{"id":48209,"date":"2023-04-10T13:00:37","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T17:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=48209"},"modified":"2025-09-13T15:54:59","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T19:54:59","slug":"longhorns-expanding-their-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/04\/10\/longhorns-expanding-their-offense\/","title":{"rendered":"Longhorns Expanding Their Offense"},"content":{"rendered":"

All systems are blinking green for the Texas Longhorns as they prepare to expand the playbook in Steve Sarkisian\u2019s<\/strong> third year.\u00a0 Most of the pieces return on offense to open things up. The Spring has been an opportunity to tinker with the Longhorns expanding their offense.<\/p>\n

Spring football wraps up with the annual Orange-White Game on April 15.<\/p>\n

Sarkisian sits in charge of a program that\u2019s chock full of talent, thanks to the Longhorns’ proficiency at recruiting.\u00a0 Now that the roster is his, he says he has the confidence to reach into his bag of tricks.\u00a0 His confidence stems from watching his players grow up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we have one-dimensional players,\u201d Sarkisian said.\u00a0 \u201cHopefully we can be creative enough offensively to do things that can put our players in position to have success, and that the quarterbacks can really understand schematically what we\u2019re trying to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Quarterback<\/h3>\n

Quinn Ewers<\/strong> appears to have solidified his position at quarterback.\u00a0 With Ewers having the keys to the offense, Sarkisian sounds sure of his sophomore\u2019s ability to handle the responsibility.\u00a0 Even better, the young quarterback is blossoming into a leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Quinn has done a nice job and is getting more and more comfortable in that role,\u201d Sarkisian said.<\/p>\n

Ewers\u2019 teammates and coaches have seen him step up his game in response to a springtime challenge from freshman Arch Manning<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think getting Arch definitely made Quinn step up his game for sure,\u201d tight end Ja\u2019Tavion Sanders<\/strong> said.\u00a0 \u201cYou can just tell Quinn is in a different mode this year, the way he carries himself, the way he comes to the facility. \u00a0He\u2019s starting to be more of a leader.\u00a0 I\u2019m loving the way he\u2019s stepping up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Running Backs<\/h3>\n

Behind an offensive line that returns intact, Texas sports a stable of young running backs to go along with veterans Jonathon Brooks<\/a> and Keilan Robinson<\/strong>.\u00a0 With those two recovering from injuries, a trifecta of backs has emerged in the form of Jaydon Blue<\/strong>, Savion Red,<\/strong> and C.J. Baxter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Sarkisian has high praise for Blue, who skipped his senior season of high school football and saw limited duty as a freshman last year.\u00a0 Bigger and more physical than a year ago, Blue has spent spring practice taking first-team reps.\u00a0 Maturity has been Blue\u2019s greatest area of progress during his rise through the depth chart.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery run is not gonna be beautifully blocked with a huge hole and it\u2019s a gain of 50 yards,\u201d Sarkisian said.\u00a0 \u201cSometimes you gotta go get a dirty three or four yards and get back to the huddle and try to go do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red is a converted wide receiver the Longhorns have been running between the tackles this Spring.\u00a0 Change is nothing new to Red, who came to Texas last year as a wildcat quarterback.\u00a0 As a ballcarrier, Red \u201cshows physicality that is really encouraging,\u201d the coach said.<\/p>\n

True freshman Baxter shook off early growing pains and has improved over time.\u00a0 Making the jump from high school to college takes place for many during spring practice.\u00a0 A recent scrimmage was symbolic of his time at camp.\u00a0 \u201cHe kind of struggled early on, but then settled in and made some plays as the scrimmage went on,\u201d said Sarkisian.<\/p>\n

Offensive Line<\/h3>\n

The Longhorns are young at offensive line.\u00a0 Veteran leadership comes from senior tackle Christian Jones<\/strong> and junior center Jake Majors<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly we\u2019re relatively young at that position, and it\u2019s hard to say that when you\u2019re returning five starters,\u201d Sarkisian said.\u00a0 \u201cThat youth is good because I think we\u2019ve got a hungry group that is competitive, and we\u2019re able to go three deep and feel very comfortable doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continuity along the offensive line allows Sarkisian to continue tinkering.\u00a0 The familiarity of the players with his system enabled his staff to stretch the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going into year three, with us from the beginning,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u00a0\u201cThey\u2019re very comfortable with the things that they know are meaningful to us, that are important to us, as a staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Receivers<\/h3>\n

Senior wide receiver Jordan Whittington<\/a> bypassed a chance to play in the NFL to come back for another year at Texas.\u00a0 He said he came back to school to win a Big 12 Championship.\u00a0 Admittedly soft-spoken, he\u2019s ready to provide the senior leadership Sarkisian is looking for on his young squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like high school all over again,\u201d Whittington said, \u201cwhere you go from, you know, being somebody down here to being put in a role where you actually have to be vocal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whittington listed freshmen Johntay Cook<\/strong> and DeAndre Moore<\/strong> as two early enrollees<\/a>\u00a0that have impressed at spring camp.\u00a0 Add to that Xavier Worthy<\/a>, tight end Ja\u2019Tavion Sanders<\/a> and Georgia transfer AD Mitchell<\/a>, and the Longhorns\u2019 receivers’ room looks packed.\u00a0 Spring has been dedicated to getting the quarterbacks and receivers on the same page.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to learn them,\u201d Sarkisian said.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re trying to learn the quarterbacks, learn the receivers, they\u2019re learning the system, they\u2019re learning each other.\u00a0 But I do think they are naturally progressing the right way and feel very comfortable with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Big Picture<\/h3>\n

Spring can make things look bigger than they are.\u00a0 Texas has a Summer conditioning program before fall practice begins.\u00a0 The added depth gives the versatility to try new things.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is our strength?\u00a0 Who are we as a team?\u00a0 Where are we best and then where can we be better by personnel groupings?\u201d Sarkisian said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of our roster right now,\u201d he added. \u00a0\u201cI think we\u2019re very flexible, and again I think we\u2019ve got the depth at receiver, I think we\u2019ve got the depth at running back, I think we\u2019re talented at tight end, and I think we\u2019ve got really versatile players.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Longhorns<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy: \u00a0Ricardo B. Brazziell\/American-Statesman \/ USA TODAY NETWORK<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All systems are blinking green for the Texas Longhorns as they prepare to expand the playbook in Steve Sarkisian\u2019s third year.\u00a0 Most of the pieces return on offense to open things up. The Spring has been an opportunity to tinker with the Longhorns expanding their offense. Spring football wraps up with the annual Orange-White Game […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4486,"featured_media":48217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,35576],"tags":[9728,4780,9935,7180,9934,5095,204],"class_list":["post-48209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-big12","category-texas-longhorns","tag-arch-manning","tag-big-12-football","tag-c-j-baxter","tag-quinn-ewers","tag-savion-red","tag-steve-sarkisian","tag-texas-longhorns"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4486"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79491,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48209\/revisions\/79491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}