Forty Acres Insider: September 6

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Chris Del Conte head shot

Longhorn Nation,
Okay y'all, we knew we missed you and our Saturdays together at BEVO Blvd, Longhorn City Limits, Smokey's Midway, Hook 'Em Hangout and DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, but as our guy Gomer Pyle said back in the day, "well GALL-LEE" it was so, SO good to be together again. We were reunited and it felt so good! What an absolute joy it was visiting with you all around the stadium all afternoon before the game, then once we got inside, y'all brought that patented passion, pride and Texas Fight BIG-TIME! Readying for game day, Coach Sark and the squad were dressed to the nines (shout out to our guy Carlton Dixon and Reveal Suits) as they strolled through your fist bumps & high fives and exchanged Hook 'Em Horns all the way down San Jacinto during our traditional Stadium Stampede. Then, in those iconic Burnt Orange & White unis, charged out the tunnel, fed off your energy and stampeded through ULM from the opening kickoff in rolling to an emphatic 52-10 season-opening victory.

We had one heck of a time, and you know it, we get to take it up a notch and do it all again this week. This time, we'll welcome in the No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide of Alabama in a game the eyes of the nation will be firmly on. ESPN's College GameDay, FOX's Big Noon Kickoff pregame show and as always LHN's Longhorn GameDay will broadcast live from our campus, the Heisman House is back, and all of our pregame festivities will be rockin' & rollin' bright and early. The game is dominating the talk from coast-to-coast, and it's a bucket-list clash of two of the top-five winningest programs in NCAA history. We know y'all circled it long ago, and now it's here. It's go time to get ready to bring the heat to Bama as we cheer our hearts out for our Horns. Let's start now … get your Texas-best ready, hold those Hook 'Ems Horns HIGH, chant TEXAS … FIGHT at every chance, and let's do this my friends!

Hey, our guy Bijan's quote says it all! "Seeing the stands full, the student section packed, walking down BEVO Blvd, WOW, that atmosphere, it always gets me fired up. All the screaming fans, it gives me those butterflies, gets us all going and ready to show them the product we've been working so hard for in the off-season."

And wait, there's more! It's wall-to-wall Longhorn action with Soccer and Volleyball happening on the Forty, too. On the heels of a victory over No. 4 Minnesota at a sold-out Gregory Gym last Wednesday, our No. 1-ranked Volleyball squad traveled westward and continued its dominance with a 3-0 sweep of No. 12 Stanford on Sunday. Meanwhile, Soccer spent a few days in the pacific northwest, and after a couple of solid efforts and a great comeback win on Sunday, came back with a victory and a tie. They both are back to the friendly confines of Austin with Volleyball hosting UC Davis (7 p.m. CT/LHN) on Wednesday and Denver on Friday (2 p.m. CT/LHN) at The Greg. Soccer welcomes in Utah State on Thursday (7 p.m. CT/LHN) followed by UTRGV on Sunday (1 p.m. CT/LHN) at Myers Stadium.

And back to Football. We had so much fun last S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night, let's do it all and have a ball this time over breakfast, lunch AND dinner! Set those alarms, get that coffee brewing and ramp it up at sunrise for this very special weekend. So, while I've got ya, for all of the latest updates leading up to this Saturday's epic game against Bama, check out the Gameday HQ page!

Football gets resounding season-opening win over ULM
Oh what a night it was back in DKR! Y'all showed up and showed out big-time and Coach Sark and our squad responded with a resounding victory. It was a total team effort with scores on offense, defense and special teams, and here are the highlights! From the opening thump of a blocked kick for a TD, to Bijan doing Bijan things, Quinn Ewers directing the offense in his first career start, and our guy Agent 0, DeMarvion Overshown, leading a dominant defensive effort that included three sacks and eight tackles for loss, it was a sight to see. How about our guy D'Shawn Jamison? We've seen him scoring on punt returns, but on this Saturday he bolted up the middle and blocked a punt to start the game that fellow speedster Keilan Robinson picked up and took in for a 7-0 lead. And we never looked back! When D'Shawn brought a pick to the house later in the game, what a cool note it was that he became the first player in UT history to score on a punt, kick and interception return in their career. We're 1-0, on to Bama week and there's no pep talk necessary to get you fired up for this one. We know y'all will be converging on our campus in record numbers for a family breakfast, festive fellowship, endless pregame pump ups and then the Big Noon Kickoff at 11 a.m. CT (FOX).

Pregame activities start at 8 a.m. on September 10
Tailgate with the best pregame experience in the country with Bevo Blvd presented by H-E-B, Smokey's Midway, and Hook 'Em Hangout all opening at 8 a.m. on September 10. Bevo Blvd will be bigger than ever with featured elements including the Nissan Heisman House and the American Cornhole League tour coming out on September 10. In addition, Texas Men's Basketball will be signing autographs beginning at 9:50 a.m.

ESPN College GameDay is back on the Forty Acres, live at 8 a.m.!
Join Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, and David Pollack for ESPN College GameDay LIVE from the LBJ Lawn. The broadcast, which will air from the LBJ Lawn from 8-10 a.m., is FREE admission for all fans. Saturday's game marks the 19th time that College GameDay has attended a Longhorn game and the first time in Austin since 2019.

