Texas Football Coach Steve Sarkisian on the Red River Rivalry

Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian has attended three Red River Rivalry games, with a coaching record of 1-2 at the Cotton Bowl. Although he never faced Oklahoma as a player, Sarkisian is no stranger to rivalry games, having played quarterback at BYU in the 1995 and 1996 seasons.

When asked about his memories of the Holy War games against Utah, Sarkisian chuckled. "My two games against the University of Utah when I was at BYU [weren't good]," he said. "My junior year, I threw four interceptions. I threw three in the first half and they were booing me so bad, my mom left the stadium at halftime. My second year, we played in a blizzard, and I was 7-for-12 for like, 80 yards, and we rushed for 350 yards and we won. So there's no great moments, but I remember both games vividly for their own reasons."

Sarkisian expressed his love for college football rivalries, stating, "There's nothing like this [Red River Rivalry] game. When you pull into the State Fair and you see fans from both sides and they're intermixed, and both teams buses pull up and we're in the same tunnel, and you come out and here's all those OU fans and you look and there's all the sea of burnt orange, and you're just like, I can't wait to get over there with my people, I just want to get with them. That's what it's about."

Regarding his message to his players, Sarkisian emphasized preparation. "The best way to enjoy and experience a rivalry game is to prepare really well. I think that the people that get caught up in the game on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday miss the preparation, and then you don't play very good. ... If you want a good experience, we've got to make sure we prepare really well so that we can enjoy the experience because we're playing good football."