What Steve Sarkisian Said About Importance of Texas vs. Texas A&M Rivalry

The Texas Longhorns take center stage of college football's rivalry week slate on Friday night against the Texas A&M Aggies.

That is just the way Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian thinks it should be.

"I just think this game deserves the spotlight to stand alone, and the fact that we're playing on Friday night with all the eyes of college football on it, and really the football world on this game, I think this game deserves that," Sarkisian said on Monday.

Texas Longhorns Ready for "Special Opportunity" vs. Texas A&M

Nov 15, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian gestures after a game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Apart from the rivalry itself -- this edition marks the 120th edition of the Lone Star Showdown -- this week's game has big postseason implications.

For Texas A&M, a win would mean its first Southeastern Conference championship game appearance and likely a bye in the College Football Playoff. A loss would not prevent them from making the CFP, but it would more than likely move them out of an SEC championship game spot.

For Texas, the season is practically on the line this week in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Though they are bowl eligible no matter the A&M result, the only chance the Longhorns have to sneak into the CFP is through a win over the Aggies and convincing the committee that their three top-10 wins are enough to give them a shot despite a 9-3 record.

Ahead of kickoff, however, that is all distraction. At the heart of this matchup is a renewed rivalry of schools whose campuses are just over 100 miles from each other. The implications are just a bonus.

Sarkisian stressed that his team's focus is solely on handling business Friday and controlling what they can at this point.

"We're playing an undefeated team in the Southeastern Conference, which is really hard to do," Sarkisian said. "They're a long-standing rival of ours. That's where our focus and energy is, and that's what we can control. I think the moment you start putting energy into things that are out of our control, man, you miss what's right in front of you. And this is too big of a game, too special of an opportunity (to do that)."

The last regular season game of 2025, the A&M matchup also serves as the Longhorns' senior day, which will honor the likes of Michael Taaffe, DJ Campbell, Ethan Burke, Trey Moore and others. It is also just the second SEC night game in two years in DKR, per Sarkisian.

"There's some really special things about this game, and that's where our focus is. What happens after the game will take care of itself. We need to focus on the task at hand," Sarkisian said.

Texas last hosted the Aggies in DKR in 2010, when a Ryan Tannehill-led Texas A&M outlasted Garrett Gilbert and the Longhorns, 24-17, in what ended up being head coach Mack Brown's only losing season in Austin. In the Aggies' return to DKR, Sarkisian knows the challenge that his squad is facing, calling the opposition "really good in all three phases."

"Ton of credit to A&M and the job they've done to be undefeated up to this point," Sarkisian said. "I think Coach (Mike) Elko has done a fantastic job. Got a ton of respect for him and the way he's built that program. But that creates opportunity for us, and (we) wouldn't want it any other way than to have this ball game at home. ... I don't take games like this lightly. So like I said, we got some work to do."

Kickoff from DKR is at 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday, broadcasted in the primetime slot on ABC.