Steve Sarkisian reveals his message to Bijan Robinson ahead of his 78-yard TD run

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian knew that it was only a matter of time before Bijan Robinson broke free for a big play Saturday against UTSA. As the Longhorns entered halftime tied at 17 with the Roadrunners, Sarkisian had a message for his star running back ahead of the second half.

“Right before the first play of the second half, I told him, ‘Just run through these guys,'” Sarkisian said postgame. “‘Enough of the dancing in the hole and spinning and all this stuff. Just start running through ’em and you’re gonna hit a big one here.'”

Two plays later, Sarkisian’s prediction came true. Taking one off the right tackle’s side, Robinson burst through the defense and was home free for a 78-yard touchdown. No one was more excited for him than the Longhorns coach, who was animated in his celebration on the sidelines.

“That’s kind of why I was so excited for him and the guys in the huddle because that’s what we sort of kept preaching is that sooner or later the dam is gonna break and we would start rolling,” he said. “That’s kind of what happened.”

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The score gave Texas a 24-17 lead and the Longhorns never looked back on their way to a 41-20 victory. The touchdown run for Robinson was the longest of his career, but far from his only highlight of the evening. The running back finished with 183 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 20 carries, and also had a 41-yard run for a score later in the second half.

As Steve Sarkisian looks back on the impressive performance, he is proud of Bijan Robinson for both taking the time to listen to his message and applying it.

“We came into the game, and I didn’t make any secrets about it with the offense that we had to be the more physical team tonight,” Sarkisian said. “We needed to run the ball. Clearly we had a little bit of a quarterback situation going on and sometimes when you’re running the ball, it doesn’t happen right away.

“Over time, it starts to break and people start to get out of their gaps. Part of it is the play calls. We’ve got to find the right formations and plays that can hit versus what’s happening. Then part of it is the runner, too.”

Robinson will look to keep his impressive play up when the Longhorns open Big 12 play against Texas Tech at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday in Lubbock.