'Five yards are still five yards. Second and 5 is a heck of a lot better than second and 10' Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian's offenses are struggling at key moments, and simplicity may be the answer for the Longhorns. NEW for @InsideTexas: “I Have to Make It Interesting”: Sarkisian Searches for Answers as Texas Offense Disappears After Fast Starts READ (On3+): on3.com/teams/texas-longhorn…

Steve Sarkisian as Arch Manning's status for this week's game: "It just depends. You know, every game's different. I think Arch has had a good week of work. He's prepared himself well, but the team, we need to play well. So we'll go from there."

Steve Sarkisian mentions three Longhorns freshman WRs he's impressed with: Jermaine Bishop, whom they continue to show confidence in. Chris Stewart and Kohen Brown, for their play on special teams and effort in practice.

Steve Sarkisian on backup QB KJ Lacey: "KJ's a good player. He's dynamic with the ball in his hands. He's a natural passer. There's always things, nuances when you lack experience in practice, and you put them in some difficult situations. There's some growing pains that come with that. But he's coachable. He brings a good attitude every day. He's got good rapport with his teammates."

Steve Sarkisian named a number of freshmen defensive players who have impressed him with their growth throughout the year: LBs Tyler Atkinson and Rocky Cummings DLs Jamarion Carlton and Brinley Tita CB John Meredith S Toray Davis

"I guess what I like most about it, without having really dug into it, is that we get to keep those non-conference games that I think we all really like. I know we do internally. I know our fans do. I know it's good for college football. And so the idea that we're playing Michigan next year, I think we've got Notre Dame the next two years after that. I'm excited that we get to keep those things." Steve Sarkisian on the positives of a potential 24-team playoff.

"I'm a little leery of not having conference championship games." Steve Sarkisian on the downsides of the 24-team playoff. "We've got a great conference. We've got 16 teams. How do you decide a conference champion if three teams or two teams have the same record at the end of the year? Clearly, the Big 10 I think has 18 teams. So, what does that look like? Because I still think conference championships matter."

Steve Sarkisian says that Catapult tracking showed that the Longhorns operated at 105% compared to other Wednesday practices throughout the year. "What does that tell me? It tells me we got guys that are out there working at practice, that are trying to get better, that are motivated, that are working extremely hard to improve, and so that's the most tangible way I can give you."

"He's edgy." Steve Sarkisian on Arch Manning's demeanor this week. "I think that somebody texted me today that we lost the 'aww shucks' kid, and we've created something else."

I asked Steve Sarkisian about his team's issues with continuing offensive momentum after going up by two scores in his past two losses. "We have to continue to do simple better. And what I mean by simple is that we can't get bored doing the little things that might not be the sexiest play, but five yards are still five yards. 2nd and 5 is a heck of a lot better than 2nd and 10. We can't get bored doing those types of things. Well, what does that tell me as a coach? I have to make it interesting for them, right? That it's not just a mundane thing. I got to continue to make it interesting for them, make their brains continue to tick in a way that they're excited about what the next call could be, and so that was part of looking in the mirror: where is that disconnect and why is that occurring and how do I keep them interested in a way that the little things that need to be done on every single play get executed at a high level?