First-round QBs, ISU's defense, 'revenge,' and more updates from Steve Sarkisian's Thursday Zoom

Ahead of the Longhorns’ matchup on Saturday with the Iowa State Cyclones, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian held his regular Thursday Zoom call and touched on several different topics.

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Steve Sarkisian: “I think this thing is really starting to become a great homefield advantage for us. Our fans have been just tremendous all year long. Looking forward to playing in front of them again. There’s a lot that goes into the preparation to go play a game on Saturday, and then you have moments in-game or pregame that you look forward to. There’s one for me that I always look forward to, when I first arrive at the stadium I like to go walk the field. And to see our students already running down the stairs, getting in their seats, seeing their energy, their excitement, that definitely fuels me. So, looking forward to seeing you all Saturday, students.”

Steve Sarkisian: “For our players, you know they’ve put in a lot of really good work this week. Excited for them to get in front of our fans and play our brand of football, our style of football, against a really quality opponent in Iowa State.”

Steve Sarkisian on ISU: “These guys are a good football team. They’re sound. Great defensive team. Ball control offense that has explosive players on that side of the ball. Going to be a heck of a ballgame.”

Steve Sarkisian on ISU’s defense, which leads the conference in several statistical measures: “What don’t they do well is probably a better question. They do a good job of minimizing the run game. They do a good job of minimizing the explosive passes. They do a really good job of playing red zone defense. They do a great job on third down. They keep you out of the end zone.”

Steve Sarkisian on interior D-line improvement: “It’s total and complete buy-in to Coach (Bo) Davis. Coach Bo gets a lot of credit for that of the fundamentals, the techniques that he teaches. He’s coached a lot of great players over his career, whether it’s in college or the NFL. I think the players are buying into that, then learning it, then applying it in game. I think schematically, with what we’re doing over there, we’re allowing those guys to really go play and use their length and their size to be impactful. I think these guys are good pass rushers, too. I know they’re big, but they affect the pocket. They squeeze the pocket, and they affect the quarterback.”

Steve Sarkisian on who Quinn Ewers may remind him of: “Skill set wise, he’s different. They’ve all been different, going back to Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez, John David Booty, Jake Locker, Cody Kessler, Matt Ryan, Tua (Tagovailoa), Mac Jones. They’re all different, they’ve all got a different skill set, different personality. I will say the one thing that Quinn reminds me of, the one person is Matt Leinart. The moment was never too big for Matt. I always referred to him as a cool customer. I think Quinn has a lot of that in him as well.”

Steve Sarkisian on ‘revenge’: “I felt like last season, we let a lot of games slip away. When you go through it that way, you can hear a lot of the negativity that comes with that. What’s wrong? Why can’t they finished? What happens in the second half? The players aren’t in good condition. The players aren’t strong enough. The coaches don’t make adjustments, right? They hear all that stuff. You have to find a way to flip that script and get it to where, what are we doing about it, how are we going about it, and what’s our mission? Inevitably, there’s a lot of these games we’re going back into the play these same teams. There’s gotta be a little bit of a sense of revenge, and not so much revenge on the opponent. Revenge on our own actions of how we performed in those moments in those games to ultimately go finish those ballgames.”

Steve Sarkisian on defensive improvement under Pete Kwiatkowski: “I think there’s a level of continuity on the defensive staff. I think they’re working really well together. Last year was the first year a lot of those guys had worked together. With that, it’s one thing to put together a gameplan. It’s another for the coaches to understand so that the players can understand the playcaller, too.” — “I think there’s familiarity, there’s trust from the player’s perspective on fundamentals, techniques, and schemes in doing their job.” — “I think we’ve instilled a style of play defensively that is drastically different than what we played a year ago.”

Steve Sarkisian on his coordinator duties: “I’m surrounded by a lot of really good coaches. Our offensive staff has got a bunch of really good minds in there. They’re great motivators, great teachers that are creative, and there’s a lot of dialogue. I don’t pretend to do this by myself. I don’t. I never have. This is not my offense, this is our offense. We work collaboratively together. We try to come up with a plan that we think puts our players in the best position to be successful so that I don’t have to assume that entire challenge of putting a game plan together week in and week out.” — Sark credits his entire staff here, then says he tries to envision how he would want to call the game as kickoff approaches so his assistants can disseminate the message to players.

Steve Sarkisian on edge rushers and if they’re born or made: “I think it’s both. You have to have the skill set to do it. Length, quick twitch, effort, all those things matter. I do think you need the fundamentals and techniques to take your game to another level. Will McDonald, just to use him as an example for Iowa State, he’s got great length, he’s twitchy, he’s a smart player. He recognizes different pass sets and goes to the moves necessary to get to the quarterback, and he plays with great effort. I go to the two kids at Alabama, Will Anderson and Dallas Turner, little bit different skill set but in the end they have lengthy, they have twitch, they play with great effort, and they’re smart. I think as guys start to mature, it’s one thing just to be able to run around a guy to get a sack. It’s another to have enough tools in your toolbox to utilize that to get to the quarterback. In the end, the best pass rushers I’ve ever seen are high effort, high motor guys. A lot of the sacks don’t come clean. They come when the quarterback has to hold the ball, moves in the pocket, and they get there with second effort.”

Steve Sarkisian on D’Shawn Jamison: “One thing we talked about with him was playing with real confidence, and you gain confidence from being disciplined in your approach.” — “I think we really challenged him on that.” — “I think he’s tackling better on the perimeter than he did a year ago, especially on the perimeter screen game.” — Also mentions Jamison isn’t panicking and is playing with confidence.

Steve Sarkisian on Tarique Milton getting a chance to play his old team: “Transfers and when you end up playing your old team, it’s always kind of tough. The guy spent a lot of time at Iowa State with that coaching staff, with those players. Captain, all that. Now here comes this opportunity this week to play against them. I’m sure there’s a feeling inside of him that’s a little indifferent to some degree. In the end he’s been a great teammate here. He’s been really mature. He’s been an awesome teammate. He works extremely hard. Hopefully he gets some opportunities this week.”