Getty Head Coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns celebrates after defeating the Texas A&M Aggies.
Longhorns Coach Steve Sarkisian successfully defused tensions by protecting the Texas A&M logo after his team’s big win over the Aggies on November 30. The classy move came after four other college games ended in brawls earlier in the day.
When Michigan beat Ohio State, a brawl broke out after a Wolverines player attempted to plant a banner on the Buckeyes logo. And when NC State beat UNC, a brawl broke out there too when NC attempted to plant their flag in the middle of the field. Fights also broke out between Florida and Florida State and between Arizona State and Arizona, Athlon Sports reported.
But Sarkisian didn’t want any part of that. When the Longhorns rushed the field after their big win, and at least one player could be seen kicking up dirt over the A&M logo, Sarkisian rushed in, shaking his head scoldingly and motioning the players away from the field.
Ari Wasserman of On3 referred to the Longhorns as “stomping” on the field after the game. But Bob Ballou of CBS Austin praised Sarkisian for “preventing World War III.”
Longhorns Players Rushed to the A&M Logo After They Won, With At Least One Player Kicking Up Dirt
GettyQuinn Ewers #3 and Coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns celebrate with teammates and the fans after defeating the Texas A&M.
The Longhorns beat A&M 17 to 7. The game featured electrifying moments from both sides, including Arch Manning scoring a touchdown in a surprise play near the beginning of the game, and the Aggies scoring their own touchdown after an interception to avoid a shutout.
After the Longhorns sealed their win, campus police could be seen encircling the A&M logo, perhaps in an attempt to ward off altercations.
On X, quite a few people picked up on the police trying to protect the logo. One person posted: “Aggie police stood on the logo to prevent Texas from going there.🤣🤣🤣 They saw some other football games today I guess.”
But University of Texas players surged to the center of Kyle Field and gathered on top of the A&M logo anyway.
Ari Wasserman of On3 tweeted a video of players rushing to the field and wrote: “Texas team ran to the A&M logo at midfield after the Aggies cleared the field and stomped on it.”
His video showed Longhorns running onto the field and quickly being directed away from the logo by police. Longhorn Andrew Mukuba Sr. could be seen dancing around the field and kicking up dirt.
Sarkisian Quickly Led His Players Back Off the Logo
Sarkisian was quick to ensure that his team’s win wouldn’t end in an altercation like the other games.
The X account “Awful Announcing” (part of the Comeback network), tweeted a video showing Sarkisian stepping onto the field, shaking his head and strongly motioning his players away from the logo in a scolding manner. Everyone quickly followed his lead.
On the video, you can hear Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler praising Sarkisian for his quick thinking.
“Good job by Sark,” they say. “Off the logo. Here we go. Off the logo. No need for that. We can celebrate in other areas. That’s how you handle that.”
“Take your victory and flip it forward,” they also commented.
Bob Ballou of CBS Austin on X also shared a video of Sarkisian defusing tension, and wrote: “What a job by Steve Sarkisian preventing World War III in College Station.”‘
Sarkisian Said He Wanted to Avoid a Brawl Like Michigan & Ohio State
On X, Chris Vannin of The Athletic shared Sarkisian’s explanation for what he did. He noted that Sarkisian said: “I just watched Michigan and Ohio State get in a brawl from my hotel room” and he didn’t want the same thing to happen in his game.
The move was especially important after two employees of A&M and the University of Texas clashed on the field before the game. CJ Vogel of On Texas Football shared a video of the brief altercation. Vogel wrote: “Texas coach comes off field saying: ‘don’t touch my ****** players!'”
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