As discussed on this very site earlier this very day, spring games may be in the process of becoming obsolete in college football.
Matt Rhule canceled Nebraska's out of fear that rival programs would use it as tape to scout his players, especially since a second transfer portal window opens in the second half of April.
That's one common reason, and on Thursday Texas's Steve Sarkisian cited another: the lengthening of the season.
"Over the last two years we've played 30 games," he said on the Up and Adams Show. "That's a lot for college football. Fourteen last year, 16 this year. We've had 25 guys get invited to the NFL combine the last two years, so we've got a lot of young players on our roster. We have 21 mid-year high school that just showed up. The development that's needed for these guys to get ready for the fall is a little bit different than it used to be."
The 2024 Orange and White Game gave fans a glimpse of the future as Arch Manning torched his teammates for 335 yards and three touchdowns. Manning would've been the centerpiece of the 2025 game but, Sarkisian said, his roster is full of players that have either played too much college football to play in a game game, or not enough college football to play in a spring game.
"And so our approach is going to be a little bit more NFL driven. Kind of more OTA-style early on, and as we grow into more of the scrimmage formats in the second half of spring ball," he said. "I just don't know, rolling the ball out and playing a game when we only get 15 practices, is the best for us to maximize the opportunities we get."
Nebraska, Ohio State, USC and now Texas have either canceled their spring game or are openly considering moving away from the format to something involving football but isn't really football, after Ole Miss broke the mold last spring. They surely won't be the last.
"College football is changing right now, and we need to do a great job as coaches of adapting to college football," Sarkisian said. "That's what we're trying to do and I think it's going to be good for our team."