November 25, 2024 • 12 mins
Hear from Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian after the win over Kentucky. Sark discusses Quinn Ewers's ankle injury, his timetable, and the rivalry with Texas A&M.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
It's the Craigway Show with the voice of the Texas
Longhorns and Hall of Van broadcasting.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
A Monday afternoon here on Sports Radio AM thirteen under
the Zone, A Long Horns Monday. Glad to have you
with us, Craigway alongside the producer Cameron Parker. So yeah,
we're glad to have you with us, and hopefully we'll
you know, be able to bring you what you need
to hear throughout the course of today and tomorrow and Wednesday.
(00:45):
We'll be with you the Wednesday course, Thursday and Friday
of the holidays, both both Thanksgiving Holiday and then the
Black Friday Holiday going into the football weekend. So a
lot to get to. So let's start off with from
our Longhorn Monday's presentation. We brought you the news conference
(01:06):
live on here on Sports Radio AM thirteen under the
Zone at eleven o'clock this morning. So let's hear more
now the opening statement of Longhorn's head coach, Steve Sarkisian.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Just to recap a little bit from Saturday. First of all,
I want to thank our fans again. Longhorn Nation was tremendous,
great turnout, great way to send our seniors off for
for tremendous career that they've had. You know, I think,
you know, we touched on a kind of a couple
of little milestones, you know, back to back ten wins
seasons for us now, which is a nice little milestone.
(01:39):
I think we've got you know, ten straight road winds now,
you know, heading into this this road opportunity that we have,
which is exciting, you know. But a couple of things
from the game that I thought were important, and we
talked a lot about playing complimentary football, and it showed
up again in this game. When we get the turnover
July McDonald's interception, we turned that into seven points to
(02:03):
score a touchdown. I think our last seven turnovers that
we've created, we've turned five of those into touchdowns and
the other two we drove the ball and then ended
up taking a knee. And so the fact that we're
playing off of each other that way. On the flip side,
where I thought complimentary football showed up in this game
as well, was a couple of the turnovers there in
the third quarter that our defense was able to take
(02:25):
the field in a sudden change manner and give up
no points. You know, they forced the missfield goal, they
force a fourth down stop, and that's playing off of
one another as well and doing it both ways, and
so I thought that that was really encouraging. Naturally. Defensively,
our ability to get to the quarterback the last couple
of weeks has been impressive. I think we have twelve
(02:47):
sacks the last two weeks, six in each game, and
in each game, five different players getting sacks in those games,
and so it's not about relying on one player getting
those sacks. A variety of guys are making those plays.
I really think the presence of Trey Wisner, what he's
been able to do the last couple of weeks has
really shown up, and really the presence of Jayden Blue.
(03:08):
Those two guys combined have have really created a running
game for us that has been physical, that's been downhill.
That's that's really been important. I think Gunnerhelm continues to
play at a high level for us offensively. And you
think about that that Kentucky defense coming in and and
how difficult they were and people struggled to move the
ball on them. I thought we moved the ball really well.
(03:30):
I thought we got in the red area, the number
one red zone defense in our conference. To go four
or five for touchdowns in that game was really critical.
But again, as we all know coming out of that
ball game, our ability to hold onto the football has
to improve this week if we want to try to
get the outcome that we're looking for. So exciting time
to to you know, revive the the rivalry with A
(03:54):
and M to go to go to college station Saturday
with an opportunity to play and that SEC championship game
on the line. College game Day being there definitely exciting.
And they have a very good football team. You know,
coach Elko has done a great job. Uh in year one.
You know, they definitely have an elite premier defensive front.
(04:15):
Uh that that kind of is the strength of that team.
With all that being said, they're good in a lot
of other areas as well. They're excellent third down defense,
they get after the quarterback. You know, I think offensively
they're very efficient. They control the ball. Uh, they're a
very good red zone offensive football team, and when they
get there, they score touchdowns. I think the you know,
(04:37):
inserting Read at quarterback has provided a real spark for them. Uh.
They're a big offensive football team. They're a big offensive line,
They got big receivers, they got a physical running back.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
So they pose a lot of great challenges for us.
