Steve Sarkisian on GameDay: "We're the villain in this movie this week."

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian had his turn on the microphone at College GameDay in College Station, and fielded questions about the rivalry returning, keys to the game, the Kyle Field environment, Aggie quarterback Marcel Reed, and special teams.

Sark glad the rivalry is back

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“I think it’s great that it’s back in play,” Sarkisian said. “In this era of college football of realignment, NIL, and expanding College Football Playoffs, and people talking about rivalries not happening anymore and conferences aren’t the same as they used to be, for us, this has been tremendous. We gained two rivalries back. We got to play in Arkansas a couple of weeks ago, which is a historic rivalry at the University of Texas. Then obviously, getting the A&M rivalry back. Our two rivalries that are near and dear to a lot of hearts here in the state of Texas. This one, more importantly than any, divides the state. Houses are divided. All eyes are on the state of Texas today, that’s for sure.”

Sark’s keys to the game

Nick Saban joked with Sarkisian that the Aggies piped in crowd noise in 2019 when the Crimson Tide topped A&M 47-28 in College Station as part of a larger question about handling the Kyle Field environment.

“I think, naturally, they definitely rely on the crowd,” Sarkisian said. “What we’ve got to do is focus on what we need to do. I think our poise and composure is imperative. I think physicality is important tonight. Then, execution. That to me is how you win football games. We’ve definitely got to have great poise and composure in the arena. We’ve got to play a physical brand of football, and we’ve got to execute in all three phases.”

‘They have no idea’

When Sarkisian was asked another question regarding if he told his team the type of environment they’re walking into, a member of the crowd sent the GameDay crew into fits of laughter when he yelled ‘they have no idea.’ Sarkisian provided a key answer reminiscent of last year’s mentality when talking about what he told his team.

“You need to embrace the hate,” Sarkisian said. “It needs to fuel you, and it’s okay to be the villain. We’re the villain in this movie this week.”

Defending Marcel Reed

“Sometimes you can get lost in just ‘mobile quarterback,'” Sarkisian said. “Texas A&M is a very physical running team, and they run it downhill. They’ve got a really physical runner. They’ve got big wide receivers that they look for one-on-one matchups with with a great scheme. They’ve got the designed quarterback runs. They’ve got the zone read quarterback runs, then they’ve got the off schedule quarterback runs with Marcel Reed. You have to defend them in different layers and style of play. I think we’ve done a really good job this season of utilizing the personnel that we have with guys that can get mobile quarterbacks on the ground. You think about an Anthony Hill Jr., Colin Simmons, those types of guys that can get them on the ground. But our pass rush lanes are critical. Our discipline in the run game, our run fits are critical. At the end of the day, we’ve got to play a physical brand of football on defense.”

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Importance of special teams

“We take a great deal of pride on special teams,” Sarkisian said. “It’s something we’ve committed to since day one when we got here. I think we execute a really high level, we’re an aggressive special teams unit. I would love to get an opportunity to change the momentum of the game, but I think vertical field position in this game is going to be critical. We’ve got to punt the ball well. We’ve got to cover kicks well. We’ve got to try to get a first down or two in the return game because the defenses are very good. Vertical field position, I think, it’s going to play a factor in the ball game tonight.”

Texas and Texas A&M kick off at 6:30 p.m. on ABC.