The Longhorns are understandably exhausted after playing 13 games. But their season isn’t over yet. On Sunday, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian addressed the physical and mental state of his team.
“We all want to be healthier than we are, right? Not 100%, but you never know who’s going to be in December,” Sarkisian said. “That’s the nature of the beast right now. But I want to get healthier this week. I want to get some guys closer to 100 percent than they’ve been the last few weeks.”
Texas entered the SEC Championship showdown with Georgia with five players on the injury report. The game definitely wore down several other Longhorns and went into overtime before Georgia ultimately escaped with a 22-19 win.
The hard-fought loss was just the final mental test for Texas. The Longhorns have had a tough last four weeks, and it will be up to Sarkisian to help his players recover.
“Mentally, it was an emotional month,” Sarkisian said. “We had to go back to Arkansas, which was like a crime scene in our first year. I know that was a big burden on the players. We had Senior Day, but for the veteran players, Senior Day That’s always a big event. Then we went to A&M and had to go back to Kyle Field after a 13-year hiatus. All the emotion that goes into that ball game, what it’s like. Was it?
“Then we turned around and came back this week and played Georgia again in Atlanta in the SEC Championship game and went to overtime and that was it. So we need to recharge. We need to refresh our batteries. Our players need a few days and they need a few days to get themselves back together, physically and mentally.”
For the first time since October, Texas will have a week without a game. Despite this, the Longhorns cannot rest for too long. On December 21st, the University of Texas will face Clemson University in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
Now, Steve Sarkisian is trying to strike the right balance between recovery and preparation.
“We need to give them a chance to go away for a little while so that when they come back they have the right intent and the right sense of urgency that they need to play here next Saturday. “He’s going to be very focused and focused on Clemson,” Sarkisian said.
