Longhorns WR Xavier Worthy Ready to Match Sarkisian's Energy vs. Alabama

If the Texas Longhorns want to have a chance at toppling Alabama on the road, they'll need Xavier Worthy to be elite as a player and leader.

AUSTIN, Texas -- According to Texas Longhorns receiver Xavier Worthy, coach Steve Sarkisian shifted his focus to Saturday's road meeting with the Alabama Crimson Tide as soon as Texas had secured its season-opening 37-10 win over the Rice Owls.

Sarkisian continues to insist that the Longhorns are focused on nothing but themselves ahead of arguably their biggest game of the season. But behind the scenes, he's pumping his players up for a highly talented opponent, something he instilled in Worthy after the Rice win.

"I'm talking about like right when we got in the locker room, Sark’s after game speech is 'My feet are in Bryant-Denny Stadium,’” Worthy said on Saturday. “So I feel like we need to match his energy and be where he’s at."

© Ricardo B. Brazziell, Austin American-Statesman

As a former Alabama assistant with close ties to Nick Saban, Sarkisian has some understandable extra motivation for this game. And who wouldn't? This familiarity along with how Texas' 20-19 loss to the Tide ended last season gives Sark and the Longhorns every reason to feel fired up.

As for Worthy, he's emerged as a true leader for this team. Based on his talented play, new-found voice, and experience playing the Tide last season, there's no one better to "match the energy" of Sarkisian.

Though the deep connection with Worthy and Quinn Ewers still felt a bit rocky against Rice, the strong rapport between the pair was obvious. Worthy led all receivers with seven catches for 90 yards while adding on a 21-yard punt return.

If the Longhorns want to have a chance at toppling Bama on the road, they'll need Worthy to be elite as a player and leader. Luckily, he made it clear as soon as the Rice game ended where the expected energy level should be at. ... Now it's time to see who's going to follow suit.