Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
We're fat. It's the Craigway Show with Hall of Fame
broadcaster and voice of the Texas Longheards Craig Way.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
On this Monday afternoon, the recap of the weekend of
college football and the updated rankings in college football which
came out yesterday. And no surprise who was remaining number
(00:37):
one in the country. That would be the Georgia Bulldogs clearly,
but it might have surprised a few folks. The Texas
now moved up to number two one number two behind
the Bulldogs. Ohio State is third, So the two switched
spots that's in the AP pole now in the coaches pole,
it's still Ohio State second, and Texas rest of the
(00:57):
ap Top Tennis Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Penn State, Oregon,
and Miami. That's the top ten now. ESPN does its
power rankings based on its computer projections and things like
that for college football. Georgia is still number one. Texas
did move up from three to two. Ohio State dropped
(01:18):
from two to three, just like the balloting, Ole miss
all the way up to number four in the power rankings.
Tennessee up to five in the Power rankings, but I
mean number six in the power rankings, Alabama sliding the seven,
USC is at eight, Penn State nine, and Missouri ten
in those power rankings.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Just to make you aware of that. Now.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
More comments from long worn head coach Steve Sarkisian from
the weekly news conference we brought it to you live
this morning here on sports Radio AM thirteen under the Zone,
and during our Longhorn Monday presentation, sark was asked about
Quinn Ewers and how he's been so good on the
road or in games way from home since the loss
(02:01):
to Oklahoma last year, and and sark was asked what
kind of effect that lost the Sooners might have happened.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
I think one thing about Quinn and sometimes gets lost
is because of his cool, calm demeanor that sometimes we
don't see the anger the frustration come out that that
I'm privy to right on a on a on a
regular basis. And so the competitor in Quinn was pissed
after that game, you know that, you know, he felt
like he's better than that. We all felt like we
(02:28):
were better than that, and we squandered a lead in
that game that we felt like we had under control.
He missed a couple of throws, we dropped, some passes,
we didn't protect great and its snowballed, and like anything
at quarterback, I think what he learned that day is, hey,
when when you win, the quarterback probably gets too much credit.
But when you lose, the quarterback probably, you know, assumes
(02:48):
too much of the blame and that that's just the
way it goes. That's the nature of the position. And
so you know, if if you know, if you want
a little bit more credit, let's ensure throughout the week
that everybody's doing their part and assume the leadership role
and be demanding of where guys are supposed to be
when they're supposed to be there. And I think that's
where he's grown, you know, as we've now he's in
(03:09):
year three with us. It's the leadership, you know. And
then because of the leadership, the guys around him are
playing at a very high level. I think they have
a ton of belief in him because of the work
that he puts in, and he's playing good.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I just feel like right now with him, there wasn't
a throw Saturday outside of maybe a checkdown that I
don't think he saw the linebacker when he went to
check it down. That was really ever even in danger,
even the shots he took. It was a heck of
a throw at Isaiah on that first drive. I love
the throw that he that he made to Silas was
just off his fingertips on that post. That was the
(03:46):
right read. But man, how many times did he get
to second, third, and fourth reads in his progression and
get completions and keep the chains moving. And for us
in that game, it was really important that we stayed
ahead of the chains. We did not want to be
in third and seven plugs against Wink Martindale's defense that
he's too good of a blitzer. We did not want
to turn that ball over. We did not want to
(04:06):
give Michigan a short field. And I think Quinn executed
the plan. But yet when there were opportunities to go
make his plays, he made him. And so I think
that's just a sign of a very mature quarterback that
understands what we're trying to do as a team, not
just you know, his own individual benefit.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Okay, all right, So there's some thoughts on Quinn in
the effect he had and as well as Quinn played,
as well as the LOGRNS play that doesn't mean Sart
doesn't feel that there isn't room for improvement.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I think on the perimeter, are blocking can definitely improve.
