The Longhorns defeated the Sam Houston Bearkats by a score of 55-0 in week 4, and shortly after the game, Steve Sarkisian was asked whether or not he thinks the team is ready for SEC play. His answer was very relatable, and it might not be the one you'd expect right now:
"I hope (laughs). It is what it is. I know you're probably thinking I was crazy, but the last couple of weeks we've been practicing really good and with real intent. We've been practicing very physical. To be able to bring it all to the game tonight I think was important for us. The belief in practice, in our preparation, and those habits is a winning formula for our success. We're going to need that heading into SEC play. We all want to play good on Saturday afternoon and Saturday night, and we're going to need to in the SEC. We need to prepare and practice really good. That's what the league requires."
Rather than going with a typical yes or no answer, he was very light-hearted with is response and spoke about how well the team's been doing with the fundamental side of things like practice intensity and atittude. It's obviously working, as the team looked completely different in week 4 than they have all year. Yes, it was against another inferior opponent but it's extremely important to note that some of the things that they were doing well in week 4, they were doing poorly against San Jose State and UTEP.
Different crucial aspects like block sustainment and drive by the offensive line, good mechanics by Arch Manning, and overall play execution were 10x better this past weekend than it has been over the past few weeks.
The Longhorns took a huge step towards "fixing" themselves last week, and it should do wonders for the team moving forward throughout the bye week, and then into the Florida game on October 4th. This year's Texas team has more than enough talent to be successful in conference play, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Arch Manning desperately needed to find his mojo and confidence in 2025, and the Sam Houston game also allowed him to do that. Those are the types of things that sometimes fly under the radar for a football team. Self-confidence and motivation are two very important things for a successful quarterback to have at any level, and if it took blowing out an inferior football team to find it, so be it.