Texas HC Steve Sarkisian reveals Longhorns’ identity before first trip to LSU since 1953

The Texas Longhorns play at the LSU Tigers on Saturday for the first time since 1953, a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Tiger Stadium with playoff hopes on both sidelines. Texas comes in at 7-2 and No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings, with four wins over ranked opponents and two October losses that knocked it off the top of the polls.

Reporters covering the team have asked Steve Sarkisian all fall what this group actually is, and on Thursday he gave a direct answer, which Michael Shapiro of the Austin American-Statesman shared two days before the trip to Baton Rouge.

“We’re a physical football team. We’re a mentally and physical football team and that’s our calling card. … One thing I know: when we get off the bus for every game, I know I have a mentally and physically tough football team, and that can carry us a long way,” Sarkisian said.

Where the Longhorns back up their coach’s description

Texas opponents are averaging 2.89 yards per carry this season. In the 20-17 win at the Tennessee Volunteers on Sept. 26, Will Muschamp’s defense, in his first season as coordinator, held Tennessee to 70 rushing yards on 44 carries and finished with 10 sacks.

Texas went to Missouri last Saturday without left tackle Trevor Goosby or wide receiver Cam Coleman, with edge rusher Colin Simmons limited to 18 snaps in his return from a high ankle sprain. The Longhorns won 34-20, and running back Raleek Brown caught the go-ahead touchdown pass with just over five minutes left.

“The DNA of this organization is mental and physical toughness and I think that poured out of our pores today in this ball game,” Sarkisian said after the game.

Can Texas’ offensive line live up to it in Death Valley?

On offense, Texas is gaining 3.52 yards per carry, and both October losses came with an offense that stalled up front. The Longhorns went their first four drives without a first down in the 27-24 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners in Dallas on Oct. 10, a game Oklahoma won with touchdowns on special teams and defense before Tate Sandell’s 47-yard field goal on the final play. A week later in Austin, the Florida Gators sacked Arch Manning five times and held Texas to 272 total yards in another 27-24 loss.

The depth chart has thinned since then. Goosby is out for the season, and running back Hollywood Smothers tore his MCL in the 31-3 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Oct. 31, which leaves the backfield to Brown, the Arizona State transfer. Brown ran for 67 yards and two touchdowns at Tennessee with Smothers sidelined and added 85 more at Missouri. Texas has won three straight with that group. So far, the physical half of Sarkisian’s answer has come mostly from his defense, and Saturday night in Tiger Stadium asks his offensive line to supply its share.

LSU is 6-3 and No. 21 in the CFP rankings after a 31-13 home loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide, so Lane Kiffin’s team is playing to stay alive in the playoff race. Texas opened the week as the betting underdog, and a win would give the Longhorns a fifth victory over a ranked opponent with the Arkansas Razorbacks and Texas A&M Aggies still to come.

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