Here are a few immediate thoughts about, and reactions to, Steve Sarkisian's CFP Quarterfinal availability (and maybe even some bonus thoughts from Kenny Dillingham's) as Texas comes off an impressive win at home, and is now focused on a New Year's Day date with the Big 12 Champion Arizona State Sun Devils in Atlanta:
Looking like a cockamamie setup for this one. I think Dillingham, Sark and the Peach Bowl CEO are all going to take questions at the same time? ALEX'S THOUGHTS: If so, I put the over/under on questions asked of the Peach Bowl CEO at 0.5.
Sark opens up by saying that ASU is a very good football team and he knows how hard it is to win the Big 12. +14 in the TO margin, Skattebo is a heck of a player who has a lot of fans in our building. He's a monster and now we have got to find a way to stop him. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: We're going to be talking a lot about that guy this week.
Dillingham opens up by complimenting Sark and the Texas program. Incredible season, Sark is a guy who everybody has studied and learned from. We have a lot of similarities. They have extremely good players that play extremely hard; will be a great challenge to compete against a team that has spent 4 year preparing for a National Championship. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Dillingham says he has not got to meet Sark personally because he "doesn't know anybody" but does know how to use Google. LOL.
Terry Middleton asked Sark about the low number of penalties versus Clemson: "We had a come to Jesus meeting after the UGA game." Sark said they basically lost that game because of penalties. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: I think it had more to do with the outside zone run game being neutered as the main reason personally.
Josh Newman asked Sark about Cam Williams and Trevor Goosby: Cam's injury is not as serious as we thought, feel comfortable about that. Trevor held his own against an elite DE. Mentioned the ATM and UGA games at LT then comes in here at RT, give him a lot of credit. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Zero worries about his tackle spot next season. Great news that Cam's injury doesn't appear serious.
Someone asked Dillingham about the chaos of the schedule. He said he couldn't imagine going through last week having a game like Texas did. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: This thing is absolutely going to change ... and soon. Every coach in the USA hates it.
Danny Davis asked Sark and Dillingham what they observe about each other;s careers: Sark said Dillingham is bright and has been around other great coaches in the same way he has. Chow, Norv Turner, Carroll, Saban. Whether he knows it or not, I've watched a lot of his stuff, too. Washington should have lost to ASU last year. A lot of respect for his approach. He's blazing a trail for some older coaches to look at about doing things in a way they haven't before. Dillingham said he there's a lot of good schemes out there and Sark's tape from 10 years ago is unrecognizable to what he's doing now. Most coaches don't consistently adapt to the landscape of the current rules and the way it's changing like Sark has. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: These dudes really do have a lot of respect for one another. They've studied each other extensively.
Joe Cook asked about ex-Texas players in Tempe: "This is college football in 2024," Sark said. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: It does say something that guys like Zac Swanson and Prince Dorbah are playing snaps for ASU. That program is definitely a few years behind Texas personnel-wise. Troy Omeire and J'Mond Tapp are also on the ASU roster.
Eric Henry asked about Gunnar Helm: Sark said that we all know the path, development and journey. Really versatile, he has had some tough blocking matchups -- they moved the 3-tech to the C-area in the Clemson game and he had to handle that as a blocker. Quinn trusts he'll be where he needs to be and his catch radius. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Sark's favorite topic. Players that stayed in the program as backups and later emerged as studs. It's his absolute favorite thing in the world to answer questions about.
David Eckert asked about Isaiah Bond and asked Dillingham about Skattebo -- Sark said ISaiah is making good progress and we're quite a ways out so we'll see where it goes. Dillingham said you have to get your best players the ball, Texas knows that, it's not a secret. We have to create angles and leverage to get him to some second and third level players where he can win one-on-one. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: The good news is that outside of a few games, Texas second and third level defenders have been really sure tacklers.
Sark on Skattebo: He's a really versatile player. Not just Mike Alstott. Then you see he's got great feet and contact balance. Good in the open field and can run away from you. Then wait a minute, he can catch out of the backfield. Was hoping he'd be more one dimensional. Dillingham on Quinn: Recruited him out of high school, but never had a chance to sign him. Smart QB that gets you into good plays consistently. Those are the dangerous guys. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Dillingham talking the same way Sark did about Quinn checking the offense into some good runs recently.
