After a lengthy break, No. 3 Texas ready to resume playing in the 2024 Sugar Bowl
NEW ORLEANS — The arrival of the Texas football team at the Louis Armstrong International Airport on Wednesday afternoon may have seemed like a scene from a movie.
There was a brass band playing as Texas senior Christian Jones led the team off the airplane while waving a burnt orange flag. Beads were handed out. Head coach Steve Sarkisian even answered questions in an abandoned terminal that had previously been converted into a film set.
The Longhorns, though, aren’t coming to a theater near you anytime soon. You can instead catch No. 3 Texas (12-1) at the Superdome on Jan. 1 for a Sugar Bowl semifinal showdown with No. 2 Washington (13-0).
"We've been prepping for this since the Big 12 championship," senior receiver Jordan Whittington said. "We're here now, it's getting closer so the anticipation is building up, but same game we've been playing. We're just going to do what we've been doing and stick to what we know."
Among the items that Texas packed for its short flight was a seven-game winning streak. Earlier this month, Texas ran over Oklahoma State in the Big 12 championship game.
The stakes, however, are much higher over the next few days. Is Texas, a first-time qualifier for the College Football Playoff, ready?
"We've had a lot of big games throughout the season and we showed up," UT linebacker Jaylan Ford said. "We've improved when we needed to, we've learned from our mistakes. I think no team is out there (that's more) focused and ready to go than we are."
Due to academic finals and some scheduled days off, the Longhorns have had plenty of down time since the Big 12 championship game on Dec. 2. Texas resumed practicing on Dec. 15 and then took another short break for the holiday.
"We came back the last two days and had two really good days of work," Sarkisian said. "I liked the mentality, so I feel good about where we're at. I know that the hay is not in the barn for us. We've got work to do this week while we're here to put ourselves in the best position to be successful."
But the Longhorns still plan on enjoying their time in New Orleans. Whittington was going to use Wednesday as his day to try out the local cuisine. Ford was looking forward to spending time with his teammates away from Austin.
But in the end, this is a business trip. The Longhorns understand that the football must outweigh the fun. Sarkisian said he thinks that the Longhorns play well when they're loose, but that these players know that "when it's time to really be focused and locked in, they have the ability to do that."
"We've got to give the game the respect it deserves," Whittington said. "All the external things are really cool, so we'll get to see it, we'll get to experience it. But other than that, you've got to respect the game because it demands it. We're here to play a football game. At the end of the day, you've got to figure out what you want more. We all know what we want, which is to play a football game.
"The other stuff is cool as far as the city and stuff like that, but we're kind of locked in."
The champions of the Pac-12 conference, Washington arrived in New Orleans on Tuesday night.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football team arrives in New Orleans for Sugar Bowl showdown
