Texas' Steve Sarkisian sorry for missing 'The Eyes of Texas'

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After the Longhorns lost to Oklahoma State, Steve Sarkisian apologized for not singing "The Eyes of Texas" before he left the field.

Sarkisian apologized to Longhorn Nation. I made a mistake at the end of the game by not singing "The Eyes of Texas" It wasn't intentional. It wasn't something that had to do with our players. Our players were upset by the way the game ended and followed me up the ramp into the locker room.

Over the past few years, the song has been the subject of a controversy as the school has claimed that the song's origin is tied to a blackface show. Tom Herman was criticized for allowing his players to sing.

He made a strong statement at his introductory news conference that it will not be a question going forward.

He said that "The Eyes of Texas" is the school song. We are going to sing it. We are going to sing that proud.

Only a few players stayed on the field for the song after the loss.

"Sakisian said that." I apologized to everyone. It won't happen again. It was not planned. It wasn't planned in any way. It was a mistake that I made. There's nothing to do with the players. My lead was followed by them. That will not happen again.

The Longhorns had 14 penalties in their loss to the Cowboys and lost a 14-point lead in the second quarter. The Longhorns blew a double-digit lead for the fifth time in as many games when they lost to USC. The Longhorns' road losing streak was their second longest in the past 80 years.

Sarkisian is not worried about the trend.

"It's easy to see the record," said the Texas coach. We've made a lot of progress as a program. I'm very pleased with where we're at. Our style of play makes me happy. We play hard. We are a work in progress, like a lot of programs. Our record is different because a couple balls bounce different ways. I don't think I have to change how I feel about our program.

He spoke about Saturday's struggles by the quarterback, who went 19-of-49 for 319 yards, with two touchdown to three picks. In the last three seasons, his overthrows have been the most.

Is it possible that some of the responsibility for the passing game falls on him? Sarkisian said yes. I take some of the responsibility. Everybody has to assume their own responsibility for the things that fall on them. There's room to grow.

He didn't consider benching Ewers for Hudson Card.

"I think he's wired the right way," he said. He would love to play better than he did.

Before traveling to Kansas State, Texas has a bye.