Kyle Field is tough place to play; Longhorns have been exposed to plenty of hostile environments

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas head football coach Steve Sarkisian knows that Kyle Field and The 12th Man for Texas A&M creates one of the toughest environments for visitors to play, but he's also confident that his upperclassmen will keep their composure.

It's been a long time coming, 13 years to be exact, but the Longhorns and Aggies are finally playing football against each other Saturday in College Station. The stakes are high — the winner plays Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game with almost an assured spot in the College Football Playoff. At the same time, the loser will have to sweat it out until the CFP selection committee's decision comes Dec. 8.

On top of that, it's the Lone Star Showdown, and who doesn't love that? ESPN's College Gameday will be there and staff there may put extra speakers on the sidelines to create more crowd noise.

"We all know Kyle Field is really loud and they have a great fan base. We've seen teams go there and be impacted by the crowd noise," Sarkisian said. "One of the keys is our poise and composure on the road. We have a veteran group on offense."

He used trips to Alabama in 2023 and Michigan this season to discuss how his team has handled hostile environments. He said that from a pre-snap penalty standpoint, they played clean games, so he doesn't expect anything less against the Aggies.

"We have players that have been exposed to some of the most difficult environments in the country," Sarkisian said. "Kyle Field is near the top, if not at the top, of difficult places to play."

Texas has won its last 10 true road games, the longest active streak in the country. It's tough to win on the road, especially in the SEC, and it's even tougher when 100,000-plus fans hate your guts and want to see you fail miserably. Sarkisian said his team doesn't simply flip a switch and it makes them play better on the road, it's a mindset that puts poise and composure into everything they do.

"We work on it all of that time. We don't wait for games like this to do it," Sarkisian said. "We work on it during the summer, in training camp and as the season goes on. There's a level of consistency in our approach to that, and that allows us to feel comfortable talking about poise and composure going into a game like this."

Ewers injury update

Quarterback Quinn Ewers picked up an ankle injury and was visibly limping on the field during the 31-14 win over Kentucky last week. Sarkisian said that factored into his decision to make the Longhorns' final drive all running plays.

The players don't have class this week due to Thanksgiving break, so instead of morning practices, the team is shifting to afternoons. Sarkisian didn't have much information on the status of Ewers' injury and that he'd know more at practice Monday.

"I'll have a better understanding when I see him on the field, but he's planning on practicing so we'll see how it goes," Sarkisian said.