Here's a summary of the biggest topics discussed from Saturday's media day ahead of Texas's matchup with Washington in the Sugar Bowl.

On Culture Wednesdays

"We have an adage that culture beats talent. But culture and talent combined is extremely dangerous," Steve Sarkisian said.

When Sarkisian arrived at Texas in January 2021, he felt lack of talent and lack of resources weren't the issues. 

"I just felt like, culturally, we needed to get better," Sarkisian said. "We needed to get more connected. We needed to get more vulnerable. We needed to get honest with one another so that we played more for one another than playing for ourselves."

But he had to lead by example. That's why he kickstarted the process by being transparent and telling his journey from college quarterback to offensive guru to fired USC coach to his rebirth at Texas.

"I didn't want them to judge me by what y'all wrote," Sarkisian said. "I wanted them to judge me for who I was. And that's why I've always given my story every year. I tell them exactly my story, where I'm from, how I was raised, where I went to school, where I worked, why I went to rehab, all the things that has transpired in my life to get me to this point so that they could get to know Steve [Sarkisian], the man, as well as the coach."

His vulnerability allowed the players to open up about their life stories during "Culture Wednesdays".

"Once he put his life in front of us and he had to gain his trust from us, so it was easy for us to gain our trust from him," senior defensive back Jahdae Barron said. "And he opened up to us, so it made it easy to open up to him, and open up to the other brothers on the team, and then the assistant coaches and other coaches and so on."

"He's been through so much, but it never stopped him, it never stopped his drive," Barron continued. "So he talks about it all the time: It's not what happens to you, it's how you respond. And he responded in the best way possible, and he's turned his life around completely, and I know whatever he went through, it only made him stronger and his family stronger."

"Being able to talk to my coaches about life and problems that we have and how they've been able to relate to them because they've already been in our shoes, been our age, it's pretty cool," senior linebacker Jaylan Ford said.

"He's a real good dude, real good man," Barron said of Sarkisian. "He genuinely cares about us, he cares about all the kids he brings in and things like that, and then genuinely tries to build a connection with you to a standpoint beyond life."

For Texas, the willingness to talk about life outside of football actually produced better on-field results. 

"How does this relate to football? But I believe it does relate to football," Sarkisian said. "I believe that it equates to getting a fourth-down stop against Kansas State. I believe it relates to a third and 12 conversion against TCU. I believe it relates to a fourth-and-one stop against Houston. In those tough moments that you can count on one another, rely on one another, that it's not just about me. It's about everybody doing their part."

On the leaders of the program

Sarkisian took over the Texas program in a whirlwind period for the country coming off the heels of the COVID pandemic and civil unrest after several instances of social injurstice. He's built Texas into a national title contender because of the men who stayed for the entire process.

"Fast forward now three years later, those guys that are still on our team today that were here three years ago all of those guys were critical," Sarkisian said. "Jordan Whittington, T'Vondre Sweat, Byron Murphy, Xavier [Worthy], Jerrin Thompson, Jahdae Barron. I'm naming a few, right? Christian Jones, all those guys that were here, and they're still here when they could have left, could have went in the portal, that stuck it out, those were the guys that bought in that were critical, that are helping our younger players."

"There's two guys I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I think were huge in that, was Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson," Sarkisian said. "Because I thought those guys really carried the flag for what we were trying to do in our program, when very easily, those two guys could have went somewhere else. They committed to this thing."

"And DeMarvion Overshown is in that group," Sarkisian said. "In the end, when we won the Big 12 championship, Roschon and DeMo were there. I said, Man, this is your championship as much as it is these guys that are playing here today, because without those guys, early on, we would not have been able to get to the point where we are today."

For Jaylan Ford, media days provided him and his teammates the opportunity to speak on their four-year journey and the men they've become. 

"It's been pretty cool just to be able to tell our story, speak about our experience and everything we've done since we've been here," Ford said. "It's been a good experience, and I'm excited to go play."

Quinn Ewers's Growth

Quinn Ewers has been surgical in year two as a starter, completing 70 percent of his passes for 3,161 yards, 21 touchdowns and just six interceptions. In his second year in Sark's system, he knows when and where the ball is supposed to go. But that's just half the story.