But these are the games that you look forward to
playing in. And uh, with something on the line, you know,
we're excited about the opportunity, and we gotta gotta prepare
really well this week. All right.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
So, with so much conversation about the rivalry itself being
restored and everything that's on the line there, Sarcus ask
does he want his program, does he want his players
to embrace the rivalry and all that that entails, or
do you want to take a business as usual kind
(05:22):
of approach? And that was the question Sarcus asked about this.
This is a business trip and you don't get caught
up in the rivalry or do you soak in the
rivalry and let it help fuel your preparation for this matchup?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I don't think that, you know, I definitely acknowledge it.
And rivalries are great because of the build up, right,
and because of the excitement and all that. And rivalries
are great for like I always jokingly say this, for
like about the first quarter or so. But at the
end of the day, winning football games it comes down
to execution comes down to playing with the right physicality,
(05:57):
comes down to playing, you know, how you play in
the critical moments, the special situations as they present themselves.
And I think you perform well in those situations through
really good preparation. And so as much as we'll acknowledge
the rivalry, as much as we'll acknowledge you know, trying
to play it to get ourselves in the SEC Championship game,
we're going to come right back to today and what
(06:19):
do we need to do today to put forth a
positive performance and so, and that's not new for us,
you know, that's kind of how we've always kind of
gone about it. We acknowledge the game and what the
game is about, and then we get right back to
what do we need to do.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
To, yeah, to get ready for the next game. All right,
So next he was asked about quinn yours, about that
ankle as we'd learned, you know, we could tell Saturday
he was kind of hobbling through. There was a lot
of social media speculations to how severe the you know,
(06:54):
injury was to the ankle and all that sort of stuff,
and how important you know, would it be to have
him ready to go? So and and then Sark was
also asked if it's an edge that Texas has played
in a lot of these big games even as they
(07:15):
go into the SEC as in what A and M
may have played in some big games in the past.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
I think he's doing okay. You know, we our schedule
is a little bit different. We're normally a morning practice team,
but with this being Thanksgiving week and no school, we're
not practicing until this afternoon, so I have a little
better understanding when I get to see him really on
the field. But he's playing on practicing today, So we'll
see how that goes. As far as A and M,
(07:41):
I don't. I don't. They've been in the SEC now
for quite some time. There's a lot of big games
that you have to play in this conference, so I'm
not you know, they'll be ready to go to I'm sure,
you know. Coach Olko is a good coach. He's been
around the block, he's been in college football playoffs, he's
done all that stuff, so they'll be okay.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
If you were watching and we're listening to us call
the game on Saturday, you know about that last big
offensive drive that Texas had eighty six yards fifteen plays.
It took eight minutes and twenty two seconds off the clock,
eighty six yards fifteen plays in eight twenty two Every
one of those fifteen plays was running play, all on
(08:21):
the ground, no passes, and Sark was asked about the
impact of that or whether it's a you know, a
final turning point in the game or where it was
with his team.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I really felt like a week ago at Arkansas was
another critical drive. You know, it's two weeks in a
row now that we have gotten the ball late, and
you can go back to the Florida game and that
last drive, but we've gotten the ball late, and it
was how many possessions can potentially be left in the game,
(08:52):
and then how are we going to shrink this game
and then finish this game either with the ball in
our possession or scoring a touchdown. And I think that
our guys have adopted the mentality and then mentality starts
with one execution, but to a level of physicality that
you have to play with the runner's mentality of falling forward,
offensive lineman straining to finish blocks, getting to the ball,
(09:13):
receivers committed to the team and understanding what we're trying
to get accomplished and blocking downfield and so all of that,
but this one in particular, just because of kind of
how herky jerky things got there in the third quarter.
I thought this was impressive to say, hey, you know what,
we're gonna go take this ball. We're gonna take the
(09:33):
air out of the ball, we're gonna go run this football,
and we're gonna lean on our offensive line and tight ends.
