When I was a sophomore in HS, we hadn't won a varsity football game in 2 years. We lost our first game on a FG. Second game, away against an inner city HISD school that had many hostile fans in the stands, and many hostile players on the field, our QB had his knee bent in backwards on a hit in the 1st Q.
As he screamed on the field in agony, our HC huddled the offensive skill guys up and started trying to talk up our soon to be welcomed to the game JR QB. He'd never played a down of varsity football and he was visibly shaking and looked terrified. The HC said, literally, "fuck it" and put in the starting SR SS at QB because he'd played there the prior year in some spurts late in blowouts.
We won and then the JR QB got all week to prepare for Pearland. We won that one as well and he had a fine year. Didn't throw enough to me, IMO, but we damned near went to the playoffs and I enjoyed it.
The HC was a former UT player and an old man by that time. He'd seen some shit. He was thinking on the fly. I think Sarkisian is just trying to see around corners. Shit happens.