The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 21/20 Football preview: UTSA
09.12.2022 | Football
The Longhorns will play UTSA for the first time on Saturday.
Texas (1-1) vs. UTSA (1-1)
September 17, 2022
Where: Austin, Texas
Stadium: Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
TV: LHN (Lowell Galindo, Sam Acho, Alex Chappell)
Radio: Longhorn IMG Radio Network (Craig Way, Roger Wallace, Will Matthews)
Spanish Radio: Longhorn IMG Radio Network (Dr. Rubén Pizarro-Silva, Jesus Mendoza)
THE OPENING KICKOFF
• The University of Texas continues its 130th season of football on Saturday when the Longhorns face UTSA of Conference USA for the first time in program history.
• Last week, Texas (1-1) fell to No. 1/1 Alabama at home, 20-19.
• UTSA heads to Austin with a 1-1 record following a 41-38 overtime victory over Army at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y.
• The game will be played at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, which is hosting its 99th season of football.
• Texas' all-time record at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium is 389-121-10 (.758).
• UT's all-time home record is 535-143-13 (.784).
• Texas currently boasts 929 all-time wins, tied for the fifth-most in college football history. UT holds an all-time record of 929-386-33 (.701).
The All-Time Series
• Texas and UTSA will face off for the first time.
• Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor have yet to coach against each other as head coaches.
• Sarkisian and Traylor did previously coach against each other 2019, when Sarkisian was the offensive coordinator at Alabama and Traylor was the associate head coach and running back coach at Arkansas. The Crimson Tide won that game in Tuscaloosa, 48-7.
A Texas Win Would ...
• Be Texas' 930th victory all-time, the fifth-winningest program in college football history.
• Give Steve Sarkisian his 53rd victory as a head coach and seventh at Texas.
• Improve Sarkisian's record against programs representing Conference USA to 2-0. Texas defeated Rice last season, 58-0.
• Give UT the 390th victory in program history at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium Shines
• The Texas-Alabama game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium drew record-setting crowds to the Forty Acres.
• A total of 105,213 packed DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, topping the previous record of 103,507 established in 2018 in the Longhorns' victory over USC.
• It marked the 30th game in DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium history to draw more than 100,000 fans.
• Texas drew over 100,000 fans to a home game for the first time since 102,498 Longhorn faithful packed the house for UT's 24-10 victory over Iowa State in 2018.
• In addition to the record-setting crowds on the Forty Acres, FOX College Football announced that the game was the most streamed regular season college football or NFL game in FOX Sports history.
Sarkisian Era Enters Second Season
• Texas Football Head Coach Steve Sarkisian begins his second season at the helm of the Longhorns and his ninth season as a head coach overall.
• Last season, the Texas offense ranked 18th in the nation and second in the Big 12 Conference with 35.5 points per game, the third-straight top-18 scoring output for a Sarkisan-led offense.
• The offensive showing also marked the eighth top-30 scoring offense in Sarkisian's career.
• Bijan Robinson rushed for 1,127 yards in 2021, marking the 10th consecutive year a Sarkisian coached offense has had a 1,000-yard rusher.
Defense Bringing the Heat
• The Texas defense came up huge in the 20-19 defeat at the hands of Alabama in week two, the first matchup between the storied programs since the 2010 BCS Championship Game.
• Texas' defense limited the high-powered Crimson Tide offense to 20 points, just the seventh time in the last eight seasons that Alabama has been held to 20 points or fewer.
• In the first half, Alabama rushed for 94 yards on 12 carries, with 81 of those yards occurring on one play.
• Following the 81-yard run, Texas forced Alabama to punt on each of the next six drives.
Finding the End Zone
• In the Longhorns' season opener against ULM, Keilan Robinson returned a blocked punt for a touchdown, D'Shawn Jamison returned an interception for a score and the Texas offense scored three rushing and two passing touchdowns.
• It marked the first time since the season opener against Maryland in 2017 that Texas scored a touchdown on offense, defense and special teams.
