LIVE UPDATES: Steve Sarkisian, Ryan Day speak with the media one final time before the Cotton Bowl

Steve Sarkisian starts his opening statement on behalf of OSU and UT, offers his condolences for those in New Orleans affected by the tragedy and those affected by the wildfires in Los Angeles.

Steve Sarkisian: “I think its a credit to our players and to our staff, the work that they’ve put in. Two years in a row now, we’ve been in this place.”

Ryan Day: “This new format has allowed teams to grow throughout the season, and I think Coach Sark has done a great job, and his staff and his team, of growing throughout the season. You can see every week, every month as the season has gone on, they’ve grown and they’ve changed and they’ve adapted.”

Ryan Day’s Buckeyes have the fewest offensive snaps of any semifinalists.

Steve Sarkisian: “The reason they have the least amount of snaps is because they’re scoring so fast. There’s so many big plays that are happening. Some jokes in that, but some reality. They’ve been extremely explosive offensively.”

Ryan Day: “Every single week, the slate is wiped clean and you have to start from scratch again. That starts with your meetings, your walkthrough, and your preparation. The bottom line is this game is going to be played and the team that plays the best and executes the best is going to win the game.”

Steve Sarkisian on Jay Hartzell leaving UT: “I have so much respect for President Hartzell. He was interim president at UT and he was interim in the midst of a pretty tumultuous time with COVID, social injustice, and he had to make a hire for a football coach at the University of Texas, which is not always the easiest thing to do.”

“His leadership was something that I definitely envied and I tried to model a lot of things behind. He’ll be sorely missed. I’m sure that the powers that be, Chairman Eltife, will find another great president, but he did another tremendous job in the four years that I was here. That’s for sure.”

Steve Sarkisian on calling plays: “For me, I always felt like when I got hired to do this job, I was offensive coordinator at Alabama and we were a pretty good offensive team.”

Mentions Flood and Banks and Milwee came with him to Austin: “The rhythm of which we operated, we continued. We kept that continuity.”

“The line of communication on gameday for us, we’ve been doing it for so many years now. We’re six years in of doing it together. Coach Flood and I were together with the Calcons. Our line of communication is really pretty healthy.”

Will Steve Sarkisian ever give up playcalling? “I don’t know if that day will come. I do know we keep getting more and more stuff put on our plate as head coaches that we have to deal with at the end of the day. You know, there’s something about that aspect of the game that I love. As long as I’m decent at it, I’ll probably continue to do it again.”

Steve Sarkisian: “I know for us, this was our first year in the SEC and we wanted as much or more than anything to try to capture that championship.”
 
“Then we regrouped and we got ready for this playoff. I don’t know if that’ll ever be diminished. That’s always one of the goals, especially when you’re in the SEC or the Big 10.”

“But I also know there’s this other carrot that schools like us strive for as well.”

Steve Sarkisian on kicker: “I think that’s always the challenge of a coach. You think about some of those positions. Football is an ultimate team sport, but there are specific positions that are individualized.”

“We’ll monitor that thing through pregame and make a decision and go.”

Steve Sarkisian: “We don’t talk that way. It’s a clean slate. The reality of it is, you don’t get any points if you’re an underdog. You don’t get to say hey, we lost by five. You win. It doesn’t work like that in our world. You have to win, either you win or lose the game.”

Steve Sarkisian: “I’m very proud of Quinn. His journey has been unique to him. It’s almost like he’s the new era of college football. Here’s a guy that goes to one school, transfers to another, and ends up playing that school in the semifinal.”