Steve Sarkisian discusses Texas players being on a 'revenge tour'

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian isn’t buying into the narrative that this season is a “revenge tour” for the Longhorns. Although Texas certainly lost to its fair share of teams last year, Sarkisian believes his team is more out to prove to itself rather than anybody else that it is capable of being a contender.

That includes Iowa State, which defeated Texas last year and is set to travel to Austin this weekend. As Sarkisian gets the Longhorns ready for that matchup, he hopes his team will keep that same mindset.

“I think like anything, for everybody involved, the outside world makes it sound like this was a hard year last year on them,” Sarkisian said. “It was a hard year on us. So I think a lot of our guys on our team, there’s a lot of bad taste in their mouth from the way some of those games went last year and the opportunities that ultimately fell on us that we let go of.

“I think our players are really buying into the idea of, ‘Let’s go play the way we’re capable of playing and let’s go finish the way we’re capable of finishing.’ So I don’t really think it’s about anybody else as it is more about us. We want to go out and show what we’re capable of doing.”

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

The Cyclones handed Texas an embarrassing 30-7 loss last season in Ames, leading to a passionate postgame rant from defensive line coach Bo Davis. It was one of seven losses and six blown leads for the Longhorns, as they missed a bowl game for the first time since 2016.

This year, however, Texas appears to be much-improved. The Longhorns have gotten off to a 4-2 start, and are just one win away from matching their total from 2021.

Quarterback Quinn Ewers returned from injury last week in the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma, throwing for 289 yards and four touchdowns. He showed just how dominant the Texas offense, which also features running back Bijan Robinson, can be in a 49-0 blowout that sent a statement.

But as Steve Sarkisian pointed out, that statement had nothing to do with a “revenge tour.” The Longhorns and Cyclones are set to kick off at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday in Austin.