Tag: Big 12 Media Day

Five question marks for Texas football entering Big 12 Media Days

Texas has many question marks to address after a 5-7 campaign a year ago.

Big 12 Media Days are set to take place next week at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Players and coaches from the entire conference will meet and answer questions in front of the league’s media.

Steve Sarkisian is making his second appearance as Texas’ head coach. Sark will be joined this year by Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson, De’Marvion Overshown and Ovie Oghoufu.

The Longhorns are picked to finish fourth in the conference in the Big 12 preseason poll. Baylor, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State make up the projected top three.

A few individual players received some preseason recognition by the media. Running back Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Xavier Worthy and linebacker De’Marvion Overshown made preseason all-first-team honors. Robinson was tabbed preseason Offensive Player of the Year.

Texas has many question marks to address after a 5-7 campaign a year ago. From the move to the SEC to the on-field play, here are five storylines for Texas football to answer at Big 12 Media Days.

Keondre Coburn compares Texas WR Xavier Worthy to Tyreek Hill

Keondre Coburn had a great comparison for Texas’ new speedy wide receiver Xavier Worthy.

Texas defensive lineman Keondre Coburn was the ultimate teammate, wingman and hype man at the Big 12 media day as he had nothing but great things to say about his squad.

Coburn has always been known for being a quote machine when it comes to supporting his teammates. He did just that on Thursday in reference to one of Texas’ new wide receivers.

Steve Sarkisian swayed four-star wide receiver Xavier Worthy to the Forty Acres after he had already signed his national letter of intent with Michigan.

The speedy wide receiver requested his release from Michigan on April 15, and Sarkisian wasted no time in offering him a scholarship that day. Worthy committed to Texas roughly a week later, and Sarkisian added the fastest wide receiver in high school to an already solid 2021 recruiting class.

Worthy has reportedly been getting rave reviews throughout team practices and is expected to be a difference-maker this season. Coburn wasted no time complimenting the speedy receiver at Big 12 media day on Thursday.

He compared Worthy to one of the fastest players in the NFL, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill, otherwise known as the cheetah.

Having Worthy and Kelvontay Dixon’s speed at his disposal, Sarkisian will have a field day beating teams vertically and getting these two in space. The Longhorns offense will have a much more explosive vibe in comparison to Tom Herman’s lackluster offense.

Steve Sarkisian addresses the Red River Showdown at Big 12 media day

Steve Sarkisian talks Red River Showdown at Big 12 media day.

A game that can be considered one of the best rivalries in college football, and regardless of where either team ranks, is always filled with great football and amazing plays.

The Red River Showdown matchup between the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners is always a sight to see, and this season’s matchup in particular will impact the Big 12 Championship. It very well could have College Football Playoff implications. There is an insane amount of pressure on Steve Sarkisian to eclipse nine or even 10 wins this season and compete in the Big 12. It is safe to say that based off the past six seasons, that it runs through the red side of the showdown.

Sarkisian, who has been around another one if the biggest rivalries in college football during his time at Alabama, in which Alabama and Auburn square off in the Iron Bowl, was asked what he thought of at the Red River Showdown at the Big 12 media day. A matchup between storied schools whose rivalry runs deep. Take a look to see what Sarkisian’s thoughts are on the Red River Showdown.

Beating Oklahoma, which Texas has not done since the 2018 matchup, will be vital to the development of the new culture at Texas and them taking that next step.

Last seasons Red River Showdown saw the game fall completely on the shoulders of Sam Ehlinger who accounted for 92% of the teams yards, which was not enough. The offense was simply too predictable, but Sarkisian will look to out duel Lincoln Riley and the Sooners in this year’s matchup.

The Longhorns three losses last season were by a total of 13 points, but with Sarkisian who called the offense of the champion Crimson Tide, the Longhorns are looking to play much more dominantly and high octane like Alabama. During their championship run, Alabama ranked first in yards gained, second in average yards per play, and first in offensive touchdowns. Marks that if the Longhorns can emulate, along with a strong defense from Pete Kwiatkowski’s bunch, Texas will be heading in the right direction.

Steve Sarkisian addresses the quarterback situation at Big 12 Media Days

Steve Sarkisian provided some insight on the very anticipated quarterback battle between Casey Thompson and Hudson Card.

Since Steve Sarkisian took over as head coach, the biggest question that everyone wants to know the answer to is who will be the starting quarterback for the 2021 season.

After a decade of subpar quarterback play, the Longhorns stumbled on a gem in four-year starter Sam Ehlinger. The former Texas star was almost able to revive the program and return it to its former glory.

Ehlinger has since transitioned to the NFL, and Sarkisian is now tasked with choosing between Alamo Bowl star Casey Thompson or proclaimed golden arm Hudson Card.

At the Big 12 Media Days on Thursday, Sarkisian provided some insight on this hot topic surrounding the Texas football program.

The first-year head coach expressed that he has two fantastic players at the quarterback position, and he hopes that throughout training camp the two will eventually force him to make a very difficult decision in terms of selecting a starter.

Take a look at his comments below.

Sarkisian did not really favor one quarterback over the other in answering the question, which we should all expect. However, it was interesting is that the question asked to elicit these responses was solely about Casey Thompson.

That was likely Sarkisian attempting to show that both quarterbacks are at an equal level, but he did feel the need to address the quarterback competition in a question about Thompson’s development. Sarkisian continues to make subtle hints about Card’s very realistic opportunity to win the job.

