Steve Sarkisian, Texas' focus on Big 12 title game amid Florida State, College Football Playoff drama

Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns have their focus on the Big 12 title game, despite the drama surrounding their team.

The Longhorns aren’t exactly in control of their own destiny. There’s a myriad of factors at play, even if Texas defeats the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday.

With the result of the ACC Championship Game involving the Florida State Seminoles looming large, as well as the SEC title game between Alabama and Georgia, Sarkisian explained to the ESPN College GameDay crew that the Longhorns’ focus is only on the Cowboys.

“I knew you were going to do this Rece,” Sarkisian responded, following Rece Davis asking if Texas deserves to be in the College Football Playoff, regardless of Florida State’s result. “I’m going to say this. First of all, this has been our goal all year, to be Big 12 champions. It’s been a long time coming here at the University of Texas. This being our final year in the Big 12, this has been our focus.

“When the games done, we’ll shift our focus to that. But I really believe in our resume. I believe in our team. I think — the versatility of our team, we can matchup with anybody in the country at the line of scrimmage, or at the skill positions. I value the win at Alabama. I know that meant a lot to our team and gave us a lot of confidence. But I think we’re also finding out the quality of team that Alabama is. Going on the road helped us, getting that win. We’ve been kind of able to kind of run the table here in the Big 12. A challenging task, when you’re getting everybody’s best shot. Now we’ve got to try to finish the deal here today against Oklahoma State.”

Alas, Texas can’t take Oklahoma State lightly. The Cowboys got the better of the Longhorns last season when these two teams faced off. That’s fresh on the mind of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers entering the clash.

“It was definitely a tough one,” Ewers said, regarding last season’s showdown. “Came out pretty hot, 31-17 at half. And then weren’t able to finish. I think they did a really good job at adjusting to certain things and just playing to their strengths.

“We learned that we’ve got to be able to finish because they’re a good, solid team and they never give up.”

Alas, Texas has a shot at glory on Saturday in the Big 12 title game, but there could be much more success in their future if things break their way later on.