Beating Ohio State, Impact Transfers & Huge Development Leaps

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2:01Hey, I'm running out to drop off a stack of letters and packages. Need anything shipped while I'm gone? Save the gas. Stamps.com lets you print, postage, and schedule pickups right from your desk. Sync your contacts into the address book. Get detailed accounting insights and get notified the moment your certified mail is delivered. All from my desk? All from your desk. Join the four million businesses using Stamps.com right now with code podcast and get your free welcome gift. Stamps.com code podcast. Texas and fees apply. Welcome back to the Inside Texas YouTube channel powered by Inside Texas. I'm your host here. Evan Feath with me, Tyler Horker, as always. And we just got done talking to Texas head coach Steve Circadian had his weekly Thursday Zoom press conference, which you see a lot of tying loose ends, putting the bows on top of the gifts and really getting the team ready and getting the media ready for what we're going to see on Saturday. Tyler, of course, we know what that's going to be. Arguably the game of the year Ohio State Texas in Austin, Texas looking for the first win in three attempts against the buckais. And I think one of the things that really took out in the

3:02early part of this press conference Tyler was the way Circadian talked about sort of roster building and leading to this moment. We used to talk about how Sarc was building his teams to go and be the next Alabama, go and beat Alabama and then become Alabama. It really feels like this week is the culmination of all of the work he's done roster building over the last three to four years, but also it's just this off season, in particular. Yeah, and obviously he did beat Alabama once, which was a huge deal. And I've seen highlights in the lead up to this game because it feels a lot like that kind of matchup where you do win it and kind of set yourself up for the rest of the season. Texas goes called football playoff that year. Of course, it's kind of a similar thing here this year. But when he was building those rosters to do that type of thing, it wasn't just to do it once. It was to repeatedly do it and make that sort of the standard. He used those exact words today. This isn't about just one big game. This is about being able to win these big games over and over. And you're not able to do that unless you have the type of

4:03roster that Texas has because I think you look at Ohio State who has won a national championship recently. And you point to the Ryan Day style of going year to year with the rosters. And it's like, OK, yeah, they don't rebuild. They reload. And this is a reloaded Ohio State. You think about all that they lost in the NFL draft. There's still the number one team in the country. And you look at their roster and you're like, where the holds? How are you going to attack this team? So that's what Texas has tried to become. And hearing Steve Sarkey's in today, it sounds like he believes that Texas is there. Texas belongs in this game. Now it just has to go out and prove it and prove that to the end degree, which has not always happened for Sarkey's in these particular games. OK, kind of joke to like it. College Game Day wouldn't be here if we weren't good. They would be going somewhere else, probably Michigan, Oklahoma, if this wasn't a premier heavyweight bout between these two programs. And so we've really hearing the confidence in Sarkey's. And he said, what would you right now is batting down the hatch

5:04and get even more focused on what we need to do to win when asked about is there anything that changes in your preparation? It's kind of installed the same for Sarkey's and his team. Obviously, they know who they're playing this weekend. But that doesn't mean that they need to drastically overhaul their system. The system that they made back in January, February, March, as they were leading into spring practice and of course into the offseason. That was built to play in weeks like this and games like this. So we're hearing that from Sarkey Asian Tyler. I really like this quote. Nothing overly intentional was really interesting. But really when he was talking about why you coach at Texas and why players play at Texas. And Ryan Day also talked about this for Ohio State. But saying, I didn't come to Texas just to say I could be a head coach again. I came to Texas to be part of games like this to contend every year. I think that really sums up what kind of game we've got going on this weekend, don't you? Yeah, you said it at the very beginning. It's like to me, for my money, this is the game in college football this year. And I know what's happening early. So we don't know what the landscape is going to look like in mid October, mid November.

6:04Some things can change. And maybe another game feels bigger than this one. But right now, I mean, what feels bigger than number one versus number four two teams that have met twice in the previous two seasons. So this makes three for three. And those two seasons, like those were, I would say, five of the best teams in the country as well. So you're getting that year after year. And to start Keyeson's point, that's what you want. If you go to Texas, there were some times where when I was a student at Texas, and you didn't get this. And you had kids going to Texas because they thought they were and coaches going to Texas because it's like, OK, yeah, I'm going to be part of staff to get to prepare for a game like this. No. So with that in mind, you can't take this for granted. And it sounds like Sarkey's in his not. It sounds like he's getting at home to his players that this is huge. And to what you said earlier, college game, it wouldn't be here if it wasn't huge. And if his team wasn't good, and if they didn't deserve this type of moments. So the thing you want to do is make good on that, though.

