On Saturday evening, the Texas football program got back into the win column with a narrow home win over the Ole Miss Rebels. While the Longhorns relinquished a big lead in this one, they ultimately found ways to make the plays they needed to down the stretch, and got a crucial stop as time expired to cement the win.
After the game, head coach Steve Sarkisian channeled the late Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant when describing his team's approach to the game.
“Now is not the time for a relief syndrome. Now is the time for a Mamba mentality. And nobody did it better than Kobe,” he said, per Tyler Horka of Inside Texas on X, formerly Twitter.
He also spoke on the Longhorns' mindset moving forward into the rest of the season.
“We can't think down the road too far. We can't think about what just happened…We're focused on what's right in front off us,” he said.
Texas and Sarkisian were in need of a big win on Saturday in order to quiet down some of the immense criticism the program was facing in the wake of its recent home loss to the Florida Gators. There was also some real pressure on quarterback Arch Manning, who had seen his play start to taper off significantly in the SEC portion of the schedule this year.
Article Continues BelowHowever, both Sarkisian and Manning quieted down the haters, at least for the time being, with the Longhorns' performance against Ole Miss, holding on to beat one of the top teams in the country.
Next up for Texas is a home game against Mississippi State on Halloween.