LIVE UPDATES: Steve Sarkisian recaps TCU, looks forward to Iowa State

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will be available to the media today at 11:30 a.m. to recap the Longhorns 29-26 win over TCU and look ahead to the final road trip of the season to face Iowa State in Ames, Iowa.

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The press conference will be carried live on TexasSports.com and on Longhorn Network.

Inside Texas provides updates below.

Steve Sarkisian: “I was really impressed with our team in the way that we played for about three quarters. I thought the energy, the mental intensity, the way we took the field not being affected by the crowd, and playing our brand and our style of football really showed through.”

Steve Sarkisian on the interception that turned into possession thanks to Jordan Whittington and Xavier Worthy: “When you watch that play, and to think, it’s Jordan Whittington who misses a tackle, gets back up, comes all the way back 40 yards later, makes the tackle, and punches it out and Xavier Worthy, who was the intended receiver with a guy laying on top of him at the opposite 20 yard line, to sprint himself back and dive and recover that fumble I think is indicative of the character of this team and the culture of this team.”

Steve Sarkisian: “The fourth quarter, we didn’t play very good football, and that starts with our ability to continue to motivate the players to have the right mental intensity.”

Steve Sarkisian: “We did things out of character. We have to do a better job of keeping our mental intensity, our focus, and continuing to play the brand and style of football that got us that lead. For a team that has been so good in the fourth quarter all year, for us to get outscored 20-3 in the fourth quarter I would say is out of character and I would say is unacceptable.”

Steve Sarkisian: “Really clean game. They protected the quarterback well. We ran the ball effectively, really nice job on the screen to Jonathon. We’ve got to be better all encompassing, coaches included, offensive line, tight ends, runners, in our short yardage situations. We pride ourselves around here on being able to run the football when the opponents know we’re going to run the football, and we just haven’t been great at it. But we’ll continue to work on it.”

Steve Sarkisian on Jonathon Brooks: “He’s a better person than he is a football player, and he’s a heck of a football player.”

Steve Sarkisian on the run game: “Systematically, things will not change for us on that front. We’ve got a lot of faith in those guys that they’re going to perform at a high level.”

Steve Sarkisian: “Like we’ve been saying all along, as far as this week’s ball game this is another Big 12 championship game for us.”

Steve Sarkisian: “We need to be efficient offensively with the number of possessions that could come out of this game.”

Steve Sarkisian: “There’s always room to improve. To think we’re going to go play a perfect game Saturday night, probably not going to happen. But I’m going to keep pushing our guys and be demanding of them to improve, and I’m going to be demanding of our coaches to improve. There’s no time for us to sit back and accept it.”

Steve Sarkisian on his other RBs: “One thing where we’re fortunate, timing is pretty incredible in that CJ (Baxter) is really 100 percent healthy again. I’d feel really uncomfortable if this would have happened a month ago because Cedric was really struggling with his foot.”

Steve Sarkisian on pass defense: “We’ve got to maintain the mental intensity and focus of trying to be a dominant defense. It’s not about what’s on the scoreboard. It’s about playing that play in the most dominant manner.” — Mentions Savion Williams’ long catch and run was a play that made the Horns look like “a shell of themselves.”

Steve Sarkisian on Adonai Mitchell: “He came from a very good system at Georgia. It’s a NFL, pro style type offense with a lot of different formations, motions, and schemes. He’s been in big games, so it was very comfortable for him.” — “We’re fortunate to have him. He’s got great playmaking ability. The moment is never too big for him.”

Steve Sarkisian on the ISU defense, says the Cyclones are the “pioneers” of the 3-3 stack defense. “Naturally, teams in the Big 12 gravitated toward that style of defense. Now in our conference, this is going to be our third straight week of facing that same structure of defense.” — “What Iowa State does is they play it at its most purest form. They really stick to it. They believe in it.”

Steve Sarkisian on CJ Baxter: “He’s a really mature young man. In today’s society with young people who are five-star recruits coming out, it’s ‘all about me, me, me and how can I get this and how can I get that.’ He was never that way. He was about opportunity, he was about style of offense and scheme.”

Steve Sarkisian said on the 3rd-and-12 play to Adonai Mitchell, Baxter picks up a blitz on the weak side that helped keep the play open: “We’re seeing the growth in him of the overall player.”

Steve Sarkisian on Quinn Ewers: “For us with Quinn, naturally he was a little sore but he threw today, operated, and did fine. As the weeks go one, if we can continue to protect like we did the other night he’s only going to continue to get better and more healthy.”

Steve Sarkisian: “If the plan needs to be that we need to throw it around, we’re more than capable, our offensive line is more than capable, Quinn is more than capable, our receiving corps and tight ends, things of that nature.”

Steve Sarkisian: “How do you get back into a game when you’re behind by 20 points? You get quick scores. We have to minimize their ability to score quickly on defense, yet still remain aggressive. We can’t let people get comfortable and I think that we let them get comfortable on the flip side. Offensively, we have to possess the ball and how do you possess it? You don’t turn it over. You extend drives on third down. Turnovers two weeks ago, not converting third downs the other night. Makeable 3rd and 1s, 3rd and 2s. That’s what you ask for as a coach and to go 2-for-8 in those scenarios, that’s not good enough.”

Steve Sarkisian on Jordan Whittington: “I think he came back because he wanted to be part of a championship team. He wanted to walk out of here a champion, and he plays that way.”

What would you do with a $75 million buyout?

Steve Sarkisian, with a smile: "I don't have that in my contract."

— Inside Texas (@InsideTexas) November 13, 2023

Steve Sarkisian on teams firing coaches earlier in the year: “This has changed because of the early signing period, and in actuality because the majority of kids are now signing with the schools that they’re going to go to in December. Universities are trying to get in front of it, to remove their coach to try to find their replacement so that new coaching staff can recruit for a few weeks in December to sign the best class available for the future of the program. Do I agree with that? Not really because essentially when you’re firing a coach at that point in the season you’re telling that current team we’re giving up on you and all we’re worried about is the future.”

Steve Sarkisian on Bert Auburn: “Inside 50, we feel very comfortable with Bert all things considered with wind and what not. He gives me that confidence. It’s been two straight years now where that guy has made really big kicks for us at critical moments in the fourth quarter of games that have given us opportunities.”

Steve Sarkisian: “This is the fun part, to be in the middle of November and be in a championship race.”