Kirby Smart Texted Texas Longhorns Coach Steve Sarkisian Before Week 11

AUSTIN -- The Texas Longhorns and Georgia Bulldogs are gearing up for a major SEC showdown in Athens this weekend.

The two teams are meeting for the third time since last season in a game that has major College Football Playoff implications for both sides, especially Texas.

The stakes are certainly high, but that's not stopping the two head coaches from sharing a few friendly text messages in the days leading up to the game.

Kirby Smart Says He Texted Steve Sarkisian Before Mississippi State Game

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian looks on during warm ups prior to the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

After Saturday's 41-21 win over the Missisippi State Bulldogs, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said he and Texas coach Steve Sarkisian exchanged text messages as the Bulldogs made their way to Starkville.

Any trash talk between the two? Hardly. Smart said that he and Sarkisian talked about the long drive to get to the stadium.

"I texted with Sark today about the drive we had over here. I was like, this drive is an hour and five minutes. Couldn't believe it," Smart said. "(Texas) had the same thing. ... I have no idea what he was doing. I was just texting with him."

Smart was asked about his team potentially "turning the page" too early while looking ahead to Texas before playing Mississippi State. Georgia clearly didn't, and looks every bit the part before Saturday's matchup against the Longhorns.

"I don't control it. I mean, how can I turn the page faster than turning the page?" Smart said. "I mean, I couldn't turn it before we played this game. I can only turn it afterwards, and it is what it is."

Texas Looking for Revenge Coming Off Bye Week

Georgia Bulldogs — Georgia running back Trevor Etienne (1) powers past Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. (0) to score the game winning touchdown during overtime of the SEC championship game against Texas in Atlanta, on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. | Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Texas has had the bye week to prepare for Georgia after beating Vanderbilt in Austin on Nov. 1.

The Longhorns will be eyeing a bit of revenge after losing both meetings against the Bulldogs last season, which included a defeat in the SEC Championship.

Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad said after the Vandy win that the Longhorns are motivated for every game but didn't admit if there is any extra juice against Georgia based on what happened last season.

"We always want to win, we know we can't lose," Muhammad said when asked by Texas Longhorns on SI. "We know we don't have any room to lose. So we always motivated. Everybody is hungry because we don't breed losers, we breed competitors. So everybody is always looking to do something more."