No. 7 Texas can't 'get caught in that trap' of overlooking San Jose State
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Football is a game that demands respect, both of teams themselves and their opponents. The same amount of focus and attention to detail is required whether a team faces a highly-ranked opponent or one from a smaller conference.
In this case, the Texas Longhorns need to treat San Jose State the same way they treated the Ohio State Buckeyes if they want to avoid a disaster on Saturday at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.
No. 7 Texas opens its home slate of three consecutive games against Group of Five teams when the Spartans come to Austin for an 11 a.m. CT kick. Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian admitted that it’s human nature for players to take their foot off the gas pedal when a less-than-intriguing opponent is on the schedule, but his job is not to let that happen.
“As a coach, how do you combat that? What do we do on Monday morning to get ourselves prepared for a ballgame? What do we do to try to minimize players looking too far down the road and not focusing on what’s in front of them? Human nature is human nature, and sometimes you can get caught in that trap. Sometimes you coach them harder, sometimes you point out the slightest details that could be off to make sure the screws are tightened up and that we’re ready to play.”
Certainly, Texas quarterback Arch Manning will want to rebound. He said there “wasn’t much to like” about his performance against Ohio State in Week 1 loss, but the Spartans could provide him a trampoline of sorts. The Spartans allowed Central Michigan to gain 351 yards of offense, losing their season opener 16-14 on a late field goal. While most of the yardage the Chippewas gained was on the ground, Manning could use another strong game by the running backs to help make him more comfortable throwing the ball downfield.
Central Michigan racked up 236 rushing yards against San Jose State and attempted just 13 passes, but with the way Sarkisian wants his offense to operate with Manning under center, expect the play action pass to be a big part of Saturday.
“We try to do things to play to the strengths of the people we have. Arch has a natural feel under center, and the run game hits a little differently,” Sarkisian said. “You can run a little more downhill, and that helps the play action pass game a little more.”
On the defensive side, the Spartans run an offense that’s the polar opposite of what their head coach is known for. Ken Niumatalolo, who ran a run-heavy, triple-option offense with the Navy Midshipmen for 15 years, now employs the “Spread ‘n’ Shred” offense that whips the ball all around the gridiron. It takes concepts of the Run-and-Shoot offense and mixes them with the Air Raid passing system, popularized by the late Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach.
Quarterback Walker Eget threw for 308 yards against Central Michigan and was named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch list alongside Manning to start the season. Sarkisian said the secondary is going to get a good test against Eget and wide receiver Danny Scudero, who hauled in nine passes for 189 yards and a touchdown, against the Chippewas.
“For him to make the change philosophically, I think speaks a lot to his trust in his coaches,” Sarkisian said. “The one thing that remains true is their style of play. It’s fast and it’s physical. It starts on defense and then carries over to offense and special teams. They are nasty up front, too. We still have to stop the run, but you’d better be on your stuff coverage-wise, or it could be a long day.”