Chip Brown asked about the good run game versus Clemson, but why some runs got stuffed: Some bad planning, some bad execution. Talked about a few plays he was frustrated with. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: I'm surprised he gave such a diplomatic answer to Chip
Roger Wallace asked about the players going home for Christmas: "It's been a long grind for us." Season started 8/31 through the SEC championship. Came back to work Sunday and Monday, then we'll get everybody back the 26th. We're in Year 4, back-to-back times in the CFP, so if I can't trust them now, when can I trust them? ALEX'S THOUGHTS: They'll be fine, hopefully not too much partying with the spiked egg nog and wiley uncles.
On the ASU offense not turning the ball over and Texas creating so many: KD says it starts with the pass rush but the corners are sticky. There's not much space. It sounds boring but they're just good. Sark said that when you have a runner carry it as much as Cam to only have 3 fumbles, that tells you they practice ball security. Also, the QB makes good decisions and they have a great plan. Kenny, Marcus Arroyo put together good schemes where they don't force throws. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Gosh, Sark is trying to scare me about this team. He really does have a lot of respect for what Dillingham is doing.
John Hygh asked the coaches about their confidence levels going into the game: Sark said it's been a long season, and being so close last year, inches from a national championship, there's a lot to be proud of. It's a heck of a challenge. You're not a Big 12 conference champion if you're not playing as good of football as anyone in the country. We were in the Big 12 26 years and won 4. KD says they're excited to compete against a blueblood. We want the opportunity to compete against the very best. We're 14-point underdogs and rightfully so, we're playing a really good football team. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: I hope the team is not looking at this game as being 14-point favorites. Dillingham seems like a coach that players will play really hard for.
Kirk Bohls asked Kenny Dillingham about all the Texas players on the team: "He's actually going to give us Quinn for this football game." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: LMAOOOOO. Sark did say that he wished he would have known what a player Cam Skattebo was when he was in the portal. Can you imagine that guy on the Texas team right now? One thing is probably for sure: Texas wouldn't be playing ASU in this game if so.
Looking like a cockamamie setup for this one. I think Dillingham, Sark and the Peach Bowl CEO are all going to take questions at the same time? ALEX'S THOUGHTS: If so, I put the over/under on questions asked of the Peach Bowl CEO at 0.5.
Sark opens up by saying that ASU is a very good football team and he knows how hard it is to win the Big 12. +14 in the TO margin, Skattebo is a heck of a player who has a lot of fans in our building. He's a monster and now we have got to find a way to stop him. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: We're going to be talking a lot about that guy this week.
Dillingham opens up by complimenting Sark and the Texas program. Incredible season, Sark is a guy who everybody has studied and learned from. We have a lot of similarities. They have extremely good players that play extremely hard; will be a great challenge to compete against a team that has spent 4 year preparing for a National Championship. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Dillingham says he has not got to meet Sark personally because he "doesn't know anybody" but does know how to use Google. LOL.
Terry Middleton asked Sark about the low number of penalties versus Clemson: "We had a come to Jesus meeting after the UGA game." Sark said they basically lost that game because of penalties. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: I think it had more to do with the outside zone run game being neutered as the main reason personally.
Josh Newman asked Sark about Cam Williams and Trevor Goosby: Cam's injury is not as serious as we thought, feel comfortable about that. Trevor held his own against an elite DE. Mentioned the ATM and UGA games at LT then comes in here at RT, give him a lot of credit. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Zero worries about his tackle spot next season. Great news that Cam's injury doesn't appear serious.
Someone asked Dillingham about the chaos of the schedule. He said he couldn't imagine going through last week having a game like Texas did. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: This thing is absolutely going to change ... and soon. Every coach in the USA hates it.
