Texas coach Steve Sarkisian went into last Saturday’s season opener with the goal of playing as many Longhorns as possible.

His logic was sound. This coaching staff will likely need a lot of players to get through a possible 16- or 17-game season. It’ll be an incredible grind should No. 4 Texas go the distance. Unlike in the NFL, the Horns can’t pick up free agents off the street mid-season.

Even Sarkisian himself seemed blown away at the final numbers against Colorado State.

“Just some highlights coming from the game,” Sarkisian said before he rattled off an impressive list of bullet points.

Texas Longhorns’ matchup with Michigan Wolverines another test of Steve Sarkisian’s culture

The Longhorns shouldn’t worry about 100,000 fans. As the coach says, “the standard is the standard.”

Five different players scored their first touchdown as a Longhorn. That included all three transfer receivers Matthew Golden, Isaiah Bond and Silas Bolden. Running back Jerrick Gibson punched in a 5-yard touchdown run. Backup quarterback Arch Manning also threw his first touchdown pass and ran for his first score.

Eight different players ran the ball. Twenty-eight Longhorns had at least one tackle. Fifty-one players saw action in the first half and 77 played in the game all told.

“I think a total of 12 different guys caught passes, 10 in the first half,” Sarkisian said. “So I think it just speaks to the to the depth that we have on the team. And it was great that a lot of guys got to play. That was the goal going in. But as a coach, it was, for me, it was to see them play a clean game in a first game is always challenging.”

It’s easy to rotate a bunch of players into the game during a 52-0 blowout win. Michigan’s overall style of play will force the coaching staff to whittle it down. The Wolverines are a run-first program, a style that chews up the clock and limits the total number of plays.

Long live Texcalibur! Texas Longhorns use turnover sword to slice up footballs, start new tradition

Longhorns plan on filling up the sword every Saturday with turnovers. ‘Yep, like a little turnover kebab’

For example, Michigan ran only 61 plays in its 30-10 victory over Fresno State last Saturday. That figure tied for 12th in the now-expanded 18-team Big Ten.

Texas coaches will keep close tabs on playing repetitions this week, and the defensive line will likely rotate at a heavy clip to keep players fresh. With so few overall snaps, the game “has more of an NFL feel,” Sarkisian said.

“If you get eight reps in the game, you’ve got to make those eight count,” he said.

Sarkisian said he liked how veteran defensive linemen Vernon Broughton and Alfred Collins were physical against Colorado State. Senior Jermayne Lole and freshman Alex January also made a good first impression. “But we're going to need all these guys in this type of a game,” Sarkisian said.

Collins said he’s excited “to see where we all are as a team, and I'm very excited ready to get to work.”