Steve Sarkisian Believes in Longhorns' Fourth-Quarter Stamina

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian credits the team's fourth-quarter play to strength and conditioning in the offseason.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian takes the field for warm up at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. / Junfu Han/Detroit Free Press / USA TODAY NETWORK

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday he credits the win at Michigan to the strength and conditioning work the Longhorns did in the offseason. The hard work enabled them to get through the difficult part of the game: the fourth quarter.

He said the stamina to withstand the Michigan Wolverines potent attack is a direct credit to what Director of Football Performance Torre Becton cooks up in the offseason.

"I think what Coach Becton and our strength and conditioning staff do in summer conditioning is we push our guys, and the second half of our workouts are always the hardest part of the workouts," Sarkisian said. "When we practice in spring ball, when we practice in training camp, the hardest part of our practice is at the end, because we try to instill in them that we need to be at our best, when our best is needed, even though it's at it's hardest moment."

Nov 11, 2023; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns Director of Football Performance Torre Becton warms up the team in the hallway before taking the field to compete against TCU Horned Frogs in an NCAA college football game, Saturday, November. 11, 2023, at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ricardo B. Brazziell-Imagn Images / Ricardo B. Brazziell-Imagn Images

Sarkisian said he purposely makes the hardest part of the practice towards the end. He wants the team to be as fresh at the end of a game as they are in the beginning.

"We do a lot of our competitive work at the end, after they've already gotten fatigued," Sarkisian said. "I think part that there's a phyical conditioning and physical tougness aspect...But there is also a mental toughness side to it, keeping your mental intensity.

In the fourth quarter, the Michigan lineman had their hands on their hips. Meanwhile, Texas lineman were fresh and ready and had the stamina to defeat the Wolverines and the battle of fatigue. It also did not hurt the Longhorns they have a dearth of linemen to rotate throughout the game.

"There's an old adage 'fatigue makes us cowards of all of us,''" Sarkisian said. "And so the point is we have to make sure that we stay mentally sharp, mentally focused and have that mental toughness, to persevere and be resilient when times get tough and times get tough in the fourth quarter."