Throughout this season, members of the Texas football team have insisted that they try to not pay attention to “outside noise.”
Head coach Steve Sarkisian praised his team after the win over rival Oklahoma in mid-October, noting how easy it is to succumb to external distractions after the Longhorns had spent that week dealing with the loss to Florida. When running back Quintrevion Wisner was asked about the team’s mindset ahead of the Mississippi State trip last month, he replied, “Block the outside noise out.”
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And after a viral article referred to him as a flop in October, quarterback Arch Manning said “I try to do my best of blocking out the noise.” That was in spite of him receiving several text messages advising him to … well, block out the outside noise.
“There must be a lot of noise,” Manning retorted.
Therein lies part of the problem for No. 17 Texas (7-3, 4-2), which hosts old Southwest Conference rival Arkansas (2-8, 0-6) Saturday. This season, things have been pretty noisy.Â
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian reacts to a call during the game against Vanderbilt at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Have things been noisier than Texas expected?
NO. 17 TEXAS VS. ARKANSAS
When’where: 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Royal-Memorial Stadium.
TV/radio: ABC; 1300 AM, 98.1 FM, 105.3 FM (Spanish)
Texas opened the season as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top 25 and US LBM Coaches Poll. But the Longhorns suffered a Week 1 setback at Ohio State, then was upset a month later by Florida. Last weekend, Texas went to Georgia and suffered its most lopsided loss since 2015.
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Now Texas is on the outside of the College Football Playoff picture. Critiques about the offensive line, running game and secondary have been abundant, and players have been left to answer the criticisms since UT assistant coaches and coordinators don’t talk during the season. Manning, a first-year starter who entered this season as a Heisman Trophy contender, has been heavily scrutinized while throwing for 2,374 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Sarkisian himself has had to defend against calls for him to give up play-calling duties on offense. He’s gotten snippy while answering questions about Manning’s health and about whether his team has underachieved. Sarkisian, who has maintained a professional but tight-lipped approach with the media since he arrived in Austin, has twice over the past month had to publicly address rumors about his future as UT’s coach.
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) walks the field ahead of the game against Vanderbilt at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
So, has the outside noise been louder than expected this season?
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“I don’t know,” Sarkisian said Thursday during his weekly call with local media members. “That’s probably a better question for you guys. You’re the ones that are writing about it and talking about it.”
MORE: One way the Longhorns could be vulnerable to a Razorbacks upset
Sarkisian admitted this week that the Longhorns are dealing with a different kind of adversity this season than they had over the past two years while going 25-5 and twice reaching the CFP. That, though, could benefit Texas down the road.
“The story of this season at this juncture could be very different than it is today,” he said. “But this is our story. This is our journey. This is where we are. How we respond to the adversity, I think, not only serves to who we are today and the resiliency that we show today and the maturity that we show today, but it’s also going to serve well for our future, because a lot of these same guys are going to be back in that locker room again next year and the year after that and possibly the year after that.”
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College Gameday hosts Desmond Howard, and
Rece Davis during the Broadcasting of the show before the match off between Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners in NCAA college football game at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023 in Dallas, Texas. This game makes up the119th rivalry match up.
Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman
Steve Sarkisian: Message was for friends, foes and presumably Desmond Howard
Sarkisian opened his weekly appearance on Wednesday’s SEC conference call with an unprompted statement about his commitment to being the head coach at Texas. Those words were delivered a few days after ESPN analyst Desmond Howard suggested on social media — with a video in which the former Michigan star seemed to be taking out his trash — that Texas and Sarkisian would mutually part ways at the end of the season.
MORE: Longhorns betting lines, preview, prediction for Week 13 game against Arkansas
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Sarkisian confirmed a day later that opposing football programs were using questions about his job status as a way to tamper with Texas players. But Wednesday’s message wasn’t just for his rivals.
“I think (the message) was for everybody. It might have just been for me,” Sarkisian said. “At the end of the day, I’ve got a locker room full of players who give me everything they have every day, and the last thing I want to be is for them to feel as though what people are saying about me outside of our building serving as a distraction for them and/or their families.Â
“But also, I wanted to say that for Longhorn Nation, because I don’t want anybody here to feel like, boy, Sark’s window shopping, and maybe he’s trying to go. I’m not trying to go anywhere. I think it’s also for some of our opponents that I’m not going anywhere, stay out of our locker room. And maybe for some of the pundits out there that don’t cover me and cover our program on a regular basis, so that they can understand that they can’t just take their trash out and then have a thought to think that, ‘Hey, I think that Texas is going to have a job opening.’ I don’t know, think about something else when you’re taking your trash out.”
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