Sarkisian tight-lipped about starting QB
AUSTIN — Texas coach Steve Sarkisian on Monday wasn’t inclined to divulge much about the injuries sustained by four of the team’s most important players in last week’s one-point loss to No. 1 Alabama.
Starting quarterback Quinn Ewers (clavicle) and starting cornerback D’Shawn Jamison (ankle/foot) both exited that thriller at Royal-Memorial Stadium and were unable to return. Backup quarterback Hudson Card (ankle) and star running back Bijan Robinson (shoulder) both played through injury, but their availability remains murky heading into this week’s home game against a more than capable UTSA squad.
“We have some injuries that are looming that we don’t know,” Sarkisian said. “Quite frankly, all these guys are day-to-day. I know you guys are going to want an exact timetable. And you’re gonna ask me specifically and I’m gonna tell you now: They’re dayto-day, guys. I really don’t know. We’re gonna have to monitor them every morning to see where they’re at."
Sarkisian did sprinkle in some positivity amid the evasiveness.
“The beauty of it for all four of these guys is it’s nothing structural,” he added. “It’s not surgery-driven, it’s not broken, it’s not ligament damage. We just gotta monitor them day-to-day and we’ll see who we can back and when we can get ‘em back.”
Robinson at least appeared to clear himself for action while speaking with reporters Monday afternoon, saying he plans to be ready for Saturday’s 7 p.m. kickoff against the Roadrunners (1-1)
“I’m healthy. My shoulder just hurts a little bit, but I’ll be good by the middle of the week or so,” said Robinson, who led Texas with 130 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown against Alabama. Laughing, he added: “Just be tough, stop being a little wimp.”
With Robinson trending in the right direction, the most pressing question for No. 21 Texas (1-1) heading into its non-conference finale against coach Jeff Traylor’s rising program revolves around the quarterback situation.
Sarkisian dodged that one, too.
“That’s for me,” he said in response to a query about which quarterback is now handling the first-team practice reps.
Still, with multiple reports projecting Ewers to miss at least two weeks and Card absent from Monday’s media session — Texas traditionally makes its starting quarterback available — it’s looking increasingly likely that thirdstringer Charles Wright will receive an unexpected promotion this week.
With four-star freshman Maalik Murphy also sidelined by an undisclosed injury, Wright, the redshirt freshman from Austin High, is in line to make his first career start. He appeared briefly in last season's blowout of Texas Tech but did not attempt a pass.
Wright wasn’t a famous recruit like Ewers. And he didn’t arrive with the sort of fanfare Card and Murphy did. But the 6foot-1, 202-pound Austinite was prolific during his high school days.
He threw for over 8,000 yards with 80 passing touchdowns and added over 700 yards and 13 scores on the ground. Wright first committed to Iowa State in February 2020 before flipping to Texas that August, just ahead of his senior season.
“Charles was next man up (against Alabama). He was ready to go, if need be,” Sarkisian said. “I give Charles a lot of credit. He has made strides and leaps and bounds from a year ago this time as a true freshman to where he is today. I think he's got a good grasp of our offense, a good understanding of managing things. I think he's thrown the ball much better, much more accurately. He's a lot more confident, which is needed at that position.”
So, either Sarkisian rolls with Wright against feisty UTSA or Card attempts to play through the ankle injury that clearly hindered him (and the play calling) against Alabama. Either way, there’s a good chance senior tailback Roschon Johnson will handle some Wildcat snaps against the Roadrunners.
A former four-star quarterback out of Port Neches-Groves, Johnson found himself in a similar situation heading into the 2021 finale against Kansas State.
Card was banged up and starter Casey Thompson could barely grip the ball with his injured throwing hand. That led to a game script featuring heavy doses of Johnson handling snaps in the Wildcat formation – he rushed for 179 yards and one score, caught one pass for 10 yards and completed one pass for two yards to help Texas snap a six-game losing streak.
“I'm very comfortable with it,” Johnson said. “I don't shy away from it at all. I feel like it gives you an advantage as a runner to have that extra blocker when you take the snap from the quarterback position. And I played quarterback pretty much my whole life leading up to college.”
Regardless of who’s available Saturday, Sarkisian won’t overlook a rising UTSA program fifth-year tackle Keondre Coburn called “the best in Texas last year.”
“We got a great deal of respect for UTSA,” Sarkisian said. “You turn on the tape of UTSA, they get your attention quickly.”