Steve Sarkisian Giving Texas Longhorns Time To Recharge Before Facing Clemson Tigers in CFP

After the College Football Playoff Selection Show on Sunday, Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian talked about how he has watched this Clemson team change over the years. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney built the Tigers into one of the premier programs in college football, with the team competing for the ACC title year in and year out.

Texas fell in overtime to Georgia in the SEC Championship game but now has its sights set on Clemson and the rest of the College Football Playoff.

Around 12 hours after the game ended, Texas was announced as the No. 5 seed in the new-look 12-team playoff and would face the No. 12 seed Clemson Tigers.

"I think our guys are really excited," Sarkisian said. "You know, we were all together here watching the Selection Show. And I think when our name first popped up with the five seed, everybody was excited about that. And then when it came back around and we were going to be playing Clemson, I think the guys were excited about that, you know, they started screaming, it's the Mukuba bowl. "

Being able to forget about its losses has been key for Texas this season, as it bounced back from its first loss to Georgia with a win over Vanderbilt. It would go on to win out the rest of the regular season before facing Georgia again in the SEC Championship game.

But now, the stakes are higher. If Texas can't bounce back from the loss, then its season is over. This week, Sarkisian will focus on getting his players healthy, as offensive lineman Kelvin Banks is still out due to an ankle injury, and wide receiver Isaiah Bond suffered an ankle injury during the game against Georgia.

"We'll do no football with them on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday," Sarkisian said. "We really want to get them a chance to kind of recharge their batteries, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. This was a long month. This five-game stretch was a lot on them, not only physically, but mentally. You know, we played two of our rivals on the road. We played an SEC championship game. We'll get the players on Thursday, you know, for a couple of days there, give another day or two off, and then we'll get back into our little work week next week. But as a staff, you know, our preparation is underway. And you know, we'll spend the next few days as a staff putting together a game plan in all three phases, and then start implementing that on Thursday."

A recharged Texas will take its home field of Darrel K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Dec. 21 at 3:00 PM for a chance to face Big 12 Champion Arizona State in the quarterfinals.

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