Texas’s return trip to Baton Rouge was erased by COVID-19.
The Longhorns were set to invade a year after Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson and the national champions emerged from Austin winners in September of 2019.
That never happened, and four years later the Longhorns joined the SEC. On November 14, the rematch finally happens.
Circumstances are quite different now. It obviously a league game. Steve Sarkisian was at Alabama in 2019. Lane Kiffin was at Florida Atlantic The former Crimson Tide assistants will lead their teams out of the Tiger Stadium tunnels that day.
Two of the biggest and most successful brands in college sports will finally meet in Tiger Stadium, and it could pack serious playoff possibilities into the middle of November.
REPLACING PROS
Texas lost a lot from its 9-3 team.
Six Longhorns were drafted. Four of those were defensive starters taken in the top five rounds including linebackers Anthony Hill and Trey Moore. Six more players signed undrafted free agent deals.
This is not the exodus of the 2025 draft which saw 12 Longhorns drafted including three first rounders, but Sarkisian is accumulating a lot of professional talent. Restocking those shelves every year is a challenge.
ARCH MADNESS
The hype for Arch Manning was out of control that summer, and he didn’t live up to it for a couple of months. He threw for just 170 yards at Ohio State, a brutal place to take the reins of an offense. Against UTEP two weeks later he completed 44 percent of his throws and turned the ball over for the third consecutive game. Two more interceptions followed in a loss at Florida.
He didn’t really turn the corner until the Mississippi State game at the end of October. From that point forward, he was fantastic.
Over the final six games, Manning threw for an average of 286 yards and a total of 15 touchdowns. He ran for five more, and Texas went 5-1. Now, he’s atop most draft boards again.
The expectation for Sarkisian and Manning is a championship. This is the coach who turned the program around and the quarterback whose recruitment was at the center of it. In what could be Manning’s final college season, it’s now or never for that duo.
TRAVELING TEXAS
The Longhorns are going to play in front of a lot of disapproving fans this year. They do host Ohio State in September, but they’ll leave Austin to play in front of 102,000 in Knoxville, 102,000 in Baton Rouge and 103,000 in College Station. Not to mention the 92,000 seat Cotton Bowl will have plenty of Oklahoma crimson.
Those games are no joke away from Darrell K. Royal Stadium. Many think Texas got an easy draw in their first SEC season in 2024. Not this time around. Ole Miss comes to Austin fresh off a national semifinal appearance, too.
Texas will have plenty of talent. But the expectations and the schedule will be tough to blend together.
