Thursday Notes: Sarkisian talks Iowa State prep, RB situation, in-helmet communication

Steve Sarkisian met with the media Thursday afternoon for the final time prior to the matchup against Iowa State.

• Sarkisian shared that he was excited about Thursday’s practice and thought his team had put in a good week of work. He mentioned going on the road again in what will likely be a hostile environment.
• Not much was asked or shared from an injury standpoint, but Sarkisian did say he feels good about where Quinn Ewers is at after mentioning on Monday that Ewers was a little sore following the TCU game.
• One of the biggest storylines this weekend will be what Texas does at the RB position without Jonathan Brooks, who suffered a torn ACL last weekend. Freshman CJ Baxter is expected to handle an increased role with Jaydon Blue and Keilan Robinson also seeing more carries. Sarkisian mentioned he went back and watched some film from the Alabama game to remind himself what Baxter looked like when fully healthy. Texas fans should not expect any major changes to the Texas offense without Brooks, as Sarkisian said “our offense will remain our offense.”
• One of the more interesting questions asked to Sarkisian centered around the ongoing sign-stealing conversation throughout college football. Without hesitation, Sarkisian said he fully supports in-helmet communication devices that allow a coach to talk directly to his quarterback. Sarkisian said it is silly that he has to spend part of his week swapping out signs or making up new signals.
• Sarkisian ended the press conference by reflecting on how far his team has come since their last visit to Ames in 2021. The Longhorns sit at 9-1 and Sarkisian made a point to emphasize the fact that his players and staff “work too hard to not enjoy these moments with our players (after wins)”.

Texas-Iowa State will kick off at 7 PM CT on Fox Saturday evening.