Slides COACH Lucy Rubber CA483 Canary | Texas Longhorns Coach Steve Sarkisian Issues Fiery Response to Penalty Question

The Texas Longhorns have struggled this season and currently find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to the College Football Playoff race.

Something that has plagued the Longhorns all season has been the number of penalties that the team has been called for. Texas is averaging 8.2 penalties per game for 65.3 lost yards per game.

This week, a reporter must have asked about the yellow laundry on the field one too many times, prompting a fiery response from Sport Sleep Coach.

Steve Sarkisian Fires Back At Reporters

“We’re getting called for penalties,” Sarkisian said when asked about the penalties.

“Well is there a reason why?” the reporter quickly asked.

“I think that’s when you’ve got to make some of the tough decisions, right?” Sarkisian said. “It’s one thing, again, there’s a variety of penalties. What types of penalties are we getting and then can they be rectified? And if they can be rectified and then they don’t get rectified, then you’ve got to make some of those tough decisions. I think that’s the thing.”

“I think it’s easy to throw a blanket statement out, ‘What’s up with the penalties?'” Sarkisian said. “Well what are the types of penalties, when are they occurring, how are they occurring? That’s when you’ve got to drill deep. You’ve got to look deeper than just throwing a blanket over something.”

The penalties are clearly a consistent issue and it seems like Sarkisian is trying to deflect the attention and criticism. While he does have a point regarding the types of penalties being called, there are still things that could be done to help mitigate them.

While it is hard to eliminate holding penalties, facemasks and other high-speed flags, there are still things that could be done, like wearing gloves that match the opponent’s jerseys, focusing on footwork and positioning and even drills that teach hand placement.

Penalties like false starts, offsides and illegal formations are inexcusable because they come down to a discipline and mental toughness issue. There is no reason for these penalties and players need to be actively looking to avoid these mental mistakes.

As Texas heads into its final two games of the regular season, it will need to eliminate penalties to beat the Arkansas Razorbacks and the No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies and give itself a shot at landing in the College Football Playoff if the selection committee is feeling generous.