Texas coach Steve Sarkisian says Longhorns are right where they need to be this spring

Even though the Orange-White spring game is only a few days away, the Texas Longhorns were focused on other things Tuesday.

"A lot of times you hit this last week (of spring drills) and everyone gets focused on the spring game. We were really focused on practice 13," UT coach Steve Sarkisian insisted after the team's practice.

Sarkisian described Tuesday's workout as a "good, hard-nosed, physical practice." The Longhorns practiced at Royal-Memorial Stadium and had to deal with the morning humidity. Players like receiver Isaiah Bond, linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and running back Jerrick Gibson drew Sarkisian's praise while backup quarterback Arch Manning had "arguably his best practice today."

That's nice. But what about the spring game?

Still deciding on a Saturday plan

Weather-permitting, Texas will close out its spring Saturday. The Orange-White game is open and free to the public, and fans who arrive on campus early enough can get player autographs and watch the Reckless Kelly concert on the LBJ Lawn.

Sarkisian didn't have much to say about the scrimmage. He wouldn't reveal how many plays will be run or which players will be inactive. As for the spring game's format, he said that hasn't been decided yet.

In past years under Sarkisian, the format has varied. Texas was able to simulate an actual game last year. That wasn't the case in 2022 because of depth issues. Sarkisian said he will continue to tweak how the game is played each year.

"It's always predicated on who's available, right? I think that we do have the bodies this year where we can play a game," he said. "I think every year you have to tinker with it. We've had years where we haven't had enough linemen to make two teams and we had to play it offense vs. defense. So we'll have to navigate that. Some years, you play live all the way through. Some years, you play live in the first half and thud in the second half and you try not to go to the ground."

Continued the fourth-year coach: "We'll navigate all that tomorrow as a staff and try to put two competitive teams together so that one, our guys get great experience and a lot of guys can play and two, give our fans a sense and a feel for the type of team that we have."

Texas' defense shined again in scrimmage

Saturday won't mark the team's first scrimmage. In fact, Sarkisian spoke Tuesday just a few days after Texas held an intrasquad scrimmage at Royal-Memorial Stadium for the first time this year.

Sarkisian was asked who won the scrimmage. "The scoreboard didn't work," he retorted. He later elaborated that both the offense and defense had their moments, and that the defense "clearly won the two-minute drill at the end."

"I thought the defense did make some plays, especially when we were having to travel the length of the field. The defense was not giving up explosive plays, which was a huge deal," he said. "I thought our second offensive line in particular struggled in pass protection and they were kind of behind the sticks. But in the red area, I thought the offense performed really well, which for me I was pleased with knowing that we had struggled in the red area a year ago, and it's been a point of emphasis of ours offensively that the execution in the red area all spring long has been high, which has been encouraging."

'We're definitely still a work in progress'

Sarkisian listed defensive backs Malik Muhammad and Andrew Mukuba and defensive linemen Jaray Bledsoe, Colin Simmons and Trey Moore among the Saturday standouts. There were too many dropped passes for Sarkisian's liking, but he did report that Parker Livingstone caught a touchdown in which the freshman "showed a great deal of speed running away from the defense."

Sarkisian also said he liked what he saw out of Quinn Ewers. The incumbent starting quarterback also was able to follow up that performance with a good showing at Tuesday's practice, which Sarkisian attributed to an improving rapport with his new receivers.

"We're definitely still a work in progress, but I like the fact that the majority of the guys are improving and that's the goal in this thing," Sarkisian said. "As we go through spring practice, I don't expect anybody to be a finished product after 15 practices of spring ball. But it should give us a really good snapshot of the things that each guy needs to focus on and work on throughout the summer to get himself prepared for fall camp."

Orange-White game

1 p.m. Saturday, Royal-Memorial Stadium, LHN, admission is free

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football team ready to host Orange-White game this Saturday