Sark says Kentucky is the Biggest Game of the Season for Texas

Ahead of the season, Kentucky’s trip to Austin, Texas was one of the most anticipated matchups of the year for BBN. Much of the air has been let out of the balloon during a 4-6 campaign, but Steve Sarkisian doesn’t see it that way.

Ahead of Saturday’s 3:30 pm EST matchup at DKR Texas Memorial Stadium, the Longhorns head coach is not considering the Cats a push-over.

“I think this is the biggest game of the season coming up,” Sarkisian said Monday during his weekly press conference. “Kentucky’s a really good football team. They have played their best football against the best teams they’ve competed against. Whether it’s been Ole Miss, Georgia, Tennessee, they’ve played really well.”

Sark didn’t just make the remark off-hand. He repeated that message three times to the media, making it abundantly clear that is exactly what he’s saying to his players ahead of the game against Kentucky.

“To me, this is the biggest game of the football season,” Sarkisian said. “This is the most important game of the year, last home game of the year. I envision us putting our best foot forward, I really do. I think our guys are going to come ready to play.

“Our conference is extremely challenging and it’s going to come down to the last weekend, and that’s the way it’s got to go. That’s why I say this weekend for us is the biggest game of the year, to try to put ourselves in position for the last weekend.”

Texas Tries to Avoid the Trap Game

You might be wondering why the head coach of the third-ranked team in college football is beating this drum so hard ahead of a game against a team with only one SEC win. This is all about who’s next on the Longhorns’ schedule.

Texas and Texas A&M will end the regular season by renewing a rivalry game that has not been played since 2011. If each team wins this Saturday, the winner of that rivalry game will play in the SEC Championship Game.

Both Texas teams are well aware of the stakes in that season-ending rivalry. That is why Mike Elko shared a similar message in his weekly press conference. It just didn’t come out as cleanly for the first-year head coach.

Mike Elko was asked about the difficulty of keeping his team focused on Auburn with the November 30th rivalry game vs Texas just around the corner:

“Our focus is single-handedly on Texas…I mean Auburn…” 🫣

🎥 Texas A&M Athletics pic.twitter.com/SOZkS9etal

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) November 19, 2024

Kentucky has an opportunity to catch Texas in a trap game. It’s one thing to have a chance to take a big swing. Capitalizing on that opportunity is easier said than done.

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