Longhorns Prepared For Sugar Bowl's 'Tough Environment'
The Texas Longhorns are about to play the biggest game the program has seen since the 2009 national championship game vs. Alabama when they walk into the Super Dome in New Orleans to take on the Washington Huskies on Monday.
In 2009, most of the players taking part in this game were less than 10 years old, and when Steve Sarkisian got to Austin, nobody on the roster had experienced a taste of what will be on the line next week.
However, this season, his team has played in some of the toughest environments imaginable. And that has helped them prepare for what they are about to face.
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"One thing that's helped us this year, we've played in some pretty tough environments, right?" Sarkisian said. "We had to go on the road. Naturally, playing in Tuscaloosa was helpful for us. Playing in the Big 12 championship game in Arlington was good for us."
Still, a College Football Playoff semi-final is different from a night game in September in Tuscaloosa. There is a lot more at stake. Not to mention, a lot more distractions.
There will be scrutiny before the game. There will be pomp and circumstance leading up to the game, and there will be immense pressure during the game.
So how will the Longhorns handle it? By staying focused on themselves, and what they need to do to be successful.
"Stay focused on us," Sarkisian said. "We have a simple adage: Be enamored with us. And we try to keep our focus internal so that when the games come, it's about what we've prepared to go do. And not what might be going on around us."
"A lot of times when you get into these settings, the world around you is pretty chaotic. We talk about it all the time as a team. What is going on around us is very chaotic. We want to make sure that we're a steady sea, and that we're focused on what we need to do."
Sure that is easier said than done. Many teams preach that very same mindset. And most - most of them typically - fail to do what is necessary to survive and advance.
But the Longhorns are seasoned. They have been through the wringer and overcome every challenge and situation they have faced - save the last drive of the Oklahoma Loss.
Have they been perfect? No. But that loss to Oklahoma was just another lesson.
And now they are ready to face down whatever comes their way on Monday night.
"We're very calm when the moment comes, regardless of the circumstances, because adversity is going to strike," Sarkisian said. "It's going to strike in this ballgame, and us keeping our composure, us keeping our poise, is going to be critical to our success."
