Texas quarterback Arch Manning was “a little bit inefficient” during Saturday’s scrimmage, coach Steve Sarkisian said.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
AUSTIN — Steve Sarkisan bemoaned the dismissal of veteran Texas linebacker Ty’Anthony Smith “for conduct detrimental to the team” and said quarterback Arch Manning wasn’t as efficient in the team’s second scrimmage of training camp Saturday as he’d like.
Asked to explain why Smith was kicked off the team Friday, Sarkisian declined to elaborate in detail other than to say his behavior led to the decision.
“He was dismissed,” Sarkisian said. “Conduct detrimental to the team, and that’s just what it is. I didn’t like it. It’s an unfortunate situation. I hate that. For us as a team, I hate that. He’s a quality player, but I have to think about the team first.”
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The loss of the junior from Jasper, who had played in 28 career games with 75 tackles and three interceptions, may not be as crippling as it could be because Sarkisian pointed out the defense will often use the nickel defense and employ just two linebackers on the field. Those would be Pitt transfer Rasheem Biles and Justin Cryer, formerly of Florida state. Sarkisian raved about Cryer’s performance this camp.
On offense, Sarkisian said he expected more out of Manning, who will be a full-time starter for the second season after 15 career starts, than he saw Saturday.
“I thought he had a really good week of practice and he played very efficiently,” he said. “I felt like today, similar to last week at the start, a little bit inefficient. I feel like he could be better. But I love the way he finished.”
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Manning, who threw 15 touchdown passes with only two interceptions in his last eight games of the season, had touchdown throws to Ryan Wingo and Emmett Mosley V, who caught two on the day. Sarkisian didn’t say which offensive players committed the turnovers, and reporters are not allowed follow-up questions.
Manning was in on the action for about 50 plays Saturday and apparently looked fatigued as did many on the team. That said, Sarkisian loves the conditioning of the team and explained that he’d “be remiss not to expose his players to the heat. The heat should be our friend. We’re used to it.”
The scorching temperatures of 105 degrees seemed to affect the offense more than the defense.
“I thought offensively, it was too sloppy for my liking,” he said. “I feel like we should be better, more efficient from an offensive perspective. Just too many errors on that side of the ball.”
Consequently, Sarkisian said the staff will cut back on the physicality of practice next week when Texas will go exclusively in the morning.
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“We’re a little fatigued,” he said. “I’ll be quite frank. We’re working hard, and you could feel a little physical fatigue and maybe a little mental fatigue. And that’s not uncommon. Arch is a great kind of microcosm of the team. I think we can be a little more energized, a little more sharp. I think he can, too.”
That could at least partly explain why Will Muschamp’s defense got the better of Sark’s offense for the second straight scrimmage.
“I thought defensively the really showed up ready to go today,” he said. “I would probably argue that the last two days, the offense got the better of the defense. I think they created four turnovers, created plenty of third-and-longs, rushed the passer and were sticky in coverage.”
In describing the 120-play scrimmage as “both good and bad,” the Texas head coach lauded the four takeaways by his defense and the overall conditioning of his club in temperatures that reached almost 150 degrees on the field.
But he lamented that he witnessed a lot of physical and mental fatigue overall as the Longhorns closed in on three weeks of practice. He said he’d cut back the workload for next week to get “fresher legs” with the season opener against Texas State less than two weeks away on Sept. 5 and make next week more like a “mock game week.”
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On the bright side, Sarkisian said All-American candidate Trevor Goosby at offensive tackle is making good progress and transfer left guard Laurence Seymore could return to workouts Monday after being held out of the scrimmage.
Those developments loom large as Texas desperately wants major improvement in the offensive line after finishing 90th nationally in rushing with only 1,791 yards, the lowest in Sarkisian’s tenure in Austin.
He bragged on the emergence of senior Andre Cojoe, who is filling in nicely as Goosby recovers from the bone bruise on his left knee and appears to have locked down the role of third offensive tackle. Cojoe, Sarkisian reminded the press, was in the thick of the competition for the right tackle spot he eventually lost to Brandon Baker before Cojoe got hurt.
“He’s a big man, but he’s light on his feet,” Sarkisian said. “He can move. He’s explosive.”
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Asked how relieved he was when he learned Goosby only suffered a bone bruise in the non-contact drill Tuesday and not something more serious, Sarkisian said, “I was glad I went to church.”
Sarkisian also credited true freshman wide receiver Jermaine Bishop Jr. from Willis with outstanding play this entire camp.
“Jermaine has worked extremely hard,” he said. “The one thing that I really value about him is the moment is never too big for him. He’s very poised. He’s very composed. He’s very confident to go along with his ability. He’s got play-making ability. He’s a savvy route runner, competitive, tough. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he has a significant role offensively for us.”