AUSTIN (KXAN) — No. 10 Texas didn’t need some of its typical starting players to pound Sam Houston 55-0 in its final nonconference game. They’ll certainly need them when Southeastern Conference play begins Oct. 4, and that’s when a perfectly placed bye week comes in to help.
The Longhorns have this week off from competition before hitting the road to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida, to take on the Florida Gators in the SEC opener, and head coach Steve Sarkisian wants his guys to kick their feet up and recover.
Whether it’s watching the other college football games this weekend or simply getting their bodies right to practice next week in preparation for the Gators, he wants them to take it easy once this week of practice concludes Wednesday.
“I need them to step away from football for just a minute,” he said. They’ve had five weeks of training camp and they’ve played four straight weeks in season, so I want them to put their feet up on the couch.”
A handful of impact players sat out the Sam Houston game to help speed up the recovery process. Running backs CJ Baxter and Quintrevion Wisner didn’t play, along with defensive tackle Alex January and defensive backs Kobe Black and Xavier Filsaime. Wide receiver Emmett Mosley V hasn’t played all season, but could make his debut against the Gators.
Sarkisian expects “a wave” of players to return to the field for the SEC opener, and the week off is coming in clutch to make that happen.
Sarkisian said he wants his players to hear from him about the games this weekend. He wants them to stay engaged with football, but not have the stress and physical toll on the body that comes with competing on the field. Taking a little bit of time off during the season to let their bodies recover is something Sarkisian believes is healthy. They’ll have another bye week Nov. 8, the week before they travel “Between the Hedges” to Sanford Stadium to face Georgia.
“I want them to watch football, and I want to get the text messages from them about the games,” he said. “That should make them feel a little reenergized Monday.”
The bye week also frees up Sarkisian and his staff to hit the recruiting trail. He said he’s strategic with who he sends out to maximize all of the available recruiting days allowed by the NCAA, but a guy he loves to get on the road this time of year is Chris Gilbert. Gilbert is a special assistant to Sarkisian now and was formerly the Longhorns’ director of high school relations before taking an assistant coaching job at North Texas in 2022.
“He’s a really good evaluator, and he’s got a good rapport with not only the players we’re recruiting, but with their families as well,” Sarkisian said. “He’s very relatable to the high school coaches, so he’s active on that front.”
Sarkisian will pick and choose other staffers to send out. He said some will be on the road one day and not the next, or whatever combination of days he sees fit.
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