Steve Sarkisian is ready to renew rivalries. So are Mike Elko and Sam Pittman.

Texas is seeing rivalries return with Texas A&M and Arkansas this year. The Aggies haven’t played the Longhorns since 2011. Arkansas has played and beaten Texas twice since then. Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is looking forward to those road rivalries this year, and knows full well how much these games mean to all involved.

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“We get two of them,” Sarkisian made sure to mention when asked about the A&M rivalry on Wednesday, referencing the Razorbacks.

All the same, Sarkisian knows how much the rivalry with A&M means not just for Longhorn fans, but also the players in the locker room who have yet to experience it themselves.

“Yes,” Sarkisian said Wednesday. “Our guys will be ready. Our guys will be ready to play. It’s a unique rivalry that way in such that there’s so many connections even in our locker room. There’s so many guys that players on our team played with and played against in youth football and high school football, went through the recruiting process with. They both took visits to Texas and A&M, and one went to A&M and one went to Texas. There are those natural connections there.

“You feel it from Longhorn Nation. You feel it from ex-players. I don’t think there’s going to have to be a big rah-rah speech in the locker room that night.”

There’s a sense of excitement in College Station as well for the return of the rivalry. Mike Elko , the head coach of the Aggies, said the game and rivalry with the Longhorns is a huge deal to the 12th Man.

“In my four years at Texas A&M, even though we never played and we’re in the same conference, it still was the single most important thing it seemed like to Texas A&M,” Elko said Thursday. “Obviously that’s something that we take seriously. That’s a rivalry that means an awful lot to our fan base, to the program, the history of the rivalry, and the tradition. I have been aware of it.

“I was a huge football fan growing up. I watched those games on Thanksgiving. And the defense and the Wrecking Crew and all of that. I think it’s great for the state, great for college football that that rivalry is coming back.”

The two teams haven’t played since 2011, when Justin Tucker ‘s game-winning field goal clinched a 27-25 win for the Longhorns before the Aggies made their move to the SEC. The programs have waged a sort of cold war over the past 12 years, each claiming to have told the other any time, any place. No meeting has taken place.

Texas will travel to Kyle Field on November 30 at the end of the 2024 season, and for Elko, it’s not a moment too soon.

“When you have two brands like that that are that close to each other, they should play,” Elko said. “They should play meaningful games. They should play games that really matter. And with our tradition, they should play on Thanksgiving weekend. Excited to just get back into it, and I’m sure it will be an unbelievable atmosphere the first time we bring that rivalry back in Kyle Field.”

That’s not the only Southwest Conference rivalry that’s returning with the Longhorns’ move to the SEC. Texas faces Arkansas in Fayetteville on November 16, two weeks before the A&M game. The last time UT went to play at Arkansas, Texas was smashed 40-21 in 2021 during Sarkisian’s first year. That opened up Sarkisian’s eyes to a rivalry he may not have known as much about when he took the Texas job.

Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman agreed with Sarkisian’s estimation, and mentioned how he looked forward to the Hogs’ attempt to extend their winning streak over the Longhorns.

“We hadn’t played Texas for years and we played them a couple years back. It was the most excited our fan base has been in a while,” Pittman said Thursday. “So I would say he’s probably right, you know. The difference is Texas is certainly a different team than what we played. That was his first year there and now obviously he’s a great coach, great guy. Got a wonderful football team.

“But I’m glad that we’re going to play them at home again. You know, I don’t know if that’s fair because they came there two years ago. But it’s an early-morning game, so — but he’s probably correct.”

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Texas had just one main rivalry game on the schedule during the last 12 seasons in the Big 12. This year, the Longhorns have three. Not only is Sarkisian’s program excited for those battles, but so too are the ones the Longhorns will attempt to conquer in late November.

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