Full Press Conference | Steve Sarkisian breaks down UT's dominant win over Colorado State

all righty um first of all just recapping the game um from Saturday I I want to give a shout out to our fans our students uh LongHorn nation that was a great turnout um you know we um 2:30 kick August 31st is not easy on anybody so uh from the the you know walking Bevo Boulevard to you know getting in the stadium seeing the students getting in there early to seeing how many people stayed uh till the end to sing the eyes that that was that was really cool and so I want to give them a shout out I thought from a team perspective especially having a chance to see a few of these other first games of the season for some other people um man I was proud of our team of just playing a clean football game um you we didn't have personal foul penalties we didn't have 12 on the field we didn't have 10 on the field um our guys played a clean game and I think that's a credit to the staff I think that's a credit to the leadership of our guys um just some highlights coming from the game you know five players scored their first touchdown for Texas Saturday which was a cool thing you know eight different players ran the football for Saturday uh 28 players different players had a tackle for Saturday 31 players played for their first game for the University of Texas Saturday uh 51 players in the first half played 77 total players played in the ball game um I think total 12 different guys caught passes 10 in the first half so I think it just speaks to the to the depth uh that we have on the team and it was great that a lot of guys got to play that was the goal going in um but as a coach it was for me it was to to see them play a clean game um in a first game is always is always challenging so that that was that was that you know obviously moving forward to Michigan uh ton of respect for this program for this team um you know you don't you don't go to three straight college football playoffs if you don't have a great program and they've got a great program obviously capping it off last year uh being national champs uh you know I I think about some things about this team they're 41 and three in their last 44 games they've won 16 games in a row they've won 23 straight home games uh so these guys know how to win uh you you can see it in their style of play they play with a great deal of confidence they believe in one another uh so it's a heck of a challenge for our team uh but this is why you come to Texas is to is to play in games like this uh and to think this is the first time in the history uh of college football that that Texas is going to play Michigan in the regular season um is is pretty awesome and pretty humbling to uh to be part of that and so uh we're definitely looking forward to the opportunity Steve um looking at Michigan's defense can you talk about what stands out about them and if they remind you of any team you've prepared for previously yeah you know I think first of all I got I have a great deal of respect for wink marale their defensive coordinator you know he and I worked together way back in 2004 with the the Oakland Raiders and uh he's a great defensive mind he's very creative um and and I think a lot of times people think oh they just Blitz and it's it's it's they're they're you know they're Reckless or something they're not there's a there's a method to all of the madness that they do they're very sound from a coverage standpoint uh they're really good defensive front with some elite players on the defensive front but also some elite players in the back end too and so when you when you when you put together scheme with great players uh and then they play with a great deal of confidence because of who they've been over the years uh that's that's the challenge you know and so you know you just start thinking about all the great defenses that that have ever come along the way you know again they've got good schemes they got good coaches they got they got pride in in that defensive style uh but yet they've got some elite players you know they got first round draft picks on that defense too so it's a heck of a challenge for us they remind you of anyone no I mean they are who they are right Joe who do you have being the the Alex orgy on your scout team and then when you've got two quarterbacks different styles do you feel like you are a little bit used to it after preparing maybe for a similar situation with Alabama last year I think I'm gonna be Alex orgy this week okay I don't dude I'm not going to tell you how we prepare okay so um it very similar you know this guy is a problem because you have to treat him like a runner you know he's got size he's got speed uh he can change the math on you quick quickly when you start adding into the quarterback runs um but yet the arm Talent is there to where he can affect you especially down the field and if you remember in that game last year at Bama milro made a couple big time throws down the field to create explosive plays and that's something in this game for us that's going to be critical yeah I mean clearly we've got to we got to do great stopping the Run we need to be better at stopping the Run than we were a week ago but we surely don't want to do that at the expense of giving up explosive plays in the past game and I think that's that fine line that that we have to walk going into Saturday um Steve has just announced that cam Williams was the co- um offensive lineman in the in the conference can you comment on his development and just what you've seen from end of