Sarkisian fired up for Longhorns’ home opener vs. San Jose State

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns are only guaranteed six home games this season — although they could play a seventh if they host a College Football Playoff game — and the home schedule begins Saturday morning against San Jose State.

Out of all the topics in this exclusive interview with Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian for Texas GameDay, the thought of Saturday’s home opener got him most excited.

“It’s awesome, first time you’ve brought a smile to my face this whole interview,” Sarkisian said. “It’s great, we’re so looking forward to it, we don’t get many of these, we work really hard all year long for these opportunities we get. We want to make sure we embrace it, embrace our fans, they’re a huge part of what we do and the success we’ve had over the years. We want to make sure we put a product on the field that they’re proud of.”

Sarkisian also spoke about how his team has approached this week of practice after the disappointment of the Ohio State loss and what he wants to see from quarterback Arch Manning after some offensive struggles against the Buckeyes.

“I just think continue to build on the things he (Manning) did well Saturday and there were things he did well that I was proud of him, there was definitely some things that I know that he can improve upon from the game, and I think he will.”

Manning was 5-for-10 for 26 yards passing in the first half and then went 12-for-20 with 144 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the second half.

The entire interview can be seen on Texas GameDay, which airs live Saturday at 10 a.m. on KBVO. This year, the show will be live from Bevo Boulevard right next to Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.