Steve Sarkisian using Notre Dame upset loss as warning for Texas team
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Steve Sarkisian’s Texas team is coming off an impressive road win over defending national champion Michigan. UTSA is up next for the Longhorns. On Monday morning, Sarkisian wanted to talk to his team about Notre Dame.
Sarkisian reminded his squad that the Irish were flying high after picking up a Week 1 win on the road at College Station. There was even talk that Marcus Freeman’s team had locked up a spot in the College Football Playoff. A week later, Notre Dame’s outlook has radically changed after a home loss to Northern Illinois.
“Human nature is human nature,” Sarkisian said Monday, per ESPN. “So what did I do this morning? I walked them through the Notre Dame scenario of [the Irish] going into College Station a week ago and winning that game and being anointed a top-5 team and in the College Football Playoff, then a week later losing to Northern Illinois.”
Texas entered the 2024 season as a top-5 team in the AP Top 25. With the win over Michigan, the Longhorns moved up from No.3 to No. 2.
“I showed them that clip of [the game-winning] field goal and I showed the clip of Northern Illinois storming the field this morning as a good reminder that we’re entitled to nothing,” Sarkisian continued. “We’re capable of anything. We’ve got a really good team. But we’re entitled to nothing. We’re going to earn everything. And we’ve going to have to earn the victory here Saturday night.”
UTSA heads to Austin 1-1 after a 49-10 loss to Texas State in Week 2. The Roadrunners are in Year 5 under Jeff Traylor, who has a 40-15 record. Traylor was a special teams and tight ends coach at Texas in the 2015 and ’16 seasons.
Saturday’s game is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Longhorns are favored by 34.5 points at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
