'Different team, different people, different personnel' - Texas Longhorns, Steve Sarkisian motivated for another chance at Ohio State

Last season, the Texas Longhorns fell to the eventual national champion Ohio State Buckeyes, 28-14, in the CFP semifinal game in the Cotton Bowl. Now, the teams square off again this weekend to start the 2025 season.

But, as head coach Steve Sarkisian explained to the media on Monday, this is a completely different game with two very different teams.

"That was last year's team, different team, different people, different personnel," Sarkisian said. "You know, you use it when you need it. I didn't major in it, but I used it when I needed it, when I felt like they were getting a little complacent, training camps getting a little mundane.

"I kind of always had that in my back pocket. But it's a different team, you know, different leaders. They've got a different team. It's very different. You know, at the end of the day, that stung walking out of the Cotton Bowl last year," Sarkisian said. "But at the end day, this is a new challenge, new journey, new mission that we're on, and so that's kind of been our focus."

But, Steve Sarkisian knows even though this Ohio State is different, the standard is still there.

"They're really good," Sarkisian said. "Ryan's done a great job recruiting, and they're very well coached. They're not a gimmick team at all. You know, I say that loosely. I don't mean to offend anybody. But the things that they do are sound, and so you have to beat them.

"And inevitably, when two really good teams meet each other, that's where you're trying to minimize those mistakes, because good teams capitalize on those mistakes. And so we've got to be very detail-oriented, minimize the self-inflicted wounds, which I think we hurt ourselves with last year," Sarkisian said. "Got to take care of the ball. You know I felt like the turnovers hurt us last year. And then to everyone's point, you got to score when you have opportunities to score against good teams."