Sarkisian shares when he found out about Arkansas' hatred for Texas

With Texas now in the SEC, it gave them an opportunity to rekindle their Thanksgiving series with the Aggies while keeping things alive in the Red River Shootout against Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl.

"From a fanbase standpoint, really the traditionalist they love the rivalry with Arkansas," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Tuesday at SEC Media Days. "Naturally, I knew about the rivalry with Oklahoma, knew about the rivalry against Texas A&M, it made sense."

Sarkisian was also introduced to just how rowdy things can get when Arkansas goes head-to-head with Texas. He had no idea how rowdy Razorback Stadium would get that night.

There is generational hatred built up from Arkansas' side due to a history of close losses such as 1965, 1969 and so many of many other misfortunes from the Southwest Conference days.

Arkansas had just started the process of digging itself out of the failed Chad Morris experiment, when they unscrewed the lid of pint up energy which led to orange blood poured across Frank Broyles Field.

"I found out about the rivalry against Arkansas when they whipped my [expletive] the second game of my career when I got to Texas," Sarkisian said. "That rivalry got really good, really fast for us. We respect it, we honor it. It's a heck of rivalry and fun game to be a part of."

That triumphant night nearly four years ago appeared to have ushered in a new era of Arkansas football while exposing just how far Sarkisian's program was from truly competing in the SEC.

Instead, coach Sam Pittman is still trying to kick the door down for a breakthrough going into 2025 with a 30-31 record.

On the other hand, Sarkisian's goal is to lead his program to a third straight playoff appearance and contend for a national championship.

Not only did that fateful September night force Texas field a team with elite talent and football IQ, they have also put in work to improve in the classroom. Sarkisian believes his players dedication to academics is a direct correlation to on-field success.

"We had a 2.32 team GPA in 2021, I couldn't believe it," Sarkisian said. "What was
the byproduct of that team GPA? We went 5-7. We had
zero players drafted in the NFL draft."

Fast forward to this spring, Sarkisian glows about his team's dedication to being student-athletes first while maintaining their status as fixtures at the national level.

At the end of last year, we have a 3.27 team GPA and go
13-3, we go to the SEC Championship game, we have 12
guys drafted, three go in the first round," Sarkisian said. "At the end of this
past spring, we have a 3.31 team GPA."

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