Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian had a message for his critics after the Longhorns defeated No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners 23-6 in Saturday's Red River Rivalry.
Following weeks of doubt after his team fell out of the AP Top 25, Sarkisian didn't hold back.
“It's easy to succumb to the outside noise. And there was a lot of s*** getting talked about our team, and I think they responded,” Sarkisian told The New York Times after the Cotton Bowl beatdown.
The fifth-year coach praised his squad's fight through the noise.
“We saw the true character of the men in that locker room today, their connectivity, their love for one another,” he said.
Texas answers critics with a statement win
Texas backed up its coach's words on the field. The Longhorns held Oklahoma without an offensive touchdown, the first time they've shut out a top-10 opponent from the end zone since 1979. They sacked quarterback John Mateer five times and intercepted him three times in his return from hand surgery.
Quarterback Arch Manning ran the offense smoothly, completing 21-of-27 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Niblett delivered the knockout blow with a 75-yard punt return touchdown in the fourth quarter that sealed Oklahoma's fate.
Sarkisian fired another shot at the doubters when discussing his team's championship potential.
“If we can play the way we played today, we're plenty good enough to compete with any team in our conference,” he said. “But we've got to play that way. … And we have more work to do.”
The victory marked Texas's second straight win over Oklahoma for the first time since 2008-09. The Longhorns reclaimed the Golden Hat trophy while handing the Sooners their first loss of the season. Oklahoma, now 5-1, managed just two field goals and 258 total yards. With theirCollege Football Playoff hopes back alive, Sarkisian and his Longhorns proved the haters wrong when it mattered most.
