Texas Coach Runs Off Camera To Celebrate Historic Comeback

Steve Sarkisian, head coach of the Texas Longhorns, became an internet sensation this past Saturday. His team pulled off a stunning 24-23 comeback against Ohio State. During the postgame interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe, Sarkisian suddenly sprinted away from the camera. He shouted, "That's called Texas fight! That's called Texas fight! Hook 'em!" before running back to the locker room to celebrate with his players.

At that exact moment, Rowe had not even finished asking her first question. She appeared quite upset as she quickly darted out of the view after Sarkisian left. Sarkisian later explained his actions ahead of the next game against UTSA. He noted a delay occurred after he greeted Coach Day on the field. Through that pause, he simply wanted to go celebrate with his team immediately.

"We just had a 21-point fourth-quarter comeback against the No. 1 team in the country," Sarkisian said via On Texas Football. "If hindsight's 20/20, if I could do it all over again, I would have exuded more patience in that moment and sat through and waited for the interview with Holly."

He added that he holds a ton of respect for ESPN and Holly Rowe. He did not mean to let the moment get the better of him. "Holly and I go way back to even my days of playing at BYU, and we've got a great relationship," Sarkisian stated. "ESPN is a great partner of ours."

Social media users ran with this viral moment quickly. They created AI versions showing Sarkisian slapping Rowe before running off the field. These manipulated videos caused quarterback Arch Manning trouble. He had to issue an apology to Rowe on Tuesday after calling those fake clips hilarious during his Monday press conference.

Manning, who led the Longhorns back in the second half on Saturday night, apologized for his comments. He called them insensitive and said he will be more thoughtful going forward. Rowe accepted his apology. Sarkisian reinforced that violence against women is never condoned by their program or individually by Arch Manning. He believes if Arch could take it back, he would.

Trouble also arose after the first half involving ESPN's Laura Rutledge. Her crew faced technical difficulties that irked the Texas head coach. This frustration led him to rush back to the locker room instead of waiting for Ohio State in the second half. Rutledge was even spotted sprinting toward the tunnel to reach Sarkisian. She found he had already headed inside. She acknowledged his patience during the initial delay, though that patience wore thin once ESPN's technical issues dragged on too long.

In the end, both Sarkisian and Manning offered their apologies. The Longhorns are now ready to move on as one of the AP poll's top teams in the country after their victory.