Golden: How Sarkisian created bye week energy to get rid of Oklahoma hangover

Coaches have to determine how much they left off the gas during a bye week and how much you push that same pedal to the metal.

“Our thing was, I wanted to create that edge with our 2s and our 3s last week,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said during his Monday availability. “I felt they needed that.”

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This wasn’t about giving a blueprint of the next opponent since the Horns didn’t have one coming up, but more about creating some energy going after a tough loss. Sarkisian made sure the post-Oklahoma hangover didn’t pour over into the locker room, so he made sure last week’s practices were highly spirted albeit dominated by pitting backups against backups.

“Last week, I wanted to make sure that I re-sparked their competitive spirit and what that looked like. So practice remained highly competitive last week. It just wasn’t our frontline guys.”

Sarkisian and his staff are not unlike other coaches on a bye who have to walk a fine between getting their banged up players healthy while also maintaining that connectivity that was built up in the first half of the season. Physical football sells at all levels and Sarkisian’s methods should play in the positive as the Horns prepare for a road game against upset-minded Houston at venerable Robertson Stadium Saturday.

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Quarterback Quinn Ewers recharged his batteries by going home to Southlake over the weekend not only to watch the Dragons drag Central Keller 70-7, but to also eat his mom’s home cooking and take in his sister’s volleyball game. While and the other starters were allowed to heal up during the week’s practices, Ewers said the team mentality hasn’t changed despite the loss.

“We don’t want to hold on to how we felt after the game — it’s just one game at the end of the days but it’s a big one — but we need to continue to chip away at our next opponent but don’t totally forget about what happened,” Ewers said.

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Defensive back Jahdae Barron said the practice energy was noticeable during the week though getting healthier obviously was the top priority. He and linebacker Jaylan Ford played every defensive snap of the Oklahoma game.

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“It was amazing to see the 2s and 3s out there having fun,” Barron said.

“So who stood out from those 2s and 3s?” I asked.

“Can I say everybody stood out?” he replied.

“No.”

“OK, everybody stood out.”

Big laughs.

They’re a confident bunch that believes a bounce back is coming in H-Town.

Jimbo's staying at A&M (for now): The FireJimbo hashtag spread like wildfire through social media on Saturday both during and after Texas A&M’s 20-13 to Tennessee. It was the eighth straight SEC road loss for the Aggies under Fisher, who came to the program amid a long-suffering fanbase’s dreams of a return to championship glory.

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Prince is gone, but when Jimbo came aboard, the Aggies believed they would soon be partying like it’s 1939.

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Now with the bye week here, many want him out of College Station after a 4-3 start and a 2-2 SEC mark. It’s Year 6 and Fisher is a respectable 43-24 overall but the Aggie Nation was expecting more than a 25-20 conference mark, albeit in the most powerful league in America.

"We've got to coach them better and execute better," he said to reporters following the game, a familiar, frustrating refrain as it turns out.

For those who want to run him out of town, who will you find to replace him? Better yet, are you ready to pass a Texas-sized hat to come up with the $75 million buyout to get him out of town. That’s a lot of coin even if the price of crude is way up these days. Worse yet, after you come up with that 75 mill, you still have to pass the hat for another $100 million or so for his replacement?

Former A&M assistant Mike Elko — now the Duke head coach — UTSA’s Jeff Traylor or even Texas State star in the making G.J. Kinne come to mind, but it’s still a little early for the For Sale signs to go up in Jimbo’s front yard.

In short, you’re stuck with Fisher and play caller Bobby Petrino, neither of whom had a clue what do againstTennessee’s defense.

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The bloom is off this offense, which just hasn’t found a replacement for dynamic running De’Von Achane in the run game. Also, backup Max Johnson and this offense has produced only 40 points in the last two weeks with only 9-of-27 third downs converted in the same span.

Money wise, the Aggies really had no business giving him another $20 million after they went 9-1 in 2020, aka the COVID-19 season. I doubt if his phone was ringing off the hook job offers at that time. Either way, they’re stuck and it makes the most sense to hang on to him.

So get used to having Jimbo around for another season, even two. He will lead the Aggies to another bowl game but they will once again fall short of the desired destination. That’s too bad because this is a season where the SEC West is actually up for grabs.

A night of scribes: Good journalism will always be needed and I was reminded of this Friday during the annual Dan Jenkins Excellence in Sportswriting event at the Headliners Club.

ESPN writers Tom Junod and Paula Lavigne were honored for “Untold,” a magnificent piece that chronicled former Penn State linebacker Todd Hodne’s unchecked campaign of sexual violence in the late 1970s. Legendary columnist and author William C. Rhoden also received a lifetime achievement award for his work with the New York Times, ESPN and the literary world.

“I see the work Dan Jenkins did and I don’t feel I belong here,” said Rhoden, whose writings spurred many young writers for all backgrounds, including yours truly, to aspire to a career in journalism.

It was a wonderful evening in a roomful of some of the best writers in the business. In addition to the aforementioned, it was great to visit with ESPN's Wright Thompson and Seth Wickersham, author Michael MacCambridge former Statesman scribes Kevin Robbins and Kevin Lyttle and Seth Davis of The Athletic.

Shoutout to Texas Center for Sports Communication & Media director Michael Butterworth and his staff for providing an annual reminder with this event that good sportswriting will always be essential.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Golden: Sarkisian created good bye-week energy post Oklahoma