Steve Sarkisian goes old-school when assessing the Texas offensive line

Following the Longhorns spring scrimmage, head coach Steve Sarkisian issued a challenge to his offensive line for 2022. The former Alabama offensive coordinator wants to take his top-30 running game into the top-10 and the offensive line is the key to getting it there.

“I thought kind of the first unit tonight played pretty well, I thought they played good football,” Sarkisian said. “All in all, that group right there is going to be critical to our success. We have two really good triggermen. We’ve talked about the backfield, we know what’s happening at wide receiver. Now, how far can this offensive line go to play the brand of football that we want to play? And that brand of football is very simple.

“We have to be able to run the ball when the other team knows we’re going to run the ball. If we can do that, then everything else comes to light. We can RPO, play-action pass, we can drop back, we can do those things. But you have to have the ability to run the ball when the other team knows you’re going to do it and you have to be effective doing it.”

Steve Sarkisian knows how important improved offensive line play will be in 2022 but he still doesn’t know which quarterback will be taking the first reps behind them on Sept. 3 versus ULM.

To the Longhorns’ benefit, they return starting running back Bijan Robinson. He’s fresh off of a 1,127-yard season and an early candidate for the 2022 Heisman Trophy.

Sarkisian gives blunt assessment of Quinn Ewers’ spring game

One of the biggest storylines of the Orange and White spring game Saturday night was the quarterback competition. Quinn Ewers and Hudson Card are in a heated battle for the top job in Austin.

During the spring game, Sarkisian spoke with the Longhorn Network about both quarterbacks’ performances, particularly Ewers’ first few sequences. He threw a beautiful 60-yard touchdown pass, but then proceeded to throw an interception.

Sarkisian offered a blunt assessment of the performance.

“I thought so far, up until the last throw, they were making good decisions, throwing the ball where it needed to go,” Sarkisian said. “I thought Quinn might have forced one there, but that’s part of the growing pains. He made a great throw on the touchdown, then comes back and throws a pick. So we’ve just got to keep working through it.”

Texas wasn’t keeping score for the game, but Sarkisian said he liked what he saw from the offense early on. He also pointed out the defense needs to shore up a bit, but getting Ewers to throw an interception was a good sign.

“I think the first offense is moving the ball really well,” Sarkisian said. “[It has] been effective, created some explosive plays. … I thought the first drive of the first defense, we were a little shaky. Then they settled in the last two drives and obviously created a turnover, that was big.”

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.