And we were able to do that, and it was
a great way to finish it with a fourth down
touchdown run by Trey. I thought it was deserving of
him for the work that he had put in all
day long in that ball game all right.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Next, Sark asked about his degree of confidence that Texas
will get into the college football playoff. I think it's
pretty much acknowledged by every buddy that if they win
Saturday at eleven and one going into Atlanta, they pretty
much locked up a spot in the playoffs. Obviously, if
they win their next two games, win this Saturday night
(10:11):
in College Station, and then win in Atlanta, they get
the automatic bid and they get a buy as the
SEC champion. What would happen if they were to lose
this week, Well, that all got rolled into the question
of what is his degree of confidence that Texas will
have going into the college football playoffs and or that
(10:33):
they'll get into the playoffs, and also his thoughts on
the noise factor and the noise level that will be
in play at Kyle Field.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
You know, I don't like everybody. I was like you guys,
Saturday night. I went home and I turned on the
games and watched the games on TV, and you know,
I watched Auburn A and m I watched OU Alabama.
I shoot, I'm from Los Angeles, so I watched sc
U c l A until God knows what time of
(11:02):
night that was at. And everybody's talking right, But I
don't really know what the committee thinks and or needs
to do. What I do know is our first goal
and goal at mind is trying to go win an
SEC championship, and and to do that, we have to
try to win Saturday. And then when that does settles,
(11:22):
then I think we'll figure out the CFP and what
that looks like. Hey, we all know Kyle Field is
a very loud stadium. They've got got a great fan base,
and we've seen teams go there and get impacted by
the crowd noise. I think one of the keys to
that is our poison composure on the road. We've been
fortunate with the you know, we've got a veteran group
(11:44):
on offense, and we've been fortunate enough to go into
Alabama uh and and play a penalty free game from
a peak pre snap standpoint in that environment. We're fortunate
enough this year to go to the Big House at
Michigan in Week two and play a relatively clean game there.
So I think we've got some players that have been
exposed to some of the more difficult environments in the country,
(12:06):
but Kyle Field is right there at the top, if
not at the top, of difficult places to play. All right.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
So there's some comments from longrn's head coach Steve Sarkasian.
Will hear more next hour, and more as well in
the four o'clock hour. Up next a Monday edition of
Inconceivable here on sports Radio AM thirteen under the zone
of the iHeartRadio app.
It's the Craigway Show with the voice of the Texas
Longhorns and Hall of Van broadcasting.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
A Monday afternoon here on Sports Radio AM thirteen under
the Zone, A Long Horns Monday. Glad to have you
with us, Craigway alongside the producer Cameron Parker. So yeah,
we're glad to have you with us, and hopefully we'll
you know, be able to bring you what you need
to hear throughout the course of today and tomorrow and Wednesday.
(00:45):
We'll be with you the Wednesday course, Thursday and Friday
of the holidays, both both Thanksgiving Holiday and then the
Black Friday Holiday going into the football weekend. So a
lot to get to. So let's start off with from
our Longhorn Monday's presentation. We brought you the news conference
(01:06):
live on here on Sports Radio AM thirteen under the
Zone at eleven o'clock this morning. So let's hear more
now the opening statement of Longhorn's head coach, Steve Sarkisian.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Just to recap a little bit from Saturday. First of all,
I want to thank our fans again. Longhorn Nation was tremendous,
great turnout, great way to send our seniors off for
for tremendous career that they've had. You know, I think,
you know, we touched on a kind of a couple
of little milestones, you know, back to back ten wins
seasons for us now, which is a nice little milestone.
(01:39):
I think we've got you know, ten straight road winds now,
you know, heading into this this road opportunity that we have,
which is exciting, you know. But a couple of things
from the game that I thought were important, and we
talked a lot about playing complimentary football, and it showed
up again in this game. When we get the turnover
July McDonald's interception, we turned that into seven points to
(02:03):
score a touchdown. I think our last seven turnovers that
we've created, we've turned five of those into touchdowns and
the other two we drove the ball and then ended
up taking a knee. And so the fact that we're
playing off of each other that way. On the flip side,
where I thought complimentary football showed up in this game
as well, was a couple of the turnovers there in
the third quarter that our defense was able to take
(02:25):
the field in a sudden change manner and give up
no points. You know, they forced the missfield goal, they
force a fourth down stop, and that's playing off of
one another as well and doing it both ways, and
so I thought that that was really encouraging. Naturally. Defensively,
our ability to get to the quarterback the last couple
of weeks has been impressive. I think we have twelve
(02:47):
sacks the last two weeks, six in each game, and
in each game, five different players getting sacks in those games,
and so it's not about relying on one player getting
those sacks. A variety of guys are making those plays.
