Steve Sarkisian breaks down Casey Thompson's performance in win over TCU

First-year head coach Steve Sarkisian said earlier this week that he understands just how big the matchup is against TCU, despite the fact that he wasn’t here for TCU’s upset win over Texas last week — the Texas coach knew he needed a big game from junior quarterback Casey Thompson to get the job done.

Thompson struggled at times 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; running back Bijan Robinson, however, deserves the bulk of the credit. The Longhorns’ bell cow back helped out Thompson to the rune of 35 carries for 216 yards and two touchdowns.

Texas snuck away with a 32-27 win over TCU, a rivalry that TCU has kept relatively even-keeled in recent years.

“I thought Casey [Thompson] had a gritty game,” Sarkisian said of his performance. “He had a couple critical runs for us, where he tucked it and ran. The touchdown pass to [Jordan Whittington] off an RPO was a huge play there in the fourth quarter. The deep ball to [Whittington] was another big play. I think he’s going to look back and, for whatever reason, we’re going to find a way to hit the first play of the game to Josh, or hit the deep ball to X. That aspect of the game, when we get there, is going to make us so much better.”

Sarkisian has a point. Though Texas managed to score 13 first-quarter points, it could’ve been more had Thompson completed some deeper passes. He hardly got the chance to throw the ball on the two field goal drives, but when he did, he completed just one for four with a sack.

“I thought all in all, Casey [Thompson] fought, he competed, he managed and I’m proud of him,” Sarkisian continued. “Not every game you get to go out and have six touchdowns. That’s not a reality. It’s finding a way to win when you’re a quarterback and he was able to do it today.”

Sarkisian was referring to Thompson’s performance against Texas Tech last weekend, a game in which Texas managed to put up 70 points. Thompson completed 18 of his 23 passing attempts for 303 passing yards, five touchdowns and one interception in that game.

Sarkisian gives Thompson the starting role

Sarkisian decided after the Longhorns’ 40-21 loss to Arkansas that it was time for a change, as he replaced then-starter Hudson Card with Casey Thompson at quarterback.

Card, who started the first two games, led Texas to a win over Louisiana-Lafayette but struggled against Arkansas, completing eight of 16 passing attempts for 61 yards and no touchdowns. Card was sacked three times in that game, too, prompting Sarkisian to give Thompson, a redshirt junior, the green light.

So far, so good — although Thompson and the Longhorns faced the lowly Rice Owls, Thompson still got the job done, completing 15 of his 18 passing attempts for 164 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a 58-0 rout. Thompson only continued to prove Sarkisian right, as he followed it up with back-to-back winning performances against Texas Tech and TCU.

“I think Casey is a classic example of his level of play continuing to rise based on the arena that he’s in,” Sarkisian said. “That’s a really cool quality to have, because we don’t play quarterback in a T-shirt and shorts. It’s still a physical game. You still have to deal with the pressures of playing the position, which I think the best quarterbacks embrace that pressure and kind of flourish in it.”