Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was once a quarterback himself. A pretty good one at BYU, too. So he knows what it’s like to make mistakes, stay positive and bounce back as the game progresses.
Sarkisian can have high-level, intelligent conversations with junior Quinn Ewers after a defender tips a pass for an unfortunate interception.
And the coach isn’t afraid to rip star backup Arch Manning . Forget about that stunning flip to Silas Bolden for a touchdown in the 52-0 win over Colorado State. What about that bad read on a fourth-down throw to Parker Livingstone that went incomplete?
Such is life of a coach who is helping his quarterbacks get better with every repetition.
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“Between Arch’s little flip and Quinn, hey we’ve got a high-level quarterback room,” Sarkisian said Saturday. “I don’t want those guys to be robots. They need to play the game. We try to train them and train them from a discipline approach, and I’m hard on them. They'll be the first ones to tell you I’m hard on them. (Quarterbacks coach A.J.) Milwee’s hard on them. But in the end, when it's time to play the game, play the game.”
Ewers may nitpick his performance, but it was effective. The veteran starter completed 20 of 27 throws for 260 yards and threw three touchdowns. He spread the ball around to 10 different players, a masterstroke to help ease the pressure on a thin crop of running backs.
“The ball was really going to the right people on time,” Sarkisian said. “He made good decisions in the RPO game. And I just thought his command of the offense on the field was was really good. So I was proud of him that way.”
On the field, Ewers came to the sideline and joked with his coach, “At least it was a little better than Rice last year.” The Horns got off to a slow start in the 2023 season opener against the Owls but pulled away for a 37-10 win. “And I said, ‘Yeah, I’d agree with you,’” Sarkisian responded.
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“The growth is there, and so it’s just different,” Sarkisian said. “You know, our conversations are different. He’s so much more mature now that I don't think he ever feels like he has to prove anything to me. I think he just goes out and plays and then we talk about it.”
Manning isn’t a proven starter yet, so Sarkisian is more demanding.
Manning lit up Royal-Memorial Stadium when he entered in the third quarter. On third-and-goal from the CSU 5, Manning stepped up into the pocket looking to run. But he quickly shifted right and flipped the ball to Bolden for a rather impressive touchdown.
Related: Texas QB Arch Manning does his best Patrick Mahomes impression for one TD, then bullies in for another score
Manning then pushed himself into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line for another score. It was his first career passing touchdown and rushing touchdown as a Longhorn.
But TV cameras caught Sarkisian chewing Manning pretty good after a fourth-and-7 pass to Livingstone fell incomplete. The freshman receiver appeared to fall down; his foot might’ve got caught in the turf. But that wasn’t the issue. With the coverage, Manning was supposed to throw in another direction.
“I coached Arch harder than anything on his last incomplete pass on the fourth down, because it was a mis-read,” Sarkisian said. “Just because he had some success, and he was 5-for-5 before that, when mistakes occur, we have to coach him, and we have to be demanding. But when they have opportunities to go make those types of plays, I let them kind of do that stuff.”
The Longhorns need both quarterbacks to keep playing well to survive what could be at most a 17-game season.
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