Steve Sarkisian cites reaction to 2022 home loss to Alabama as turning point for Texas

When trying to determine when Texas was truly “back,” some college football fans — Greg McElroy included — might point to the epic expletive-laden rant by former defensive line coach Bo Davis after a particularly disappointing loss to Iowa State in 2021.

For fifth-year head coach Steve Sarkisian, the seminal moment he knew the Longhorns had what it took to return to national prominence came a year later immediately following a 20-19 home loss to then-No. 1 Alabama.

“I really think in Year 2 when we played Bama here (in Austin), and that was a really good Bama team that went on to play for a national championship,” Sarkisian told McElroy on last week’s episode of ESPN’s Always College Football with Greg McElroy podcast. “It was Bryce Young, Jahmyr Gibbs, those guys were a very good football team. We kick a field goal with about a minute and 30 (seconds) to go in the game, and Bryce leads them down, he has a big scramble, and they kick a field goal to beat us at home.

“And I think, maybe the previous year or so, people would’ve been content playing Alabama that close,” Sarkisian continued. “But when I got in the locker room, I got a sense and a feel from our players that that wasn’t good enough. If we want to go do what we’re saying we want to go do, we have to go win that game. And we didn’t win that game that year. … In Year 2, it was the mindset of the players that was encouraging that, ‘OK, they’re thinking differently now.’ We were thinking differently as a coaching staff in Year 1, they were thinking differently as players in Year 2.”

Texas would go onto finish 8-5 overall and 6-3 in its penultimate season apart of the Big 12. The next year, the Longhorns returned the favor and beat the Crimon Tide, 34-24, in Tuscaloosa en route to a 12-2 season in which Texas beat Oklahoma State to win the 2023 Big 12 Conference championship.

Sarkisian and the ‘Horns entered the SEC last year and immediately made their presence known, only losing to eventual SEC champion Georgia twice while going 7-1 in regular-season SEC play. That runner-up finish in the SEC title game helped Texas secure a second-straight College Football Playoff appearance before falling to eventual national champion Ohio State, 28-14, in the Cotton Bowl semifinal.

And with Arch Manning ready to take the helm as the Longhorns’ starting quarterback this upcoming season and a likely Top-5 preseason ranking ahead, it’s clear Sarkisian has transformed Texas into a perennial national title contender entering Year Five in Austin.