Sarkisian led Texas to its first win at home against the No. 1 team in the country since 1950. Scott Wachter / Imagn ImagesSept. 12, 2026 Updated 11:55 pm EDTThe biggest regular-season win of the Steve Sarkisian era at Texas had some … technical difficulties.After his scheduled halftime interview with ESPN’s Laura Rutledge was thwarted by some issues, Sarkisian had an awkward exchange with ESPN’s Holly Rowe in the moments following the Longhorns’ memorable 24-23 come-from-behind win over No. 1 Ohio State Saturday night in Austin.As folks in burnt orange began to celebrate the program’s fifth all-time win over a top-ranked opponent, Rowe attempted to begin her postgame interview with Sarkisian but was unable to finish a question. Sarkisian interrupted her and screamed, “Let’s go, Texas fight! Let’s go, Texas fight!” into the microphone before adding “Hook ‘Em!” and walking off.
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— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) September 13, 2026It capped an odd evening with ESPN for the Texas head coach.After a lackluster first half in which the Longhorns trailed the Buckeyes 20-3, Rutledge was unable to ask Sarkisian questions before halftime, as is customary for both coaches during high-profile ESPN/ABC broadcasts, after technical issues kept the Texas coach waiting.Texas completes comeback over Ohio StateChris VanniniRutledge was eventually able to talk to Sarkisian after Texas came out of the locker room to start the second half and clarified what took place at halftime.“I do want to make sure we clear something up: (Sarkisian) did decline the interview at the half,” Rutledge said prior to the start of the third quarter. “He had waited a long time, been very patient with some technical issues that we had. He apologized to us. We should be apologizing to him, which we did.”
