Steve Sarkisian: Quarterback battle between Hudson Card, Quinn Ewers 'tight'

Texas held a team scrimmage on Saturday, with a lot of the spotlight being on the quarterbacks. Steve Sarkisian is dealing with another competition as he enters Year Two, as Hudson Card and Quinn Ewers battle it out with one another for the starting role.

When asked if there was a starter to name, Sarkisian said “no, not yet” but still had compliments for his signal callers. Overall, he called the competition “tight” and loves how Card and Ewers are handling the situation. Both are focused on themselves, with there being room to improve heading into another week of fall camp.

“I would say it’s tight,” Sarkisian said. “Both guys are working very hard. They both got great attitudes. I’ve actually talked to both of them separately just about their mindset, the room, how they’re working with one another but yet competing with one another. I think they’re both operating and doing it at a high level. I think both of them recognize ‘there’s room for me to improve.’ And if I’m the other guy, I’m thinking ‘there’s room for me to improve.’

“That’s what I love. They’re not worried about what the other guy is doing, they’re focus is on what they’re doing now and what they can do moving forward and I think that’s what’s making it really healthy.”

Sarkisian noted the Texas defense had three interceptions on Saturday but did not break down from which quarterback. Some offensive struggles were seemingly the theme of the scrimmage, meaning Card and Ewers will battle for at least another week.

Texas offense had plenty of missed opportunities during scrimmage

When specifically asked, Sarkisian said the quarterback play was “fine.” However, he spent more time going into detail about his offense as a whole. “Missed opportunities” is a term the Texas headman used multiple times, citing explosive plays were left on the table.

“I think the offense, in general, looked at the film and said ‘man, we had some missed opportunities,'” said Sarkisian. “Whether it was throws that weren’t where they needed to be at what time, with the right accuracy. I think we had a couple drops from a receiver standpoint that I know those guys would love to have back. They could have created explosive plays.

“The running game obviously created some explosive plays for us. I think offensively, they’re looking at it like ‘ah, we missed some (opportunities.)’ But that’s good. I want them to feel that way, not walking out of there thinking ‘man, we didn’t do anything.’ They created enough explosive plays but there were more there that I think they were chomping at the bit to get back out there and attack again.”

Texas was back on the field Monday for the first time since the scrimmage. Another one will take place in the near future, where mistakes can be corrected from the offense as a whole, not just Card and Ewers.