• In the 2017 game, Holton Hill had a 31-yard interception return and returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown, and Reggie Hemphill-Mapps scored on a 91-yard punt return. Shane Buechele added a pair of touchdown passes to Armanti Foreman and Collin Johnson and ran in for another score.
Heisman Hopeful: Bijan Robinson
• Texas has a strong Heisman tradition when it come to the running back position with two of the greats - Earl Campbell (1977) and Ricky Williams (1998) hailing from the Forty Acres.
• Additionally, the Longhorns have had 10 running backs or fullbacks place in the Top-10 in Heisman Trophy voting, most recently D'Onta Foreman in 2016.
• Current Big 12 Conference programs have produced five Heisman Trophy Winners from the running back/tailback position: Campbell, Williams, Billy Vessels (1952), Billy Simms (1978) and Barry Sanders (1988).
• The last three running backs named as the Heisman Trophy winner have been sophomores or juniors: Reggie Bush (2005), Mark Ingram (2009) and Derrick Henry (2015).
Robinson By the Numbers
• Bijan Robinson has a history of not only making people miss and getting the tough yards, but also breaking big plays as both a rusher and receiver. For his career, Robinson has 29 plays (20 rushes/9 receptions) of 20-plus yards and that includes six of 50 or more (all runs).
• This offseason, Robinson focused on maintaining his speed for 90 yards (instead of the 40-yard dash), and was clocked at 22.3 mph on the GPS.
• Over his last 14 games, his ratio of long plays is even more impressive. During that time, he has 24 plays (16 rushes/8 receptions) of 20-or-more yards, including four runs of 50-plus. He's accomplished that in just 282 plays (245 rushes/37 receptions) in that 14-game span, or a play of 20-plus yards on average about every 12 plays.
• In 10 games last season, he had 12 plays (9 rushes/3 receptions) of 20-or-more yards, including two of 50-plus, with five touchdowns.
Mr. Versatility
• A dual threat, Robinson is one of three players in Texas history with multiple games of at least 100 rushing yards and 50 receiving yards. With three such games in his career (12/5/20 vs. Kansas State - 172/51; 9/4/21 vs. Louisiana - 137/54; 9/25/21 vs. Texas Tech - 103/73), he trails only Longhorn Legend Cedric Benson's four, while they are joined by Eric Metcalf, who had two.
• Since 2020, his three games of 100 rushing and 50 receiving yards are tops among active players who accomplished the feat in Power 5 Conferences and he is the only Power 5 Conference player to accomplish the feat multiple times during that stretch.
• The three games are also more than any other program has achieved since 2020, with Ohio State, Oklahoma and Oregon having players rush for 100 yards and have 50 yards receiving on two occasions.
• Equally adept at rushing, receiving and blocking, in the season opening win over ULM, he had a rushing and receiving TD in the same game for the fourth time in just 20 career games. He rushed for a 1-yard touchdown against Alabama, giving him a rushing or receiving TD in 13 of his last 14 games.
All About Zay
• Sophomore WR Xavier Worthy opened his 2022 campaign with a solid outing against ULM and a standout performance against No. 1 Alabama to move past 1,000 career receiving yards and climb closer to 100 career receptions.
• Worthy hauled in five passes for a game-high 97 yards against Alabama, including a diving 46-yard reception at the end of the first quarter.
• The five catches brought his career total to 69 and extended his streak of receptions to 14 games.
• Worthy was a dynamic performer last season on the Forty Acres, smashing decades-old Texas records and setting a new standard for Longhorn freshmen.
• In 2021, Worthy established Texas freshman single-season receiving records for receptions (62), yards (981) and touchdowns (12), while also holding the top single-game marks for receptions (14), yards (261) and touchdowns (3, twice).
• He was named the Big 12 Conference's Offensive Freshman of the Year and earned All-Big 12 First Team honors, the only freshman among the conference's first- and second-team selections.
• Worthy was the sixth Longhorn to earn the league's offensive freshman of the year honors and the first since Colt McCoy in 2006.
• He joined Caden Sterns (2018) as the only Longhorn freshmen to earn both the conference's highest freshman honor and be named to the first team in the same season.
• His strong season earned him a finalist nod for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award and a semifinalist honor for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award.
