Steve Sarkisian says Texas is stressing explosive plays in 2023

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian knows the Longhorn offense has room to improve upon after a solid but not spectacular 2022 season. One of those ways is through explosive plays.

“Our offense doesn’t quite work the way it’s supposed to work if we don’t hit some of those plays,” Sarkisian said during a press conference this week. “I don’t expect this to be 100%. Anytime you throw a ball beyond 15, 20 yards, the percentage is naturally going to drop. But we try to create those opportunities down the field. Then finding that rapport of the deep ball whether it’s a post, a go, deep crossers, whatever they are, and how it complements themselves with the run game and then the intermediate passing game is all critical to our success as an offense and then ultimately as a team.”

Texas ranked 23rd in the country in yards per play last year — a very good but not elite mark. All four College Football Playoff teams ranked ahead of them. National champion Georgia finished in the top five.

Explosive plays have been a point of emphasis for the team during its spring practices.

“That aspect of the game as I’ve been touching on before spring ball is a huge point of emphasis of ours,” Sarkisian said. “I think that we’re starting to see the benefits of it as we’re getting into some of these live settings and the way we’re throwing the ball and the way we’re catching the ball down the field.”

Steve Sarkisian on the different learning curves of Texas players at spring practice

There are obviously other points of emphasis for Steve Sarkisian’s Texas team during the offseason beyond just explosive plays.

One thing he knows makes spring ball both a great opportunity and a potential challenge is the surplus of newcomers who arrive, whether via enrolling early or the transfer portal.

The challenges of this is that everyone operates on their own timeline but there is plenty of time before the season to get them to understand and develop their new habits.

“I think it varies from player to player. I think that, for some guys, it just happens quicker than others,” Sarkisian said. “Whether it’s understanding scheme, whether it’s understanding effort, whether it’s understanding physicality, whether it’s understanding discipline within the play and what their responsibility is. Whether it’s understanding multiple spots. Because we’re trying to figure guys out, what they’re best at, and what they can do in all three phases. So I hate to lump them all into one.”