Texas HC Steve Sarkisian claims ‘nobody’ believed in Longhorns before Missouri game

Steve Sarkisian opened his postgame news conference in Columbia, Missouri, on Saturday by going back to the days before kickoff. The Texas Longhorns had just beaten the Missouri Tigers 34-20 on the strength of 21 unanswered points, and the Texas coach aimed his opening statement at the talk that came before the game.

“Our guys, they’re not naive to noise. For as much as I would love to say they tune it all out, and we try our best to do that, I could hear the talk getting on the plane yesterday. I could hear the talk when we got here. Nobody believed we’d win the game. Nobody thought we were going to come here and win the game, nobody thought we were tough enough at the line of scrimmage. Everybody thought we’d get pushed around. The DNA of this organization is mental and physical toughness. I think that poured out of our pores today in this ballgame,” Sarkisian said.

The Longhorns lost to the Oklahoma Sooners and the Florida Gators in October, by three points each and to two unranked teams, and they came to Columbia without left tackle Trevor Goosby and running back Hollywood Smothers, both out for the season.

Missouri’s Jamal Roberts came in as the SEC’s leading rusher and finished with 66 rushing yards, and a Texas defense that was supposed to get worn down kept the Tigers off the scoreboard for the final 17 minutes. Missouri has its own version of the afternoon, since the tying touchdown came on the drive kept alive by the Arch Manning fumble ruling the SEC defended in a statement Saturday evening. That ruling accounts for one possession, while Roberts’ 66 yards came across all four quarters.

Steve Sarkisian opening statement after the win over Missouri.

“Nobody thought we would win.”

“We are big game hunters.”

@ontexasfootball https://t.co/7XVGliZXBz

— CJ Vogel (@CJVogel_OTF) November 7, 2026

Are the Longhorns really ‘big game hunters’?

The injuries were part of Sarkisian’s pitch too. “We’re down some really good players right now. This team kind of gets tighter. The more adversity we get, the tighter we get. I think that’s a cultural thing. I think it’s a toughness thing. I think it’s a leadership thing,” Sarkisian said.

Texas has beaten the Ohio State Buckeyes when they were No. 1, won at the ranked Tennessee Volunteers and now won at Missouri, while both of its losses came against teams outside the rankings. Texas entered Saturday at No. 7 in the College Football Playoff rankings, with the LSU Tigers next on Nov. 14 and the Arkansas Razorbacks and Texas A&M Aggies still to come.

“A tough win on the road against another top 20 opponent. I think that’s six straight top 25 wins for us, I think the next closest team in the country has two. And our second top 25 win on the road. Like we say all the time, we’re big game hunters. And we showed up again today,” Sarkisian said.

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