‘Longhorn Nation, thank you’: Steve Sarkisian, Longhorns loved DKR atmosphere in College Football Playoffs

Having these College Football Playoff games back on campus brought a whole new energy level. It was palpable everywhere.

It was obvious at Notre Dame and Penn State during the first two games. And it was clear there was a different energy inside a sold-out Royal-Memorial Stadium in Austin.

The announced crowd of 101,150 was cheering full throttle from start to finish of the Longhorns’ 38-24 win over the Clemson Tigers.

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“It was awesome,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I got to tell you, from the moment we got off the busses to the Bevo walk, I’ve never seen it that good. You know, that energy.

“I go to do my walk, the student section is already almost halfway to three-quarters full. And you could feel everybody in their seats. We came out of that tunnel to take the field, everybody was in their seats. I don't think anybody was sitting down. It was an awesome environment.

“So, Longhorn Nation, thank you. Hopefully we made you all proud and played a style and and a brand of football that everybody’s proud of. But great environment and proud of our players to feed off that energy and then give some energy back to the fans. I think that’s important.”

For most Texas seniors, their final regular-season home game against Kentucky was the “last” home game. The Horns didn’t know whether they would earn a first-round bye to the Peach Bowl or play at home or one the road.

To get one more chance to play at DKR was amazing for seniors Gunnar Helm and Andrew Mukuba.

“I took some time after the Kentucky game. You know, I just kind of went out there by myself, sat down, kind of looked around for a few minutes, and just kind of took it all in,” Helm said. “When I saw that we were playing another game here, thank God for the opportunity.”

Helm said he took some extra time Saturday “to thank the mother of all stadiums for allowing me to play here.”

“I'm at a loss for words,” Helm said. “I can't stress how thankful I am to be a Longhorn to play on that field.”

Mukuba, an Austin native, felt the same way. “I thought Kentucky was the last one, but no, this one really being the last one kind of hit a little different, knowing that it's actually the last one,” he said.

“I don't know if I'm gonna go back out on the field,” Mukuba added, “but I'm gonna just take some time and kind of soak everything in.”