Steve Sarkisian gives his first impressions of Colorado State

The Texas Longhorns and head coach Steve Sarkisian are getting ready for the season. Soon, they’re going to be turning their attention to the Colorado State Rams.

Ahead of that Week 1 game against Colorado State, Sarkisian shared his first impressions of the Rams, praising head coach Jay Norvell for the job he’s done to build that program.

“Coach Norvell is a great coach,” Steve Sarkisian said. “I’ve known him a long time. Got a ton of respect for him. He’s been around some great coaches throughout his career as well. They’ve evolved. I was talking about him earlier. He was a West Coast guy for a long time. Bill Callahan and that whole crew. They’ve evolved, obviously, to more of an Air Raid approach. They can throw it around. Quarterback is very talented. Receivers very talented. But they run the ball a little more than people would think in that style of offense.”

Jay Norvell is entering his third season as the head coach at Colorado State in what has proved to be a rebuilding job. To this point, he has an 8-16 record there but won more in 2023 than he did in 2022.

Prior to taking over at Colorado State, he was the successful head coach at Nevada, going 33-26 there while taking the team to four straight bowl games. That’s despite being a program that has fewer resources than most others in FBS football.

“I think they’re very sound defensively. They’re not some sort of gimmick defense. They play sound, hard-nosed football,” Sarkisian said.

“They’re a very good team. They’ve gotten better. They continue to improve. We know we’re gonna get their best shot. So, we’ll get going on them when the time is ready to.”

Certainly, the Texas Longhorns and Colorado State Rams are in different places as programs. The Rams are looking to compete for a bowl this season. Meanwhile, as the team transitions into the SEC, the Longhorns want to make a second straight Playoff.

In fact, SEC Network personality Paul Finebaum believes this is a team capable of winning a national championship.

“They’re capable of winning it all…I think that’s a significant loss, especially early in the season when they go to Michigan. Just keep your eyes on that game, if Texas survives Ann Arbor, I think they’re in really good shape for the playoffs,” Finebaum said. “They have Georgia later on at home, they have [Texas] A&M on the road in the final game, but I think they have a legitimate shot at winning it all.”

First things first, Texas needs to be ready for Colorado State on Saturday, August 31st.