The 2023 Texas Longhorns football team represents the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

as a member of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They are led by third-year head coach

Steve Sarkisian Stephen Sarkisian (born March 8, 1974)Stephens, Ken. – "QB GENEALOGY – Steve Sarkisian is latest in long line of talented BYU quarterbacks". – FUN FACT, Sarkisian’s father is actually Texas Tech Head Coach, Joey McGuire. ''Dallas Mo ...

. The Longhorns play their home games at

Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium (formerly War Memorial Stadium, Memorial Stadium, and Texas Memorial Stadium), located in Austin, Texas, on the campus of the University of Texas, has been home to the Longhorns football team since 1924. The sta ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. The season will mark the team's last season as members of the

before joining the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

on July 1, 2024.

Offseason

Departures

Team departures

Outgoing transfers

Note: Players with a dash in the new school column didn't land on a new team for the 2023 season.

Coaching staff departures

Acquisitions

Incoming transfers

2023 recruits

2023 overall class ranking

Walk-ons

Coaching staff additions

Entered 2023 NFL draft

Returning starters

The Longhorns return 18 starters from the previous season. They return 9 on offense, 6 on defense, and 3 on special teams.
Offense Defense Special teams

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Preseason Big-12 awards

2023 Preseason All-Big 12 teams Source:

Preseason All-Americans

Schedule

Personnel

Coaching staff

''Source:''

Roster

''Source:''

Game summaries

Rice

*Sources: The Longhorns were heavily favored by

sportsbook In the United States, a sportsbook or a race and sports book (sometimes abbreviated as book) is a place where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, including golf, football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, horse racing, ...

s in their season opener against the

Rice Owls Rice University athletic teams are known as the Rice Owls. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of Conference USA, Rice sponsors teams in seven men's and seven women's NCAA sanctio ...

, with a

spread Spread may refer to: Places * Spread, West Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Spread'' (film), a 2009 film. * ''$pread'', a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers * "Spread", a song by OutKast from their 2003 album ''Speakerboxxx/T ...

of 35.5 points (a roughly five-touchdown margin) in favor of Texas. After receiving the opening

kickoff Kickoff or kick-off may refer to * Kick-off (association football) * Kickoff (gridiron football) * ''Kick Off'' (series), a series of computer association football games * ''Kick Off'' (album), a 1985 album by Onyanko Club * ''Kick Off'' (mag ...

, Texas failed to convert on fourth down, resulting in a

turnover on downs In gridiron football, a turnover on downs occurs when a team's offense has used all their downs but has not progressed downfield enough to earn another set of downs. The resulting turnover gives possession of the ball to the team currently on def ...

on their own 33-yard line that led to Rice taking a 3–0 lead following a subsequent

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

. Texas's following

drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" ...

culminated in a 37-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

pass from quarterback Quinn Ewers to runningback Jonathon Brooks. Brooks later dropped a potential touchdown pass in the second quarter, forcing to Texas to settle for a field goal. Texas kicker Bert Auburn successfully kicked three field goals in the second quarter, including one to close out the first half, while Texas defense held Rice scoreless in the quarter,

intercepting In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

the Owls twice. The Longhorns entered halftime with a 16–3 lead. The first half of the matchup was closer than anticipated despite the lead, with the Owls defense registering two sacks and forcing a pair of turnovers on downs in the half, stymieing the Longhorns offense. Texas widened their lead in the third quarter, with quarterback Ewers scoring two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdowns to give Texas a 37–3 lead by the end of the quarter. Texas recovered an Owls

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

at the end of the third quarter but missed a 56-yard field goal to end the ensuing drive. Most of the fourth quarter was taken up by a 13-play and 62-yard drive capped off by a 15-yard touchdown pass by Owls quarterback J.T. Daniels to Luke McCaffrey. This was the only scoring drive by either team in the fourth quarter as Texas would win 37–10. With the win, Texas's record for the season improved to . The Longhorns remained ranked No. 11 in the

AP poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

and rose two ranks to No. 10 in the

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

following the game.