7:06Like you need to show up in this game. And there were some times in the season opener last year against Ohio State where you're just like, Texas doesn't have the use to win this game or even you think about the Georgia games. It's like, oh, yeah, Texas is outmatched. And that's just what it's going to be tonight. I'm getting the vibes that that's not going to be the case. And I think Sarkey's in this too. Like this is going to be a barn burner type of game. I don't know if it's going to be high scoring in the sense of a barn burner, but I would be shocked if this thing doesn't really come down to the final possession. And as bad as Texas looks last year, it came down to that final possession as well. So what's the type of matchup you get when you get these two teams? You know, we've written about this on inside Texas, but the roster town really is a step ahead this year. I mean, there's a difference between the 2025 Longhorns that had to go on the road to the shoe. Like you said, played it within a seven point game, played it within the final drive. I mean, they were driving down the field when Archmating didn't complete the past to Parker Livingston. They would have tied the game up inside the red zone on fourth down. But but a lot of this personnel talk really kind of brought back

8:06this idea of how we built the roster. And I think the build of this team is very, very impressive Tyler. The first one I quote I wanted to point out was about the transfers. Because someone was asking about Raheem Biles who's working through charity very, very soon. I believe after this game is just kind of a big coming of presence in the Austin community already as a transfer from Pitt who realistically, Biles is the kind of guy who could have come to Texas played a final year in college, gotten a second, third round draft pick selection. And then I felt drafted. That'd be that. But see, he's talking to you and I had a pretty lengthy quote, Tyler. If you want to talk about it, just about what he did looking for portal players and how he came about getting guys like Cam Coleman, Hollywood, Smothers and Bow Mask on this team. Yeah, you need program guys. So you need the guys who are going to produce for you on the field, but you also need the ones who are going to be the right locker room fit. Because college football is so unique now. And I know Steve Sartesian loves talking about this where your roster looks so different. If you're a true championship contending team, your roster looks different from year to year.

9:06And yeah, you do that's by way of finding the right players in the portal who make you better from a talent perspective and re he miles as one of those Cam Coleman, the two running backs, like up and down the list, you have those guys. But what does it all matter if they don't fit at Texas? Like you could get them into the locker room and you know, you think of some of these teams over the years in any sport that have just been immensely talented. And maybe it doesn't come together because there's some risks in the locker room or you know, that it's like Austin, Texas, maybe is not the place for a Raheem Biles or a Cam Coleman. But Evan, like you've interviewed these guys, I've interviewed these guys. When we talk to them, they seem like they want to be here. So not only do they have the talent, Texas, but they also have just the culture. And Sartesian keeps beating that drum. I think every like Monday press conference, you're going to get an opening statement somewhere in there from him about how the chemistry has come along. And he loves this locker room and he just like feels something special. When that's not the case, sometimes you get some of those clunkers

10:07that I mentioned before where it's like, okay, yeah, these guys aren't in unison. They're not in lockstep and there's just no way they're going to win this game. The way I think about this Texas team and the way that I hear Steve Sartesian talk about this Texas team, I would be very surprised if they trotted out under their home field in front of 100 plus thousand fans wearing their colors if they just didn't show up. And they had and they laid one of those eggs and it was one of those clunkers. I just don't get that sense. And that's what Sartesian was talking about with the transfer portal. Yeah, we want the talent, but we also want the right guys and Rahim Bios is an example of that and, you know, so forth with Kim Coleman and the others. If you're running a business in Texas real estate construction, manufacturing, you need to talk to fellow Longhorn Drew Smith at Hubb International. Most companies outro their insurance and never even realize it until a claim gets denied or a gap costs them drew builds tailored programs, not generic quotes. He's gotten denied claims paid in full and saved one real estate portfolio nearly 500,000 dollars through his smart restructuring.

