Steve Sarkisian praises Texas fans for creating home-field advantage

Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium was alive last night. With 101,777 fans in attendance, Texas comfortably handed Wyoming a 31-10 loss. After the game, UT head coach Steve Sarkisian thanked the Longhorns faithful.

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch on our fans and the stadium tonight,” Sarkisian said. “It was electric. Over 101,000 in the stadium for a non-conference game — just tremendous. The atmosphere, give credit to [Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte], the administration, for the environment that they’ve created here.”

In two home games, Texas boasts a +48-point margin. While the Longhorns ultimately took advantage of their rowdy home crowd, they struggled early against Wyoming. In fact, the game was tied 10-10 heading into the fourth quarter.

Then, something flipped. Texas rattled off 21 points in the fourth quarter to put the Cowboys in the rearview mirror. Nonetheless, the team’s sluggish start still garners concern. Texas QB Quinn Ewers finished the game with a mere 131 passing yards while completing just 11 of his 21 pass attempts.

Sarkisian believes the stadium’s energy pushed his team to the finish line in the not-always-pretty victory.

“It’s a definite home-field advantage. We feel it,” Sarkisian said. “We feed off the energy of our fans. I can’t thank them enough for what they brought tonight and I know they’ll continue to bring it throughout the season.”

Texas faces a common pattern

Texas must continue to grow this season, as well. The team’s slow start was eerily similar to its Week 2 triumph over Alabama. In the win, Texas entered the final frame down 16-13. Fifteen minutes later, the Longhorns galloped away with a 34-24 win.

Sarkisian believes the program-defining victory could have contributed to a lack of focus early against Wyoming.

“It’s not about physical ability or what we’re capable of,” Sarkisian said. “We had a snap in there where we had 12 guys on the field on defense. How do you go to Alabama and not ever have one snap with 12 on the field, but then you come home and you have 12 on the field? I think it was a good lesson learned for us.

“I think in the end, our guys did a nice job of maintaining their cool and staying composed. We talked a lot about our composure, our poise. I thought that shined through tonight. In the end, we adapted schematically to some things they were doing. We found a way to dominate the second half of the football game, then ultimately the fourth quarter.”