Steve Sarkisian wasn’t about to let CJ Vogel forget about his prediction.
The Texas coach was basking in Friday night’s 27-17 upset over Texas A&M when he decided to have a little fun with Vogel, the On Texas Football beat writer who picked the Aggies to win 38-31. And Sarkisian made sure to do it right at the start of his postgame press conference, just as Vogel was getting ready to ask a question.
“By the way, CJ picked us to lose tonight, if anybody was wondering,” Sarkisian announced.
“I did, indeed,” Vogel said. “Thanks for rehashing that one.”
“The team knows that, too, CJ, just so you’re aware.”
After the callout, Vogel asked his question about the Ryan Wingo double pass. Texas had opened its offensive attack with a screen pass to Wingo for five straight games, something predictable enough that people were noticing the pattern. This time, they added a double pass wrinkle that actually worked.
Vogel handled it well, at least publicly. He posted on X afterward that he has no issue being wrong with predictions or takes, noting that it comes with the territory. He made it clear he’s not going to sugarcoat anything just because of the team he covers, and if people want blind predictions that Texas will win every game, his account isn’t the place to find them.
That’s actually the right approach. Vogel’s job is to cover Texas football honestly, not to be a cheerleader. He thought A&M would win, he said it, and he was wrong. That happens. The fact that Sarkisian called him out for it doesn’t change the fact that Vogel was doing his job.
It’s similar to what happened with Zach Sweet at Missouri earlier this season. Sweet, a student reporter for the Columbia Missourian, picked Kansas to beat Mizzou 30-27. After Missouri won 42-31, head coach Eli Drinkwitz and safety Daylan Carnell called him out in the postgame press conference, with Drinkwitz saying it was a “really poor take” and Carnell telling Sweet to “stop cheering for KU.”
Sweet handled it well, too, owning the bad prediction while clarifying he wasn’t rooting against his school.
The difference here is that Sarkisian kept it lighthearted.
“And I’m just messing with you, CJ,” Texas’ head coach later added. “You guys all have a job to do.”
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.