Steve Sarkisian shares challenges of facing Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson

Steve Sarkisian is fairly familiar with Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson. However, it’s what he doesn’t know that worries him when it comes to facing him this weekend.

Sarkisian spoke about Robertson during his media availability on Thursday. He noted his ability as an athlete to start. He then did say that most of his game is still a mystery as Texas prepares since Blake Shapen was originally the Bears’ QB1

“I think the athleticism, for sure,” said Sarkisian. “His ability to create outside the pocket.”

“The other challenge is a little of the unknown, right? I mean he hasn’t played a ton of football that way. So you don’t have all the information that you’d like,” Sarkisian added.

With Shapen injuring his MCL in the opener, Robertson has been filling in at the start of this season. So far, he has completed just 45.2% of his passes for 444 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. He has also rushed nine times for 47 yards and another score.

With a little over a year or so of college football under his belt after starting his career at Mississippi State, Robertson has grown some since being a four-star prospect in 2021. Still, since he also recruited him to Texas at one point, Sarkisian also sees the same player he once knew with that added growth mixed into his game.

“He’s a competitive guy. I remember recruiting him out of high school,” Sarkisian said. “He’s a guy that I felt like, probably, played his best football in the second half last week (against LIU). So he’s maybe finding his stride a little more.”

If Texas wants to keep Baylor contained, Sarkisian closed by saying it’ll have to start with stopping the run. That’ll include keeping Robertson in check by not letting him move around, extend, and make plays against the Longhorn defense.

“At the end of the day, playing Baylor? You’ve got to do a great job stopping the run. You’ve got to make sure to defend the play-action pass,” explained Sarkisian. “And then, in that, when you cover it right? You’ve got to make sure that he doesn’t have the ability to use his legs to extend plays, whether that’s running it or extending plays to find throws off schedule.”

Sarkisian not surprised that opponents are excited to face Texas

The Texas Longhorns are one of the top teams in the country, sitting at No. 3 in the AP Poll. The Longhorns proved they were more than worthy of a top spot in the rankings following their win against Alabama on the road in week two.

As Texas gears up to start Big 12 play for the last time before they had to the SEC in 2024, the other teams in the conference are salivating at the opportunity to spoil Texas’ chances at securing a College Football Playoff bid. That’s why the level of excitement from opponents who are eager to take down the Longhorns isn’t surprising to Steve Sarkisian.

“I’m not surprised and I don’t think you should be surprised,” said Sarkisian. “I mean, I’ve referenced this all the way back to media days. Everywhere we go this year, everyone’s going to try to take one more shot at Texas. So we can sit here and be a punching bag and just take it. Or we can go attack people and make sure that they know we’re in a fight too.”

“That’s our mentality going in this game. So I don’t think our players are going to be surprised by the environment,” said Sarkisian. “We’re not going to be surprised as coaches. Our fans shouldn’t be surprised by it.