Advertisement

sportsTexas Longhorns

Texas Media Monday: Uncertainty at quarterback still looms heading into Week 11

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has not named a starting quarterback for Saturday’s game against Kansas.

After Casey Thompson took the starting quarterback job from Hudson Card heading into Texas’ Week 3 matchup with Rice, it seemed as if the position battle was settled — at least initially.

Upon stepping into the starting role, Thompson led the Longhorns to three-straight wins and had some fine individual displays. He even shined in Texas’ defeat to Oklahoma.

However, in that defeat to Oklahoma, Thompson injured the thumb on his throwing hand and hasn’t quite looked the same since. In the defeat to Iowa State on Saturday night, Thompson made a couple of errant throws, going two for six and throwing for two yards in the first quarter, before being benched for Card.

Advertisement

With Thompson’s thumb injury nagging him, and Card failing to impress either, head coach Steve Sarkisian would not name a starter heading into Texas’ Week 11 matchup with Kansas. In his Monday news conference, Sarkisian said he would continue to evaluate the position and would be able to name a starter by Thursday.

Sports Roundup

Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis, scores and more.

Or with:

“We need to evaluate that this week,” Sarkisian said. “We got to assess [Thompson’s] thumb, to see where that’s at. I think that did have a bit of an impact on him in the ballgame. And we got assess how it flows this week.

“I’ll have an answer for you guys, I guess it would be Thursday, of what we’re going to do there.”

Advertisement

No doubt Thompson’s form has taken a slight dip since he picked up the injury, but Sarkisian also believes his quarterbacks’ struggles have been a byproduct of going up against some tough defenses.

Against Oklahoma State, Thompson had his worst performance of the season, going just 15 of 27 and throwing two bad interceptions. He would bounce back against Baylor after the bye week gave him some time to rehab his thumb, before being benched against Iowa State.

“[We] played some pretty good defenses probably in the last three weeks,” Sarkisian said. “I got to give those guys credit, whether it was Oklahoma State, Baylor, Iowa State, three pretty quality teams.”

Advertisement

Sarkisian also puts some blame on his own play calling, as well as Texas’ receivers who have had some costly drops recently. Receivers Marcus Washington and Joshua Moore were culpable for drops against Baylor and Iowa State, and one of Moore’s drops led to an interception against the Bears.

After having an altercation with Sarkisian and the coaching staff in a midweek practice leading up the Iowa State game, Moore began to question his future at Texas. After the loss to the Cyclones, Moore decided to leave the team and enter the transfer portal.

With Texas’ third-leading receiver gone, and second-leading receiver Jordan Whittington injured, Texas will have to rely on unproven receivers Washington and Kelvontay Dixon.

“Part of that is on the receivers and the consistency,” Sarkisian said. “It’s easy to point to the guy that throws it, and we have plenty of work to do there. But I think I have a responsibility to help them get to that point, not only fundamentally and understanding the game plan, but also what we call.

“And then there’s a responsibility from the receiver standpoint to being where you’re supposed to be on time and then, ultimately, making plays on the ball. We’ve had a couple of games where the balls hit the ground, not because of the quarterback’s issue.”

Clearly the struggles aren’t unique to Thompson. In his chance against Iowa State, Card failed to impress either, going 14 for 23 for only 101 yards. The Austin Lake Travis product had a wide open Xavier Worthy streaking to the end zone on Saturday night and completely overthrew him.

But if the passing game is to bounce back against Kansas, the offensive line will need to step up no matter who its quarterback is. Thompson and Card were sacked a combined five times and hurried a combined three times in the loss to the Cyclones.

Sarkisian said that, as he continues to evaluate who his best option at quarterback is, the passing game will be a point of emphasis as the Longhorns prepare to face the Jayhawks.

Advertisement

“If you want to be a complimentary team, if you want to be a balanced offense like we want, we’ve got to find that consistency in the passing game,” Sarkisian said. “It’ll be a big point of emphasis for us this week.”

Find more Texas coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.