Steve Sarkisian, Texas not backing down from hate, environment entering Big 12 play

‘Embrace the hate’ was the motto that Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian chose for the team heading into the 2023 season, with the slogan even ending up on t-shirts in the university bookstore.

The Longhorns entered the season with high expectations and so far have lived up to them, which comes with haters being as big of a brand as they are. But the stakes rise this weekend as Texas opens up their conference schedule against in-state rival Baylor, and leading up to the game Sarkisian was asked if the hate needs to be embraced even more this Saturday.

“I think we just need to understand what we’re walking into, we’re gonna go into Baylor here Saturday night on the road,” Sarkisian said. “It’s been well documented as of right now the last time we’re gonna play Baylor, last time we’re gonna go there. So we understand the environment we’re walking into and we can’t be fearful of that. We have to embrace it, we gotta walk in there and be ourselves and play our brand of football, but understand what we’re going into.”

This will be Texas’ last season in the Big 12 Conference, moving with rival Oklahoma next season to the SEC. And Sarkisian believes that the Longhorns’ final season in the conference definitely comes with some added motivation from Big 12 opponents.

“I do think that’s part of it, I do think as a lot of these historical games are going to come to a close this season now more than ever are there horns down. Now more than ever are there who cares about Texas, let’s take one more shot at them on the way out. And so we can’t sit here and be a punching bag, we have to walk in there and we have to be in attack mode,” Sarkisian explained.

Texas has the hot hand right now, boasting a 4-1 record in their last five games compared to Baylor who has a 1-4 record in their last five, indulging a loss to Texas in their regular season finale in 2022. But regardless, the first conference game being on the road in a hostile environment with a big target on your back could present challenges to any team in the nation.

“And we have to make sure that we’re built for the environment, and I think we’ve proven that to ourselves now over the last couple of road games that we’ve had. No more than going to Alabama and emracing that environment, so we’re gonna have to do the same Saturday night,” Sarkisian concluded.

Texas and Baylor square off Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET in a game airing on ABC.