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What we want to hear from Steve Sarkisian ahead of the A&M matchup

by: Evan Vieth11/24/25

It’s officially rivalry week in Austin, and that only means one thing in the current era of college football.

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All eyes are on the Longhorns and Aggies.

While the setup may not be what many expected, a three-loss Longhorn team facing an undefeated Aggies squad in the top five, it clearly has the same stakes for these players and these teams. This rivalry ignited tempers last season, with players like Michael Taaffe and Colin Simmons knowing exactly what it means to have the right mentality to beat the Aggies.

Following a strong win against Arkansas, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will have a generally positive demeanor, but we know that this is the kind of game that needs a full buy in from his team. Will we get that?

We’ll find out more as Sarkisian and his players hit the stand at 11 A.M. today (30 minutes early) to address the A&M matchup.

The first question we have is what to make of some of these defensive personnel usages.

Last week, Kade Phillips started over Jaylon Guilbeau and played the third-most snaps on the team. He had been ramping up to play more throughout the year, but there was a clear change in hierarchy on Saturday.

He played well, but is that a permanent change? Especially given the strength of A&M’s receivers.

I feel strongly that they’ll deploy more of the Dollar package, meaning we’ll see more Jonah Williams as well.

Are we also going to see Trey Moore lead the team in snaps again, given questions around Anthony Hill’s health and Ty’Anthony Smith missing the first half due to suspension?

Sarkisian doesn’t just give away these ideas, but he will talk about players that impress him.

Secondly, what is the locker room attitude right now?

From what we know now about the lead-up to the Arkansas game, it seems as if the players needed a little bit of juice from outside sources and the coaching staff.

I’d be surprised if that was the case again.

But you want to hear it from the players, and maybe some self-acceptance from that about how tapped in they were following their third loss of the season. They shouldn’t struggle to get up for this game.

Lastly, as previously mentioned, will Anthony Hill be suited up on Friday?

Texas’ defense has struggled the last four weeks, and that has heavily coincided with injuries to star and veteran defensive players. We felt the loss of Taaffe earlier in the month, and you could see the miscommunication and tackling struggles without him on Saturday.

Brace on his hand or not, you’ve got to have a player like Hill out there. Your LB room is thin and has struggled in past weeks. This is the biggest game of the season, though it feels like we’ve said that four times already. He knows how to beat A&M, and more specifically, how to contain Marcel Reed.

Containing Reed and his speedy receivers is everything on Friday, and that starts with having your leader and star on the defense ready to go.

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