AUSTIN, Texas — “Winning is hard,” fiery linebackers coach Jeff Choate told the No. 21 Texas Longhorns after an impressive 38-18 win over the No. 23 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in the debut for new Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian.
But something strange happened on Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium — winning looked easy for the Longhorns, a rarity in a lost decade that featured the failure and subsequent termination of three head coaches. Sarkisian’s team showed substantial room for improvement, but it also played complementary football across the offense, defense, and special teams, flashing Sarkisian’s ability to work with defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks to tie together all three phases.