last season to this season yeah really proud of Cam I've been proud of Cam about his journey you know being year three in our program uh from where he's come from as far as he completely changed his body composition you know from where how he was built when he got out here to where he is now the athleticism that he possesses I think the confidence and understanding in our schemes and the way he's playing you know we always do a good bad and ugly every Monday morning with the team and and I highlighted a couple different times of him being on the backside and getting to the second level getting the linebackers uh even our own players were kind of like wow you know they they were kind of an awe of watching a guy that big move the way that he was moving so really proud of him uh the fact that you know we were returning four or five starters on the old line and in week one him being the one new starter becoming SEC offensive lineman of the week um I just think speaks volumes to his development and again it's it's credit to him it's credit to to coach beckon in the weight room I think it's a credit to coach flood and just the um again the the the development that he's had not only on the field but off the field um in his time here coach um with so much to like from from the the opener when you break down the tape what what we say you kind of mentioned the the the Run def defense what were some of the things that you know you need to coach up going we had a few Mas in our perimeter blocking offensively um you know we had a couple snap INF fractions which was obviously uncharacteristic Jake major guy who played so much had a couple snap in fractions there um you know we had the turnover right there at the 25 yd line and I'd love Quinn to make you know better decisions in in that situation of the game a third and 13 some just possessing the ball and getting three points out of it um you know uh it was hard sometimes to evaluate everything on special teams they they you know they Fair caught every kickoff so trying to evaluate that we only had one punt trying to evaluate that um and then their style of their punt game where they were rolling the ball to us uh was a tough evaluation too and so we're continuing to push those guys in practice on special teams to make sure that we're prepared because Michigan is an excellent special teams football team and uh we're going to need to play at a high level on that in that phase of it yeah coach um I know each year is is a different team but but is there anything that you guys may have learned from that trip to Tuscaloosa last year that you can apply this year for another big game on the road against an elite competition well I think so you know we we have I think it's 46 guys that are going to be traveling this week with us that were at tuscalo a year ago and so you know we've got you know that's about half the guys that'll be on the trip were in Tuscaloosa a year ago and I think one of the keys is that is one you have to have great Poise and composure when you're on the road in these types of environments you know you this is a game of emotion there's no question um but we need to make sure that we don't get emotional in the arena uh that that's the first part um two is playing with a real sense of confidence and belief in who we are in our style of play um we know this is a heck of a challenge we know this will be a four quarter game um but stay in the course especially when adversity strikes because it will strike you know people forget last year in the fourth quarter we were behind in that game and then we ended up scoring 21 points and we ended up finishing that game uh on a seven-minute drive to close the game out and so stay in the course keeping Our poise keeping our composure having a real sense of belief playing as one uh as a team uh and pulling for one another you know there's going to be over 100,00 people that want us to play Bad and we's going to be about a hundred of us that want us to play good and so we need to lean into that hundred and and making sure that we're as strong as as we can be Steve under a four team playoff format um the loser of this game would have very little room for error um but under a 12 team format no matter how this game goes both teams will exit having everything to play for still I'm curious your thoughts just on this new format and and what the rest of the season might look like Beyond yeah I I you know again because of the new format I like this matchup even more um because I think this is why you come to a Texas or you go to a Michigan um is to play in games like this our our guys love this opportunity and I'm sure their players do too and I think the coaches do as well you know that that we get to go play in a marquee game on the road and in in a great environment for college football um and in a couple years we get to do it here with them as well um and on the same token if you win it this game it's great if you don't it isn't going to kill you and you know one thing I touched on to reference the game against Alabama a year ago that this game isn't to Define our season you know because if if we win the game that doesn't you know automatically you know declare us that we're going to be this great team and if we don't win the game that doesn't mean that well the the season was a failure there's a lot of football left to be played but what I think Saturday will do for us is serve as a bit of a barometer of kind of where we're at as a football team this fall um we're going to get challenged in all three phases um and then