Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian has sounded anything but confident in his team's 2026 schedule. His latest statement seemed to indicate that having an additional Power 4 program on the slate other than the Ohio State Buckeyes would be excessive.
Sarkisian seemed to bargain with Kay Adams on the "Up & Adams" show when asked about adding the Texas Tech Red Raiders' challenge from head coach Joey McGuire to play this fall, conceding he'd accept that deal if it meant taking Ohio State off the docket.
"Joey was great about it. I wouldn't expect anything less from his response about changing our openers. How about we change our second game of the season and maybe we've got something to talk about," Sarkisian said.
Sarkisian recently went on the “Always College Football” podcast and hinted to Greg McElroy that the Indiana Hoosiers' rise to national champions had a lot to do with a competitive non-conference schedule. More often than not, Sark sounds scared of challenges. The whole back-and-forth with McGuire started because Sarkisian lashed out at the Red Raiders' Big 12 schedule.
No one is making Sark say this. He could've put on a tough front and let the schedule play out as it's already planned to. There's a slim chance it'd change this close to the season for anyone in the Power 4 ranks. Maybe his fear of Texas Tech comes from believing enough of the Big 12 will agree not to play the Red Raiders over the Brendan Sorsby eligibility situation, and the chance will arise to resurrect The Battle for the Chancellor's Spurs.
Either way, boy, did Sark just give the Buckeyes the narrative victory.
OSU is too scary for Texas to schedule another P4 non-conference foe
Sarkisian's snippiness revealed fear for Ohio State that a head coach should keep private. Imagine the Longhorns' locker room watching their head coach show a blatant lack of courage. It points to a staggering amount of pressure behind the scenes that Sark clearly isn't handling well.
Perhaps Sarkisian's confidence in the Buckeyes is the sign Ohio State's fanbase needed to see that maybe things are going to be okay in 2026. Of all teams, you'd think Texas would feel confident in overwhelming the Buckeyes' OL with the incredible talent present along the defensive line and at linebacker. That's not the attitude Sark is sharing publicly, though. It's fear.
Perhaps there should be. There are recent NFL head coaches and long-time NFL coordinators in the seat in Columbus. Matt Patricia just proved he doesn't have a tough time scheming against collegiate offenses. Arthur Smith has proven he could do damage with the kind of generational talent Jeremiah Smith has, and he's inheriting good chemistry between J. Smith and Julian Sayin.
Ohio State fans are sharing worries about the OL, while opposing head coaches are trying to get them off the schedule. How's that for a reminder that the sky isn't falling on the Scarlet and Gray, even with one of the toughest schedules in the country? How many teams can you name that have an SEC head coach for the school with the highest revenue in the sport looking for a way out of a home game?
Add us as a preferred source on Google