Latest / The Craig Way Show / Is the rivalry with Arkansas underrated? Hear Steve Sarkisian's thoughts on it...
Transcript
- 0:06Speaker 1: It's the Craig Way Show with a voice of the
- 0:09Speaker 1: Texas Longhorns and Hall of Fame broadcaster Craig Way.
- 0:21Speaker 2: Here in the Long Runs Monday. Glad to have you
- 0:22Speaker 2: with us here, Greg. Wait to the producer Cameron Parker.
- 0:27Speaker 3: We'll get to some other topics, some NFL topics and
- 0:30Speaker 3: things as the show moves forward. But this being a
- 0:33Speaker 3: Long Horns Monday, of course we bring in the comments
- 0:36Speaker 3: from the head coach of the Texas Longhorns. It was
- 0:38Speaker 3: heard earlier live here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred
- 0:42Speaker 3: The Zone. It came your way live this morning at
- 0:46Speaker 3: eleven thirty. You know. It was preceded also by a
- 0:49Speaker 3: press conference with Texas soccer coach Ange Kelly and congratulations
- 0:56Speaker 3: dangeld Ange will join us on the program tomorrow. Texas
- 1:01Speaker 3: winning that SEC Tournament final over South Carolina won to
- 1:05Speaker 3: nothing great header finish off a corner kick from Lexi
- 1:09Speaker 3: Missimo in headed in by Carl Montgomery and Texas won
- 1:14Speaker 3: the match one nil. They will claim the first ever
- 1:20Speaker 3: SEC championship in any sport for Texas, the first one
- 1:27Speaker 3: claimed by Texas Soccer. So coming up at three o'clock
- 1:31Speaker 3: this afternoon and when the announcement comes down, we'll let
- 1:33Speaker 3: you know the particulars. But the NCAA Tournament selection show
- 1:39Speaker 3: comes on at three o'clock this afternoon, and Texas is
- 1:43Speaker 3: expected to host first round game, so we'll see on
- 1:48Speaker 3: the first weekend of tournament place so we'll update you
- 1:51Speaker 3: on that. But Ange will join us on the program
- 1:54Speaker 3: tomorrow afternoon, so we'll look forward to visiting with her.
- 1:56Speaker 3: All right, now to the head coach who followed her
- 1:59Speaker 3: at the odium, a Logborns head coach, Teve Sarkisian, who
- 2:02Speaker 3: took time to congratulate Angie before sitting down, and then
- 2:07Speaker 3: he sat down and led off in his opening statement
- 2:09Speaker 3: talking about some Texas soccer.
- 2:11Speaker 2: Alrighty, First of all, I know you guys just got
- 2:13Speaker 2: done visit with their but congratulations to Angie. What an
- 2:17Speaker 2: awesome job you and your team sec champs first one
- 2:20Speaker 2: for the University of Texas. Where to go, Where to go?
- 2:22Speaker 2: Where to go? Super fired up for them. But that's
- 2:26Speaker 2: the thing here, University of Texas. It's kind of like
- 2:28Speaker 2: the standard is a standard, and I talked about this
- 2:31Speaker 2: early on. It really doesn't matter what conference we're in.
- 2:34Speaker 2: That's that's the expectations is that we're going to go
- 2:36Speaker 2: compete for conference championships and national championships and super pumped
- 2:41Speaker 2: for Ange and and her and her girls and the
- 2:43Speaker 2: job they did, and it obviously serves as motivation for us.
- 2:47Speaker 2: I think today being Veterans Day, an opportunity to salute
- 2:51Speaker 2: our service this past Saturday with that game, and honor
- 2:55Speaker 2: our nation service members, our veterans, their families for all
- 2:57Speaker 2: that they do for us. And then I want to
- 2:59Speaker 2: thank our fans for Saturday and no eleven am kick
- 3:02Speaker 2: was early for everybody, but we're gonna need you again
- 3:06Speaker 2: this Saturday and Fayetteville for eleven am kick against Arkansas.
- 3:10Speaker 2: So just to recap the game, I was really proud
- 3:14Speaker 2: of our players, you know, coming off the buy, with
- 3:17Speaker 2: their preparation, their intent, their sense of urgency. I thought
- 3:21Speaker 2: we played a fantastic first half of football. I thought offensively,
- 3:26Speaker 2: we moved the ball extremely well. You know, the first
- 3:28Speaker 2: drive we kind of stub our toe and missed the
- 3:30Speaker 2: field goal, but the ball was moving well. We ended
- 3:32Speaker 2: up taking the sack on third down. But I think
- 3:34Speaker 2: we had over one hundred and fifty yards and fourteen
- 3:36Speaker 2: points in the first quarter. In the second quarter, I
- 3:39Speaker 2: think we had, you know, well over two hundred yards
- 3:41Speaker 2: and twenty one points. But what I loved about it
- 3:43Speaker 2: was our ability to play complimentary football in all three phases.
- 3:47Speaker 2: And you know, I think ay a key point in
- 3:50Speaker 2: that game it was twenty one to nothing, which we
- 3:53Speaker 2: had talked about after the ball. Game is twenty one
- 3:54Speaker 2: and nothing and we get the stop on third down.
