Just when I was ready to give Steve Sarkisian and Texas some credit for the win at Neyland Stadium, he went ahead and said something like this. Right after the Longhorns managed to escape with a 20-17 victory, Sarkisian spoke to the media, and he understandably was all smiles - hey man, we totally get it.
However, his time speaking to the media took an interesting turn when Sarkisian brought up the fact that Tennessee had several players taken off the field due to injury, which, in his eyes, spoke to the level of toughness and fight his guys were showing. What? Indeed, Sarkisian tried using the Tennessee injuries as a way to prop up his group, which is as classless as it gets:
"I think they had eight guys get carted off, so I'm not sure who wrote the article today and what coach said, 'we weren't a physical football team.' They might want to write another article," Sarkisian said in absurd fashion.
Steve Sarkisian had to be joking with his classless comments on the Tennessee injuries
Maybe Sarkisian was trying to make some sort of a different point, but the optics are not great at all. Re-watching the press conference, too, Sarkisian really said this with his chest, which makes things even more unbelievable. The injuries for the Vols got started off early in the first half, with left guard Wendell Moe Jr. hurting his left ankle.
Moe was on the ground for several minutes before being helped off the field and then making his way back to the locker room. Not long after, Faizon Brandon was forced to miss some time after hurting his shoulder while fighting for extra yards. Hearts dropped when Brandon got injured, but thankfully he was able to return to the contest.
Apparently, per Sark, Moe, Brandon, and others getting dinged up for the Vols put an extra spotlight on how 'tough' Tennessee is. His guys always battle, and the idea of them being 'soft' was no more because of Tennessee studs also giving their all, but getting banged up at the same time. Really, dude?
Sarkisian has done wonderful things with the Longhorns, and there's a reason they're the No. 1 team in the country. Despite that, acting like 18-22 year old playmakers for the opposition being in agonizing pain due to hits from his Texas studs somehow elevates their play is comical. Matter of fact, it's disappointing that Sarkisian decided to go down this road in the first place.
This was a back-and-forth meeting between the Vols and Longhorns. Again, we'll tip our hats to Texas for surviving and making the necessary plays late to close things out. Unfortunately, it's a bit disappointing that we're even talking about what Sark said postgame. He's simply got to know better than this moving forward.
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