5 takeaways from Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian: Horns take high road with smack talk

Five-star culture vs. five-star players. Defensive line coach Bo Davis’ rant on the team bus. Major implications for the Big 12 title game. The season-ending injury to star running back Jonathon Brooks.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian touched on all of those topics and more in his weekly Zoom meeting with the media Thursday. Here are five takeaways from Sarkisian before the short but bitter Big 12 rivalry between Texas (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) and Iowa State (6-4, 5-2) comes to an end this weekend in Ames, Iowa.

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No bulletin board material – at least not publicly

The week started with some old-fashioned smack talk from Iowa State offensive lineman Jarrod Hufford, who said Texas "gets all the 5-star recruits and have all the nicest stuff in the world and they just think they don't stink. They're people that have such a high ego that needs to be checked." His words echoed the famous quote from star running back Breece Hall after a Cyclones’’ win in 2020, when he said the difference between the Cyclones and Texas came from “5-star culture vs. 5-star players.” Those words remain a rallying cry for Iowa State and a source of irritation for Texas players, who offered a few responses to Hufford on social media before the Texas coaching staff put the kibosh on any retorts.

“We try not to just put too much into that,” Sarkisian said. “We try to focus on our mission, and we've been on a mission since week one. And that mission continues Saturday night, so we try to keep the focus on us. We try to be enamored with what we need to do to play the game at the level that we're capable of playing.”

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Offense must rush to replace Jonathon Brooks

Texas will have to play its first game without running back Jonathon Brooks, who will miss the rest of the season after tearing a knee ligament late in last week’s win over TCU. Brooks ran for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns and turned 25 receptions into another 286 yards and a score, but Sarkisian expects his running game to remain productive. Freshman CJ Baxter, who has 390 yards on 87 carries, started the first few games before suffering a foot injury and will probably get the bulk of the carries, and Sarkisian said other running backs such as Jaydon Blue, Keilan Robinson and Savion Red will also see more action.

“Nobody likes seeing their brother go down,” Sarkisian said of Brooks. “But also think they feel like, opportunity. These guys work really hard; they've been training since January to making sure that they're putting themselves in the best position to be successful. You know, we're fortunate in that, you know, CJ really started the year for us. So I think his level of comfort and being healthy is big for us. Keilan has been exposed to a lot of football. I think Jaydon Blue has been chomping at the bit for his opportunities, and Savion has been at some critical moments for us. So you know our offense is going to remain our offense. And like I said, I think we're fortunate we have some guys that have some experience, that have playmaking ability, that are all really versatile backs. And so we'll go into the game and navigate it accordingly.”

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Horns return to ‘the scene of the crime’

The Longhorns’ last visit to Ames didn’t go well during a 30-7 loss in 2021. The bus ride back to the hotel went even worse; defensive line coach Bo Davis unleashed on a handful of players who were cracking jokes and trading laughs in a viral rant surreptitiously recorded by an unknown member of the team. Sarkisian often cites the improved attitude and culture in his program since that game — and that moment on the bus. The first trip back to Ames could provide “a little bit of redemption” for the players from 2021 who still remain on the team, Sarkisian said.

“The fact that they get this opportunity to go back to that place; it's called the scene of the crime,” he said. “I'm excited for those guys that they get this opportunity, because there's been a lot of blood, sweat and tears that have gotten us to this point. And now, the fact that they get to go back out there and play again and put a better version of Texas football on the field, I think that they're excited about that and looking forward to it.”

'Just look at the ball'

Head coach Matt Campbell has turned once-moribund Iowa State into a respectable program by going 52-46 since his arrival in 2016, the highest winning percentage by any Cyclones football coach since legendary wrestling coach Charles Mayser moonlighted in the job during the World War I era. Sarkisian praised Campbell’s team for its consistency and player development but said the Cyclones’ ability to consistently win the turnover battle stands out. Iowa State leads the Big 12 in turnover differential at plus-9 and ranks third in the nation with 15 interceptions.

“Just look at the ball,” Sarkisian said. “They take care of the ball really well offensively, and they create turnovers. I don't know how many times the No. 1 stat in football that pertains to winning and losing football games is that turnover margin. I think they do a great job of capitalizing on turnovers when they get them, they do a good job of possessing the ball on offense, and then they do a good job of scoring when they get into the red area. I respect the heck out of Matt and his staff.”

Turn on the radio, please

If you’re sick and tired of hearing about the sign-stealing scandal that has tarnished Michigan’s football season, take a moment to talk with Sarkisian. When prompted about the need for helmet radios in college football, Sarkisian didn’t shy away from the antiquated form of signaling in plays to an offense instead of following the NFL model, where coaches can communicate with a quarterback via helmet radio.

“Can everybody write an article about why doesn't college football have coach-to-player communication, so I don’t have to deal with sign stealing?” he said, warming up on his rant. “I spend half my week changing signals and signs rather than coaching the game of football.

“It all makes sense to me. There's no shortage of money in college football. The whole idea that it's a competitive disadvantage for those that can't do it or in stadiums that aren't equipped and don’t have that type of technology, I don't buy it. I don't understand it. And the fact that every time I turn on anything late at night and we're talking about college football, the second topic we're talking about is sign stealing. Our game is way too good and there's too many good stories going on right now in college football to have that at the forefront of what we're doing. Let's just fix the problem. It's not that hard. Let's get player-to-coach communication and move forward.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Takeaways from Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian include RBs, radio