Longhorns will approach hostile environment in Houston as business as usual
There will likely be a lot of pent-up anger and desperation waiting for No. 8 Texas when it travels to Houston for a dustup with the Cougars, their former Southwest Conference rival, on Saturday in a key league matchup for both teams.
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It’s not like the Longhorns (5-1 , 2-1 Big 12) aren’t used to getting the “special treatment” on the road from fans who take great joy in the thought of beating Texas. But this trip will be a little different, as the Longhorns haven’t played Houston since 2002 and haven’t squared off against the Cougars (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) in the Bayou City since 2001.
“The reality of it is everywhere we go this year – really is not so different than any other year because we are the University of Texas, right? – we’re gonna get everybody’s best shot,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday. “Everybody’s gonna sell out their game, everybody’s gonna want to do a blackout, everybody’s gonna do something for that ballgame, whatever that is.”
On Monday, Houston coach Dana Holgorsen told the media that his donors and boosters have all but demanded that the Cougars beat Texas, adding that some have even said it would be okey to go 1-11 as long as that one victory was against the Longhorns.
Earlier this year Baylor coach Dave Aranda said basically the same thing – everyone wants to beat Texas on the Longhorns way out of the Big 12 and to the Southeastern Conference.
Texas is a veteran team and its upperclassmen have been in plenty of hostile environments, playing the likes of Fayetteville, Ark.; Stillwater, Okla.; Fort Worth; Manhattan, Kan.; and – most recently, Tuscaloosa, Ala. where the Longhorns beat Alabama in week 2 of this season.
Sarkisian said Thursday that it’s important to have senior leadership that’s been in those kinds of wars and have, mostly, prospered.
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“The veteran leadership is helpful because they’ve been through some of the fires and they can calm some of the younger players around and tell them ‘let’s stay focused on the task at hand,’” Sarkisian said. “It is good to know what you’re walking into.
“I’m a big Sun Tzu Art of War (disciple) and you need to know what you’re walking into. You need to understand that the battle is won before it’s fought. So our preparation is really critical when we go into that environment if we stay level-headed and we stay connected.”
Texas has shown that it can get the job done on the road, so the challenge presented by the capacity crowd of more than 40,000 expected at TDECU Stadium on Saturday will be business as usual.
“We’re going to face some adversity Saturday,” Sarkisian said. “But the next play is the most important play and making sure that we’ve got the right mental intensity and the right focus to execute that next call.”
