During Sark's recent media session, he discussed a few different things about the game this weekend such as player availability, the weather, and a few of the team's goals.
One of the most interesting things that he mentioned was how he believes that something as simple as scoring quickly and starting out hot is one of his main goals for this weekend. Though it's plausible to think that this should be a goal for any team, it's even more important when you're in a hostile environment like the Swamp.
"Any time you can neutralize a crowd, it's obviously very helpful when you can do that, control the ball, try to create some explosive plays, create some turnovers on defense, and do some things to take some air out of the crowd. I think that's important, but probably more important to starting fast is this is a good team and you want to maximize your opportunities that you have when you're playing against a team like this because you don't know how many you have."
A football team's home crowd and fan base is much, much more important than some give it credit for. Not only is it just physically hard the hear things and operate like normal, but the amount of momentum that a home crowd gives to a home team is unlike anything else.
The Swamp is a notoriously loud and raucous place to play, and the best way to quiet it down is by coming out and punching the Gators in the mouth. Texas needs to be able to take the wind out of Florida's sails early in order to give them the best chance to get a nice conference win this weekend. Things get really quiet once a team like Florida struggles early because the fanbase is already beginning to turn on HC Billy Napier in general. If the Gators go down early by 2 scores, there won't be a whole lot for the fanbase to get excited about.
There's a saying in college football that goes, "If you beat the fans, you beat the team". This phrase could end up being 100% true this weekend.