Steve Sarkisian Shares Thoughts on Texas Longhorns vs. Ohio State
The Texas Longhorns are set for a major challenge to begin the 2025 season.
As college football conferences grow larger and the 12-team College Football Playoff looms, the trend of scheduling tough non-conference games early in the season is increasingly questioned. With teams potentially reaching the CFP with weaker schedules, some wonder why risk an early loss?
However, many teams, including the Texas Longhorns, still recognize the value of these high-stakes games. On August 31, Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns will open their 2025 campaign with a road game against the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes—the same team that knocked them out of the 2024 semifinals. While there are several exciting games in Week 1, this one stands out as a headline matchup and one of the best games of the entire year.
It may not be the easiest route to the CFP, but that’s exactly why Sarkisian and his team embrace the challenge.
“I love the opportunity,” Sarkisian said on FOX Sports’ The Herd. “It’s great for our players during summer workouts and training camp to know who we’re preparing to face. With the expanded playoffs, as long as teams aren’t punished for taking on these tough matchups, it’s great for college football.”
“It’s opening weekend. It’s Texas at Ohio State. It’s a rematch of the semifinal game from last year’s playoffs. It’s fantastic for both programs because that’s exactly the kind of game the players we recruit want to be in—they want these big-time matchups.”
Sarkisian and the Longhorns are no strangers to such games, having faced Alabama and Michigan in non-conference play in recent years. He firmly believes in the saying, “You have to beat the best to be the best.”
“We’ve had good experience with these kinds of games,” Sarkisian said. “Not all of them were in Week 1, but we played Alabama two years in a row when I was in Year 2 and Year 3. Last year, we went to Michigan, the defending national champions, in Week 2. Now, we’re heading to Ohio State, the defending champs, in Week 1.”
The Longhorns and Buckeyes are tied in their four previous meetings, with Ohio State winning the most recent matchup.
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