okay what do we need to work on and where do we need to keep growing and getting ourselves prepared for the Southeastern Conference and so so um you know ideally it can serve as a spring board for the rest of the season um but but we'll find out you know Saturday I guess around 3:30 o'clock or four o'clock or so Thom uh coach you had a lot of bodies rotate in at defensive tackle who stood out on film after youall watch film and when you're playing a power running game like Michigan how does that impact your rotation at defensively well you know I think a couple guys that that that stood out for me um you know I think Alfred and Vernon played well like like they do you know and that that was that was a good sign I think Germaine lay was a guy that that definitely showed us some things and a young guy that that kind of was a pleasant surprise was Alex January did some things for us in there as well so but we're going to need all these guys in this type of a game you know um I don't know how many snaps this game will be um generally a Michigan team in game averages right around 60 or so snaps um and so it's got a little bit more of an NFL feel and so it's maximizing those snaps when those guys are on the field as much as it is rotating just to for depth purposes you know when you're playing a team that you think might go 85 90 snaps you need that rotation just to just to stay in shape in this instance it's when you're on that field you got to maximize that rep and it and if it's you get eight reps in the game you got to make those eight count and and whatever that looks like and so that part is probably more important to us than than anything is just making sure that man we we exhaust all that we have for that one play knowing that we have the rotation we have SAR Quinn talked about coming back and everything kind of slowing down what are the subtle things that that you've seen from Quinn that maybe bears that out he certainly sounded very confident and very comfortable after the game yeah no I thought he played that way Saturday you know um I can remember a couple years ago um in I think it was his first career pass gets intercepted here in DKR and you could almost see he was a little Shook and of course you would be um Saturday you know the ball gets tipped and he throws an interception it was just so calm he goes I was trying to throw it away like he it didn't he didn't feel rattled like what might happen next like are they going to change me or something it was more about ah this is what I was doing it was like water off his back and it was on to the next and he played a really good football game Saturday um I thought he threw the ball to the right people on time um you know we dropped we dropped a couple balls we had you know tough catch by Isaiah I mean I think he you know he could have could have clearly only had you know a couple incompletions and so I just thought the command was there the timing of the throws the accuracy of the throws the RPO game the drop back game so um again the efficiency in the red area showed up uh I think that's all a byproduct of his comfort level because when he's calm and comfortable but playing with confidence I think the other guys feel it yes Steve I don't know if you know Coach Moore from michig but I was curious what the learning curve is like to be a head coach in his first full season I don't know if you could go back to your first year so yeah you know I I would say one man he got great he got great experience a year ago you know with the situation that they were in and to think as that season was going on at the at the tail end of that season every game he was coaching in mattered and there were some big games you know it wasn't like he was just you know there weren't you know cupcake games you know he had to he had to go into pen State and win that game he had he had a coach against Ohio State in that game and so he's got great exposure um and you know he worked for a really good coach and Coach Harbaugh um and so you know I don't I don't think probably for him that it feels new to him just because of the experience that he got a year ago uh well I felt like I was drinking out of a fire hose at that time we were trying to build a program that was 0 and 12 the year before uh we were just trying to find a way to to get another first down at that point so um probably a little different little different format than you know when you take over for a team that they've got such experience they've got you know really good developmental program that that that they have and they're not really having to change schemes in coaches that um probably a different transition for him than it was for me when I went to Washington and it was a brand new staff and we were really trying to change a culture at that time you right coach last week you talked about in your prep preparation for Colorado state that you were thinking through all the scenarios that they could throw at you that you didn't see on film do you ever use AI for any of that do you ever get a chance uh to use ask AI those kind of questions I don't I don't want to get turned in for plagiarism you know that's what that's what I that's what I tell our stud that's what I tell our players as it as it pertains to school now but you know we we've got a lot of analytics that that we dive into and um you know sometimes as a coach analytics are great and computers are great and AI is great because they can spit out information to you sometimes as a coach I like to go with my gut too you know because I think I see