"When we came out of last year's bowl game, I thought Quinn made a real commitment to become a great player," Sarkisian said. "And we all saw him cut the mullet and shave the beard. But what he did with his diet, the work ethic he had, all-winter conditioning, the separate throwing sessions with the wideouts to really be on the same page with those guys, outside of the work that we're requiring them to do, I think all of that added up to he's played at a high level."

"I tell people this all the time, he cut that mullet off, it's a whole new Quinn," tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders said. "He really stepped up into that leadership role, like how a QB is supposed to be. I'm really thankful for him."

Ewers is calm, cool and collected, not necessarily a rah-rah leader. But he's not afraid to speak up. 

"Quinn is the type of person to talk when needed," wide reciever Xavier Worthy said. "I feel like if we need somebody to kind of get us right, if he sees it, he'll say something."

"I think everyone just has a better understanding of the entire offense as a whole, especially me," Ewers said. "I think when Coach Sark [Steve Sarkisian] calls a play, I think people know the why now. Instead of just going out there and trying to execute a play. I think we all know why he's going to call it."

And Ewers is fine to let people say what they want to say about his performance. 

"We're all human beings; so it doesn't bother me," Ewers said. "Outside opinions don't really affect me. Whenever you focus too much on the bad, you'll get too down. When you focus too much on the good, you'll become complacent about certain things. I don't focus on all that stuff."

Team vibes in NOLA

"I referenced to them yesterday at the end of practice I love their energy and intensity, the practice we've had," Sarkisian said. "I feel like one thing I've enjoyed, a couple of things, the last couple of nights I've gone down around the player hospitality area, and they're all down there together. I think that's a sign of our team, that these guys love to be together. They love hanging with one another. So I do think they're definitely committed to wanting to play really good football Monday night."

"I say this a lot about our team. We're better when we're a little bit loose," Sarkisian said. "I think that's something I had to figure out about this team. There's certain teams that you have got to make sure the screws are really tight on them. There's other teams you need to make sure they have the ability to be loose, the music needs to play because that puts them in the right frame of mind."

"Man, I think this has been the coolest team that I've been around," Ford said. "Especially when half the guys are about to play one of the biggest games of their life. I mean, the vibe is immaculate."

"You've got to have the hard, fast, physical practice," Sanders said."I feel like we've been doing that. Like midseason form practices, if you know what that means. That's why I say I'm very confident in my teammates. We've had some of our best practices the whole season in this stadium, so I'm excited. I think it's the confidence that not only myself, but my teammates have, our staff has. So I think it's just a mindset thing that we've all kind of implemented throughout the team and ourselves, and I think we're all just ready to go out there and show who the Texas Longhorns really are."

Where Washington is dangerous

The night before the game when he's thinking about Washington, Sarkisian is going to be thinking about limiting the explosive plays that can hamper Texas's national title hopes.

"I'm going to call them explosive plays," Steve Sarkisian said. "It's those game-changing plays, whether it's the turnovers, whether it's the explosive pass play, whether it's them creating turnovers on defense. Those impactful five to eight plays that always occur in every game, how do we minimize their explosive plays, right? Whether it's them hitting the long pass, breaking the run, creating the sack fumble, whatever that is, and how do we create our own. I think those are probably going to be some of the defining moments in the game."

That's because Washington has a Heisman-finalist quarterback in Michael Penix Jr, a 1,400-yard receiver in Rome Odunze and a 1,000-yard receiver in Ja'Lynn Polk. But according to Jahdae Barron, Texas isn't in this position by accident.

"Well, not to discredit anything that Washington can do," Barron said. "Washington, they have a lot of explosive guys, but at the end of the day, we've got a lot of explosive guys. So it's going to be good on good. We accept the challenge. We can't wait for the challenge"

But don't forget about Washington's Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line.

"I think with them, it starts with their O-line, obviously, whether they're running the ball or they're passing it," Ford said. "So I think that's been their biggest attribute is having a line like the one they have. And for us, I think we have to do us, be technically sound, making sure everybody's doing their job, and I think we'll be all right."