Steve Sarkisian says Bijan Robinson's fumbles were an anomaly

The Texas Longhorns on Saturday suffered their fourth consecutive loss in a 30-7 blowout against Iowa State, and the latest loss featured a myriad of mishaps by star running back Bijan Robinson Jr.

It wasn’t just an inefficient day for Robinson on the ground, either. The Texas bell cow back took a few tough hits, one of which forced him into the medical tent. Late in the fourth quarter, when Robinson fumbled for the second time on the day, he stayed on the ground before entering the tent and shortly thereafter the locker room. The postgame diagnosis was a neck strain injury, and Sarkisian said after the game it was “somewhat of a stinger issue that arose.”

Robinson finished the day with 18 carries for 90 rushing yards, along with eight receptions for 36 receiving yards; a solid day by most running backs’ standards, but for a once-Heisman Trophy candidate like Robinson, it was tabbed a rather unproductive day. he also lost two fumbles on the day, a season-high tally.

“I think the first [fumble] was tough. Bijan is an ultimate competitor. He’s fighting for extra yards. And he refused to go down. He had two hands on the ball. He had it wrapped tight. But ultimately, when they’ve got ten guys around you and they’re all yanking at the ball, sometimes it can get hard if they get a good grip and rip it out. We’re just trying to teach him the effort and competitiveness is there, sometimes you’ve just got to be wise and cut your losses and get down at that point,” Sarkisian said of Robinson.

“It wasn’t about a technique or it wasn’t about an effort,” Sarkisian continued. “They just ended up ripping the ball out right before he went to the ground. The second [fumble], same idea, really. A little different with how he kind of pinballed himself off of two or three guys right there, he had good pad level. It looked like the ball was high and tight. Sometimes that happens.”

Robinson had only fumbled the ball once in his two-year career heading into Saturday, with the one fumble — on Oct. 7 against West Virginia — the Longhorns ended up recovering. The two lost fumbles against the Cyclones were the only two he’s lost in his career.

“Clearly, that’s a point of emphasis of ours as a program,” Sarkisian said. “The ball is paramount to our success. We can’t afford the two turnovers, especially in a game like that against a team like that. The emphasis is still going to be there. We’re going to have a game where we don’t turn the ball over, and that’s going to be one of the better days for the program when that happens.”

Sarkisian alluded to Robinson’s fumbles being flukes, and the Longhorns can only hope that’s the case. Further, Texas can only hope Robinson is back at full strength this weekend, as it has three winnable games left — against Kansas, at West Virginia and against Kansas State — needing two victories to clinch bowl eligibility.