I really think the presence of Trey Wisner, what he's
been able to do the last couple of weeks has
really shown up, and really the presence of Jayden Blue.
(03:08):
Those two guys combined have have really created a running
game for us that has been physical, that's been downhill.
That's that's really been important. I think Gunnerhelm continues to
play at a high level for us offensively. And you
think about that that Kentucky defense coming in and and
how difficult they were and people struggled to move the
ball on them. I thought we moved the ball really well.
(03:30):
I thought we got in the red area, the number
one red zone defense in our conference. To go four
or five for touchdowns in that game was really critical.
But again, as we all know coming out of that
ball game, our ability to hold onto the football has
to improve this week if we want to try to
get the outcome that we're looking for. So exciting time
to to you know, revive the the rivalry with A
(03:54):
and M to go to go to college station Saturday
with an opportunity to play and that SEC championship game
on the line. College game Day being there definitely exciting.
And they have a very good football team. You know,
coach Elko has done a great job. Uh in year one.
You know, they definitely have an elite premier defensive front.
(04:15):
Uh that that kind of is the strength of that team.
With all that being said, they're good in a lot
of other areas as well. They're excellent third down defense,
they get after the quarterback. You know, I think offensively
they're very efficient. They control the ball. Uh, they're a
very good red zone offensive football team, and when they
get there, they score touchdowns. I think the you know,
(04:37):
inserting Read at quarterback has provided a real spark for them. Uh.
They're a big offensive football team. They're a big offensive line,
They got big receivers, they got a physical running back.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
So they pose a lot of great challenges for us.
But these are the games that you look forward to
playing in. And uh, with something on the line, you know,
we're excited about the opportunity, and we gotta gotta prepare
really well this week. All right.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
So, with so much conversation about the rivalry itself being
restored and everything that's on the line there, Sarcus ask
does he want his program, does he want his players
to embrace the rivalry and all that that entails, or
do you want to take a business as usual kind
(05:22):
of approach? And that was the question Sarcus asked about this.
This is a business trip and you don't get caught
up in the rivalry or do you soak in the
rivalry and let it help fuel your preparation for this matchup?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I don't think that, you know, I definitely acknowledge it.
And rivalries are great because of the build up, right,
and because of the excitement and all that. And rivalries
are great for like I always jokingly say this, for
like about the first quarter or so. But at the
end of the day, winning football games it comes down
to execution comes down to playing with the right physicality,
(05:57):
comes down to playing, you know, how you play in
the critical moments, the special situations as they present themselves.
And I think you perform well in those situations through
really good preparation. And so as much as we'll acknowledge
the rivalry, as much as we'll acknowledge you know, trying
to play it to get ourselves in the SEC Championship game,
we're going to come right back to today and what
(06:19):
do we need to do today to put forth a
positive performance and so, and that's not new for us,
you know, that's kind of how we've always kind of
gone about it. We acknowledge the game and what the
game is about, and then we get right back to
what do we need to do.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
To, yeah, to get ready for the next game. All right,
So next he was asked about quinn yours, about that
ankle as we'd learned, you know, we could tell Saturday
he was kind of hobbling through. There was a lot
of social media speculations to how severe the you know,
(06:54):
injury was to the ankle and all that sort of stuff,
and how important you know, would it be to have
him ready to go? So and and then Sark was
also asked if it's an edge that Texas has played
in a lot of these big games even as they
(07:15):
go into the SEC as in what A and M
may have played in some big games in the past.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
I think he's doing okay. You know, we our schedule
is a little bit different. We're normally a morning practice team,
but with this being Thanksgiving week and no school, we're
not practicing until this afternoon, so I have a little
better understanding when I get to see him really on
the field. But he's playing on practicing today, So we'll
see how that goes. As far as A and M,
(07:41):
I don't. I don't. They've been in the SEC now
for quite some time. There's a lot of big games
that you have to play in this conference, so I'm
not you know, they'll be ready to go to I'm sure,
you know. Coach Olko is a good coach. He's been
around the block, he's been in college football playoffs, he's
done all that stuff, so they'll be okay.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
If you were watching and we're listening to us call
the game on Saturday, you know about that last big
offensive drive that Texas had eighty six yards fifteen plays.
