‘Physical Day’ for Longhorns During First Scrimmage
On Saturday, the Texas Longhorns held their first Spring full-contact scrimmage. The full roster came out healthy, following the 100 play scrimmage (including live tackling) according to head coach Steve Sarkisian.
Sarkisian, who had the first team face the projected starting defense, mentioned that it was “a physical day.”
After the scrimmage, Sarkisian mentioned positives on both sides of the ball, while also highlighting some mistakes. Here are the highlights:
On the scrimmage:
“The key component is coming out of this scrimmage and really teaching well,” Sarkisian said. “And the players are willing to be coached so that they can improve their game individually so that we can improve collectively. But I thought all in all, for the amount of work that we got in, the guys responded well.”
On mental toughness:
“When you come out today and you have a 100-play scrimmage, who can mentally overcome as things get hard because the game of football’s hard,” Sarkisian said. “It’s physically tough, and it’s mentally tough. You need to be those two things to be successful.”
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On quarterback play:
“I thought, for the most part, we threw the ball pretty accurately today,” Sarkisian said. “Missed a couple throws here and there, but I thought both of them moved the ball pretty well, especially when they were operating with the first offense. I thought that both of the guys stepped in, had good command, moved the ball, and created some explosive plays.”
On linebacker Tyler Owens
“He’s a guy who’s really learned our system well, is probably the furthest along of understanding, and can play multiple positions at the wide receiver position right now,” Sarkisian said of Whittington. “He’s been a playmaker so far throughout the beginning of the spring ball and he’s also been a real asset on special teams.”
On running back Roschon Johnson:
“Another guy who’s kind of fallen into that same category as J-Whitt has been Roschon,” Sarkisian said. “Roschon has done everything we’ve asked for from the day we got here and he’s worked really hard in the weight room, he’s practicing really well, and he went out and played really well today.”
On Coburn and Alfred Collins:
“Coburn, he provides a great deal of leadership and energy,” Sarkisian said. “I love that guy because he brings it every day. What he does really is defend the run, but he does have some quickness and does do a nice job in the pass rush. But he’s built to stop the run and does a really good job of it.
“I think Alfred has really come on here. He’s pretty long, he’s quick for a big man, which can cause some issues for us. And Vernon Broughton has been another bright spot. Another big, long guy who has some quickness who’s been encouraging.”
On Ray Thornton and Jacoby Jones
“Those two guys were a problem today and have been a problem so far throughout the first week of spring ball with Jacoby on one side and Ray Thornton on the other,” Sarkisian said. “They’re a handful.”
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