LIVE UPDATES: Steve Sarkisian recaps Rice win, previews trip to Alabama in Monday press conference

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will be available to the media today at 12:00 p.m. Central to recap his program’s 37-10 win over the Rice Owls and to preview the No. 11 Longhorns’ upcoming trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to take on the No. 4 Crimson Tide.

[Join Inside Texas today and get 50% off an annual subscription!]

The Longhorns won their 16th consecutive game over the Owls on Saturday, and look this week to avenge last year’s 20-19 loss suffered in Austin at the hands of Nick Saban‘s team. 2021 Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young led a game-winning drive in the final minutes to top the Longhorns in a sun-drenched Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Alabama dispatched Middle Tennessee State University 56-7 in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday.

The press conference will be carried live on Longhorn Network.

[Sign up NOW for the Inside Texas newsletter for Texas Longhorns daily updates and breaking news in your inbox!]

LIVE UPDATES

Steve Sarkisian: “What I thought defensively held true. I thought we played really hard. I thought we populated well and tackled the ball.”

Steve Sarkisian: “Special teams was a little hit and miss.”

Steve Sarkisian: “Offensively, that inconsistency early on, especially at the line of scrimmage. We made some errors up front that were uncharacteristic for us. Very fixable things, which that’s what we were working on here this morning, getting those things tightened up.”

Steve Sarkisian: “Going to play Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Bryant-Denny Stadium. Should be a great night of football. I know that the key to the drill for us is focusing on what we need to do to prepare and getting ourselves in the right frame of mind mentally, physically, and emotionally to play a four quarter, hard-fought, very physical game.”

Steve Sarkisian says CJ Baxter was back at practice today.

Steve Sarkisian on Jalen Milroe: “Jalen is a fantastic player… He’s got a dynamic arm. He can make every throw in the book, off platform, on the run, doesn’t matter. He’s a tremendous runner. He’s an elite runner with the ball in his hand with his speed and his physicality, and he’s highly competitive. He’s a really good leader, and the thing probably that concerns me most about that is that they’re very balanced.”

Steve Sarkisian: “The moment you start focusing on what the outcome could be and what the result could be, the game hits you in the mouth and you lose. We’ve got to focus on what we need to do.”

Steve Sarkisian: “Bryant-Denny Stadium is a heck of an environment. They do a tremendous job with their game day, the electricity in the stadium. The key to the drill is focusing on what we need to do, and we can’t get caught up thinking we’re going to play all 17 teams that Coach Saban has had the last 17 years.” — “We’re playing the 2023 Alabama football team, which is very good and they’re very well coached.”

Steve Sarkisian on Nick Saban and mentorship toward assistants: “I’ve been fortunate. My two mentors in Pete Carroll and Nick Saban both valued the mentorship aspect of it, and poured in a lot to their assistant coaches and tried to develop us as coaches. They did it in their own style.”

Steve Sarkisian: “I grew in my time at Alabama. I became a better coach. I became a better leader. I became a better communicator. I became a better organizer, and that is a real tribute to Coach Saban directly and indirectly. Some of which was real conversations that we were able to have.”

Steve Sarkisian says he believed Christian Jones probably was the cleanest performer on the offensive line while other guys took turns with simple errors. “The thing I didn’t love was our physicality. I feel like we were a more physical football team than the way we played, and that’s a real challenge to our guys.” There’s a style and manner in which we want to play the game up front, and we’ve got to become more physical.”

Steve Sarkisian on Quinn Ewers’ mindset heading into this week’s game: “I think there’s a level of confidence in him this year focused on how does he operate plays in the system in a way to help the other guys and not because he’s got a pretty firm grasp of what he’s doing.” — “To me, the biggest thing that showed up Saturday was just the maturity he rebounded coming out of halftime.”

Steve Sarkisian: “We’ve got to stay present today. What is the task for today? What are we focused on, what are we doing today? What is being the best version of myself today like?”

Steve Sarkisian on Xavier Worthy: “He’s had an awesome offseason. He really has recommitted himself to his regiment, to his teammates, to the program. I think the guy is having more fun now than he’s ever had here playing football, and I think he’s playing fast with energy.” — “Can almost feel like there’s a weight lifted off his shoulders and he’s enjoying playing the game. He’s reaping the benefits of that and we are too.”

Steve Sarkisian on the Jalen Milroe recruitment, says they had Milroe at a camp at Alabama. “We just kept chopping wood in the recruiting process. In the end, I felt like there was so much upside in the physical ability that he had, the arm talent, the legs, the leadership, and he ended up committing to us at the University of Alabama. I think it might have been a couple months later, I get the job here at the University of Texas, so I was kind of kicking myself a little bit but that’s part of it.”

Steve Sarkisian on deep passing: “We need to pass protect better. We need to run better routes. We need to throw it better.”

Steve Sarkisian on important games “I think one of the things in these games is people always want us to talk about the opponent. We’ve got a good opponent. We understand that they’re well coached and they’re a good team. But for us to be at our best we need to focus on what we need to do, not worry so much about what they’re going to do, or what they might do.”