Danny Davis asked Sark and Dillingham what they observe about each other;s careers: Sark said Dillingham is bright and has been around other great coaches in the same way he has. Chow, Norv Turner, Carroll, Saban. Whether he knows it or not, I've watched a lot of his stuff, too. Washington should have lost to ASU last year. A lot of respect for his approach. He's blazing a trail for some older coaches to look at about doing things in a way they haven't before. Dillingham said he there's a lot of good schemes out there and Sark's tape from 10 years ago is unrecognizable to what he's doing now. Most coaches don't consistently adapt to the landscape of the current rules and the way it's changing like Sark has. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: These dudes really do have a lot of respect for one another. They've studied each other extensively.
Joe Cook asked about ex-Texas players in Tempe: "This is college football in 2024," Sark said. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: It does say something that guys like Zac Swanson and Prince Dorbah are playing snaps for ASU. That program is definitely a few years behind Texas personnel-wise. Troy Omeire and J'Mond Tapp are also on the ASU roster.
Eric Henry asked about Gunnar Helm: Sark said that we all know the path, development and journey. Really versatile, he has had some tough blocking matchups -- they moved the 3-tech to the C-area in the Clemson game and he had to handle that as a blocker. Quinn trusts he'll be where he needs to be and his catch radius. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Sark's favorite topic. Players that stayed in the program as backups and later emerged as studs. It's his absolute favorite thing in the world to answer questions about.
David Eckert asked about Isaiah Bond and asked Dillingham about Skattebo -- Sark said ISaiah is making good progress and we're quite a ways out so we'll see where it goes. Dillingham said you have to get your best players the ball, Texas knows that, it's not a secret. We have to create angles and leverage to get him to some second and third level players where he can win one-on-one. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: The good news is that outside of a few games, Texas second and third level defenders have been really sure tacklers.
Sark on Skattebo: He's a really versatile player. Not just Mike Alstott. Then you see he's got great feet and contact balance. Good in the open field and can run away from you. Then wait a minute, he can catch out of the backfield. Was hoping he'd be more one dimensional. Dillingham on Quinn: Recruited him out of high school, but never had a chance to sign him. Smart QB that gets you into good plays consistently. Those are the dangerous guys. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Dillingham talking the same way Sark did about Quinn checking the offense into some good runs recently.
Chip Brown asked about the good run game versus Clemson, but why some runs got stuffed: Some bad planning, some bad execution. Talked about a few plays he was frustrated with. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: I'm surprised he gave such a diplomatic answer to Chip
Roger Wallace asked about the players going home for Christmas: "It's been a long grind for us." Season started 8/31 through the SEC championship. Came back to work Sunday and Monday, then we'll get everybody back the 26th. We're in Year 4, back-to-back times in the CFP, so if I can't trust them now, when can I trust them? ALEX'S THOUGHTS: They'll be fine, hopefully not too much partying with the spiked egg nog and wiley uncles.
On the ASU offense not turning the ball over and Texas creating so many: KD says it starts with the pass rush but the corners are sticky. There's not much space. It sounds boring but they're just good. Sark said that when you have a runner carry it as much as Cam to only have 3 fumbles, that tells you they practice ball security. Also, the QB makes good decisions and they have a great plan. Kenny, Marcus Arroyo put together good schemes where they don't force throws. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Gosh, Sark is trying to scare me about this team. He really does have a lot of respect for what Dillingham is doing.
John Hygh asked the coaches about their confidence levels going into the game: Sark said it's been a long season, and being so close last year, inches from a national championship, there's a lot to be proud of. It's a heck of a challenge. You're not a Big 12 conference champion if you're not playing as good of football as anyone in the country. We were in the Big 12 26 years and won 4. KD says they're excited to compete against a blueblood. We want the opportunity to compete against the very best. We're 14-point underdogs and rightfully so, we're playing a really good football team. ALEX'S THOUGHTS: I hope the team is not looking at this game as being 14-point favorites. Dillingham seems like a coach that players will play really hard for.
Kirk Bohls asked Kenny Dillingham about all the Texas players on the team: "He's actually going to give us Quinn for this football game." ALEX'S THOUGHTS: LMAOOOOO. Sark did say that he wished he would have known what a player Cam Skattebo was when he was in the portal. Can you imagine that guy on the Texas team right now? One thing is probably for sure: Texas wouldn't be playing ASU in this game if so.