• A spectacular first half to his freshman campaign landed him on a pair of Freshman Midseason All- America teams with nods from ESPN and The Athletic, as well as a spot on the Biletnikoff Award watch list.
• His 12 touchdowns last season tied for second-most in a season in Texas history (Limas Sweed-2006; Roy Williams-2002) and were the most since Jordan Shipley's school-record 13 in 2009.
• The 12 receiving touchdowns in 2021 were two shy of joining the Top-6 all-time for a freshman in NCAA history.
• Worthy averaged 31.2 yards per touchdown catch (374 yards on 12 TDs).
• The Fresno, Calif. native was eighth in the FBS and second among all freshman with 12 touchdown receptions and topped the Big 12 Conference in receiving yards per game (83.3), while ranking third in receiving yards and receptions per game (5.1), and fifth in yards per reception (16.36).
• Worthy led all FBS freshmen in receiving yards, receiving yards per game and touchdown receptions and topped Power 5 freshmen with 62 receptions.
Ford Foundation
• Junior LB Jaylan Ford had a breakout performance against No. 1 Alabama, posting a team-high 10 tackles (six solo) with two tackles for loss and one sack, helping hold the Crimson Tide to 20 points
• In 2021, the Frisco, Texas native led the team with six tackles for loss. He collected at least one five of the least six games of the season with two in the season finale against Kansas State.
• He notched a career-high 12 tackles (seven solo) against Oklahoma State.
• Ford had at least six tackles in each of the last three games of the season, recording six against Kansas, five at West Virginia and six (all solo) against K-State.
DeMarvion is Dialed In
• LB DeMarvion Overshown has played in 39 games and made 23 starts during his collegiate career.
• A Butkus Award semifinalist in 2021, Overshown racked up 74 tackles (38 solo) with 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks.
• During his career, he has recorded 153 tackles (87 solo), 20.5 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks, 12 pass breakups, three interceptions, three forced fumbles, three recovered and one block punt.
• Last season at Baylor, Overshown had a team-high two pass breakups while collecting five tackles (three solo).
• Totaled four tackles (one solo) against Oklahoma State before leaving early in the second half with an injury.
• Against Oklahoma, the Arp, Texas native had eight tackles (five solo) with two tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and his first career blocked punt.
• In Texas' victory over TCU, Overshown registered 10 tackles, including a career-best eight solo tackles, for his second game of 10 or more tackles on the season.
• He collected a team-high eight tackles against Arkansas, the second-straight game in which he has led the team in tackles.
• In UT's season-opening win over Louisiana, Overshown registered a career-best 13 tackles (4 solo), while also picking up a half sack for a loss of four yards.
• Overshown recorded 21 tackles in the first two games of the season, the most tackles for a Longhorn in the first two contests of the season since Cedric Reed had 24 in 2013.
Anthony is Cookin'
• Super senior DB Anthony Cook has become a leader in the Texas secondary, pacing the defensive backfield with 12 tackles (eight solo) through the first two games of the season.
• Against Alabama, he collected nine tackles (six solo) and had a career-best tying two tackles for loss.
Hall of Honor Weekend
• Eleven former University of Texas student-athletes will be inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor. These 11 individuals will be recognized as the Class of 2022 in an induction ceremony on Friday, Sept. 16.
• The newest members of the Hall will receive a special salute during the Texas Football game versus UTSA on Saturday, Sept. 17.
• The ceremony will start at 7 p.m. Central in the LBJ Auditorium and Conference Center on the UT campus (2313 Red River St.). Tickets for this year's Hall of Honor show will be general admission and are available for $25 per person. Parking will be available in lots 38 and 39 located in front of LBJ Auditorium.
