Players rebound, answer Sarkisian’s challenge
Longhorns to open Big 12 play on an upswing
AUSTIN — Coach Steve Sarkisian admitted Arkansas served up a heaping slice of humble pie to Texas last weekend.
That 40-21 loss exposed the Longhorns, who fell from No. 15 to unranked. And Saturday’s dismantling of Rice at Royal-Memorial Stadium one week later won’t turn many heads considering the overmatched opposition, but Texas will at least enter next week’s Big 12 opener against Texas Tech with some positive momentum.
“We challenged the guys that, you know, we had to own it,” Sarkisian said Saturday night following the Longhorns’ 58-0 win. “And then we had to get back to work. And I thought the intent and mentality of our team all week long in practice translated to the game.”
Texas (2-1) outgained Rice 620-284. It rushed for 427 yards and averaged 10.4 yards per carry. Its defense forced the Owls (0-3) to cycle between three quarterbacks, neither of whom proved effective. It was as thorough a beatdown as one might imagine.
Some notable observations from the second win of Sarkisian’s young tenure:
Thompson or Card?
In his first career start, junior Casey Thompson led Texas to seven touchdowns in eight drives. And dating back to last season, the fourth-year quarterback has now led the Longhorns to points on 16 of his last 18 drives.
The utter dominance of Texas’ running backs mitigated how much work Thompson had to do, but he completed an efficient 15 of 18 passes for 164 yards with touchdown tosses to freshman wideout Xavier Worthy and junior Jared Wiley. Redshirt freshman Hudson Card, who started the first two games, wasn’t asked to do much and completed 2 of 3 passes for 29 yards.
So, was Thompson’s outing against a shoddy Rice defense enough to end the quarterback rotation Sarkisian has stuck to through three weeks? Not quite. But if Thompson continues putting up points next week against Texas Tech, that could change.
Bijan Bijan Robinson probably could have rushed for 300 yards against Rice if it was necessary. It wasn’t, but he still picked up 127 yards and scored three times on just 13 carries, 12 of which came in the first half.
The Longhorns still ran for 427 yards thanks to the efforts of junior Roschon Johnson, Alabama transfer Keilan Robinson, true freshman Jonathon Brooks and graduate transfer Gabriel Watson.
Beneficial partnership
Sarkisian is the reason freshman wideout Xavier Worthy requested a release from his signed letter of intent with Michigan in order to enroll at Texas. It was the way Sarkisian, formerly Alabama’s offensive coordinator, utilized 2020 Heisman-winning wideout DeVonta Smith (6-foot 1, 170 pounds) that sold Worthy (6-foot, 160 pounds) on wearing burnt orange.
And after a slow start to his career, Worthy showed why the interest was mutual. He recorded a careerhigh seven receptions for 88 yards and hauled in his first career touchdown on a precision back-shoulder throw from Thompson late in the first half.
“Xavier was great,” Sarkisian said. “That was a point of emphasis of just trying to get him the ball in space and see what he could do.He had a couple times on the sidelines where I think a lot of guys might have stepped out of balance. He dropped the shoulder and finished the run.”
O-line struggles
It’s hard to single out a deficiency with a team that wins by 58, gains 620 yards on offense and averages 10 yards per play. But the Longhorns’ starting offensive line remains this team’s biggest concern as Big 12 play begins.
Sarkisian and offensive line coach Kyle Flood didn’t make any adjustments to the starting five, instead preferring to see them experience more in-game reps together. But they let Thompson take a few crushing blows, including one that led to the first interception of his career.
Rice didn’t have the personnel to truly harass Texas, but Big 12 opponents like Oklahoma and Iowa State certainly will.