COLLEGE FOOTBALL PRIME TIME: #1 TEXAS AT #14 TENNESSEE
TEXAS NOTES:
• No. 1/1 Texas Football (2-0) will make its first-ever trip to Knoxville, Tenn., for its SEC opener against No. 14/13 Tennessee at 11 a.m. CT Saturday, Sept. 26, at Neyland Stadium. The game will broadcast on ABC with Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) and Holly Rowe (reporter) on the call. • ESPN’s College GameDay will broadcast live from Tennesse’s campus for the matchup against the Texas on Sept. 26. The show will air for three hours from 8-11 a.m. CT, hosted by Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, Pat McAffee, Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit and other ESPN personalities. Including eight visits to the Red River Rivalry and 10 road/neutral site appearances, Texas’ Week 4 game at Tennessee will be the 30th time the GameDay set and its show will be a prominent fixture at a Texas game. • Texas remains the No. 1 ranked team in this week’s AP and Coaches polls. It’s Texas’ 52nd appearance at No. 1. • Texas has won 12-consecutive home games at DKRTexas Memorial Stadium, the fourth-longest streak in the FBS. • Texas has won four-consecutive home contests against ranked opponents (No. 1/1 Ohio State on Sept. 13, No. 3/3/3 Texas A&M, No. 9/11 Vanderbilt on Nov. 1 and No. 13/13/16 Clemson in 2024), which ties for the longest active streak in the FBS. • Texas finished the 2025 season with a 10-3 record, highlighted by three wins over top-10 opponents in a season where the Longhorns faced five top-10 teams – both were the most of any FBS program. Texas ended the season with a 41-27 victory vs. No. 18/17/18 Michigan in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31 in Orlando. • Under Sarkisian, Texas has turned in three-straight 10-win seasons, marking the first time the Horns have recorded three-consecutive 10-win seasons since registering nine-straight from 2001-09. • In addition to its third-straight 10-win season and top15 ranking, the season featured a fourth-straight top-25 final ranking for the first time since 2006-09. It is also the first time Texas has put together three-consecutive 10-win seasons since 2007-09. • Texas’ 11 wins against top-25 opponents, including six against the top-10, since 2024 are the most of any FBS program. • 2025 featured wins over Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Arkansas in the same season in back-to-back years for the first time since 1969-70. The Longhorns concluded the season winning seven of its last eight games.
• Texas currently boasts 974 all-time wins, the fifth-most in college football history. UT holds an all-time record of 974-398-33 (.705). • Head coach Steve Sarkisian has led his programs to postseason appearances in nine of his 12 seasons as a head coach, including a current streak of four-straight postseason appearances while at Texas. Sarkisian guided the Longhorns to back-to-back CFP Playoff Semifinal appearances in 2023 and 2024 – the only program to advance to the CFP Semifinals in both of those years. In 2022, the Longhorns finished 8-5 with an Alamo Bowl appearance. He led Washington to four-straight bowl games following the 2010-13 seasons and guided USC to the Holiday Bowl in 2014. His Washington team played in the 2013 Fight Hunger Bowl, a game he did not coach in after taking over the Trojans’ program. Sarkisian was the head coach for the Huskies’ Alamo Bowl appearance against Baylor in 2011. • Steve Sarkisian holds a 50-20 record at Texas and an 96-55 mark in 13 seasons as a head coach.
SERIES HISTORY • Texas and Tennessee will meet for just the fourth time in history and first time since 1969 on Saturday. The Longhorns lead the all-time series, 2-1. • It’ll mark Texas’ first trip to Neyland Stadium to face the Volunteers. • The three previous matchups between Texas and Tennessee were at the Cotton Bowl.
A TEXAS WIN WOULD • Move Texas’ record to 4-0 on the season and 1-0 in SEC play. • Claimed Texas’ second ranked victory of the season in four games. • Give Texas a 3-1 series advantage against Tennessee. • Claim Texas’ 974th all-time win. • Secured Steve Sarkisian his 98th victory as a head coach and 52nd at Texas in his 154th career game as a head coach. • Increase Texas’ win streak to seven-straight games with four of those wins coming against ranked opponents.