some things and feel some things a little bit different than a computer um you know I do have a heartbeat I know sometimes y'all might not think so but um and so that feel is important too so I think there's a there's a balancing act that has to come out of it um but yes we we do use analytics to to help us with some of that stuff coach uh over here I'm wondering is this game plan that we'll see this week one that's been in place for months and if so what advantage does that early preparation provide well I I think you know our players didn't know it probably until today but we were practicing a lot of these plays for this game in training camp you know and so they didn't know it as much but now they know it that we're that we've started the preparation for it today so um I I don't necessarily want to say it's been in place for months but we had a pretty good idea of the style in which we wanted to play this game we've practiced a lot of these plays in training camp and now we kind of get to dust them off this week and and and use them in the ball game by the I can't remember if we've touched on this but have you played or played or coached at Michigan and what I know you love this and and the opportunity to go to a place like this but what what do you think it'll mean to you and just to this team to to get to play in a game like this yeah I I'm super pumped like I um you guys again I say this maybe for for reporters or people watching that don't know me I love college football um and even as a kid or watching Michigan play them taking the field and all jumping up and hitting the go Blue sign like I I I love that like there's all these little things along college football at different teams different stadiums that are the pageantry of the game uh and so the big house is one of those things the Michigan helmets them taking the field is one of those things and to think like these two iconic programs with those iconic uniforms and those iconic helmets meeting for the first time in the big house uh man that's it's awesome I mean I'm getting boo Goosebumps right now you know and and we got we got five days to go so um it's pretty special definitely on your so the oddsmakers um open you up as a three and a half Point favorite and they ballooned up to six and a half I don't know if a defending national Champion's ever been a six and a half Point dog at the house given their recent history there um what what what do you guys do to drown out that outside noise because everybody's talking like it's a done deal is going to win yeah three straight college football playoffs national champs 41 and three in their last 44 games have won 16 games in a row they've won 23 straight at home so we're going to be in for a dog fight Steve going back to scheduling for a second um whether or not the SEC goes to a nine game schedule does that change your Calculus on playing these types of matches no matter what and then secondly has Texas been approached about playing these non-conference neutral sight games like in Atlanta or wherever are you open to that who are those nine teams that'll depend on if I want to play if I want to play one one of these other games again you know that that's always The Balancing Act that's always the the challenge um you know again you you want you want to challenge your team you want to put your team in position to prepare for the Long Haul um you want to expose them to see who can respond to some of these environments that you have to go into um I think one of the challenges of these neutral sight games to start the year is what does the rest of your schedule look like and and ours is unique in that hey we we played Alabama the last two years we played Michigan this year we're going to Ohio State next year Ohio State comes here the year after that Michigan comes here the year after that so you're looking out years down the road now all of a sudden if you want to play one of those neutral sight games because I really I don't want to go to Columbus next year go to Georgia next year and then go play somebody in Vegas too I mean I at that point it's it's a little we're getting a little out of hand stand right coach is it a Advantage for your team to have an 11 o'clock kickoff where you can get up early go play the game rather than sitting around a hotel and watching other games and seeing a bunch of drunk Michigan fans that sort of thing and how would you know that I mean um I would just say for us hey we love morning we love 11:00 a.m. kicks our time you know because you know we're a morning operation you know we we we get up every day uh we're 7:15 special teams meeting um we're on we're on the grass by 8:55 every day and we're off the field every day by 11:00 a.m. and so uh any chance for our players to get up and get dressed and go to the stadium and kick the ball off they love it uh especially on the road um and so we we do welcome that um you know again is it an advantage I don't know but I I know that uh it's helpful for us yeah coach you mentioned how you saw numerous games over the weekend Big Time matchups including the one down the street in maroon and white uh how they had a prime time match up in week one what do you like about your formula though for the past three years having a big time match up in week two and a smaller opponent quote unquote in week one to kind of get yourself prepared for that big test in week two you know I again I I just think you play the hand your dealt um and that just happened to fall the way that it fell for us you know I didn't I didn't really have much