After a truly miserable first season of the Steve Sarkisian era, Texas football gets a fresh start under the lights as the Longhorns host the Orange-White Spring Game on Saturday evening. Despite a 5-7 record, Texas nabbed a top-10 transfer class in the country and added a top-five recruiting class.
The biggest fish will soon be a household name in college football as quarterback Quinn Ewers returned to the Lone Star State after a year at Ohio State. However, Ewers is only the tip of the spear. Texas also added former Alabama tight end Jahleel Billingsley and Wyoming receiver Isaiah Neyor. Alabama receiver Agiye Hall joins later this summer.
With the new faces joining star running back Bijan Robinson and receiver Xavier Worthy, the Longhorns have a real shot to compete for the nation's top offense if everything comes together. However, almost nothing came together in Sarkisian's first season as Texas blew numerous leads and lost seven consecutive games for the first time since 1957. There are major issues that need to be addressed before the Longhorns are ready for primetime.
While the game will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network, it will not look like a normal football game. There will not be any score kept or specific opposing teams. Instead, it will feature approximately 100 scrimmaged play capped off with a red zone competition at the end.
Here's what you need to know for Texas' 2022 spring football game.
How to watch 2022 Texas spring game live
Date: Saturday, April 23 | Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium -- Austin, Texas
TV: Longhorn Network | Live stream: ESPN+
2022 Texas spring game: Need to know
1. Quarterback controversy: Saturday marks the debut of touted quarterback transfer Quinn Ewers in a burnt orange uniform. The former No. 1 overall recruit -- and first perfect 1.0000 quarterback in the 247Sports Composite since Vince Young -- transferred from Ohio State over the offseason in hopes of taking the reins at Texas in the fall.
However, the battle is still technically open between Ewers and Hudson Card, a former blue-chip quarterback recruit himself. The Austin product earned the starting job to open 2021, but was later benched after poor play. With an additional year in the system, can Card hold off Ewers, who has not thrown a live pass in two years? The spring game will give an early glimpse into the question.
2. Defensive growth: Longhorns defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski struggled in his first season after moving from the Pac-12 to the Big 12, but Texas had an opportunity to up its defensive staff by adding former TCU coach Gary Patterson as a special assistant. While Patterson will only work in an off-field role, the spring game could give early indication as to whether Patterson will have some input on defense.
Kwiatkowski's defense struggled to find a balance between versatile pass defense with the physical run defense needed to counter the changing Big 12. While Patterson's final unit at TCU struggled to defend the run, his 4-2-5 excelled for years. He knows Big 12 offenses better than anyone in the country.
With a limited spring game sample, keep an eye on the athletes that Texas uses in its linebacker and STAR roles. Those positions were a Patterson specialty.
3. Offensive line depth: Sarkisian announced that spring game would not be traditional with separated teams and scores. In comments to reporters, Sarkisian noted that the reason for the change is lack of offensive line depth. While the reasons might be legitimate, lacking the offensive line depth to play a spring game doesn't bode well.
Granted, Texas has six freshman linemen coming in the summer after a monster recruiting class. Another freshman is on campus now. Three starters are back from a below average Big 12 unit, but none are stars. Texas opted not to take any transfer linemen with how many star freshmen are entering the field.
Eventually, the elite recruiting class will pay dividends. In 2022, though? The limited returners all have to hit.
