Whys of Texas: Quinn Ewers’ parking situation didn’t seem funny to Steve Sarkisian

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian sort of fake-laughed his way through a question on Monday about Quinn Ewers’ car being towed late Saturday. But here’s guessing he didn’t find the situation funny one bit.

Ewers, Texas' redshirt freshman quarterback, won his first start at UT with a 52-10 victory over Louisiana-Monroe last Saturday, but tweeted afterward, “How’d I get towed during the game.”

On Monday, Ewers revealed that he had parked in Manor Garage, which is right behind Royal-Memorial Stadium on the east side. All cars must be removed prior to a UT home game as fans pay to park in that garage on game day.

“Man, I asked Quinn,” defensive tackle Keondre Coburn said. “He told me he parked in Manor. You’ve got to park in Brazos (Garage). He’s still getting used to around here. I’m going to make sure I tell him next time.”

Sarkisian said flat-out that Ewers "has to park where he’s supposed to park. He wasn’t where he was supposed to be parking on game day.”

More:Twitter reacts after Texas Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers' car is towed during debut

Sarkisian doesn’t want any negative headlines spoiling his team’s good vibe right now, especially after UT receiver Agiye Hall ran into parking problems during training camp and got arrested for criminal mischief when he tried to remove a parking boot.

So from UT’s standpoint, it was best to hurry up and let that story blow over, which was smart. For Ewers, lesson learned.

Q. With the eventual move to the SEC, what will happen to the Longhorn Network?

— Bernie, Class of 1966

The Longhorn Network will most likely be “sunset,” a good business world term, and folded into the SEC Network. Now, that doesn’t mean the LHN employees are going to be out of a job. Quite the opposite, I would think. If I’m ESPN, I keep the whole production house in place and simply think of it as “SEC Network West.”

On the subject of depth charts: you nailed it. The game will always be played on the field, and no amount of information to the fans will have a bearing on the outcomes of those games. Keep the focus on the abilities of the coaches and players. Since fans have zero decision-making roles, their knowledge (or lack thereof) is meaningless. Good article.

— Joel

More:Texas prepares for circus with ESPN, Fox pregame shows coming to Austin. And so is Alabama.

The keyboard warriors out there try to blame the media for reporting on the depth chart issue, or lack thereof. As I explained in my morning Hookem.com newsletter, I don’t think much about the depth chart at all. I tweet it out so fans can look at it. Fans — mostly the anonymous ones on social media — claimed to be upset, not me.

According to what I have read about Casey Thompson’s hand, he should not have been playing after the Oklahoma game. We didn’t even diagnose his condition?

— Tom

First thing about injuries, I have never known the University of Texas medical staff to misdiagnose or hide the severity of an injury to a player or their parents. That simply hasn’t happened. If you’ve got a different story on that, please email me.

Anyway, Thompson told us after last season that there were times he was “shot putting” the ball more than throwing. The severity of his hand injury wasn’t discussed that much during the season. It wasn’t until after the season, and after it became apparent Texas was going after Ewers in the transfer portal, that word started to circulate how bad it was.

All that said, I’m a huge Casey Thompson fan. I truly hope he leads Nebraska to a great season. There is no reason for any Texas fan to wish him ill will.

Do we have a snowball’s chance in you-know-where against Bama?

— Mark

Well, first off, Texas has recruited some of the exact same players Alabama was trying to get. So from a talent perspective, the Horns are on pace with the Tide, just not as finished out. It’s unfair to expect Texas to have the same pool of depth that Alabama does considering how this is just Sarkisian’s second year.

But I think about the USC trip to Los Angeles and the LSU game in Austin. In both contests, Texas had early success. Against the Trojans, the Horns had a nice goal-line stand. Against the Tigers, there was an early touchdown followed by a dropped 2-point conversion pass. Still, Texas struck an early blow.

That’s what has to happen Saturday. The Horns need to have some kind of success, be it with an Ewers deep ball, a defensive turnover or a special teams play to give them confidence. Just get to the fourth quarter, keep it competitive and see what happens. Above all else, just go play hard.

Have a question for the Whys of Texas mailbag? Contact Brian Davis by email at bdavis@statesman.com or follow on Twitter via @BDavisAAS.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Whys of Texas: Quinn Ewers’ towed car wasn't funny to Steve Sarkisian