The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Video: Steve Sarkisian press conference
10.18.2021 | Football
Head coach Steve Sarkisian met with the media for his weekly press conference.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian Weekly Press Conference
Opening Statement
"I think a couple things here, just to recap after last Saturday's ballgame. There is some level of frustration for us all. We all get into this to ultimately want to win, and play in while doing so. What happened in the ball game was our inability to ultimately perform in the fourth quarter. There are a couple ways to go about it – we can dwell completely on what went wrong, or look at it also from the side of we played pretty good football for two and a half, three quarters against a quality, undefeated, top-10 team. So, the promising part for us is we are capable to compete at a very high level, which we have been doing now for the past two weeks against two teams. We had leads in the fourth quarter and then ultimately didn't finish those ballgames; so, I don't think it's about our ability to coach, I don't think it's our inability to execute and to play, because we have proven we are more than capable of doing that. Now it is about our ability to sustain that and to do that at the critical moments, even if maybe there are some momentum swings during the second half, end of the game. So that has really been our focus and our mindset, to make sure the players are reassured and that they know they are capable of performing at a very high level. Our coaches are more than capable to prepare them to do that. Ultimately, it has to be down to getting ourselves in the right frame of mind; will we get ourselves close to the finish and having our ability to finish. That finish is not superhuman effort, it is about continuing to do the things that got us to that point, because obviously it was good enough. Now we need to find a way to continue to do that. So, that has really been the big picture scope and really looking at it here for the final seven weeks of the season. There will be a lot of things we focus on this week, not to mention getting ourselves healthy. You go with a seven-week-straight stretch, clearly, you will get banged up and beat up. We lost some guys for an extended period of time and we have some other players that have some bumps and bruises, that is football, that is the way it goes. Both of those things will be big components for us and moving forward trying and continuing to find ways to develop our players so they can be the best they can be. I will say, I really appreciate our fans. I thought the atmosphere Saturday was tremendous. Also, we had a big recruiting weekend, and for those kids that came in from out of town to see (Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium) that electric, I thought was great for us. For us, we are going to practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday this week and then, as a staff, we will hit the road recruiting Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then crank it up for Baylor next week."
On junior quarterback Casey Thompson
"The week before (the Oklahoma State game) he throws five touchdowns against Oklahoma, he had a six-touchdown game against Texas Tech, so he has played and shown really good football to us. I think he has earned that opportunity to work his way out of this. Now, we are still developing (redshirt freshman) Hudson (Card) and if that time comes where we need to make a change, we will be prepared to do so. We have all the confidence in Casey to do that. The bigger picture, holistically, is us as a team, and then pair it down to us as an offensive unit and same with the defense. Obviously, the quarterback it's like anything: we choose to be a head coach, we choose to play the position of a quarterback. With those kinds of positions, when you win, sometimes you get a little more credit than maybe you deserve. And when you lose, maybe you get a little more blame than you deserve, but that is okay. You've got to understand the arena you chose to be in and be a part of, you can't ride the emotional rollercoaster of the up and down, you have got to find the even keel. So, I have the utmost confidence in Casey that he will bounce back and play great football for us."
On in-game switches along the offensive line against Oklahoma State
"That was the plan going in; (senior) Tope (Imade) was making his first career start, so to think he was going to go all four quarters probably was not fair to him, so we wanted to roll (freshman offensive lineman) Hayden Connor in there with him. Getting (senior) Derek (Kerstetter) back at right tackle I think was helpful and I thought it was good for Derek. Having a little bit of healthy competition with (junior) Christian (Jones) and (redshirt freshman) Andre (Karic) at left tackle, I think was good. Ideally moving forward, Tope continues to gain that comfort level of playing and being a more consistent player at right guard and then we are going to monitor the situation at left tackle as we go for the next two weeks before the Baylor game."
On how the offense is executing
"I think every team, every identity of every team, is different. Sometimes you're struggling as an offense because a couple of your playmakers haven't really touched the ball, so they become an emphasis to get the ball to get you going. Sometimes you're struggling because you aren't blocking things very well up front, so you're trying to call some things that give your offensive line confidence to make those blocks so that they can get going. Sometimes it's about the quarterback. Sometimes it's about the play calling, just finding your rhythm and getting your own rhythm back. There's always some reason you're not going the way you want to go, and that's where you have to be adaptable as a coach. You need to do the things necessary to get the momentum back for your team. Like I said, I've been doing this for a long time; I've been fortunate to have a lot of success. Not every game has been perfect; we didn't score 50 points every time. But we've historically been able to make the necessary adjustments to be a good offensive football team, year in and year out."
On utilizing the off week to rest some players and evaluate others
"We have some nicked up older players, who have been playing a lot of ball that we definitely don't want to shut down but limit some this week so that does create opportunities for the younger players. One guy that jumps out to me is (freshman linebacker) Morice Blackwell, he is a guy that four weeks ago didn't play at all, but on Saturday he started with three special teams plays for us and has been really coming along with his development. Really, across the board, we are seeing development in a lot of players. We see it on the practice field, and they may not be their opportunities in games but that's why we try to pride ourselves on being a developmental program. We don't just work with the guys that play on Saturday, we work with everybody in our program so that they all can continue to get better, and whether we reap and they reap the benefits of that right now or in spring practice next year or next fall, time will tell because every other individual is different. We don't neglect those guys; we constantly try to work with them on a day-to-day basis."
