Everything Steve Sarkisian Said After Texas' Inaugural SEC Win

Texas football’s inaugural win against a conference foe in the SEC was not as pretty as head coach Steve Sarkisian would have liked.

Texas football HC Steve Sarkisian talks about the SEC opener win vs. Mississippi State

The Longhorns (5-0, 1-0) outlasted the Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-4, 0-2) 35-13 in what can only be described as a grimy and sloppy welcome to SEC play. Texas turned the ball over three times, committed eight penalties for 65 yards, and held the ball for only 25:03 of game time.

That said, the No. 1 ranked team in the country did what great teams do; they found a way to win.

Texas football has started 5-0 for the second time in as many seasons. It looks to carry that momentum into the bye week before consecutive games against No. 21 Oklahoma and No. 2 Georgia.

Here is everything Coach Sark said after the Longhorns’ inaugural SEC win:

On the win:

"It's always good to win."

"Without a doubt, we took them seriously. We just didn't play great."

"We needed some rough waters to see how we would respond, because there's going to be rough waters ahead. I thought our guys responded really well today and they showed poise and composure. Nobody lost their cool. They stayed engaged and they found a way to fight back and pull away in a tough game. That's what the SEC is all about."

"I don't know in years past if we could have overcome what we overcame today."

"I'm going to come in here Monday and there's a lot for me to show. There's going to be a lot for me, so probably an extended good, bad and ugly that I show."

On the offense:

"I thought offensively, a lot of self-inflicted wounds today that maybe could have changed the flow of the game."

Sark noted that to run only 62 plays and finish with over 500 yards, there was an explosiveness to what they were doing. "But we can't keep getting behind the chains."

Coach Sarkisian on DeAndre Moore: "The ball really found him tonight." Sark noted that Moore did not practice much this week due to a hip pointer suffered against ULM. He give Jordan Whittington a lot of credit for Moore's development.

On the defense:

"I'm sitting here thinking we gave up 13 points in an SEC game thinking I wish it could have been less. But we played good defensive football and we made them earn it."

"Colin Simmons is a really good football player that is willing to learn and to grow." Coach Sark mentioned Simmons and Vernon Broughton as reasons why Texas was able to pressure the quarterback.

Sark noted that Michael Taaffe suffered a "stinger" and holding him out the rest of the game was "precautionary."

On Arch Manning:

"I thought Arch played a very good football game. 26-for-31, very efficient. Much more efficient than a week ago, yet still found the explosive plays in there. That was a positive."

"I did want to make sure we were getting him completions. I didn't want him to feel like a home run hitter every time he got in the box."

"What a luxury to have a player of his caliber as our backup quarterback. We have two great players. We were able to get through this without having to put Quinn (Ewers) out there, and now he's got two more weeks to get himself healthy for the second half of the season."

On turnovers and penalties:

"We can't continue to play games with two turnovers and false starts and holding penalties and playing behind the chains, I mean, that's a recipe for disaster, so we have to clean that stuff up."

"We'll get [Jaydon Blue's fumbles] figured out. We're going to need him. We're going to need Jaydon Blue throughout the season so I don't want anybody to think we're giving up on Jaydon Blue. But in this game, sometime you have to shift and you have to pivot. We're fortunate enough to have Tre Wisner healthy this week, to step in, and thought he put a heck of a second half for us and gave us a really nice spark in the game."

"I had made a decision on 3rd down that if it was 4th and 3 or less, I was going to go for it. When they jumped offsides on the field goal, it went to 4th and 3 so I went to my decision to go for it. You leave three points on the board, maybe that changes the complexion of the game."

On Quinn Ewers:

"Quinn’s a stud. He’s getting himself ready to go. I think Quinn’s probably helping Arch with me ripping his ass. Even though he’s 26 of 31 for over 300 yards, I was still ripping his ass today. But that’s what we do around here."

"Hopefully we will get Quinn back for OU, we will see."

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