You know, I feel like we're we're blocking people pretty
good up front, we're just not hitting the home runs
yet because we're not getting that last block done. And again,
you bring in new receivers and they're all learning, and
we're so focused on the pass game what they need
to do there. I'm I'm focused on the run game
(04:58):
on some of this stuff too, And so that that's that's
one aspect for me that I felt like, you know,
we can we can definitely improve. And then the second
thing for me that I that I talked to the
team about today and most notably the defense, but but
it's also the offense, like we needed we need to
go to another level with our killer instinct and we
need to be more relentless in the fourth quarter of
(05:20):
these types of games of of you know, the games
in hand and and and that's okay that it's in hand,
but that doesn't mean that that's how it has to
go and and give up a touchdown and not get
first downs and the game just kind of feel like, uh,
you know, we only played three quarters. I want to
play sixty minutes. I want to make it sixty minutes
a hell for our opponents. And and we have a
(05:40):
roster that can do that. But that's also a mentality
that that we're striving for, that we're working towards, and
I think that we can get better at and so
that's that's definitely a point of emphasis of ours as well.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yeah, and the other thing, and you heard him hint
at it right toward the end of that SoundBite. It's
all about attitude sometimes, you know.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I'll say this, like, I get confidence from them, and
what gives me confidence is the way they prepare, the
way they practice. I get confidence in the way they
talk to one another, the way they interact with one another.
I get confidence from them, the way they interact with
me before and after meetings or on the practice field.
That that gives me the confidence to know, like we're
(06:21):
in a good frame of mind. And if I feel
like they're in a good frame of mind, I'm in
a really good frame of mind. And I'm not. I'm
not a big you know, screamer and yeller all practice long,
but I think the players understand me enough to know
now that's like when I do raise my voice, when
I do get on somebody for something, we got to
get it fixed. Because coach is only saying that right
(06:42):
now because it's important to him. And so when they
give me that confidence that man, we are in the
right frame of mind, we're executing the small details of
what we need to do. I feel really good too,
But I want them to get confidence from me, like
I want them to know I believe in them, and
so I think it is a two way street. But
I think you've got to play this game with with
(07:05):
supreme confidence and belief in what you're trying to do.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Sark was then asked a couple of other things about
some individual players. One of those is trade More. Now,
this is an interesting thing because of course Trey transferred
in came through the portal from UTSA. Who are the
long wornes playing this week UTSA? Sark was asked, does
he need to have a conversation with Tray about how
(07:32):
you handle the week mentally emotionally since it's against your
former school, And Sark kind of deferred on that and said,
not really, because you've got to get you have to
know the person that trade More is one and two.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
The way of.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
The world in college athletics, the way it rolls these days.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
When you're not in the Power for and then you
play one game against the power for, that's one game
to get up for. You know, at this level, it's
every week, right, it's every week because if they're not
a power for a team, you have to recognize you're
gonna get their best shot. Right, They're gonna they're gonna
run their best stuff. Each player is gonna put his
best stuff on tape because he knows that's the film
the NFL is gonna evaluate. And then when you're in conference,
(08:13):
that's just the caliber of play week in and week out.
And so I think the challenge for any player as
they make this adjustment is the mental intensity that is
required weekly. And then because it's required weekly, it's required daily.
And I think one thing for Trey that I've been
impressed with is, I know we haven't you know that
the sacks aren't just flying off the board right now.
(08:34):
But he's playing really good football. He's playing physically, he's
playing tough. You know, two games in a row, people
are trying to run the ball at him and he's
holding the point. He's doing a really good job. So
the other stuff's gonna come because sooner or later they're
gonna figure out that that's not gonna work, and they're
gonna have to try something else because for two weeks
it hasn't worked, So now they're gonna have to try
something else with him.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Here's a little more from sark On about the formula
success for success for his team in the program and
the season.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Yeah, I mean, I don't. I don't think it's like
rocket science.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
You know.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
We just believe in what we believe in. And it's
not something that one week it's one thing, the next
week it's the next and you know, we talk about
something the night the first night of training camp, and
then we never bring it up again. Like there's things
that we believe in. We believe in an attacking style
of football, you know, whether it's you know, offensive play calling,
defensive play calling, or special teams. We like to go
(09:26):
after people. You know, we believe in a physical game.
