The play-calls Steve Sarkisian thinks are his all-time best and worst

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian likes calling plays. In his career, there have been many memorable play-calls, some good and some bad.

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Speaking with Fox’s Joel Klatt as part of his Big Noon Conversations series, Sarkisian was asked by Fox Sports’ lead college football analyst what he thought his best and worst play-calls in his career were.

“I want a million play-calls back,” Sarkisian joked.

But there was one in that million that stood out when it came to his worst.

Worst
2006 Rose Bowl: 4th and 2 (+45) – 2:13 Q4

During the 2006 Rose Bowl where the National Championship was on the line, USC rushed for 209 yards and four touchdowns on 41 carries. LenDale White himself had 20 carries for 124 yards and three scores. The Trojans utilized power often, gaining just over five yards per rush against a Longhorn defense that featured some of the best defensive players in Texas history.

Sarkisian, listed as the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach on the USC roster, was part of the decision to call power one more time. When they did so, they kept White on the field but Bush remained on the sidelines.

They needed White’s 20th carry to get him to 125 yards. Stopped by Michael Huff, White fell one yard short of the line to gain and turned the ball over on downs. The Longhorn offense, led by Vince Young, took over needing to drive 56 yards in under 2:09. Young did that, boosting the Longhorns to their fourth national title.

“Here’s my thing about play-calling,” Sarkisian said. “Play-calls are good when they work. They’re terrible when the play doesn’t work.”

Like Sarkisian, history judges that decision as the one that gave Texas the opportunity to win the national title.

Best
2023 Big 12 Championship: 3rd and 4 (+24) – 8:42 Q1

What call did Sarkisian think was his best? One from the game that helped Texas win its first conference title since 2009.

Already up on Oklahoma State in the 2023 Big 12 Championship game, Sarkisian went to a trick play he had been waiting all night to use on the Cowboys.

“I was sitting with (AJ) Milwee, our quarterbacks coach, the night before the game,” Sarkisian said. “We had an early kick, it was the night before the game, and I said the first time we get 3rd and 2, 3rd and 3, I’m going to go with ‘Oz.’ We’re going to get man coverage, and we called a double reverse pass and we hit JT Sanders wide open for a touchdown.”

It was 3rd and 4, technically, but that detail matters little. Sarkisian was going to use some trickery in that situation no matter where he was on the field.

“That’s going to be the call. I don’t care if we’re on our own 10 or if we’re going in,” Sarkisian said. “That’s the call. Sure enough, it came up in the game. Our guys hit it, we hit JT. The whole sideline, all our kids know what’s coming. We called it, and for it to hit the way that it hit, it was a special deal.”

This was one of seven touchdowns on the day for the Longhorns. It remains as one of the fanciest of the season and the one Sarkisian believes to be his best.

Joel Klatt’s honorable mention
2021 Oklahoma State: 3rd and 6 (-31) – 2:23 Q1

This was one that stood out to Klatt because it was an example of Sarkisian attacking a tendency, and it gave Klatt a small opportunity to toot his own horn. In Austin in 2021, Oklahoma State ran a coverage that removed over-the-top help on third down. Sarkisian exploited it thanks to moving players around and a well-timed call.

“They ran that heavy 3rd down coverage where they would just sit at the chains,” Klatt said. “I told our crew Friday night, I said ‘I bet you on 3rd and medium, Sark runs right down the middle of the field at some point. At some point, with the tight end or with the slot.’ You guys did it, you hit Marcus Washington. I was like ‘I knew he would do it!'”

Sarkisian recalled the play as well, crediting OSU head coach Mike Gundy for getting the best of him that day and in 2022.

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That play didn’t make the cut as one of Sarkisian’s favorites. A different big play against the Cowboys earned that distinction.