Casey Thompson will remain the Texas starting QB moving forward
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian put an official end to any clamor for redshirt freshman quarterback Hudson Card to return to the starting lineup on Monday during his weekly press conference by confirming that junior quarterback Casey Thompson will remain the starter moving forward.
After Card suffered a quick hook after struggling mightily against Arkansas in his second start, the difference now with Thompson is the body of work he’s created since taking over as the starter for Card in the third game against Rice.
“I think Casey has earned a little bit more of that right to work through some of those struggles,” Sarkisian said. “The week before he throws five touchdowns against Oklahoma, he had a six-touchdown game against Texas Tech, so he’s played and shown really good football to us. I think he’s he’s earned that opportunity to work his way out of this.”
But Sarkisian didn’t rule out the possibility that Thompson will lose the job if he continues to struggle.
“Now, we’re still developing Hudson and if that that time comes we need to make a change, we’ll be prepared to do so,” Sarkisian said.
The news comes as Texas enters the season’s only bye week riding a two-game losing streak during which the offense struggled to move the ball in the second half of both defeats as the Longhorns blew significant leads.
Thompson’s own struggles heavily contributed to the Oklahoma State comeback.
Leading 17-3 in the second quarter against the Cowboys, the Longhorns had a chance to stretch the lead to 17 points with a field goal in the Oklahoma State red zone. Instead, on third down Thompson made a dangerous throw that Cowboys safety Jason Taylor II read all the way from robber coverage, intercepting the pass and taking it 85 yards for a touchdown. All of a sudden, the game’s entire complexion changed as the win probability for Texas dropped from 95.3 percent to 85.2 percent.
