Steve Sarkisian on Texas potentially playing two quarterbacks in week one

As the start of the season nears, the Texas Longhorns will soon need to decide on a starting quarterback. Hudson Card and Casey Thompson have been engaged in a tight battle for a while now. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has a very difficult decision to make in the coming days. Sarkisian likes what he has seen from both quarterbacks, but in his ideal world, only his starting quarterback will play once the regular season arrives.

Sarkisian believes in having a traditional starter and a backup

Having such a tough decision to make is something that actually has Sarkisian feeling good about where his team stands. Not every team has two quality starting caliber quarterbacks to pick from, so Sarkisian is glad to have that luxury right now at Texas.

“We’re probably in a better position at the quarterback position than a lot of people because I really believe we have two guys that can play,” Sarkisian said after Saturday’s scrimmage. “I believe in having a starter and having a backup. But man, when you know I’ve got a backup that can play at a high level and operate our offense the way we want to operate, that’s really a luxury for us. There’s a lot of teams that maybe have a returning starter who’s a frontline guy, but their backup might not be very capable. Well, we’re in a pretty good position that way.”

Thompson is entering his fourth season in the Longhorns program. He has attempted 18 passes with one touchdown in his career. Card is set to enter his second season with Texas, and he attempted just three passes last season. Despite the lack of playing experience, Sarkisian is happy with his quarterback situation.

Ideally, Texas has just one quarterback play in week one

When Texas hosts Louisiana on Saturday, September 4th, Sarkisian is hoping that whoever his starting quarterback is plays well enough. He doesn’t want to worry about playing multiple quarterbacks.

Sarkisian did not rule out playing both Thompson and Card week one. He hopes to have his starter stand out and play the entire game, though.

“As far as the quarterbacks in week one, ideally the scenario is we have a starter, he plays, he plays really well and that’s the way it goes,” Sarkisian said. “I’m not going to go into that game saying series two or series three or in the second half the next guy is going to play. But that doesn’t mean if we need him to play that I won’t put him in the game based on how the game is going.”

Sarkisian hopes that a decision on a starting quarterback is able to be made soon. He plans to evaluate the tape from Saturday’s scrimmage throughout this week. Thompson and Card have made it a difficult decision for Sarkisian. That is ultimately a good thing in a quarterback competition.