General Booty leads ULM offense into football game against Longhorns

Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian had to laugh when he saw what the quarterback of Evangel Christian Academy, a high school powerhouse in Shreveport, Louisiana, did in the early 2000s.

Sarkisian, then an assistant coach at Southern Cal, recruited and trained John David Booty, who was under contract to Evangel Christian. When faced with an opponent's blitz, Booty's reaction was to retreat further back in the shotgun, unfazed by the extra distance, and looking for more time to load his right arm.

“They would be about 8 meters deep and would really make a bang,” Sarkisian said.

When Booty graduated from USC, he ranked fifth in career completions (518) and passing yards (6,125).

When Sarkisian and his Longhorns (3-0) host Louisiana-Monroe (2-0) on Saturday (7 p.m., ESPN+, SEC+), he will be greeted by an offense led by a familiar name.

General Booty, the nephew of John David, is the Warhawks' starting quarterback and is helping lead the program into a new era under new coach Bryant Vincent.

“General can throw, he can throw it, and it's natural for him,” Sarkisian said. “It's not like he's trying too hard to throw the ball, read it and throw it under pressure.”

ARCH'S NEED FOR SPEED:How Arch Manning's top speed for Texas football was calculated – and why it went viral

Booty has helped bring much-needed stability to a ULM offense that stumbled under former coach Terry Bowden. From 2020-2023, the Warhawks never averaged more than 22.3 points and finished under the 20-point mark twice.