Steve Sarkisian admits he's kind of glad Texas' loss to Kansas in 2021 happened

Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns have come a long way from their 57-56 loss to Kansas in 2021.

Many wrote Sarkisian off after losing to the Jayhawks, but it turned out Kansas was a sleeping contender waiting to wake up. Ahead of another rematch with the Jayhawks, Sarkisian admitted he’s kind of glad the loss happened, as it set the Longhorns on their current path.

“I’d probably say that we’re a resilient group,” Sarkisian said, asked what Texas learned from their loss to Kansas. “I think externally, it felt worse to some degree. It hurts to lose anything. As a competitor, it’s never fun to lose. I don’t care if it’s ping pong, whatever it is. If you’re going to compete at something, you’re trying to win. Naturally, in that game, we didn’t play as good as we would’ve liked. They made some plays at critical moments. The game didn’t go our way. But in a weird way, I’m kind of glad it happened.

“It exposed some warts in our program that needed to get removed. If we hadn’t removed those warts, we might not be where we are today, in our program. So sometimes, you know, not all storms come to cause issues in your life. Some storms come to clear the path. I felt like that storm cleared a path for us, on what we needed to do to in our program to move forward.”

Who knows where Texas would be without the loss to Kansas that proved as the kick in the butt the Longhorns needed. Sarkisian doesn’t want to think about that.

He has Texas primed to make a run at the Big 12 title, and the College Football Playoff. As he prepares the Longhorns for another showdown with Kansas, that’s a far cry from where they were in 2021.

Steve Sarkisian doesn’t view Kansas as a trap game with Oklahoma looming

Moreover, Steve Sarkisian isn’t looked beyond the Kansas Jayhawks, as the Texas Longhorns recognizes the Oklahoma Sooners loom large in the following week.

Before all the hoopla of the Red River Showdown, a matchup between two Top 25, undefeated Big 12 squads will take place between the Jayhawks and the Longhorns. On Monday, Sarkisian explained how he’s keeping Kansas the main thing on Texas’ mind at the moment.

“I think this is a Top 25 matchup, of two undefeated teams. Both very good. In our mind, like we posted today, we’re playing for first place,” explained Sarkisian. “Our goal is to get to Arlington in December. To compete for the Big 12 Championship Game. This game is going to matter a lot, in whether we have that opportunity or not. So this game has got our undivided attention. Again, we talked about it at length with out team this morning, that our focus is on the next mission. Kansas is the next mission. They need all of our attention. They’re a very good football team. So I don’t feel that at all. 

“I haven’t heard on word about next week. That’s a good thing. It’s not like I had to stop anybody anywhere and say, ‘Hey, no, no no,’ our guys are focused. They know what it’s going to take. All we have to do is turn the tape on of Kansas. They’re 4-0 for a reason. It’s not by fluke. These guys are playing very good football right now.”

One way to let the air out of the balloon of Texas and Oklahoma would be if the Longhorns lost to Kansas on Saturday. It’s certainly plausible, as the Jayhawks have proven 2022 was no fluke thus far into the 2023 season.