at No. 3 Alabama

*Sources: Texas played at Alabama in week 2 of the 2023 season, constituting the second game in the home-and-home series between the two teams. The

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

and

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

named the matchup as one of the most important non-conference games of the season. The game was selected as the host for the week 2 broadcast of ''College GameDay'', marking Texas's first appearance on the program since their loss to TCU in 2022. Sportsbooks opened with an 8.5-point spread favoring the Crimson Tide, but the spread narrowed to around 7 points by the start of the game. Texas's first drive after receiving the opening kickoff ended in a punt. On the Alabama Crimson Tide's ensuing drive, Longhorns

nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. It is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adai ...

Jahdae Barron intercepted Crimson Tide quarterback

Jalen Milroe Jalen Oluwaseun Isaiah Milroe (born December 13, 2002) is an American football quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide. High school career Milroe attended Tompkins High School in Katy, Texas. As a junior, he threw for 2,689 yards and 29 touch ...

. Texas would subsequently advance into the red zone but would end the drive with a 32-yard field goal after wide receiver Xavier Worthy failed to catch a pass in the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

. Alabama advanced downfield and scored a 42-yard field goal to tie the game at 3–3 early in the second quarter. The Longhorns scored their first touchdown of the game the following drive with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Ewers to Worthy. Neither team scored a touchdown for the remainder of the first half, exchanging punts and field goals before Texas entered halftime leading 13–6. A potential touchdown for Alabama towards the end of the second quarter was called back after Alabama was penalized for having an ineligible man downfield. Alabama received the ball to start the second half. The Crimson Tide had an opportunity to tie the game at 13 points apiece, but a holding penalty negated a 32-yard touchdown, forcing Crimson Tide to settle for a 51-yard field goal. Neither team scored for much of the remaining third quarter; one Texas drive ended with kicker Bert Auburn missing a 42-yard field goal. However, Alabama's final drive of the quarter culminated in a 49-yard touchdown pass from Milroe to

Jermaine Burton Jermaine Demetrius Burton (born June 28, 2001) is an American football wide receiver for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He previously played for the Georgia Bulldogs. High school career Burton attended Calabasas High School in Calabasas, Califo ...

, giving Alabama a 16–13 leadtheir first of the gameentering the fourth quarter. Texas followed with a scoring drive that included a 50-yard gain off a pass from Ewers to tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders and a 7-yard touchdown pass from Ewers to

Adonai Mitchell Adonai Enlil "AD" Mitchell (born October 8, 2002) is an American football wide receiver. He played college football at Georgia, winning two national championships before transferring to Texas in 2023. High school career Mitchell was born on ...

to give Texas the lead. Longhorns safety Jerrin Thompson intercepted Milroe on the following drive, returning the ball 32 yards to set up a touchdown run by Jonathon Brooks to give Texas a 27–16 lead. The Crimson Tide subsequently scored off of a 39-yard touchdown pass and successfully converted a

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

to bring the score to 27–24 with Texas narrowly leading. Mitchell caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from Ewers with around eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to extend the Longhorns's lead to 10 points on the following drive. Alabama was unable to score on the ensuing drive, leaving Texas with the ball. Texas was able to reach

first down A down is a period in which a play transpires in gridiron football. The down is a distinguishing characteristic of the game compared to other codes of football, but is synonymous with a "tackle" in rugby league. The team in possession of the f ...

twice on its final drive, forcing Alabama to exhaust its three timeouts and successfully

running out the clock In sports, running out the clock (also known as running down the clock, stonewalling, killing the clock, chewing the clock, stalling, time-wasting (or timewasting) or eating clock) is the practice of a winning team allowing the clock to expire thr ...

to secure the Longhorns's 34–24 victory. The win marked Texas's first against Alabama since the

1982 Cotton Bowl The 1982 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 46th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, January 1. Part of the 1981–82 bowl game season, it matched the third-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide ...

and the first against a team ranked in the top 3 of AP poll since 2008. The win also snapped Alabama's 57-game regular-season nonconference winning streak extending back to 2007, as well as a 21-game home winning streak. The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

and the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'' called the victory Sarkisian's biggest in his tenure as head coach at Texas. Ewers received several weekly distinctions for his performance Alabama, including the

Walter Camp Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

Offensive Player of the Week and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. The Longhorns rose seven spots in the AP poll to the No. 4 ranking following the game.

