The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Video: Steve Sarkisian press conference
09.13.2021 | Football
Head coach Steve Sarkisian previewed Saturday's game against Rice.
Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian Press Conference
Opening Statement
"It was good to get back on the field this morning with the guys. You know, any time you lose a ballgame or feel like you didn't perform the way you wanted to perform, one of the best remedies is getting right back to it – cleaning things up, fixing some of the mistakes that you made. Obviously, we didn't play anywhere near our capability Saturday night, so the challenge is, regardless of the opponent, how do we get as close to perfection as we can at every position? I think that's the mindset with our team. I like the way they came in today with a workmanlike mentality, so I feel good about moving forward. The reality of it is, I told the team today, one team in the history of the NFL has ever gone undefeated. So, in our game, you have adversity, you have losses. How you respond to those losses is what's critical. That's the difference between the great teams, the good teams, and the average teams. This is a big week for us in how we respond to not playing the way I know we're capable of playing and getting ourselves back on the horse and moving forward and playing the way we're capable of doing it. Adversity strikes, it is what it is, we know what it is; now what are we going to do about it? I think that's one of the key components to our approach this week as we move forward towards Rice. On a side note, (junior) Casey (Thompson) will start this week at quarterback. (Redshirt freshman) Hudson (Card) will play. Very similar to the format we had when Hudson started and Casey would play. I feel good about that; both guys have been battling, both guys have been competing. I think it'll be good for Hudson to take a little bit of a deep breath coming off of last week's game. Great opportunity for Casey to step in and battle and compete with the one early on in the ballgame, so I feel good about that."
On the decision to start Casey Thompson against Rice this Saturday
"I think Casey has performed well. In the Louisiana game, he had three drives, scored ten points, came in against Arkansas and put fourteen points on the board. The bottom line, it's not about how you execute every play, it's about you maneuvering the offense down the field to score points. I think Casey has put himself in a good position to do that, you know, obviously different circumstances than Hudson was dealing with in the beginning of the game, and I am okay with that. I think both guys are competing like crazy, and we are going to need both. I think it is fair to give Casey this opportunity and we are going to let him go and see what happens."
On Arkansas' performance against Texas
"They had the lead, they got control of the game, they were able to lean on us, they were able to run the football, they eliminated the run by playing a 3-safety defense, so at the end of the day, their big people won. That's the style of that league. It's a big man's league. We have to get ourselves to a point where not only can we stand up against that, but we have to play at a high level against that style of play."
On the outlook of the Longhorns' quarterbacks
"We are in a unique situation where we have two good guys that play well, hard and prepare. I think the team believes in both of them, which was evident in week one against Louisiana and week two against Arkansas. We will put ourselves in a position to make sure that both of those guys are in a position to excel. I don't know how long it is going to go… I kind of like it because they are making it hard. That should be the characteristic of our team in every position. That every week you just don't know because both guys are battling so hard and I appreciate that about both Casey and Hudson."
