For the first time in almost one month, No. 3 Texas will take the field to play a football game on Monday. The last time the Longhorns had an extended break between games was in mid October following a devastating loss to Oklahoma.
Texas’ most recent game was The Big 12 Championship on Dec. 2 when it defeated Oklahoma State 49-21 at AT&T Stadium. Since then, the team has been practicing but hasn’t had any games. With the bowl game being played on New Year’s Day, some players had the chance to return home to visit their families for Christmas.
After The Big 12 Championship, the team took a much needed break that allowed players to focus on final exams and finishing the academic semester on a strong note just like they finished the regular season. The time off allowed for players to take time to recover mentally and physically.
“When we got out of the Big 12 Championship game, I felt like we needed almost two full weeks to recover,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “That was a long grind, a long season and was a physical season. We had bumps and bruises just like every other team.”
The break allowed players who were injured towards the end of the season to rest and focus on getting healthy. Junior wide receiver Xavier Worthy and senior defensive back Ryan Watts were both injured towards the end of the season but now should be ready ahead of the Sugar Bowl.
Sarkisian also recognized his team’s need for a break from each other. The team’s culture is tight and the players love spending time together, but the time apart allowed for the players to grow even closer after the break.
Players were able to travel home for the holidays and senior defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat even organized a Christmas toy drive in his hometown of Huntsville, Texas. Other players just visited home, but Sweat took the opportunity to give back to his community.
“I think they needed a little time away from us,” Sarkisian said. “Sometimes getting away a little bit and then coming back together was important.”
While the break is much needed, the players are ready to get back out onto the field. Junior tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders said that his favorite part about being in New Orleans has been practicing with the team.
Sarkisian said that when bringing the team back together, he started with training camp-like practices and brought the focus back to just playing football. Sanders said the team has benefited from the style of practice and is playing at its best.
“Consistency (is key) for one and then, you have to have the hard, fast, physical practice, and I feel like we’ve been doing that,” Sanders said. “We’re in mid-season form. I’m very confident in my teammates, we’ve had some of the best practices we’ve had the whole season in this stadium, so I’m excited.”
Sanders is not the only one excited to return to the field. Senior linebacker David Gbenda feels that even with the long break the rest of the team has not lacked focus and is ready to get back to work.
With the team’s strong culture, Sarkisian has leaders that he knows he can rely on to keep the team on task, and as a senior, Gbenda is one of those leaders.
“We haven’t really had too many challenges with staying focused because the difference with us is we’re more like minded,” Gbenda said. “I feel like we’re closer so everyone is more worried about the game of football. The difference for us is that everyone was so ready to play football, we’re just so amped up, the real challenge is trying to keep everyone calm and level headed before the game.”
This week has been nothing but business for Texas even with the craziness and hype around the College Football Playoff. Sarkisian has benefitted from the leadership within the team to hold each other accountable and stay focused on the task at hand.
“When we came back here it was all into this business trip,” Sarkisian said. “But in the end, I want to make sure that our guys enjoyed their time here and I appreciate the leadership on our team for what these guys are doing.”
The team is back together and more cohesive than ever ahead of the biggest game that most players on the team have ever played in. While the opponent is the same as last year’s bowl game, the stakes are much higher.
