As could be expected when a coach talks about his alma mater, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian had plenty of good things to say about BYU earlier this week when he met with media members to discuss the No. 7 Longhorns’ Big 12 matchup with the Cougars on Saturday in Austin.
“We are playing a really good BYU football team (which is) 5-2,” said Sarkisian, who was BYU’s starting quarterback in 1995 and 1996 under legendary coach LaVell Edwards. “Obviously, my alma mater. I know a lot of those coaches well.”
“So these are good coaches. They’ve got really good schemes. They’ve got a veteran football team, and they play extremely hard. They are tough-nosed, hard-nosed. They play the game with a real (focused) mentality. They are a real effort-first team.” — Texas coach Steve Sarkisian on BYU
As the Deseret News detailed in July 2022, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake, a fullback on the 1994 team, was Sarkisian’s host when he visited Provo out of El Camino (California) College in December 1994.
They never played on the same team, although both men have referred to the other as a former BYU teammate. Sitake was on a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oakland, California, in 1995 and 1996 when Sarkisian was completing 549 of 824 passes for 7,755 yards and 55 touchdowns for the Cougars.
“I can’t believe he’s in Year 8 (at BYU). He’s doing a heckuva job,” Sarkisian said Monday, while also noting that BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick was a redshirt receiver on BYU’s 1996 team.
“So these are good coaches. They’ve got really good schemes. They’ve got a veteran football team, and they play extremely hard,” Sarkisian said. “They are tough-nosed, hard-nosed. They play the game with a real (focused) mentality. They are a real effort-first team.”
Sarkisian mentioned that BYU’s calling card in 2023 is taking care of the football and getting takeaways. The Cougars are No. 3 in the country in turnover margin at plus-nine, having gained 16 turnovers and lost seven.
“If you watch the Tech game, if you want to talk about the deciding factor in the game, it was their ability to create five turnovers and what it meant in that game (a 27-14 win),” Sarkisian said. “Definitely got a veteran quarterback in (Kedon) Slovis. Got a multitude of tight ends that they like to use. So we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
He said the sixth matchup between the Cougars and Horns — BYU leads the series 4-1 — should be a “heckuva ball game.”
Oddsmakers aren’t in agreement. Texas is a 17.5-point favorite, after opening as a 20.5-point favorite.
Sarkisian predicted that BYU’s defense will do some things it hasn’t shown on tape to confuse and rattle UT backup redshirt freshman quarterback Maalik Murphy, who will be making his first career start after star QB Quinn Ewers sustained a shoulder injury in the 31-24 win over Houston.
“Maalik is a natural passer. He throws a very beautiful ball. I think there’s not a throw that he can’t make,” Sarkisian said of the 6-foot-5, 238-pound signal-caller from Inglewood, California.
Sark noted that BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill and Sitake were on the same coaching staff at Utah under Kyle Whittingham and still incorporate many of the same schemes the Utes use.
“It is a very attacking, aggressive style,” Sarkisian said. “I think they have a lot of confidence in their players and their scheme. … But in the end they are ball-conscious. You see the turnovers and when they come and why they come. And I think that goes back to coaching. Those guys are good coaches. They’ve been doing it a long time. Got a ton of respect for them.”
BYU’s Hill, who also played at Utah, said Tuesday he has met Sarkisian several times, but doesn’t know him as well as Sitake and Roderick do.
“I think the world of him. I think he’s a phenomenal football coach,” Hill said. “There are a few coaches on that staff that I do know very well and think the world of what they are doing and who they are as coaches.”
Sarkisian’s memories of LaVell Edwards
Asked Monday for his takeaways playing for Edwards, Sarkisian told a story about a discussion he had on the sidelines with the legendary coach, offensive coordinator Norm Chow and offensive line coach Roger French near the end of the first half when none of them could agree on which play to run.
“I will never forget coach Edwards looking at me and saying, ‘Sark, what do you want to run?’ And I referenced a play I wanted to run and he turned around and said, OK, we are running the play (Sarkisian) just referenced.”
Sarkisian said Edwards had a way of making sure you knew he believed in you, and building rapport with his quarterback, “that I was his guy.” He said he tries to do that with his quarterbacks at Texas.
Sark said Edwards had a dry wit about him, and a keen, understated sense of humor.
“The second thing about coach Edwards that I will always keep with me is he always kept things light. He was himself,” Sarkisian said. “I know everybody always sees the stern face on the sidelines from back in the day. But he was a really lighthearted guy. He was really fun to be around. The players liked to be around him. I think that really goes back to having really good relationships with your players and that was something that he had when I was there as well.”
Steve Sarkisian celebrates after the Cougars knocked off Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl in 1996. The former BYU QB is now the head coach of the Texas Longhorns, who host the Cougars Saturday afternoon in Austin.
Gary McKeller, Deseret News
