Steve Sarkisian Claims Texas Is 'Massive Underdog' vs. Ohio State
01/03/2025 03:34 PM
The College Football Playoff semifinals are finally set after this week's quarterfinal matchups, and we know the teams that are in college football's Final Four.
Notre Dame will face Penn State in the Orange Bowl, and Texas will take on Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. The Longhorns earned the right to compete for a berth in the national title game with an overtime victory over Big 12 champions Arizona State, while Ohio State took down top-seeded Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
Despite Texas only having to make a three hour trip from Austin for the game, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian believes his team is the underdog against the Buckeyes next week.
"I need Longhorn Nation to show out in Arlington," Sarkisian said. "We're going to need everything we've got to try to win this game. Clearly, we're massive underdogs. Nobody's going to give us a shot. So we're going to need all that we can to try to win this game."
"It's a heck of an opponent in Ohio State," he said, giving credit to Ryan Day's team after wins over Tennessee and Oregon.
"The job that Coach Day has done with that team, their staff, they're playing really good football right now. We know it's going to be a heck of a challenge, but looking forward to the opportunity."
Sarkisian noted that he thinks his team will be fully healthy for the game, a good sign after key players missed time over their first two games in the College Football Playoff.
He also noted that he doesn't want to fully abandon the run game after struggling to run the football against Arizona State and Clemson, which likely means the Longhorns will have a balanced attack against Ohio State.
"We're at our best when we can run it, and that gives us balance. And so I'm hard-pressed not to just kind of walk away from it and abandon it," the head coach said.
Texas will look to make their first appearance in the national championship game since the 2009 season, when they lost to Nick Saban's Alabama team in the Rose Bowl.
Ohio State is looking for its first appearance in the title game since 2020, when they too lost to Nick Saban's Alabama team - the last national championship Saban would win as a head coach.
We'll see if Sarkisian and his Texas team can do enough to overcome an Ohio State team that's favored in their upcoming matchup.
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