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TENNESSEE NOTES:
• CHECKER NEYLAND SEC OPENER: No. 14/13 Tennessee clashes with top-ranked Texas in the SEC opener for both teams that will see a sold-out Checker Neyland crowd at noon ET on ABC. Checker Neyland showcases UT’s iconic checkerboard pattern through Neyland Stadium, which will be sold out for the 30th consecutive game dating back to 2022. This is the Volunteers’ first noon ABC kickoff inside Neyland Stadium since Sept. 19, 1992, when they beat Florida. Tennessee is 2-3 in SEC openers under head coach Josh Heupel, and it is 3-18 all-time against No. 1 ranked teams in any poll. The Vols, who were picked to finish eighth in the SEC, are 3-0 for the third time in five years, following wins over Furman, at Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State. They have won five of their last six regular season contests. Texas was picked to finish second in the SEC and owns a signature 20-point comeback win over then-No. 1 Ohio State, 24-23, in Austin. This is just the fourth meeting all-time between the two teams and the first-ever regular season meeting. The previous three occurred in Cotton Bowls (1951, ’53, ’69), with Texas winning the last two. • 3-0 START: Tennessee rushed for 268 yards and limited Kennesaw State to three field goals and no touchdowns en route to a 42-9 win Saturday night in Neyland Stadium. So. RB Daune Morris notched his first career 100-yard rushing game with 116 yards on 14 carries, including a 42-yard score in the third quarter. Fr. QB Faizon Brandon finished with 225 yards of total offense and two touchdowns. He was 18- of-26 through the air for 178 yards and one touchdown. He rushed for 47 yards on 11 carries with one score. The Vols limited KSU to 102 yards on the ground. Sr. LB Arion Carter led the way with a game-high eight tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss. Jr. LB Edwin Spillman added five tackles and a forced fumble. • HEUPEL ERA: Josh Heupel is in his sixth season at the helm and is the longest tenured UT coach since Phillip Fulmer coached from the end of 1992 through 2008. Since taking over a program that was 3-7 prior to his arrival, Heupel owns a 48-20 record, 11 victories over Top 25 teams, two New Year’s Six berths and a College Football Playoff berth. The 11 ranked wins since 2021 are tied for seventh among active FBS head coaches during that span. Heupel’s .706 winning percentage is the second-highest by a Vol coach in the last five decades. This is Heupel’s ninth season as an FBS head coach, and his 76 victories since the start of the 2018 season are tied for fifth nationally among active FBS head coaches. With his next victory, Heupel would tie College Football Hall of Famer Bowden Wyatt for fifth in UT all-time wins. Wyatt was 49-29-4.
• OFFENSIVE JUGGERNAUT: Tennessee is averaging 38.9 ppg and 451.5 yards of total offense per game in the Josh Heupel era (68 games, 2021-present). The Vols have gone over 400 yards of total offense in all three games this season and in 16 of their last 17 regular season games, which dates back to Nov. 23, 2024. The only time it did not during that regular-season stretch was against Vandy last year (382). The Vols are averaging 208.5 yards per game rushing since Heupel took over, a mark that leads the SEC. So far this season, UT is seventh in the FBS and third in the SEC in scoring (47.7), and it is 14th in the FBS and fifth in the SEC in total offense (510.3). The Vols are averaging 298.7 ypg on the ground, which is first in the SEC and fourth in the FBS. UT is a perfect 11-of-11 in red zone conversions this season offensively (10-of-11 TD). • PENN STATE CONNECTION: UT’s defensive statistical leaders are all Penn State transfers under DC Jim Knowles. The Vols’ leader in total tackles is Sr. LB Amare Campbell (17), and their leader in sacks (3.0 – 3rd SEC) and TFLs (5.5 – 3rd SEC) is Jr. DT Xavier Gilliam. Jr. S Dejuan Lane has a team-high 3 passes defended.
NOTING THE TENNESSEE-TEXAS SERIES
•For the first time in 58 years, Tennessee and Texas meet on the gridiron. The
Longhorns lead the all-time series, 2-1. All three previous meetings occurred in Cotton
Bowls. Saturday will be the first time the two teams meet during the regular season.
• This is the first meeting between the two programs since the 1968 season on Jan. 1,
1969, in the Cotton Bowl, a game won 36-13 by the Longhorns. Texas also won the
1953 Cotton Bowl, 16-0.
• The Vols were victorious in the 1951 Cotton Bowl, 20-14, under Gen. Robert Neyland
to cap an 11-1 season. Hank Lauricella rushed for 131 yards, including a key 75-yard
run that set up a score. No. 4 Tennessee trailed 14-7 entering the fourth quarter but
scored the final 13 points of the game to defeat No. 3 Texas. Andy Kozar had the final
two scores.
• Head Coach Josh Heupel is facing Texas for the first time as a head coach. Heupel
was 1-1 against the Longhorns as a player at Oklahoma (L, 1999; W, 2000), and he was
7-4 against Texas as an assistant coach at Oklahoma: (L, 2006, ’08, ’09, ’13; W, 2003,
’04, ’07, ’10, ’11, ’12, ”14). As a player and assistant coach, he is a combined 8-5. In the
2000 victory, Heupel led the Sooners to touchdowns on their first five drives. He was
17-of-27 for 275 yards.
• Texas QB Arch Manning is the nephew of Tennessee legendary QB Peyton Manning.
• Tennessee is scheduled to visit Austin in 2028 for SEC play (date TBD).
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