AUSTIN - No doubt about it, Steve Sarkisian loves his offense. Still.
So much so that the Texas head football coach excuses its 80th national ranking in offense. He adamantly stated that his team's Wednesday workout was one of, if not the, best practice the Longhorns have had all season.
"The beauty of it is we're in the Southeastern Conference, and you don't have time to sulk," he said Thursday. "You don't have time to feel sorry for yourselves. I give our players credit. They practiced really well this week. I thought Wednesday might have been the best practice we've had this season."
So there you have it.
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If Sarkisian can just convince the SEC to let Texas play its games on Wednesdays from here on out, it's all good. Offense fixed. Of course, I've yet to hear the sixth-year head coach blast his team for a poor practice in all his time in Austin.
Now maybe there's a chance it might be more complicated than that, but Sarkisian is confident that, well, his offensive players are too.
"I don't think it's a confidence thing," he said. "I think that these guys believe we're good and are going to play really good."
In truth, he may be on to something. Not everything but something.
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As he explained it, the Longhorns have gone up against three really superior defense, and not everyone else has.
"And I think that'll shake out by the end of the year who Ohio State, Tennessee and Oklahoma are," he said. "And we've done some good things in all those games. Again, to me, it's more about consistency."
Sarkisian is dead on about the defenses of those three teams. The Buckeyes (fourth), Volunteers (25th) and Sooners (14th) all rank in the top 25 nationally. No other FBS team has gone through that. In scoring defense, that trio of opponents all can be found among the best 28 teams in the country with Ohio State at seventh and Tennessee at 19th.
Texas gets a little easier sledding soon, starting with Florida (4-2) and its 113th-ranked scoring defense. The Gators, who have had their share of problems and then some in their secondary, allow 29 points a game.
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They may also be facing Texas with a backup quarterback if a shoulder injury keeps Aaron Philo on the sidelines and pushes sophomore backup Tramell Jones Jr. into a starting role Saturday. Jones is very athletic and has passed for 252 yards this season with a 79% completion rate. Vernell Brown III, the Gators' star receiver, is also questionable, the same as Philo.
In addition, the Longhorns will tangle with other less potent defenses down the stretch. Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Florida all rank 103rd or lower in points allowed and have to come to DKR, so perhaps Texas can get by with a less efficient offense.
Simply one more touchdown drive by the Longhorns would have been enough to escape the Sooners' challenge last week in a 27-24 loss. Or just don't give up 14 non-offensive points with a blocked punt/fumble recovery in the end zone or a pick six, and that would have done the trick and kept Texas (4-1) unbeaten.
That said, it wouldn't hurt if Texas could get more return on its dollar from a $3 million receiver like Cam Coleman. The Auburn transfer has produced five touchdowns in five games but only 17 catches, far below the expectations for the 6-3 receiver who was supposed to lead the world in contested catches.
The same goes for Ryan Wingo, who has been utilized far less often on those bubble screens, which produced big yardage and explosive plays last season.
"I think Cam's playing good for us," Sarkisian said, excusing the Tennessee game when he bruised his tailbone and caught just one pass for 30 yards. "Obviously, he got nicked up there. But I think what's important is if people are trying to take him away. That Ryan comes out and has five or six, seven catches. That Emmett (Mosley V) has the fourth quarter he has against Ohio State. That the ball is spread out."
That's all good in theory. But it hasn't worked out that way.
It also makes little sense that Sarkisian's gameplan doesn't include more, safer slant patterns or short curl routes, which could move the chains at the same time they could get Arch Manning into a rhythm. Those could lead to more sustained drives, produce more points or at the very least keep Will Muschamp's defenses off the field more and fresher for the fourth quarter.
Texas' running attack has flashed at times, but also been inconsistent. One would think Sarkisian would rely on a bigger workload out of freshman Derrek Cooper, who sparked a second-half surge with powerful runs for 41 yards, only to receive just two more touches for zero yards in the final 30 minutes of the game.
Sarkisian never figures to ditch the ground game because, until last year when no Longhorn running back managed even 600 yards on the ground, he has always had a 1,000-yard rusher in his entire head coaching career.
He has solid running backs in Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown, and he should make better use of Manning's legs because he did run for a team-high 10 touchdowns last season.
"I would like him to run it a little bit more," Sarkisian said. "I feel like when we were at our best last year as an offense, he was utilizing his legs, whether it was on designed runs or scrambles when things broke down."
He fully understands the importance of the run game in the SEC.
The top three teams in the league standings - unbeaten Georgia and 3-1 clubs Alabama and Kentucky - all average 182 rushing yards or more. In fact, five SEC, including the Gators and their power back Jadan Baugh, step off 200 or more yards on the ground every week. Missouri's Jamal Roberts has back-to-back games of 200 yards rushing.
Texas hasn't been nearly as successful. It ranks 12th in the league in rushing. Again, the defenses it's faced so far have been elite, but the Longhorns were thought to be elite as well in August.
"I've never been a big one-dimensional guy," Sarkisian said. "I know that you've got to run the ball in our conference to be effective. I mean, we're playing real teams. We haven't had the luxury of some of these other teams' schedules. I think we're actually closer than maybe we're getting credit for. Because if we're averaging over 150 (142 currently on the ground) with our passing game, that's going to be a really good formula for success for us."
Much of the blame centers on the inability of the Texas offensive line to get more push and allow the backs some room to maneuver before contact. But if this line isn't doing its part - and it was not among the 25 teams named to the Joe Moore Award midseason honor roll - don't look for the backups to push for more playing time. Six SEC teams made that list, including future opponents Florida and Missouri.
"The other guys need to practice better if they want to play more," Sarkisian said brusquely.
So much for line depth.
Maybe the Gators will be Texas' get-well team.
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There’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Texas coach Steve Sarkisian still likes his Longhorns' offense. He explains why.