Let's talk about the quarterbacks ... again.

I considered writing about something else, but the Longhorns are less than three weeks away from the season, and there's not a more important storyline surrounding new coach Steve Sarkisian and his program.

It's kind of a big deal.

On one hand, Saturday was just a single practice, and no one should overreact to the Longhorns struggling to execute offensively because it's just a single practice.

On the other hand, I think Sarkisian knows that if his quarterbacks play like they did on Saturday against Louisiana, his team could start the season with a loss.

For a guy that has not been prone to hyperbole since he arrived in Austin, I took Sark's serious tone on Saturday as a sign that the sense of urgency is changing from this moment forward. Games are around the corner. The finish line for whatever is about to happen is in sight.

So, where do I think things stand ...

Thompson missed a big chance

From the moment Sarkisian has taken over, he's given Thompson every opportunity to take the starting job and never look back. He gave him almost all of the first-team reps in the spring. He was given 42 passing attempts in the spring game with the starters. He's been treated like a starter during camp in regards to who gets to take the lead with the first-team unit for the majority of the reps.

On a day when his competition wasn't overly impressive, but didn't turn the ball over, Thompson wasn't overly impressive and did.

It means that whatever anyone wants to say about the Alamo Bowl, the last two spotlight moments that Thompson has been allowed to work with the first team in front of Sarkisian (the spring game and the first August scrimmage) have been disappointments. Sarkisian has given Thompson more space to thrive than he's given Card up until now, and Thompson hasn't completely paid off on that investment.

Card missed a checkmate moment?

Going into the scrimmage, there were several things that seemed to stand out about Card in this battle against Thompson for the starting job.

a. Card seems to trust his receivers more and has been more willing throughout camp to push the ball down the field.

b. That aggression is not coming at the expense of turnovers.

c. Card has been better throwing on the move, which is an important thing when the offensive line is struggling and his outside throws are going to wide receivers down the field.

Of course, those three things didn't mean much on Saturday, which means that Card did miss a chance to make a larger statement. Yet, it was interesting that Sarkisian made a point to officially note that Thompson turned the ball over while Card didn't. It might not have been an emphatic win but still.

What happens this week?

The million-dollar question in my mind centers on the first-team reps at the quarterback position.

Will they continue to be split 50-50ish?

Is Card going to start getting more of them? If he's going to be the starter, doesn't he deserve more time to prepare with the players he needs to be comfortable with? The same is true with Thompson. If it's going to be his show, shouldn't he start getting prepared like it?

Is it going to continue to be 50-50 through the next scrimmage? Is that next scrimmage really that important?

No. 2 - One other thing about the quarterbacks ...

On Monday, Sarkisian made a point of telling this story: ...

CLICK HERE for the full scrimmage report.

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