'Keep Poking The Bear': Steve Sarkisian Fires Back Surrounding Texas QB Concerns

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian made a Nick Saban moment when dicussing his quarterback situation for Saturday's game.

In 2018, Alabama coach Nick Saban was asked following his season-opening win over Louisville who would be his starting quarterback for the remainder of the season. Some wanted Jalen Hurts to remain the starter. Others believed it was time for Tua Tagovailoa. 

Thus, a meme was born. 

“Why do you continue to try and get me to say something that doesn’t respect one of them?” Saban told ESPN’s, Maria Taylor. “I’m not going to, so quit asking.” 

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian didn’t exactly copy Saban’s sentiment Thursday during his press conference when asked about the quarterback situation entering Saturday’s matchup against UTSA. 

Then again, he did take a page out of his former boss’ book when answering yet another question on what the plan was against the Roadrunners with starter Quinn Ewers out. 

“You guys can keep poking the bear on what I do at quarterback. At the end of the day, I’m not going to give you game-planning decisions or how we practice. There’s a reason you guys don’t come to practice. If I wanted you to know who took snaps, I’d let you come to practice.”

Ewers, who suffered a shoulder injury in the first quarter during last week's 20-19 loss to No. 1 Alabama, is expected to miss up to six weeks with an SC sprain. Initially, it was expected that redshirt sophomore Hudson Card would get the starting nod following his performance in Week 2. 

Card could end up starting Saturday evening, but his status is in question entering the weekend. For most of the second half against Alabama, Card played with an ankle injury, going 14-of-22 passing for 158 yards while nearly leading the Longhorns to what would have been the upset of the season. 

With SI All-American’s No.7 QB prospect Maalik Murphy still dealing with an injury, redshirt freshman Charles Wright would garner his first career start if Card was ruled inactive. Sarkisian said he’d been pleased with Wright’s progress since working with the first-team offense. 

“I felt like his comfort level, his confidence was as good as I’ve ever seen it, or better,” Sarkisian said. “That’s a real positive for us that all three of those guys got better as the week went on.”

All of Sark's extensive comments on the QB situation this week pic.twitter.com/SvD30GAc1M

— Travis Recek (@TravisRecek) September 15, 2022

Much remains a mystery with Wright ahead of Saturday. A native of Austin, Wright initially committed to Iowa State in 2020 before flipping at the last second to remain close to home. 

A three-year starter at Austin High School Wright threw for over 8,000 yards and 80 touchdowns. He also added over 700 yards and 13 scores with his legs as a runner. 

Texas fans are hopeful that Card can recuperate in no time due to his experience. Although UTSA (1-1) might not be a Power Five program, its ability to win football games is uncanny. Last season under former Texas assistant Jeff Traylor, the Roadrunners finished a program-high 12 wins en route to a Conference USA title. 

“UTSA plays hard. They play tough,” Sarkisian said. “They’re very sound. We need to be assignment sound, yet we need to be sure we play our brand of football for 60 minutes.”

Sarkisian did not answer if Card would be active for Saturday’s game. Then again, he didn’t plan on answering the question, so one should likely quit asking. 

The Longhorns will kick off at Memorial-Royal Stadium at 7 p.m. 

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