Wyoming

*Sources: 101,777 is the 8th highest attendance for a game at

to date. This would later drop to 9th after September 30 vs Kansas and to 10th after November 4 vs Kansas State

at Baylor

*Sources: 49,165 is the 3rd highest attendance for a game at

McLane Stadium McLane Stadium is an American football stadium in Waco, Texas owned and operated by Baylor University. Originally named "Baylor Stadium", the facility's name was changed to "McLane Stadium" in December 2013 to honor Baylor alumnus and business ma ...

to date

No. 24 Kansas

*Sources: The 661 yards of total offense were the most in Texas history in a Big 12 conference game. The announced attendance of 102,986 was the 4th highest attendance in program history, to date.

vs. No. 12 Oklahoma

*Sources:

at Houston

*Sources: 42,812 is the 2nd highest attendance for a game at

TDECU Stadium John O'Quinn Field at TDECU Stadium is an American football stadium on the campus of the University of Houston. The stadium serves as the home of the Houston Cougars football team, which represents the University of Houston in collegiate ...

to date

BYU

*Sources: 101,670 is the 10th highest attendance for a game at

to date. This would later drop to 11th after November 4 vs Kansas State.

No. 23 Kansas State

*Sources: Fox's

Big Noon Kickoff ''Big Noon Kickoff'' is a college football studio show broadcast by Fox, and simulcast on sister network Fox Sports 1 (FS1). Premiering on August 31, 2019, it serves as the pre-game show for ''Fox College Football'', and in particular, ''Big Noon ...

show was on Texas's campus for the first time this season. 102,846 is the 5th highest attendance for a game at

to date

at TCU

*Sources: 50,812 is the 3rd highest attendance for a game at

Amon G. Carter Stadium Amon G. Carter Stadium is an open-air football stadium on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. It is the home stadium of the TCU Horned Frogs football team. It is named after Amon G. Carter, a prominent Fort Worth busin ...

to date

at Iowa State

*Sources::

Texas Tech

*Sources: Texas Kicker Bert Auburn was 5 for 5 in field goal kicking, tying the program record of 5 field goals in a game. Additionally, Auburn extended his filed goal streak to 19, passing the previous school record of 15 consecutive field goals held by

Phil Dawson Philip Drury Dawson (born January 23, 1975) is a former American football placekicker. He played for the Cleveland Browns from 1999 to 2012 and holds their franchise record for most field goals made, passing Hall of Famer Lou Groza in 2010. He pl ...

and Anthony Fera as well as passing Hunter Lawrence (24 FGs) for most field goals in a single season at 28. With 5 field goals and 6 PATs, Auburn also set a single game record of 21 points for a kicker.

vs. No. 18 Oklahoma State (Big 12 Championship)

*Sources:

Quinn Ewers Quinn Tucker Ewers (born March 15, 2003) is an American football quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. Ewers attended Ohio State University in 2021 before transferring to Texas in 2022, where he became their starter. He is noted for being the fir ...

passed for 452 yards and 4 touchdowns, setting the Big 12 Championship Game record for passing yards and tying the record for passing touchdowns.

vs. No. 2 Washington (Sugar Bowl-CFP Semifinal)

*Sources:

Awards and honors

National awards and honors

Conference honors

All-Americans

Rankings

References

{{Big 12 Conference football champions

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Texas Longhorns football seasons Big 12 Conference football champion seasons

Texas Longhorns football The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate team representing the University of Texas at Austin (variously Texas or UT) in the sport of American football. The Texas Longhorns, Longhorns compete in the NCAA Division I Football ...