It took eight minutes and twenty two seconds off the clock,
eighty six yards fifteen plays in eight twenty two Every
one of those fifteen plays was running play, all on
(08:21):
the ground, no passes, and Sark was asked about the
impact of that or whether it's a you know, a
final turning point in the game or where it was
with his team.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I really felt like a week ago at Arkansas was
another critical drive. You know, it's two weeks in a
row now that we have gotten the ball late, and
you can go back to the Florida game and that
last drive, but we've gotten the ball late, and it
was how many possessions can potentially be left in the game,
(08:52):
and then how are we going to shrink this game
and then finish this game either with the ball in
our possession or scoring a touchdown. And I think that
our guys have adopted the mentality and then mentality starts
with one execution, but to a level of physicality that
you have to play with the runner's mentality of falling forward,
offensive lineman straining to finish blocks, getting to the ball,
(09:13):
receivers committed to the team and understanding what we're trying
to get accomplished and blocking downfield and so all of that,
but this one in particular, just because of kind of
how herky jerky things got there in the third quarter.
I thought this was impressive to say, hey, you know what,
we're gonna go take this ball. We're gonna take the
(09:33):
air out of the ball, we're gonna go run this football,
and we're gonna lean on our offensive line and tight ends.
And we were able to do that, and it was
a great way to finish it with a fourth down
touchdown run by Trey. I thought it was deserving of
him for the work that he had put in all
day long in that ball game all right.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Next, Sark asked about his degree of confidence that Texas
will get into the college football playoff. I think it's
pretty much acknowledged by every buddy that if they win
Saturday at eleven and one going into Atlanta, they pretty
much locked up a spot in the playoffs. Obviously, if
they win their next two games, win this Saturday night
(10:11):
in College Station, and then win in Atlanta, they get
the automatic bid and they get a buy as the
SEC champion. What would happen if they were to lose
this week, Well, that all got rolled into the question
of what is his degree of confidence that Texas will
have going into the college football playoffs and or that
(10:33):
they'll get into the playoffs, and also his thoughts on
the noise factor and the noise level that will be
in play at Kyle Field.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
You know, I don't like everybody. I was like you guys,
Saturday night. I went home and I turned on the
games and watched the games on TV, and you know,
I watched Auburn A and m I watched OU Alabama.
I shoot, I'm from Los Angeles, so I watched sc
U c l A until God knows what time of
(11:02):
night that was at. And everybody's talking right, But I
don't really know what the committee thinks and or needs
to do. What I do know is our first goal
and goal at mind is trying to go win an
SEC championship, and and to do that, we have to
try to win Saturday. And then when that does settles,
(11:22):
then I think we'll figure out the CFP and what
that looks like. Hey, we all know Kyle Field is
a very loud stadium. They've got got a great fan base,
and we've seen teams go there and get impacted by
the crowd noise. I think one of the keys to
that is our poison composure on the road. We've been
fortunate with the you know, we've got a veteran group
(11:44):
on offense, and we've been fortunate enough to go into
Alabama uh and and play a penalty free game from
a peak pre snap standpoint in that environment. We're fortunate
enough this year to go to the Big House at
Michigan in Week two and play a relatively clean game there.
So I think we've got some players that have been
exposed to some of the more difficult environments in the country,
(12:06):
but Kyle Field is right there at the top, if
not at the top, of difficult places to play. All right.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
So there's some comments from longrn's head coach Steve Sarkasian.
Will hear more next hour, and more as well in
the four o'clock hour. Up next a Monday edition of
Inconceivable here on sports Radio AM thirteen under the zone
of the iHeartRadio app.
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