• The 68th Men's Hall of Honor class includes: Sam Acho (Football, 2007-10), a 2010 first-team All-American and two-time first-team Academic All-American who received both the National Football Foundation's William V. Campbell Trophy and the Wuerffel Trophy and was selected as an NCAA Top VIII Award winner and the Big 12 Male Sportsperson of the Year; Kevin Durant (Basketball, 2006-07), one of the most decorated Longhorns ever who was a Collegiate National Player of the Year and had his jersey number 35 retired at Texas, three-time Olympic Gold Medalist, two-time NBA Champion and 2014 NBA Most Valuable Player, as well as a 12-time NBA All-Star; Jonny Levine (Tennis, 1982-84), one of Texas' all-time winningest tennis players who earned ITA singles All-America honors in 1983 and 1984; Dustin Majewski (Baseball, 2002-03), a two-time All-American who was twice named MVP of the Big 12 Tournament and NCAA Austin Regional, earned College World Series All-Tournament team honors for the 2002 NCAA title team and was Team MVP of the 2003 squad that finished tied for third in the nation; and Kirk Stackle (Swimming & Diving 1987-90), a key member of the early days and one of the most dominant stretches of the Eddie Reese dynasty who won three NCAA individual titles in helping lead Texas to three-straight National Championships from 1988 to 1990. Vintage selection Ovie Dotson (Basketball, 1976-79), reserved for honorees that completed their eligibility at least 40 years prior to nomination, rounds out the men's class.
• The 23rd Women's Hall of Honor class includes: B.J. Bedford (Swimming & Diving, 1991-94), a 21-time All-American, two-time National Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist; Lindsay Gardner (Softball, 2000-03), a second-team All-American in 2000 who was a two-time All-Midwest Region and a three-time All-Big 12 and Big 12 All-Tournament selection; current women's golf's associate head coach, Kate Golden (Women's Golf, 1986-89), a second-team All-American and three-time All-Southwest Conference first-team selection; Robyne Johnson (Track & Field, 1982-85), a three-time All-American triple jumper and member of the 1982 AIAW Outdoor National Championship squad who is currently Director of T&F/Cross Country at Cal; and Anne Grousbeck Matta (Women's Tennis, 1985-88), a three-time ITA All-American in singles who helped lead the Longhornsto four-straight NCAA Championship tournaments and four Southwest Conference team titles.
The Best Pregame Experience in the Country
• Texas Athletics welcomes all fans to come down and celebrate gameday with the return of Bevo Blvd presented by H-E-B, Smokey's Midway, Longhorn City Limits presented by Still Austin Whiskey, and Hook 'Em Hangout.
• The action kicks off at 2 p.m. and all areas are free to attend for all fans. No game ticket is required!
• Bevo Blvd is the place to be at 4 p.m. when Bevo arrives as fans line the street along with the Longhorn Band and Texas Cheer and Pom for the Bevo Parade presented by Texas Farm Bureau Insurance.
• Shortly after, greet the team as they arrive on the north end of Bevo Blvd at 4:30 p.m. for the Stadium Stampede.
• Fans looking for Austin's best food trucks and craft beer selections can head to Hook 'Em Hangout Located in Winship Circle on the northwest side of the stadium, Fans can also enjoy a bigger Big Beertha with more taps featuring 15+ beers as well as large LED screens to watch the best games from around the country. Happy hour pregame pricing returns and is exclusive to Bevo Blvd, Smokey's Midway, Longhorn City Limits, and Hook 'Em Hangout.
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage at Saturday's game
• As part of Hispanic Heritage Month, Texas Athletics is proud to showcase several elements during Saturday's game to celebrate Longhorns Por Vida! During pregame, fans can enjoy multiple performances by Mariachi Paredes de la Universidad de Texas. Several Latin artists will also be creating live murals celebrating Hispanic Heritage and the Longhorns on Bevo Blvd!
• At halftime, the Longhorn Band will perform a special halftime show titled ¡Viva la Fiesta! Celebrating the culture of flamenco dancing in Malaga, Spain and the Latin jazz classic by Chick Corea. This music comes from the folk dances of southern Spain. La Fiesta is a flowy Flamenco-style jazz waltz with energy and excitement from start to finish.
• In addition, fans who do not already have tickets to the game can purchase the Longhorns Por Vida Bundle Pack including a ticket to Saturday's UTSA game and an exclusive Longhorns Por Vida t-shirt! Bundle packs are also available for this Thursday's Volleyball vs. Houston match.
