LIVE UPDATES: Steve Sarkisian recaps win over Houston, previews matchup with BYU

After the Longhorns’ 31-24 win over Houston, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will be available to the media at 11:30 a.m. on Monday to review the win over the Cougars and preview the upcoming matchup with BYU, his alma mater.

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The press conference will air on Longhorn Network and also be available on TexasSports.com.

Updates from Steve Sarkisian

Steve Sarkisian: The first thing when I go back and watch the tape of the game was something I’ve been leaning on since camp that is showing up is we’ve got a realy versatile football team, and the idea that we can win games a lot of different ways.

Steve Sarkisian: “I thought our culture shined through in this game, too. The togetherness of the team and the ability to keep their poise and composure showed up.”

Steve Sarkisian praises Keilan Robinson and the return unit.

Steve Sarkisian says Maalik Murphy is a natural passer: “There’s not a throw that he can’t make. I think he’s got really good leadership qualities. The guys like playing with Maalik.”

Steve Sarkisian says they will go through the week with Maalik Murphy and Arch Manning both getting first-team reps: “If the game was being played today, Maalik would start the game. Again, Arch will be ready to go.”

Steve Sarkisian: “I think like anything, we prepare as best we can. We try to prepare our players for the multitude of things that can and should happen and try to put them in the best position. Naturally, BYU is going to do things that aren’t on tape and you have to adapt at that point.”

Steve Sarkisian: “Adaptability in game to some of the newness that comes at you is critical.”

Steve Sarkisian says that one of the things he tells quarterbacks early in their careers is “let the easy things be easy.” — “There’s plenty of things we do that are very quarterback friendly and allowing those things to be easy for a young quarterback is critical because there’s going to be plenty of tough plays that they’re going to have to make.”

Steve Sarkisian says “we’re more than hopeful we get Ryan Watts back this week, which is big for us.”

Steve Sarkisian on crossing routes, says Houston did a good job of picking defenders. He also says there was poor communication and a failed zone coverage. “Inevitably, we’re going to have to play it better because we’re going to see a ton of crossers this week. That’s one of the staples of what BYU does so we’re going to have to play it better.”

Steve Sarkisian on Quinn Ewers: “Obviously, there’s a level of disappointment (from him). Nobody likes to get injured. I give him a lot of credit because he tried to play. He was not healthy. He tried to play through it. Clearly, he was limited and to his credit, he knew ‘I don’t think I can do it.’ Then when our trainers and our medical staff told me the same thing, he knew what he was going to be able to give to the team wasn’t going to be good enough.”

Sarkisian on Quinn Ewers: “These injuries, some guys are back sooner than others. You just don’t know so we’ll see how his body responds. I think it’s helpful especially this time around that he’s in the best shape of his life. Naturally, when you’re in good shape, we respond better.”

Steve Sarkisian on Michael Taaffe: “We’ve got a bunch of cool stories going right now, and his is a great one. Just a guy who believed in himself, had an opportunity to accept scholarships from other schools, decided to walk on here at the University of Texas and from day one never took a back seat.”

Steve Sarkisian on the BYU defense: “It’s a very aggressive style, very attacking. Attack the line of scrimmage, defensive line is penetrating. They’re trying to get into the backfield. I think they have a lot of confidence in their players and their scheme. They do a good job on first down, second down of mixing things up and on third down, how can they get to the quarterback. In the end they’re ball conscious and you see the turnovers when they come and why they come.”

Steve Sarkisian on LaVell Edwards: “I think one thing he did a great job in my time there was making you feel like the coach believed in you.”

Steve Sarkisian: “I thought one thing (Houston) did when they saw us get up there and try to get physical, they went to some of those crossing routes and we were getting picked.”

Steve Sarkisian: “What are the things that Maalik does well? What are the things that Arch does well? It’s not always about the idea of the play and put it on a whiteboard because there’s a lot of plays that look good. But what do they do well and how do we ensure ‘okay, here’s the concepts that we think they run really well.’ They don’t have to run the whole playbook. They need to run what they run really well.”

Steve Sarkisian says he has a weekly dialogue with his quarterbacks when putting together the gameplan, then they divide reps in practice. On Friday night, Sarkisian and AJ Milwee will go over favorite plays for certain situations.

Steve Sarkisian: “Signal stealing is real. It is a definite factor in college football. I think some teams rely on it much more than others. You do have to (disguise) it. That’s why we’ve got boards, signalers, and different colored shirts on the sidelines and every which way of how we try to get the play to our players.”