- 3:56Speaker 2: It makes it fourth and four, and we decided to
- 3:59Speaker 2: put back out a field goal range and we get
- 4:02Speaker 2: the sacked by Gilbo. We call the time out. We
- 4:06Speaker 2: hit a couple passes, we hit Golden for a big touchdown.
- 4:09Speaker 2: They come back, we get the tipped interception, Alfred Collins
- 4:12Speaker 2: tips it to Anthony Smith gets the interception with about
- 4:14Speaker 2: forty five seconds to go in the half. We turned
- 4:17Speaker 2: that into a too a touchdown by Jayden Blue to
- 4:20Speaker 2: make it thirty five to nothing. And then the beauty
- 4:22Speaker 2: of what I loved about it was coming right out
- 4:24Speaker 2: in the second half. Alfred tips another pass interception by
- 4:28Speaker 2: Andrew mccouba. The offense turns it into to another score
- 4:31Speaker 2: to make it forty two to nothing. So just love
- 4:33Speaker 2: the way that we played the complimentary football. I love,
- 4:37Speaker 2: you know, so much of what we talked about Saturday night,
- 4:39Speaker 2: the fact of, you know, that we kind of could
- 4:42Speaker 2: play really good football in all three phases. I think
- 4:44Speaker 2: we're the only team in the country right now that's
- 4:46Speaker 2: in the top ten in offense and defense, and which
- 4:51Speaker 2: is a pretty good tell. You know, we were not
- 4:54Speaker 2: number one in both, but the fact that we're really
- 4:56Speaker 2: good in both, I think just shows to the balance
- 4:58Speaker 2: that we have as a football team. Our defense continues
- 5:02Speaker 2: to force turnovers at a very high rate right now,
- 5:04Speaker 2: and it's been a really onslaught on the football for
- 5:07Speaker 2: the last month, and that's a great thing to have. Offensively,
- 5:10Speaker 2: we got to continue to try to hold onto It's
- 5:12Speaker 2: unfortunate we had the one turnover, but the fact that
- 5:15Speaker 2: we turned those three turnovers into twenty one points I
- 5:17Speaker 2: think is big if we can continue down that road.
- 5:21Speaker 2: And I touched on just a couple of highlight guys
- 5:23Speaker 2: from the game. I thought Trey Moore had his best
- 5:25Speaker 2: game for US Saturday. I thought Alfred Collins had a
- 5:28Speaker 2: great game Saturday. It was great to see Jared Gibson
- 5:31Speaker 2: get back into the fold of what he was doing,
- 5:33Speaker 2: and it was good to have Isaiah Bond and Andrew mccooba.
- 5:36Speaker 2: Both back out there. Obviously, both had impact plays for So,
- 5:40Speaker 2: you know, I think Quinn again was a really good performance.
- 5:44Speaker 2: He remains to play really consistent. I thought the last
- 5:47Speaker 2: two ball games he's played really well. Outside of those
- 5:50Speaker 2: tip balls against Vanderbilt, I thought he's played well. So
- 5:53Speaker 2: things are moving in the right direction. We've challenged the
- 5:55Speaker 2: guys on a few things because we know we've got
- 5:58Speaker 2: a heck of a challenge going to Arkansas year Saturday.
- 6:01Speaker 2: We all know about the rivalry and what it means
- 6:05Speaker 2: to the University of Texas, what it means to Arkansas.
- 6:09Speaker 2: You know, last time we went there, things didn't go
- 6:11Speaker 2: so well for so hopefully we can put a better
- 6:13Speaker 2: foot forward, better foot forward against them in this ball game.
- 6:17Speaker 2: They've got a good football team. They're big, they're physical,
- 6:20Speaker 2: they're built like most SEC teams. They've got a very
- 6:23Speaker 2: explosive offense with the run game and the pass game.
- 6:26Speaker 2: They've got a big, physical front. They got a defensive
- 6:29Speaker 2: end who's going to be a first round draft pick
- 6:31Speaker 2: in Jackson. So we've got a work cut out for us.
- 6:34Speaker 2: But I like the mentality the team already here Monday
- 6:37Speaker 2: morning with them understanding Yeah, that was a good game
- 6:40Speaker 2: for us Saturday, but there's more work to be done.
- 6:43Speaker 3: Yeah, that's the plan to can continue the work forward
- 6:46Speaker 3: on that. So then into the questions for Sark and
- 6:50Speaker 3: the first one asked about his experience of going into
- 6:55Speaker 3: Fayetteville three years ago. It was only a second game
- 6:57Speaker 3: as head coach of the Longhorns. Remember they start off
- 7:00Speaker 3: with the Winever the Louisiana then went into fav I lost
- 7:02Speaker 3: that game forty to twenty one, and he was asked
- 7:07Speaker 3: if what his memories were of that game. Did it,
- 7:12Speaker 3: you know, bring about an uptick in the urgency to
- 7:15Speaker 3: field an SEC ready team, those kinds of things that
- 7:19Speaker 3: he was asked about, you.
