By admin 
Steve Sarkisian didn’t have time to wait around on Saturday with his team down 20-3 to Ohio State at halftime.
Read more Sunday Night Football DFS Showdown Strategy: It’s Time for Javonte Williams Season
In the midst of the Longhorns’ full-blown crisis vs. Buckeyes last night, cameras cut to ESPN’s Laura Rutledge for what was supposed to be a quick chat between her and the Longhorns coach.
However, all fans saw was Coach Sark speeding back to UT’s locker room with Rutledge being left to answer for why they weren’t able to hear from the Texas coach after a brutal performance to that point.
Laura Rutledge explains reason for no Steve Sarkisian interview at halftime
Once ABC wrapped up on Ryan Day’s conversation with Holly Rowe, fans were expecting to hear something from Sarkisian in the midst of Texas’ first-half disaster.
But as Rutledge explained, the UT coach waited as long as he could before having to get back in front of his team to make the necessary halftime adjustments.
“Alright, we actually just lost Sark because he had to go,” Rutledge relayed back to Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit in the booth. “I’m sorry about that, you guys. He waited for a long time. Credit to him for waiting. We’ll try to get him on the way out of the half.”
Read more Patriots Get Bad News on A.J. Brown’s Injury Timeline
Laura Rutledge makes feelings on missed Sark interview clear
While many assumed the situation was just a coach getting in their feelings and not giving a reporter the time of day, Rutledge wanted viewers to know that it was more the network’s mistake than anything else.
“I do want to make sure we clear something up,” Rutledge shared. “[Steve Sarkisian] did decline the interview at the half. He had waited a long time, been very patient with some technical issues that we had.”
“He apologized to us. We should be apologizing to him, which we did,” she added. “But that’s exactly what happened, just in case anyone at home is wondering.”
Sark also took some heat for his postgame interview (or lack thereof) with Holly Rowe after pulling off the comeback — which some fans called “classless” on the part of the UT coach.
Read more Michael Strahan’s Girlfriend: All We Know About Kayla Quick
Copyright The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published September 13, 2026 at 7:46 AM.