Steve Sarkisian on ones vs. twos: "It's kind of hard to tell the difference"
The optimism surrounding Texas ahead of the upcoming season exists for a number of reasons, with one of the main ones being the talent on the roster.
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Depth typically is a necessary condition for talent. In the aftermath of Texas’ final competitive scrimmage of the 2023 preseason, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian saw enough talent among starters and backups to think the team he’ll trot out versus Rice on September 2 will be one of the better ones he’s put on Campbell-Williams Field while at Texas.
“We played Saturday, in the first portion of that scrimmage with ones versus twos, twos versus ones,” Sarkisian said Monday. “It’s kind of hard to tell the difference.”
That should come as no surprise considering Sarkisian’s recruiting efforts. The 2022 class, the first full cycle in which he was head coach, finished ranked No. 5 in the On3 Industry Ranking with DJ Campbell, Kelvin Banks, Terrance Brooks, and Neto Umeozulu acting as the headliners. Sarkisian and company followed that group with the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 3 class in 2023. Arch Manning, the same ranking’s No. 1 overall recruit, was the jewel of the class, with fellow five-stars Anthony Hill, CJ Baxter, and Johntay Cook also signing with the Longhorns.
That doesn’t include transfer portal additions like Adonai Mitchell, Trill Carter, Gavin Holmes, and Jalen Catalon.
All that is to say, there’s talent on the Texas roster that will help the Longhorns in the upcoming season no matter who ends up on the field.
“That’s the key to this whole thing, you can rotate players,” Sarkisian said. “If a player gets injured, the guy that goes into replace him is more than qualified to do the job, and that his teammate can count on him that he’s going to do it right. I think it goes beyond talent.
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“I think there has to be a mindset, too. I think that’s dangerous when you just rely on talent to bail you out. I think that’s something this team is really starting to embody. There’s a work ethic about them. There’s a style of play about them. There’s a level of intensity about them that make our practices very competitive and tough.”
That depth will be asked to create and maintain leads in the second half of games in the 2023 season, something the 2021 and 2022 teams struggled with over the course of Sark’s first two years as head coach. Throughout Texas’ preseason training camp, Sarkisian has seen the needed improvement in late game situations to where he believes the Horns will be able to close out games on both sides of the football.
“I thought the offense had a really nice two minute drill at the end of the first half,” Sark said. “Then the offense came out in the third quarter and had a really good third down and fourth down portion. Then the defense finished really well in our red zone lockout challenge.”
Texas takes to the field in eight days when Rice come to town. The Longhorns and the Owls will face off starting at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 2 on Longhorn Network.
