Steve Sarkisian highlights the most-overlooked part of what makes Bijan Robinson great

You don’t become one of the best running backs in the country by simply being talented. Plenty of players across the country are extremely talented. However, few, if any, have match the success of Texas running back Bijan Robinson at the college level this season. So, for Robinson, his success is a product of great talent meeting a great mindset and competitive spirit, according to Longhorn head coach Steve Sarkisian.

Sarkisian spoke at length about his offensive superstar at his press conference following his team’s 55-14 obliteration of Kansas on the road, crediting Robinson for his mentality on and off the field. In that particular game, Robinson put on an absolute show. He carried the ball 25 times for nearly 10 yards per touch, accumulating 243 yards and four touchdowns on the day. Maybe the most dominant performance from a running back in any single game all year.

But Robinson may feel a little bad for the Kansas defense, since apparently he’s the nicest dude in the world off the field. “Yeah, no that’s the thing about Bijan. He’s such a nice human being that sometimes he doesn’t get enough credit for the competitive spirit that he has,” Coach Sarkisian said of the talented tailback.

“I mean, this guy, you don’t get to where you’re at in your career by just being talented. He’s got a great competitive spirit,” Steve Sarkisian continued, crediting the whole running back room for competing and pushing each other day in and day out.

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“I think his own room pushes him. You know, obviously Rocshon Johnson, Keilan Robinson, Jonathon Brooks, those guys push him. And then he loves the competition and in practice it shows up, you know, when we go good on good.”

Sometimes, Texas does have to run practice plays where Robinson isn’t involved, which the star running back hates, because he’s just so competitive.

“There’s times in season sometimes where we like to pull him out and he’s chomping at the bit to get back in there. So I think that that’s just what he’s made of. Man, he’s a special person. Beyond a special player, but that competitive spirit sometimes gets overlooked on him.”

Well, Bijan Robinson’s nice-guy attitude gave way to his competitive fire last Saturday as he ran amuck against the Jayhawks en route to a statement win for the Longhorns.