Ahead of Texas’ matchup with Ole Miss, Steve Sarkisian made it clear Monday that he has plenty of respect for Pete Golding’s program.
Sarkisian praised the Rebels’ toughness, physicality and balance, highlighting quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, running back Kewan Lacy and a defense he described as big, disruptive and difficult to attack.
He also pointed to Ole Miss’ three top-25 wins as evidence of the team’s quality, noting that Golding’s players compete hard in all three phases and have responded well throughout a demanding SEC schedule.
The overall message from Sarkisian was simple: Texas is preparing for one of its toughest challenges of the season.
Here’s the portions of Sarkisian’s press conference where he talked about Ole Miss on Monday.
Steve Sarkisian, Texas Head Coach
On Ole Miss during opening statement…
And we got a very good opponent in Ole Miss. Pete Golding has done a fantastic job since taking over at Ole Miss. They’re a really good offensive football team. Trinidad Chambliss is a fantastic player. Kewan Lacey. Explosive at the wide receiver spot. They’re a very good defensive football team. They’re big up front. Echoles is a fantastic player, but he’s not the only one. They’ve got a big front, and they’re sticky in coverage in the back end. So it’s a heck of a challenge, but honestly, I wouldn’t want it any other way.
On the biggest difference between Pete Golding’s Ole Miss vs. that of Lane Kiffin…
I don’t know. We didn’t play Lane’s teams. I watched them from afar, and Lane’s a heck of a coach. I think obviously with Pete’s group and what they were able to do in the playoffs when he took over in a very unique situation to what they’ve done to start this season, Pete’s teams play hard. It’s on the tape. They play hard in all three phases. Clearly, they have a dynamic quarterback. That didn’t change from last year to this year. They believe in running the ball. Lacey’s a heck of a player running the ball. So I don’t know the difference of it. I just know what they look like now, and they’ve got a very good football team.
But it’s funny, it’s ironic, because I think they have three top 25 wins. They have one loss, and that was to the same Florida team we played last week at the Swamp. And so I just think it speaks to the parity of the conference that we’re in, that there’s a lot of good players, and you’ve got to be ready week to week. And I don’t know what Pete thought about the Florida game. That’s a good question for him, of why that game was so different for them, as opposed to the way they played last week versus Missouri, who’s a very good football team, who had been hot coming into that game.
And so I think that just speaks to the volume of you’ve got to be ready in this week, right? Any given Saturday, right? Anybody can show up and get you, but he’s done a heck of a job. And Pete and I are very good friends. I’ve got a ton of respect for him. He’s doing a great job.
