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Texas Longhorns’ head coach Steve Sarkisian greets fans after the Texas Longhorns defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes at Royal-Memorial Stadium in Austin on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n
Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
About an hour after a 24-23 win over Ohio State, once he\u2019d greeted friends and family, commended his team\u2019s grit and resilience in a\u00a0postgame locker room address and wrapped up all of his commitments with media and visiting recruits, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian finally found a quiet moment. \u00a0<\/p>\n
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From the perch just outside his office in the south end zone of Royal-Memorial Stadium, Sarkisian and his wife, Loreal, looked out<\/a> across the nearly empty field, soaking in everything that just unfolded. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Longhorns rallied for 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to knock off the top-ranked Buckeyes, lifting the sixth-year Texas coach to perhaps the most important win of his career. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI just think I don\u2019t want to let this go by like ho-hum, it was just another one, because that was special,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cI wanted to take it in, too.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE: How UTSA’s Owen McCown, Texas’ Arch Manning are bonded by family legacies<\/a><\/p>\n About 30 miles down I-35, with much less fanfare, UTSA and coach Jeff Traylor also scored a program-shifting win, beating Texas State 31-26<\/a> on a fourth-quarter comeback of their own to buck trends of rivalry losses, road struggles and slow starts. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n While the talent mismatch is vast as UTSA travels to face No. 1 Texas at 7 p.m. Saturday in Austin, one of the biggest challenges for both sides will be mental, refocusing from last week\u2019s highs.<\/p>\n Which Texas college football team do you like to hate the most?<\/p>\n College football loyalties run deep in Texas, but so do the rivalries and grudges that give fans plenty of teams to root against.<\/p>\n Most RecentTop Responses<\/p>\n Even though im a Texas Longhorns Fan, even though I dont like Texas A&M there is an element of respect for them. They have weird traditions that you don’t see at other schools, and they are honest people for the most part. They are the little brother that thinks they’re bigger than they really are. <\/p>\n But I think A&M fans however delusional they are, they love their zany university and the traditions that come with it. It’s a rivalry that for the most part limits itself to the football field (or the baseball diamond, or hardwood), and when tragedies have struck at either university we’ve put the rivalry aside and come together. For one week in November its chaos, for the rest of the year its respect.<\/p>\n HOOKEM!<\/p>\n