Steve Sarkisian is already preparing the Texas Longhorns for its biggest challenge Saturday at Florida

No. 9 Texas (3-1) travels to Florida (1-3, 0-1) Saturday for a 2:30pm CT SEC opener. The Longhorns and Gators are both coming off a bye week and are set for a fun one in the Swamp.

On Monday, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian spoke with the media about his team's mindset heading into the weekend. He also acknowledged one of the, if not the biggest, challenges facing his team when it goes up against Billy Napier's Florida Gators.

“Obviously a very difficult place to play,” said Sarkisian. “A place that has been known around the country as one of the more difficult places to play. They’ve been playing great defensive football all year, and they’ve got explosive playmakers on the offensive side of the ball. They’ve just been off the mark a little bit offensively, but it’s not for lack of players and it’s not for lack of scheme.”

And right behind the rowdy environment is Florida's secret weapon.

Sarkisian knows what kind of player DJ Lagway is. He knows his ability. He recruited him out of Willis (Tex.) and he has seen him do big-time things in his young career. Monday he addressed him and what he expects to see Saturday.

“What I do know is the competitor and the talent is still in there,” Sarkisian said. “We had better be mindful and be ready to get the best version of DJ Lagway. I know the competitor that he is. I know the coach that Billy is. They’ve been scheming people up, they just maybe haven’t been hitting them here in the first few games.”

It's cliché but it's true. The game of football is most likely, every single time, dictated in the trenches. You have to win up front on both lines of scrimmage to give yourself a real chance. Defensively, Texas has held up its end of the bargain. Offensively though, the o-line has struggled at times. On Saturday, Sarkisian realizes what is at stake and what needs to be done.

“The key to the drill is we’ve got to maintain the line of scrimmage,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve got to run the ball well.”