Steve Sarkisian on play of Casey Thompson, 2-QB system

Casey Thompson got his first start of the season on Saturday in the Texas Longhorns’ 58-0 victory over Rice. Hudson Card started the first two games of the year at quarterback, but Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian elected to give Thompson the nod in Week 3.

Against Rice, Thompson completed 15 of his 18 passes for 164 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. On the season, he has 262 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, plus 51 yards and two scores on the ground.

Sarkisian was happy with what he saw from Thompson in the big Texas win

Sarkisian was asked on Monday about if he thought Thompson was one of those quarterbacks that elevates his play in big moments. Coach Sarkisian agreed that Thompson is a ‘gamer.’

“Yeah, I think that’s a good notion,” Sarkisian said when asked about Thompson being a ‘gamer.’ “When you watch players, you’re trying to evaluate players. Especially the quarterback position. Everybody’s got their quarterback trainer that they go work with off-site. And then we throw individual routes, we throw one-on-ones, we throw seven-on-seven, we work our scout team, we work our team periods, we work our good on good, then there’s a scrimmage and then there’s a game.

“Ultimately, the thing I like to look for is the trajectory that the player continues to get better as the competition rises. I think one of the challenges in evaluating quarterbacks is guys can look really good throwing individual routes and doing drills and then seven on seven and even in scout period, but their play can maybe level off. And I think Casey’s a classic example of, I think his level of play continues to rise based on the arena that he’s in. That’s a really cool quality to have because we don’t play quarterback in t-shirt and shorts.”

As the pressure has increased for Thompson, so has his play.

“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. I think that he’s got something about him that he kind of feels comfortable in that arena of a real game and sometimes that’s hard to tell until guys actually get in the game and have to play. He’s done a nice job of that so far.”

Sarkisian: Hudson Card could get in the game as well

When Texas takes on Texas Tech on Saturday, Thompson will again start at quarterback. But, Sarkisian said that if the situation is right, Card could also see the field. When Card started earlier in the season, Thompson also got into the game with limited packages. A similar plan could be in place moving forward, just with Thompson as the starter.

“Casey’s going to go Saturday,” Sarkisian said. “Ideally, I would love to play Hudson Saturday as well. But every flow of every game is different. All these games, they’re all worth the same, technically, in totality. Obviously Big 12 play, we’re zero and zero in conference play and the goal is to come out of here Saturday 1-0. But we got to focus on the process to get to 1-0. If we feel like Hudson can provide an opportunity to get him in the game and provide something for our team, we’ll definitely get him in there.”