to do with it you know it just kind of it was what it was really this year's game was supposed to be here I don't know if yall recall that and part of the transition to the SEC and with Fox and and whatnot the game got moved to Ann Arbor so um you just the schedule is the schedule and then you try to prepare your team to go play it you know I it's fine that we had last week's game to get ready for this week's game if this week's game was a week ago we would have maybe prepared a little bit differently for the ball game so you just okay here's what the schedule looks like here's how we're going to prepare the team to get them ready to play uh you told us on Saturday that you don't want your quarterback's playing like robots was there a moment where you really learned that lesson um as a player and then maybe again as a coach uh I don't I don't know if there's one just in particular moment um you know and that's always a fine line because we are definitely a rule-based you know kind of quarterback room the way that we want like to play and um but I also think it is important to sometimes you just have to play and you have to make some throws and some reads and tuck it and run that um aren't in the Playbook that way right sometimes things come off a little bit differently the coverage is different whatever it is and so I don't know like I said if there's just one particular moment for me or for another quarterback I just know that that's what we've grown into um and that we do value the the football IQ and playmaking ability that a quarterback can present um that sometimes can make up for for poor coaching on my part so they they bail me out sometimes yeah coach we saw some new Personnel packages formations defensively uh you know six DBS three defensive linemen at times uh could you talk about the collaboration between coach nanson and Coach PK and also how involved are you on a week to Fe week- to week defensive game plan approach as well yeah I I think it's been a great collaboration like I said I thought coach nanson was going to be a great condition for us I think that that has has been really helpful um I think now more than ever because of the depth we have at varying positions that we're able to do some of that you we've got some really versatile DBS you know that like I've talked about J at length jayen Gilbo that way uh I think like I said the versatility of a Derek Williams and gelani McDonald the things that they can do um has allowed us to do more of those things um and then depth across the board you know because from weak to week you know what we were getting ready to play last week in an aid offense is different than what we're getting ready to play this week in in a Michigan style offense and so having that depth having that versatility is Big um I I try to dive in with those guys enough to say hey here's who I think they are if I was them this is how I would try to attack and maybe this is what I would try to do and then I let them go do their thing and then I try to evaluate later in the week as we go to say hey this is what I would really start to expect expect now that I've had a little bit more time uh and here's where I think as the week's gone on maybe we're vulnerable and this is what I would be ready for them to try to attack once they see what our plan looks like thank you coach you have had in your life as a player as a coach big Seasons my question is how do you personally rate this level of excitement of this season compared to other Milestone you have had before yeah no I I uh um I like the team like I like our team and I like the fact that hey we're in year four and and we generated I think a really good Buzz around Longhorn football not that there wasn't one before when we first got here but I think because of the way we've continued to grow as a program um because of um the success we had last season on the field because of the success of our players going into the NFL draft I I think there's genuine excitement and again I I credit our administration too of promoting this team and and creating the environment in DKR that there's without question the environment in DKR is better today than it was in year one when I arrived now the product on the field is better too we're we're a better team um but yet man what energy and what excitement there is around our team from our fans and so um as a coach like yeah you you like that kind of stuff because you know in its own way that serves as good motivation for your team as well soric I know you were working but did you sneak a peek at the 405 Rose Bowl and kind of now that you're here at Texas appreciate what that moment maybe did to launch that 05 season I don't know um if I watch the game live but I've definitely seen the highlights of it was 20 years ago Roger how you know so I was like wrap my brain around but but I I do know I remember that the Imp impact of that because that kind of was the springboard into the next season that ultimately then I was back at USC you got to remember I was at I was at the Oakland Raiders the year before so I do remember that especially in the next season looking back at that game from a perspective of that was kind of the springboard into that next national championship year uh and Vince and that whole crew and and they had an amazing football team obviously um so um iconic game though like every time I see these two Uniforms on the field together it just looks right like Texas and Michigan on the field the helmets the whole thing uh looks like college football to me thanks AR y thank you