The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Video: Steve Sarkisian press conference
10.09.2023 | Football
Football head coach Steve Sarkisian spoke with the media on Monday.
Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian Opening Statement
"First of all, (to) recap the last ball game here with OU … I feel like you never know when you talk in a postgame press conference if you hit on the things that it felt like, and then you go watch the tape and it kind of bares itself out. I think, obviously, the turnovers were a factor, not necessarily because of the points that came off of it. I thought our defense did a great job of minimizing three turnovers to only seven points. But those are momentum plays, right? They create momentum for you when you can generate them. And so, three-to-nothing in turnovers is an issue. The nine penalties were an issue because that's out of character for us. I think we're averaging just about four penalties a game and to have nine in the game. The pre-snap penalties were an issue. Obviously, the unsportsmanlike conduct after the block punt. Roughing the punter, which in turn, they end up scoring on that drive. So, those were issues in the game. Three red zone trips for us to only come out of those three trips with three points, quite frankly, is probably the biggest deciding factor in the game. Our ability to move the ball wasn't a question, but our ability to put the ball in the end zone was. And then, conversely, they have six trips into the red area, and they score 34 points. So, if you just look at it that way and do the math, that was an issue. Obviously, the end of the half and end of the game defense, our inability to get stops there, were issues in the game. Five sacks that came in a variety of ways, putting us behind the chains offensively, hurt. And then, conversely, not having very good rush lanes on our end to allow their quarterback to move in the pocket, move up in the pocket, and keep his vision was a factor as well. I will say, there are some real positives in the game. I know sometimes when you lose, it's easy to look at what went wrong. I think there were a lot of things that went right. Obviously, the fake punt was a great play for us that swung some momentum. The block punt for a touchdown, those are huge plays. And (junior kicker) Burt Auburn, what a kick, 47-yard field goal with just over a minute to go. I think getting him back into the fold of what he's capable of being, that's going to be big for us in the second half of the season. I will stand on that I loved our competitiveness, I loved our resiliency, our grit, our toughness, our fight; even when we weren't at our best Saturday, and we weren't, and we just didn't execute the way we're capable of executing all the way down to the touchdown on the last play. We have a pressure called – we don't cover it right; we don't execute the pressure right. We have two guys running in the same gap, and one guy can block two, and that allows the quarterback to hold the ball to throw the touchdown. So, I think the biggest thing that comes out of this for me is, you know, with all that being said, we had a great opportunity to win the game with all the things that I just talked about. And if that's our worst, we're going to be okay. Alright, we'll fix the things that need to get fixed as a coaching staff and as a team this week during the bye week. And we'll play good football the second half of the season. I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to watching our coaches and our leadership really step up this week, and then as we head into the second half of the season. One thing that's going to be big for us this week is getting healthy. We are a little bit banged up as a football team, which is understandable. I think everybody is at this point in the season, so we understand that. But it would be nice to get a little bit healthier than we are right now. We have some issues to address collectively and individually. I think we need to create more turnovers from the defensive perspective. We're not causing enough fumbles right now; we want to improve upon that. We definitely want to improve our red zone offense. We've already started working on that as a staff. I think our two-minute defense needs to be better, so we're diving into that. And I think we need to get more out of our return game, whether it's a punt return, kick return. We have too many good athletes right now to not be getting more out of that aspect of the game. So, for all of that to happen, all of the players need to be coachable. They need to understand why we're trying to get them better and to put forth the right effort to make that happen. I think the overriding message is: Hey, everything we want out of the season is still right in front of us right now. We have to go handle our business. And the first order of business is to have a really good bye week. Like I said, getting healthy, addressing the issues that need to be addressed. And it's a simple adage that I talked to the team about today. But I think this week is important as any. You know, learn from yesterday, focus on today, prepare for tomorrow. So we have to learn from the loss Saturday, and there's plenty to take from that game. To learn from, we have to focus this week on the things that we need to do. And that'll help prepare us for the second half of the season, that I think will go out and play good football and see where it all lays out at the end."
On the team's depth at safety
"The depth has been really good for us. The experience that (senior defensive back) Jerrin Thompson provides is helpful. The knowledge base that (sophomore defensive back) Michael Taaffe has is really helpful. The influx of where (senior defensive back) Kitan Crawford has grown into, I think has been good. I think (senior defensive back) Jalen Catalon, what he brings, you know, from a physicality standpoint, has been good. And I think (freshman defensive back) Derek Williams Jr., his future is so bright. So again, we have a lot of really good depth there. Cat, I think right now it's kind of day-to-day to see how he kind of responds, coming out of the ballgame. We feel his presence when he's out there. But we have to make sure he's healthy enough to go do that. But like I said, I think the depth is helpful for us. You know, we can role a lot of people, we can rotate a lot of guys, especially predicated on, they've all have a little bit of a different skill set. The style of offense that we're playing, we can utilize different people in different combinations at different times."
On talking about the big picture with the team and the possibilities to get to the Big 12 Championship Game
"Well, I think it's helpful. We went into the season with the goal to be champions. And those goals still remain because they're reality, right? I think now more than ever, there's no divisions in the Big 12, the two best teams get to go play for a championship. And we control that with what we do and how we play. Naturally, nobody likes to lose a game, but we have to go handle our business. And we're more than capable of doing that. And so, we do talk about the big picture, especially during a bye week, so that they can understand the lay of the land. And then we drill back down into what's of importance right now and what we need to do to make sure that we put ourselves in that position down the road."
