Texas’ Steve Sarkisian pushes back on doubters questioning Longhorns ‘SEC toughness’

When the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners announced their decision to depart the Big 12 for the SEC, there was no shortage of skepticism from folks in SEC country that the Longhorns and Sooners would be out of their depth as they stepped into what has traditionally been the most dominant conference in college football. And while Oklahoma may have shown some growing pains this season, in Austin, that hasn’t been the case.

On Saturday night, the Longhorns punched their ticket to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, scoring a 17-7 win over the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. The de facto SEC semifinal, a hard-hitting slugfest in which there were 81 rush attempts to just 51 pass attempts, proved that Steve Sarkisian’s squad is by no means going to be outclassed, or out-toughed, by any program in the SEC.

Sark says @TexasFootball always been up for the challenge pic.twitter.com/Dg7neQrwp0

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) December 1, 2024

“All these guys have been hearing about, since the day it got announced that we were going into the SEC that we were gonna struggle in the SEC and that it was going to be hard and that we were gonna come into this environment tonight and it was gonna be the toughest environment in college football and we wouldn’t be ready for it,” Sarkisian said following the win. “We won the game in a physical manner, which is what we know we needed to do in the Southeastern Conference.”

If there were any questions about how the Longhorns would handle playing against an elite defense in a high-pressure spot, they provided the answer on Saturday night. Texas ran the hell out of the football, totaling 47 rushes for 243 yards. The Longhorns defense limited the Aggies, who came into the game averaging over 200 yards rushing per game, to just 102 yards on 34 carries.

Now Texas is just one win away from winning an SEC Title and punching their ticket to the College Football Playoff. Even better, the game will be played against the Georgia Bulldogs, giving the Longhorns the chance to avenge their only loss this season. But for Texas, this game is about achieving their one long-term goal for the season.

“The goal has always been ‘let’s get to Atlanta’ and if we can get to Atlanta, those other goals might start to line themselves up,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said, per the Associated Press.

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