Texas HC Steve Sarkisian couldn’t believe how the Longhorns started but showed no panic vs. Michigan

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian spent the entire week breathing fire and confidence into his Longhorns. He couldn’t believe his eyes when the game started Saturday against the Michigan Wolverines.

Two false starts. A holding penalty wiped out a touchdown. All three penalties by Cam Williams, the same player who was the SEC co-offensive lineman of the week after the season opener. Then, a missed field goal to end the first drive.

What is happening? “We stubbed our toe a little bit,” Sarkisian said afterward.

“You know, it didn't work,” the coach continued. “But I think the beauty of that was there was no panic. Our guys came to the sidelines like, ‘Hey, we’re going to be OK.’ We’ve got a good plan, everybody. Let’s make sure we settle down and go do what we know how to do.”

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It helped that the Texas defense forced a three-and-out on Michigan’s first drive. The Horns took over at its own 44-yard line. Quinn Ewers came out and fired to Gunnar Helm for a 22-yard gain, and the offense took off.

After several rushes, Ewers found Helm for a 21-yard touchdown and Texas was up 7-0.

The next three drives ended with scores and Texas was well on its way to a blowout victory that snapped Michigan’s 23-game home winning streak.

With less than five minutes left in the game, Sarkisian turned to the Texas fans inside Michigan Stadium and let out a huge cheer.

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“This is the second year in a row we've gone into one of the toughest places to play in the country,” Sarkisian said. “We went into Alabama last year. They were 53-1 in their previous 54 games. We walked in this building today. They’ve won 23 games in a row in this building. And so for our support to come from Longhorn nation, the way they do, they showed up today.

“There was 111,000 I think they announced in the stands today,” he added. “I’d love to know what the count was of the burnt orange that were in the stands today. And so their support was tremendous. I knew when I saw the ticket prices. That was the Longhorns buying those tickets, because nobody else is crazy enough to spend the amount of money, except us. So it was really cool, man.”

Sarkisian said he couldn’t believe how loud the players sang “The Eyes of Texas” afterward.

“It felt like DKR,” he said. “So that was really cool.”