July 15, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian waits off stage as he is introduced during SEC Media Days at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Steve Sarkisian Has Viral Description for Texas Longhorns Practice Efforts

Originally posted on Texas Longhorns on SI
By Jon Alfano | Last updated Aug 13, 2025 10:01 AM ET

With just over two weeks to go until their highly anticipated season opener, the Texas Longhorns have officially put the pedal to the metal.

They better have, because the 2025 season is pretty much a make-or-break year for them. They've made it to the College Football Playoff semifinals in each of the past two years, and with their most talented roster yet, anything short of a championship would be a disappointment.

Luckily, Steve Sarkisian and co. know this and know it well. To open his post-practice presser on Monday, Sarkisian said everything one needs to know about his team's effort leading up to the season itself.

"Our guys just practiced their asses off, it was awesome," Sarkisian told reporters. "So that was that, questions?

Steve Sarkisian Expects Strong Effort From Texas Longhorns Despite No. 1 Ranking

Sarkisian's press conference occurred just after the Longhorns claimed the No. 1 spot in the preseason AP Poll for the first time ever, another testament to the sky-high expectations they're facing this year. Despite that, Sarkisian knows that ranking will be for naught if the Longhorns don't put the work in.

"It really doesn't matter," Sarkisian said. "That's how I drown it out, I tell the guys exactly that. Like, it doesn't matter. It's irrelevant to the way the season's going to go, it's irrelevant to the way we're going to play, it's irrelevant how our opponents are going to play. Maybe it puts a little bigger bullseye on us for our opponents, but the reality is we have to go do it.

"We have to perform and we have to perform at a high level over time and time and time again. And that shouldn't change if we were one, eight, 12, 30, it shouldn't matter, right? We're going to have to prepare really well and then we're going to have to perform, we're going to have to perform in critical moments, we're going to have to perform at home, we're going to have to perform on the road."

There's no better test to start the season than a trip to face No. 3 Ohio State in Columbus, a rematch of last year's semifinal game that the Buckeyes won en route to a national championship. A game like that requires no shortage of preparation, and Sarkisian has been hard at work making sure his guys are ready for the big game on Aug. 30.

This article first appeared on Texas Longhorns on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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