You know that there's not it's not a secret to
how we play. We want to play a physical brand
of football. We believe in speed, and we try to
let our speed run fast, whether it's on special teams,
on offense or on defense. And then we believe in
being a smart football team. Like we we work on
the special situations of the game every week. You know,
(09:49):
we do a meeting just dedicated to what we call
situational Masters every Friday for twenty minutes. I show living
examples from other games and other teams of where blunders
occur or where a team executes something really well, because
I want our players to be at their best when
their best is needed in those critical moments. And so
we have a formula that we think works. And then
(10:11):
there's a style of play and a brand of football
which we take a lot of pride in playing. And
when we get ourselves to that point and then we
go do it. The challenge for us is to then
go recreated again the next week, irregardless of the opponent.
And that's no disrespect to anybody we play. The opponent
is irrelevant if we prepare to the standard that we
(10:33):
have created for ourselves. And like I tell the players
all the time, I don't hold them to a standard
that I don't think they're capable of. They've shown me
what they're capable of. That's the standard. My goal for
them is to try to exceed that standard, so I
can recreate a new standard for them to strive for.
That's it. It's nothing really more than that. And to
(10:53):
our players credit, I think they embrace that. I think
they want to be pushed. Like I've said before, great
players want to be coached and they want to be
pushed to be even better than they were yesterday. And
I think that's the type of team we have right now.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
It also helps if you have really good physical football players.
That was one thing Sark was asked about, and so
then he was asked about how you find that type
of physical specimen.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
No, I think that's it is. It is something that
you have to look for, you know. I when you
watch tape of guys or you go watch and play,
there's certain guys that seek the contact, and there's certain
guys that don't really want the contact, and then there's
somewhere in the middle. And so we're always trying to
find that guys that don't shy away. Like one of
(11:39):
my favorite plays Saturday was we threw a swing pass
to Trey Weisner and he had a gain of about
twenty yards and he could have very easily went out
of bounds and been fine, but he turned and took
on the defender and really delivered the blow. That to
me over time, that those are the shot that send
(12:00):
messages to our opponents that this is what the type
of team we're gonna play against week in and week out.
But a quarterback can too, you know, Quinn standing in
the pocket taking a hit and delivering a strike and
on a throw, our receivers blocking on the perimeter, watching
the way our safeties are tackling right now. I mean,
all those things set up I think physical most people
think the runners and the line of scrimmage. We try
(12:21):
to look at it in totality, and again we try
to really emphasize that physicality and training camp. That's why
that first week and a half is so hard for us,
because that physicality is so important to us. And then
throughout the week we do emphasize it. You know, Tuesdays
and Wednesdays we do team run and we do good
on good team run. It's only for six plays, but
(12:43):
there's a mentality in that of hey, this is this
is there's no passes. We're gonna run the ball. Everybody's
gonna strike, We're gonna have lower paths, we're gonna have
our hands inside, we're gonna run our feet, We're gonna
do those little things. And and we do tackling drills
to start, you know, Tuesdays and Wednesdays practices and balls
scurity drills, and we're punching at the ball. So I
just think over time the repetitions add up. But also
(13:07):
there's a mentality that the guys know that we need
to play with and they also know on Mondays, I'm
going to show good, bad, and ugly, and I'm going
to show the physical plays where we do show up
like a Trey Weisner, and I'm going to show plays
when I think guys are turning it down and that's
not acceptable in our program.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Yeah, some interesting comments when we had a couple other
interesting thoughts from Sark, We're getting in it. Get to
those coming up, and we'll also check the text line
as well when we continue on Sports Radio AM thirteen
under the zone of the IHA Radio app.