11:08Rates are shifting right now. If your agent's only answer is it's a hard market called Drew Smith, 2103938382. That is 2103938382. Talk to Drew before your renewal, not after. Link in the description. Yeah, a lot of people waiting to kind of live up to what they signed a Texas for you. They didn't come here to play Texas state. They came here because Rahim Bios, a Columbus native came here because not only because of this, but gets a chance to play Ohio State, even though he's playing SEC football. That matters. Cam Coleman comes here because he wants to play at a championship level, with a championship level quarterback in archmaning. We're seeing that. I wanted to end this on bringing up two program players who Sarkey mentioned who will play a really big factor in this game, Tyler. Maybe not true starters, but when it comes to the first guys off the bench, it actually may be the first two guys left the bench on the offensive defensive side of the ball. The Spencer Shannon at tight end and Zeno Mumezulu on the defense. The tight end to 1A1B and then obviously a core rotational ed

12:09russure. Someone asked Sarkey about Spencer Shannon and he goes, I think he might be the most or the best development story on this Texas roster. The one who's made the most difference since day one coming to here now. And then the very next question, the last question of the pressors, how Zena doing. He goes, you know what, he's probably up there in the same conversation. Tyler, it's pretty nice to be able to hear your head coach go from one topic of the superstar transfer players, but also be able to kind of point to some of the development he's done in his time at Texas. Yeah, I don't think this Texas team, we don't talk about the depth without guys like that, right? Because you look at the tight end room and it was a little bit of a question, Mark. And then Spencer, Spencer Shannon, excuse me, comes out in this first game and blocks his tail off in 12 personnel alongside Nick Townsend to begin the game. Texas scores a touchdown running behind them on the left side of that line. And then he makes a, you know, a play late in the game where he kind of puts his body on the line. He's not really the hurtling type, I would say, but he goes up in the air and just like a culture piece because people see that people see that he's been at Texas.

13:14And maybe he's never been like the superstar flash. He type of name or player, but he's out there doing what's asked of him. And Steve Sarkiesian, that's when they're going to get glowing quotes from him is when that guy is doing those types of things just in the name of trying to help the long horns win football games. And then Zina is the same way. And it's really high praise with Zina and Sark mentioned Lance Jackson in this sense as well, but he put them in the same sentence as Colin Simmons. Like those are your edge rushing guys who are going to have to set the edge and get after the quarterback and set, you know, the boundaries for where opposing teams are going to run the ball or where they're not going to run the ball. Like that's what those guys do. And Zina is in that conversation again, just one of those players who does maybe not the flashiest things to help Texas win, but he does a lot to help Texas win. And this football team wouldn't be the same without guys like that. Yeah, I mean, just a really good, a really good end of that press. I felt talking about some of the character that comes to play in these games. And you know, at the end of the day, star power is going to reign supreme in a game like this. But you have to have players playing sound.

14:15And that's what you get from Shannon's what you get from Zina, Meizulu. And then star power could just be regime battles in Camcola. I think Sark said that. Reinvested one of the most impressive plays he'd seen last week when he punched that ball out from the Texas state running back. Thank you so much for watching. Make sure you're going over to inside Texas.com, checking out our awesome, awesome content revolving along the long ones. Tyler and I both have articles up today, maybe even more coming out. So make sure you're checking out all of our previews through how state game. I've been Evan V. Tyler Horker here with me as always. We'll catch you next week on the Inside Texas Press Conference reaction. ATLA Law Group California's injury law firm has taken on many types of cases from slips and falls, accidents, dog bites and other negligence injury cases. We don't back down. We take the fight to court if needed. Have an accident or injury? Contact us now. Text injury help to 4022. That's injury help to 4022. Go to call downtown.com now. It reads and usage. My plot has brought you by for read. Jakubto S.W.R. Downtown LA. I'm going to be number two eight two four seven six five forty South Santa Fe Los Angeles prior results to not guarantee a similar outcome.

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16:18So Hilton called to me the superstition concierge to make your fan rituals a reality. Need a room to match your lucky number? We got you. Want to make sure our team doesn't wash your lucky jersey? Oh, that smells lucky. Hilton's unmatched hospitality can keep up with any superstition. Even a marching bandwink up call it 555 and 55 seconds. Hit it! When you need a team that will do whatever it takes on game day, it matters where you stay. Hilton, for this day. Three o'clock, kids are home. Your to-do list isn't done. New craft mac and cheese power mac was made for days like this. Craft mac and cheese power mac packs the same irresistible creamy, cheesy flavor you love. Now with 17 grams of protein and six grams of fiber. Fuels you up? Keeps you going. Because your day doesn't stop. Craft mac and cheese power mac. Find it at your favorite retailer. The best thing ever keeps getting better.