Cotton Bowl Updates: Steve Sarkisian Talks Buckeyes, Insurmountable Odds, Being Battle Tested

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian took part in his first media availability for the 2025 Cotton Bowl on Friday. He was asked about the challenges his team will face against Ohio State, the lack of rest for his team, the close game against Arizona State in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff, and much more. The highlights of everything he had to say can be found below.

“We know this is gonna be a heck of a challenge.”
On OSU’s fast starts in the playoffs: It’s a credit to the coaching staff that they can put a plan together like that, and then they have confident players executing at a high level. “That’s what jumps out at us.”
“I think we’re going to be healthy and good to go by the time the game rolls around.”
Do you need to lean into the passing game more? “I hope that we can find balance.” They are more than equipped to do that. In the last game, they just couldn’t get their backs free into the next level. The safeties tackled well and got them to the ground. Everybody has to take some responsibility in that. They need to do a better job as a staff in putting together a plan to get the running game going.
Was it an advantage to keep playing since the conference champions all lost? “I don’t know.” His initial thought on all of this was that in the basketball tournament, how many times have we seen Duke and North Carolina both get No. 1 seeds. If it was like that in football, Texas would have gotten a bye as the No. 3 seed. They didn’t get a massive rest like other teams, but that may be beneficial or it may not be. There is no great answer for what is best, but he would like to see the auto seeds for conference champs be re-evaluated.
On getting to Will Howard: They need to win the line of scrimmage. They have to disrupt him in the pocket, change the picture in the secondary, get their hands on people, and play disciplined.
When they got Quinn Ewers out of the transfer portal, he was still basically a freshman, so there has been a lot of maturation and development in his time at Texas. He has faced adversity and expectations and been able to come through all of it as a mature quarterback physically and mentally.
It’s been really fun playing in the SEC and playing in new venues. Getting a home game in the CFP was another really cool experience. Now playing in the Cotton Bowl, “we’re gonna need our fans.” “Clearly we’re massive underdogs. Nobody’s gonna give us a shot.”
Will Howard manages the offense really well. He has played well against Texas in the past. He throws a catchable ball and guys make plays for him. “His poise and composure in critical moments has been impressive as well.” He’s athletic — he took off for 70 yards in a game against Texas before.
Caleb Downs is a fantastic football player. He made impactful plays against Texas last year as a true freshman. You see his IQ but he also has the athletic ability to cover ground and the physical ability to help in the running game. Jim Knowles is very good at developing plans to use his talent well. Sarkisian putting together a call sheet against guys like Knowles is also a fun thing to do.
On the obsession with winning a national title: “Well, we didn’t come this far just to come this far.” It’s still a driving force on why they’re all at the facility late at night. Even when they tell players to take a day off, they’re still in their working. “Nothing’s guaranteed. It’s difficult to get to this spot.”
On Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka: They’re both big, physical receivers with a great scheme and a QB who delivers the ball. “We’re gonna have a hard time guarding them.”
Texas and Penn State are the only two teams that haven’t had any time off. Just trying to take it all in stride and move forward, but also enjoy the victories as they come.
Arizona State did a great job of executing their defense against Texas and did a great job of winning their one-on-ones. “And they did it better than we did for a lot of that ball game.”
“I think our defense has been tremendous all year.” That was a hard game against Arizona State. They played over 100 snaps on defense. The defense kind of wore down because Texas scored on special teams and also had a couple of quick scoring drives, so the defense was out there a lot.
Texas plays a physical brand of football. “We’re not gonna change.” They’re gonna try to impose their will on the opponents.
On OSU’s WRs, how do you balance ensuring that Jeremiah Smith doesn’t take over the game: “I just hope we’re good enough to guard them. These guys are really good players. We’ll find out.”
They’re gonna do their best to represent the SEC in the semifinals.
This is a great opportunity for Texas. He knows Ohio State fans will travel. The Texas fans need to buy as many tickets as they can. “This is the best team in college football and we’re gonna have to make sure that we put our best foot forward to give ourselves a chance to win the game.”
What is your response to those who see this as a home game for Texas? “I think everybody gets the same number of tickets, and then from that point, who buys the rest. If this was at DKR I’d say that this was a home game, but it is what it is.”
What stands out most about OSU’s pass rush: They’re ferocious up front. Big on the inside. Big and talented on the edges. Getting up 34-0 helped and forced Oregon to throw it to get back into the game. The DL can start just rushing the passer without fear of the run. That’s why it’s important to find balance because it’s a ferocious pass rush.