up and get down on himself. He’s going to bounce back.”
Ewers’ first drive didn’t go as planned as Sarkisian eluded to. Ewers threw an incomplete pass to Xavier Worthy to start and afterward threw an interception on his third career snap. As Sarkisian said, though, the former five-star pushed through. Despite the early turnover, Ewers finished 16/24 on the night for 225 yards and two touchdowns.
It wasn’t just a great debut for Ewers. Overall, Sarkisian was happy with how the game played out for his entire roster. They won, several players saw time, and they came out of the game healthy. For Sarkisian, he couldn’t have asked for much better.
“I thought it was good that a lot of guys got to play. Like I said, they weren’t perfect and so that was a positive,” said Sarkisian. “I think, from a housekeeping standpoint, not having any real injuries tonight? That’s a positive. That’s tough to do to go play a full, four-quarter football game and not have the injuries that we were fortunate tonight not to get.”
Everything Steve Sarkisian’s squad will take out of their opener will be important with No. 1 Alabama coming to Austin this weekend. The Crimson Tide will place plenty more adversity in front of Texas and it’s on them to play through it. That’s their only way to victory over Nick Saban’s team and, based on their opener, Sarkisian is glad they learned that lesson early on.