Steve Sarkisian Issues Challenge to the Rest of College Football After Florida Loss

The Texas Longhorns have lost two big games to start the 2025 season, and the team's head coach delivered a challenging response about the venues those two games were at.

Sep 20, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian holds up his horns while entering Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium before a game against the Sam Houston State Bearkats. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Last year, the Texas Longhorns went three conference games before suffering their first loss in their first SEC season.

This year, however, they opened up conference play, taking the L, a 29-21 defeat at the hands of an unranked Florida Gators team at "The Swamp" in Gainesville, a little over a month after their heartbreaking season-opening loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus.

Road games have clearly been a negative for the Burnt Orange in the 2025 season, and head coach Steve Sarkisian is well aware of how tough the environments are that his team fell short in, and he seemed somewhat defensive about it Monday afternoon during his pregame press conference.

Sark Challenges the Rest of College Football to Step Into Texas' Shoes

In his Monday press conference, as the Longhorns prep for their annual neutral site showdown with the Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry, Sarkisian spoke on the challenges that Ohio Stadium and Ben Hill Griffin Stadium presented to the visiting teams, a testament to the competition that both the Big 10 and SEC conferences serve in their venues, and dared any other college football team to face the Buckeyes and Gators in their respective home territories.

Oct 4, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian shakes hands with Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier during the second half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

"I mean, take the other --- how many teams are there in college football, 136?" Sark responded. "Take the other 135 and have them go play at Ohio State and at The Swamp. See how they do."

Sarkisian can't really be faulted for his fiery response to Texas' two big road losses, as, despite the record of their home teams, the Buckeye and Gator crowds are just enough to make a difference in their teams' games.

However, Sarkisian's team also has experience with winning in tough road environments, having beaten both the Michigan Wolverines and the Texas A&M Aggies last year at Michigan Stadium and Kyle Field, respectively, two of the toughest venues in college football to secure victories at.

Some may be quick to point the finger at quarterback Arch Manning, the start against Florida last Saturday serving as his very first SEC road start during his career, adrenaline already high and nerves already racking, and maybe that could be just that, some first-game jitters in his first road conference game as a starter, and in Gainesville of all places.

Whatever the reason may be, the Longhorns have a chance to right their wrongs in a matchup with the Oklahoma Sooners this Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, where the crowd will literally be split down the middle in terms of team support.