Texas football team has the right look after putting on the pads, says Steve Sarkisian

Texas may still technically compete in the Big 12 until July 1, but the football team certainly had an SEC look about it Monday when the Longhorns took the field at Royal-Memorial Stadium for just the second practice in pads this spring.

The Longhorns have size and length at every position. The “big humans,” as Texas coach Steve Sarkisian lovingly refers to his linemen, come with the quick feet that have long characterized the behemoths down South. There’s speed to burn, especially at a receiver position that hauled in plenty of long balls from starting quarterback Quinn Ewers, famed backup Arch Manning and intriguing newcomer Trey Owens.

Texas tight ends Spencer Shannon, left, and Amari Niblack go through blocking drills during football practice at Denius Fields last week. The Longhorns had the pads on again Monday, which head coach Steve Sarkisian said gave him a better feel for the temperature of the team.

Heck, even the field and the exhibit of historical Longhorns jerseys in the adjacent Moncrief Athletic Complex had SEC patches.

So, coach, does the impending arrival of SEC membership serve as a kind of extra juice for the team as it delves deeper into spring workouts?

More: Texas football schedule 2025: Every SEC opponent the Longhorns will face

“We haven’t talked about it one time,” he said. “Our motivation should come internally. We try not to get motivated by external factors. Because I think that’s when you get those dips in performance, if you try to look across the field and think now I’m supposed to play a certain way, because that’s who’s over there. We want to set the standard for the way we play. Quite frankly, we want to be the thermostat, right? And we want to set our temperature.”

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said he’s using this spring to get a better feel for this team. The…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/texas-football-team-look-putting-202734429.html

Author : Austin American-Statesman

Publish date : 2024-03-25 20:27:34

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