- 7:20Speaker 2: Know, and going back, I always try to revisit some
- 7:23Speaker 2: of those games, even from years past, just to get
- 7:25Speaker 2: a sense and a feel. The frustrating part of that game,
- 7:28Speaker 2: more than anything, is we didn't play great. But then
- 7:31Speaker 2: you look up and you watch the game. We forget
- 7:33Speaker 2: it's the middle of the third quarter a sixteen to seven,
- 7:35Speaker 2: you know, and we were playing hard. We just weren't
- 7:39Speaker 2: playing great, And so I think on twofold is yeah,
- 7:42Speaker 2: obviously we wanted to upgrade as best we could. The roster,
- 7:45Speaker 2: especially from a debt perspective, and then as the game
- 7:49Speaker 2: wore on, a couple explosive plays kind of kicked into
- 7:52Speaker 2: play and unfortunately we didn't make some of our own.
- 7:56Speaker 2: But the competitiveness of our team. I thought we fought
- 7:58Speaker 2: in the game, but naturally, Okay, what do we need
- 8:02Speaker 2: to do. And I think it was good not only
- 8:05Speaker 2: for myself, but for the staff and for our players
- 8:07Speaker 2: to say, like, okay, that's an SEC team. At the time,
- 8:10Speaker 2: they weren't at the top of the SEC. There were
- 8:12Speaker 2: some pretty good teams still there, so we had we had,
- 8:15Speaker 2: you know, a hill to climb to get to where
- 8:18Speaker 2: we wanted to get to. So it feels pretty good
- 8:20Speaker 2: knowing we're going in there this year with what we
- 8:22Speaker 2: think is a little better, better roster, a little better
- 8:26Speaker 2: you know, understanding from a coaching staff perspective of what's
- 8:28Speaker 2: going to be needed in that environment. It's a very
- 8:30Speaker 2: tough environment, but what's going to be needed kind of
- 8:34Speaker 2: from an emotional and mental standpoint, but also from a
- 8:36Speaker 2: physical standpoint.
- 8:38Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a big part of it as well. Now
- 8:41Speaker 3: with regard to getting ready to play Arkansas this year,
- 8:45Speaker 3: and this is I thought was a pretty interesting question
- 8:47Speaker 3: was asked about the rivalry. Now, it depends on which
- 8:52Speaker 3: long warn fans you ask if you're asked about it,
- 8:54Speaker 3: whether there's a rivalry with Arkansas. A lot of Texas
- 8:58Speaker 3: fans think there really isn't that much. It's the old
- 9:01Speaker 3: the old, And again you'll hear Sark kind of channeled
- 9:04Speaker 3: this this phrase. But it's been mentioned the whole thing
- 9:06Speaker 3: about well they hate themselves, they hate us more than
- 9:09Speaker 3: they like themselves, that sort of thing. But still, uh
- 9:12Speaker 3: that that means there's rivalry, But is it equally fell
- 9:16Speaker 3: on both sides?
- 9:17Speaker 2: And More's the point.
- 9:19Speaker 3: Sark was asked if he thought this rivalry with Arkansas
- 9:22Speaker 3: might be a little underrated because of the restoration of
- 9:25Speaker 3: the rivalry at Texas A and M and the Red
- 9:27Speaker 3: River rivalry with Oklahoma. So is this rivalry with Arkansas underrated?
- 9:33Speaker 2: I think it might be underrated nationally, you know, I
- 9:38Speaker 2: don't I don't know if it's gonna get the same
- 9:40Speaker 2: exposure that it would nationally, but I will tell you
- 9:43Speaker 2: internally it's getting it's getting the same the same amount
- 9:47Speaker 2: that's needed that it deserves. And uh, you know this,
- 9:50Speaker 2: this rivalry's been going on for a long, long time.
- 9:53Speaker 2: I was joking with the team this morning. I don't
- 9:55Speaker 2: know what what Daryl Royal did to Arkansas back in
- 9:58Speaker 2: the day, but they absolutely hate it our guts, and
- 10:00Speaker 2: I think we learned that the first time around when
- 10:03Speaker 2: we went there. You know, you know, you know, you
- 10:06Speaker 2: watch some of the clips at the end of that game,
- 10:07Speaker 2: and Joe Tessitaur is talking about that Arkansas, you know,
- 10:11Speaker 2: hates Texas more than they like themselves, and he might
- 10:15Speaker 2: be right. So I think from our perspective, you know, internally,
- 10:19Speaker 2: we understand and value this rivalry and it's great to
- 10:22Speaker 2: have back. It's great for the state of Texas. It's
- 10:24Speaker 2: great for the state of Arkansas. I wish nationally it
- 10:28Speaker 2: probably got the exposure that this thing deserves. There's been
- 10:30Speaker 2: some great games historically that these two teams have butted
- 10:34Speaker 2: heads on, and so obviously we're looking forward to the opportunity.
- 10:37Speaker 3: Okay, we're gonna hear more from sark about this matchup
- 10:39Speaker 3: with Arkansas and about his team coming up. And up next,
- 10:43Speaker 3: we bring in Conceivable for a Monday here on Sports
- 10:45Speaker 3: Radio AM thirteen under the zone of the iHeartRadio app