Steve Sarkisian discusses quarterback play, defensive pressure, and tackling
Long-time Inside Texas contributor, Bill Frisbie, returns this week to help with team coverage from Austin media availabilities.
The Texas quarterback room is playing at a higher level than at any time in the past year, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday, despite three turnovers in Saturday’s scrimmage. In addition, several youngsters have started to gain increased attention heading into the second full week of August camp.
[Join Inside Texas today and get the best Texas Longhorns insider team info and recruiting intel!]
Quinn Ewers, Arch Manning, and Maalik Murphy have upped-their-game, in no small part, to an enviable arsenal of offensive weaponry. These days, Texas quarterbacks “can go to where the read is telling them to go, and they’re not just hanging on to one guy longer than they should,” Sarkisian said.
The third-year coach was generally pleased with Saturday’s scrimmage but critical of one aspect: lapses in focus and intensity during the latter part of practice. Offensively, there were too many pre-snap penalties; those three turnovers “which is too many.”
The flip side, on defense, there was an early focus put more pressure on the quarterbacks, force sacks, and generate turnovers. The early returns show that freshman cornerback Malik Muhammad has taken the coaching to heart. The youngster registered a pick-six Saturday; he also forced a fumble from tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders. Meanwhile, senior safety Jerrin Thompson registered an INT (against Ewers) during Saturday’s two-minute drill. Said Sarkisian, “Thompson made a nice play on the sidelines, toe-tapped to keep his feet in-bounds.”
It was, otherwise, a solid day at the office for Ewers.
“The interception was not on him, but that’s rapport with his receivers that we’ve got to keep working on. I thought Quinn was really efficient. There was in a moment (during the scrimmage) when the defense had a really good period, but Quinn really rebounded.”
In addition, Manning “has really stepped his game up. He’s playing at a really high level.” The freshman had a third-sown scramble, early in the scrimmage, to extend the drive on a third-and-long. He had another long touchdown run right down middle of the field.”
Sarkisian is not ready to name a back-up quarterback, but Murphy continues to “flash” but is prone to lapses in consistency.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
DJ Lagway
Florida QB to return vs. LSU
- 2
Dylan Raiola injury
Nebraska QB will play vs. USC
- 3
Elko pokes at Kiffin
A&M coach jokes over kick times
- 4New
SEC changes course
Alcohol sales at SEC Championship Game
- 5
Bryce Underwood
Michigan prepared to offer No. 1 recruit $10.5M over 4 years
“The big plays are going to be there for him because he’s so physically gifted. He’s got great arm talent. We have to minimalize the not-great plays and understand the value of the football.”
Coaches will continue to double-down on gap-integrity, but Sarkisian was particularly pleased with the unit’s ability to tackle in space.
“The one thing you’re always concerned about going into the first scrimmage is tackling, and I felt like we tackled pretty good for a first scrimmage. We got people on the ground. In the open field, we’ve got some elusive (offensive) guys who can make explosive plays. There wasn’t an enormous amount of missed tackles, so I’m confident about that.”
Sarkisian added, “We still have to understand our rush lanes, especially on third-downs. We have to minimize the quarterback scrambles that came into play Saturday.”
After another week of practice the team will scrimmage again this Saturday.
