"College football got this one right": Texas HC Steve Sarkisian has a positive review on the playoffs despite the widespread criticism

There's been a lot of criticism of the 12-team College Football Playoff since the commencement of the first round but Steve Sarkisian has a different view. The Texas coach had something positive to say about the new format, which hasn't impressed many so far.

In the postgame press conference following the 38-24 win against Clemson, Steve Sarkisian appreciated the atmosphere at the Darrell K Royal Stadium on Saturday. The coach narrated what the experience looked like and believed it was a positive for the college football world.

“What an environment for college football this was,” Sarkisian said. “From the moment we pulled up on the busses, our Bevo walk, you could feel the energy. The crowd was tremendous. It was a great atmosphere. I think college football got this one right. “

“As much as we critique some of the things that are happening in our game right now, this idea of a home playoff game with this 12-team format – this was pretty special, and one that we were humbled and honored to be part of here at DKR. So I hope everybody enjoyed that, because we surely did.”

Steve Sarkisian is excited to advance to the quarterfinals

The win on Saturday takes Texas to the quarterfinals of the playoffs. This places the Longhorns two games away from the national championship game, scheduled to be held at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 20.

Taking the first step towards the ultimate goal, Sarkisian was excited at the success of his team. The SEC championship game loss was a major setback for the Longhorns, but they overcame that and secured a brilliant victory over Clemson.

“I’m really proud of this group because nobody hung their head coming out of Atlanta,” Sarkisian said. “It was, ‘Okay, let’s go on to the next mission. Let’s go win four more games, and you can’t win four until you win the first one. We were able to do that, so now, we gotta win three more.”

“You can’t win three more if you don’t win the next one, so we’ll handle it accordingly with some time for the players over Christmas break, and game plan with the coaches, and make sure that we’re ready to go come Jan. 1.”

Texas is now set to face Arizona State in the Peach Bowl. The Sun Devils had a bye in the first round and will open their playoff campaign against the Longhorns. While Steve Sarkisian's team is expected to be a favorite in the game, they will be wary of a potential upset.