OTF Premium Sarkisian on SEC Grind + Possibility of 3rd AP Top 10 Victory (Wednesday 1:10 p.m.)

[CJ Vogel]

Steve Sarkisian was asked about the possibility of being the second team in the last six years to beat three AP Top 10 teams in a single season, as well as the grind of the leading Texas into the SEC as second year members:

"This conference is grueling. You know every year, I think people look at schedules and (say) 'Oh, they got an easy schedule' or 'They got a hard one,' – you don't really know until teams start taking the field and you got to start playing. Teams deal with injuries, some teams don't. Teams fire their coaches, some teams don't. We have had a very challenging slate for sure. Of not only the quality of the opponents that we are playing, but also some of the environments and the road games at night.

But I think one thing about our conference that just holds true week in and week out – literally anybody in our conference, it doesn't matter who they are – can beat anybody else in our conference on any given Saturday. And I think that is what makes our conference so difficult. It is not about getting up for one or two games a year, it is not getting up for three top ten matchups or the third one this year, you got to get up for them every single week. Because every team is capable of beating anyone else. And I think that is the toll that it takes when you play in this conference. There is a physical toll that this league takes on your team, but there is also a mental toll and I think that is where the toughness aspect is so critical in the SEC. There is a physical toughness you have to have, but there is a mental toughness you have to have to get yourself prepared to play every single Saturday and to be at your best. Because if you are not, you are going to be in a dog fight trying to find a way to win late. And so, you learn a lot about your team in this league and we have learned a lot about our team. Like I said, it is a great league to be a part of, it is challenging but you have to grow up and have to grow up quickly."

 

Steve Sarkisian on the grind of an SEC schedule on a weekly basis after the addition of Texas and Oklahoma. 

"Well I think it was very strategic by the SEC – if (they) were going to expand, how were they going to expand? Obviously they went got two great brands that are national brands, but yet are in the southwest and are very influential. But really, nationally for the Southeastern Conference now to expand the way that they did west I think was great for the conference. But you have two national brands, high quality programs that have won a lot of games and championships over the years. But yet, they are two programs that know at the end of the day are going to be good year in and year out. The conference is tough, it is only going to get harder when we go to nine games. It is like 'Holy cow, here we go. We are playing eight now, and now we are going to nine.' So we have to recruit well and keep developing our players because it is hard to keep everybody healthy for that long of a season."

[CJ Vogel]

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian speaking on the upcoming meeting with Georgia this Saturday:

"It is a heck of an opportunity for our team. it is a heck of a challenge playing at Georgia in a night game," Sarkisian said Wednesday during the SEC Teleconference. "I think Coach Smart and his staff have assembled a tremendous group of players. They are a talented group, and well-coached."

[harveycmd]

July 1989 Athens, Georgia. I was there then. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mSmOcmk7uQ