In each of the last two seasons, the Ohio State Buckeyes have taken Texas behind the woodshed. First, it was in the Cotton Bowl in 2024 to make the national championship. Last season, they opened up the season with a victory over the Longhorns in the Shoe to start off a 12-0 campaign.
Texas failed to make the College Football Playoff last year after falling to the Buckeyes. Despite the fact that they lost two other games, Steve Sarkisian seems to be blaming the reason they missed the CFP on the fact that they even had to play Ohio State in the first place.
Steve Sarkisian is getting an excuse ready for another Ohio State loss
While speaking at Media Day, Sark claims that the reason they missed the CFP is because of that Week 1 loss to Ohio State.
"If we beat Ohio State (last year), we're surely in a much better place for the playoffs. If I don't play Ohio State and play Jones Jr. High, we're 10-2 & our losses are to Georgia and Florida, and we're a playoff team."
Ignore the fact that the Longhorns lost to 4-8 Florida. Go ahead and blame the fact that you couldn't beat one of the worst teams in the SEC instead of one of the best teams in the country. Sark is whining that he can't play a poor schedule like the rest of the SEC does.
It sounds like Sark is getting ready to say this exact same thing nine months from now after Ohio State beats the Longhorns in Austin in Week 2. It really seems like he's already thinking about excuses for losing that game instead of trying to actually coach his team well enough to win.
Of course, it has to be the schedule's fault. It can't possibly be that Sark can't actually win big games. It certainly can't be his fault. If Ryan Day pulverizes him again at the beginning of August, it won't be Sark's fault! It's the athletic directors who scheduled this game in the first place.
Ohio State has a chance to put Steve Sarkisian on the hot seat
The Buckeyes can end the Arch Manning hype and put Sarkisian on the hot seat in one fell swoop. A loss to Ohio State would put a lot of pressure on Sark to win the rest of their games. At the very worst, they can only lose one more game to still make the College Football Playoff.
It would be a great start to the season if Ohio State can win in a hostile environment. That win would give Ohio State a buffer to lose some other games in the regular season in what is a very tough schedule. It would also assert their dominance over Texas and the SEC.
Day doesn't give any excuses when the team loses. He knows there are no excuses. Perhaps Sarkisian could learn a thing or two from Day when it comes to not making excuses.
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