Three things to know from Steve Sarkisian: Xavier Worthy reaping the benefits of a great offseason, deep passing, Tuscaloosa

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was available to the media on Monday to preview the matchup with Alabama and recap the Longhorns’ Week 1 win over Rice.

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Sarkisian spoke on a number of topics and also provided an update on running back CJ Baxter, who left the Rice game due to injury.

Here are three things to know, including how Xavier Worthy has settled in during his third year on campus, deep passing, and what playing at Alabama is like.

‘He’s reaping the benefits of it but we are too’

The 2022 season was not an easy one for Xavier Worthy. An unreported broken hand made life on the field difficult, which had secondary effects in his off-the-field demeanor.

Throughout the offseason, he worked to return his physical ability and mental fortitude back to 2021 levels that helped him to one of the best seasons for a Texas freshman in program history. That was put on display on Saturday when Worthy caught a team-leading seven passes for 90 yards on 10 targets.

According to Sarkisian, Worthy had a lot of fun doing it.

“I just feel like he’s had an awesome offseason,” Sarkisian said. “He really has recommitted himself to his regiment, to his teammates, to the program. I think the guy’s having more fun now than he’s ever had here playing football, and I think he’s playing fast with energy. I think he’s got good leadership.”

Sarkisian credited Worthy with getting the UT offense going against the Owls after a bit of a disjointed first half that only saw 16 points put on the board.

“And quite frankly, in the third quarter I feel like he ignited the offense with the punt return,” Sarkisian said. “He made a couple of nice plays on the perimeter. Ultimately that opens up (Adonai Mitchell) for a touchdown. It opens up (Ja’Tavion Sanders) for a touchdown.

Because of Worthy’s newfound lease on football, the Longhorns are benefitting from having the only unanimous selection to the Big 12’s preseason all-conference team playing and feeling his best.

“Nothing changes for him,” Sarkisian said. “He’s the first guy on the practice field every day. He’s one of the last ones to leave. He sits in the front row in every meeting. He takes great notes. The personality of him is really back out. He’s smiling so much more. You can almost feel like there’s a weight lifted off his shoulders and he’s enjoying playing the game. He’s reaping the benefits of it but we are too. We’re getting the best version of him right now but it’s a really good version.”

Quinn Ewers just part of the deep passing equation

Much was made about the day Quinn Ewers had on Saturday. He was a strong 19-for-30 for 260 yards, three passing touchdowns, and a rushing score over three quarters of action, but focus shifted toward a handful of those 11 incompletions that were downfield passing attempts.

According to Pro Football Focus, Ewers was 0-for-6 on passes to targets 20 or more yards down the field. Elsewhere, he was 19-of-24. That’s good for a 79 percent completion percentage.

Here is Quinn Ewers throw chart.

When blitzed according to @PFF_College, Ewers was 11-of-14 for 174 yards and 2 TDs. pic.twitter.com/IwCIEQBQp8

— Joe Cook (@josephcook89) September 3, 2023

The 0 percent on other throws is what drew a question on Monday.

Steve, you talked about the deep ball a little bit ago with the pass protection breakdowns and the route running that wasn’t necessarily perfect. Looking back at the tape, what do you see in particular that needs to change or improve to make the deep ball more consistent?

Sarkisian: “All of that.”

Could you go deeper?

Sarkisian: “We need to pass protect better. We need to run better routes. We need to throw it better.”

Sarkisian mentioned postgame on Saturday the deep passing aspect of his offense isn’t going away.

“It’s going to feel good when we do hit them,” Sarkisian said Saturday. “We have to do it because we have to be able to make people defend all three layers of the field: the line of scrimmage, then that intermediate throw, then the deep shot. We have to make them defend that.”

How much his team can improve in that aspect will determine how much Alabama will be forced to defend it.

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What makes Alabama a special place

Sarkisian spent two seasons in Tuscaloosa as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator, so he’s familiar with how difficult it is to step into Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“They have history and tradition,” Sarkisian said. “They’ve been doing it in Tuscaloosa for a long time with great teams and great coaches that have been through there. I also think you’re talking about a state with no pro sports, so the University of Alabama football program has adopted being that pro sports team in that state. Everybody rallies around it for the six or seven Saturdays a year in Tuscaloosa. That’s their Christmas morning. It’ll be a great environment. This Saturday will be the same.”

That said, Sarkisian emphasized the challenge is the 2023 Crimson Tide, not the entire Crimson Tide program.

“We can’t get caught up thinking we’re going to play all 17 teams that Coach Saban has had in the last 17 years, and the players and coaches and all that,” Sarkisian said. “We’re playing the 2023 Alabama football team, which is very good. They’re very well coached. It’s going to be a great environment for college football. That being said ,we need to focus on what we need to do.”