Texas Longhorns' Steve Sarkisian Using Season Opener as Motivation

It's extremely rare for a college football team to have a chance to avenge a season-ending loss immediately, but the Texas Longhorns have exactly that opportunity this season.

Back in January, the Longhorns' season came to a disappointing end in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Cotton Bowl against the Ohio State Buckeyes, who would later go on to win the national championship. Next month, they'll get their shot at revenge against the Buckeyes in Columbus, which is easily the biggest game in all of Week 1.

Not only is this a Week 1 showdown between two teams that will certainly be ranked in the top five, but for the Longhorns, it's a harsh reminder of where they want to be.

Steve Sarkisian Using Ohio State Game As Motivation

During an interview with ESPN's Greg McElroy on the "Always College Football" podcast, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian shared how he's using the opener against the Buckeyes as motivation throughout the offseason.

“I can always feel that little jab of what Ohio State is doing,” Sarkisian said. “They’re in training camp too. They’re in team run and they’re sore and tired too. I’m surefeels the same way about us. That’s the beauty of playing these games. This is three straight years for us. We played Alabama in Week 2 here and went to Alabama in Week 2, two years ago. We went to Michigan last year and this year we’re going to Ohio State. So this is three straight years that it’s not gonna be new for our veteran players, having played at Alabama, at Michigan and now at Ohio State.”

The Longhorns have handled their past two road out-of-conference matchups perfectly. They defeated Alabama 34-24 in 2023, then walloped Michigan, the defending national champions, 31-12 in 2024.

However, this game against Ohio State will be Texas's greatest early-season test yet. The Buckeyes are arguably the most consistent team in college football, having just one season with fewer than 10 wins in the past 20 years (excluding the 2020 COVID season when they went 7-1 and made it to the national championship game). Again, this game is basically a measuring stick for Sarkisian and co.

The Longhorns have made it to the CFP semifinals in each of the past two seasons, so they're definitely back to prominence. To truly get back to their old ways, though, they'll have to go through teams like the Buckeyes consistently.