Sarkisian Abruptly Ends ESPN Interview After Texas Comeback

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian abruptly ended a live postgame interview with ESPN reporter Holly Rowe on Saturday night, shouting "Texas fight, Hook em!" and walking off the field moments after his team completed a historic 24-23 comeback victory over No. 1 Ohio State. The incident, which occurred after Hollywood Smothers scored the decisive one-yard touchdown with 25 seconds remaining, quickly went viral and drew criticism from media figures, including ESPN's Paul Finebaum, who said Sarkisian "treated her like trash." The awkward scene was compounded by earlier technical difficulties during the broadcast. At halftime, with Texas trailing 20-3, a planned interview with Sarkisian was disrupted by audio equipment failures. ESPN's Laura Rutledge later apologized on air, stating the network, not Sarkisian, was responsible for the breakdown. A Texas spokesperson later explained that Sarkisian was dealing with a broken headset connection after the game and could not hear production cues, contributing to his exit. The postgame moment risked overshadowing a remarkable on-field performance.