He did mention that he will make a decision during training camp, which is the most we have gotten on the situation. Regardless, Sarkisian reiterated that neither quarterback was ahead of the other and they’re in good hands at that position.

“It is a little bit of a luxury for me to have two quality quarterbacks like this,” Sarkisian said.

Locked on Longhorns Podcast: LSU game cancelled, Big 12 plans

Friday’s Locked on Longhorns podcast discusses the LSU-Texas cancellation and what are the Big 12’s plans moving forward?

Friday’s Locked on Longhorns is packed full of schedule news, recruiting and who should be on the Mount Rushmore of Big 12 running backs and more.

  • SEC officially announces a conference only schedule, LSU-Texas now cancelled.
  • Big 12 virtual media day cancelled.
  • What will the Big 12 do in terms of the schedule and when will it be announced?
  • Jake Smith and Tarik Black will have new jersey numbers in 2020
  • The NCAA will allow social justice patches
  • New helmets
  • Which Longhorns are featured on the Mount Rushmore of Big 12 running backs?
  • Tom Herman’s ambiguous tweet
  • Texas earns blue chip commitment for 2022

[protected-iframe id=”bb637bafebf48ec0ba7d46f0314dd77e-162776761-85508312″ info=”https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=LKN4301452880″ width=”100%” height=”200″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]

Locked on Longhorns Podcast: Potential schedule plans for the Big 12

With all other conferences making their decisions on the upcoming season’s schedules, we still await the Longhorns plans.

Prior to the announcement from the Southeastern Conference regarding their conference only schedule, we recorded the latest Locked on Longhorns podcast. With the ACC announcement and SEC, what would the Big 12 schedule look like in 2020? A couple options are on the table but the full 12-game schedule looks like it won’t be a viable option.

The Longhorns finally received a commitment at tight end in the 2021 class. The hope is that this one sticks with Gunnar Helm. Both Landen King and Lake McRee committed but then ended up committing to other schools. In the on again off again relationship, Anthony Cook has decided to stay at Texas. What does that mean for the secondary? Plus just how bad was the NFL 100 list?

Prior to their announcement, the topic of the Big 12 virtual media day was up for discussion. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear that we will receive any answers on Monday. The positive news is that the Texas Longhorns football team has reported zero positive COVID-19 cases. A step in the right direction. The show wraps up with Athlon Sports naming Jordan Whittington and Vernon Broughton as their wildcard players.

[protected-iframe id=”739c43b0f2c0d1846c1c743fa5f0b4f0-162776761-85508312″ info=”https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=LKN3592067576″ width=”100%” height=”200″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]

Big 12 media day cancelled, Texas-LSU game not happening

The Big 12 media day has now been cancelled and the SEC going with a conference only schedule. What is next for the Texas Longhorns?

What has been rumored in the last day is now official. The Southeastern Conference is going with a conference only schedule that will feature 10 games. This comes off the heels of the ACC announcing a 11-game schedule with one non-conference game. Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated was the first to report it.

This effectively cancels the Texas-Louisiana State matchup that was set for September 12th. Also removes the Oklahoma-Tennessee matchup from their schedule. This leaves Texas with an 11-game schedule that will likely be lessened even further with the impending Big 12 announcement that many thought would come shortly after the Big 12 media day.

The Big 12 conference has canceled the virtual media day scheduled for Monday, Aug. 3. Originally, AT&T Stadium was supposed to host the event on July 20-21.

No players were going to be available to talk to meetings, only coaches. Head coach Tom Herman was scheduled to talk for 25 minutes beginning at 4 p.m. CST.

The Big 12 has not announced if the event will be rescheduled in the future.

According to a report by 247Sports, there will be an emergency meeting with the Big 12 coaches. Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman confirmed. No other information has been given as to what this meeting will be about. One could presume it is about either going to a nine-game conference only schedule or a nine plus one schedule that involves one nonconference game.

Could the Big 12 actually pull a similar move to what the ACC did and add one independent for the 2020 season? Brigham Young University could potentially join for a year and reap the benefits of a full schedule giving the conference an 11-game calendar in 2020.

Big 12 announces 2020 media days will be virtual

The Big 12 has canceled 2020 media day in Arlington. The event was originally scheduled to take place on July 20-21 at AT&T stadium.

According to Chuch Carlton of the Dallas Morning News, the Big 12 has canceled 2020 media day at AT&T Stadium. Originally scheduled to take place on July 20-21, the Big 12 is the first power conference to cancel their football media day due to the coronavirus.

Instead, they will be held virtually for coaches, players, and media. Coaches and athletic directors across the conference supported this idea in their meeting on Wednesday.

“Given the uncertainty around the current environment and how much longer it’s going to last and with attendees having to make travel plans, it didn’t seem prudent for a traditional media day with a mass person gathering,” said Big 12 spokesperson Bob Burda.

With teams coming from the states of Iowa, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, the conference thinks traveling to Arlington wouldn’t be a good idea.

Being the Big 12 first of the Power 5 conferences to cancel their media day, the others could be on their way. As of now, the ACC, Big 10, SEC, and Pac 12 are planning on having their respective media days.

The Moutain West is the only other FBS program to announce a virtual media day. Originally scheduled to be in SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, CA, the conference has not announced a new date yet.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]