FOX Big Noon Kickoff heads to Austin for the first time, live at 9 a.m.!
All fans are invited to attend FOX Big Noon Kickoff LIVE at Hook 'Em Hangout beginning at 9 a.m. prior to the Texas-Alabama game. The national broadcast features Rob Stone, Brady Quinn, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and Urban Meyer and will feature FREE giveaways! This marks the first time Big Noon Kickoff has televised LIVE from Austin.

Flo Rida to perform postgame show at Longhorn City Limits!
International hip-hop artist Flo Rida will perform at Longhorn City Limits presented by Still Austin Whiskey following the Texas-Alabama game on September 10! Located on the LBJ Lawn, the concert is FREE admission for all fans and will take place approximately 30 minutes after the football game.

With over 100 million records sold worldwide, Flo Rida has entertained crowds with an onslaught of hits since his 2008 debut album Mail on Sunday. His breakout single "Low" featuring T-Pain broke the record for digital download sales at the time of its release and was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks. His subsequent albums produced hit singles including "Right Round", "Good Feeling", "Wild Ones", "Whistle", "I Cry", "Club Can't Handle Me", and "My House". To date, Flo Rida is one of the most streamed artists of all-time with over 6.5 billion streams on Spotify alone.

Celebrating the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup at halftime
At halftime of the Texas-Alabama game, Texas Athletics will celebrate winning the 2021-22 LEARFIELD Directors' Cup with a special recognition on the field. This historic accomplishment marks the second consecutive season that the Longhorns have won, breaking Stanford's 25-year stronghold on the competition last year and now joins the Cardinal as the only programs to win it in back-to-back years.

Final week to purchase Football Season Tickets and secure tickets for the Alabama game
A huge shoutout to all of our Longhorn faithful as we have eclipsed 64,000 season tickets, an all-time record for Texas Football! That breaks the previous mark of 63,279 from 2019 with more than 8,000 of this year's total being new season ticket sales. With six home games remaining including this week's showdown versus No. 1 Alabama, this will be the final week to purchase season tickets and guarantee your spot at DKR all season long. If you haven't already, join the party by becoming a season ticket holder today! A reminder that season tickets are the only way to get tickets for the Alabama game.

In addition to that, I was so excited to see all of our students in the new student seating section along with the Longhorn Band in their new location. They brought the energy and are the catalyst that make DKR such a formidable place to play. For our UT students, it's not too late to purchase the Big Ticket for access to all Texas Athletics home regular season events all season long. The deadline to purchase and have access to the Alabama game is this Thursday, Sept. 8 at 5 p.m.

Looking for more ticket options? We've got you covered!
If you're looking for other ticket options, single-game tickets, 3-game mini plans, and FLEX passes are also available. None of those plans include an option for tickets to the Alabama game. One thing's for sure, this season is going to be memorable and we can't wait to have you join us on the ride!

No. 1 Texas Volleyball picks up wins over No. 4 Minnesota, No. 12 StanfordThe No. 1 Texas Volleyball team continued its strong season and improved to 4-0 with wins over No. 4 Minnesota and Stanford. Against Minnesota, 4,992 fans packed into Gregory Gym to see the Longhorns win in four sets. Texas was led by 22 kills from Logan Eggleston in the match. Texas hit the road to Stanford and hit .365 in a sweep of the Cardinal. The Longhorn had three players reach double figures in kills with Madisen Skinner and Molly Phillips recording 10 apiece and Logan leading the way with 16. Asjia O'Neal tallied five blocks in the match. And as icing on the cake, Logan was tabbed the National Player of the Week for her extraordinary efforts last week!

Texas Soccer rallies past Gonzaga, 3-2
Trailing 2-0 after 56 minutes, the Longhorns showed incredible resolve with a second-half comeback that included three goals to secure the victory over Gonzaga in Spokane, Wash. Goals from sophomore forward Trinity Byars, freshman forward Liz Worden and sophomore defender EmJ Cox carried Texas to the win. The Longhorns have now won 45 consecutive matches when scoring two-or-more goals in a match.

Texas Men's Basketball ranked No. 14 in Blue Ribbon preseason top 25
The University of Texas Men's Basketball team earned a No. 14 ranking in Chris Dortch's Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook preseason top 25. The Longhorns open the season with a home game in the first year of Moody Center against UTEP on Monday, Nov. 7. Last season, the Longhorns went 22-12, ranked No. 25 in the final AP poll and won their first NCAA Tournament contest since 2014.

Pair of Texas golfers placed on preseason watch lists
Senior men's golfer Travis Vick and sophomore women's golfer Bohyun Park earned placement on preseason watch lists that honor the best male and female collegiate golfers in the country. Vick, who earned second team All-America honors as a junior was placed on the Fred Haskins Award preseason watch list. Park, a Second Team All-American in her first season on the Forty Acres earned placement on the ANNIKA Award watch list.

Cross Country opens season with sweep in Tornado Invitational
The Texas men's and women's cross country programs began the season sweeping the Tornado Watch Invitational for the second year in a row. Sophomore Isaac Alonzo won the men's 5K in a time of 15:36.6. Texas took six of the top 10 in the men's 5K. Beth Ramos captured the title in the women's 5K in a time of 18:00.8.

This Week's Longhorns action on The 40 and beyond
Wednesday: Volleyball vs. UC Davis (7 p.m. CT/LHN/Gregory Gym/Buy Tickets)
Thursday: Soccer vs. Utah State (7 p.m. CT/LHN/Myers Stadium); Cross Country at Tornado Watch Invitational (Round Rock)
Friday: Volleyball vs. Denver (2 p.m. CT/LHN/Gregory Gym/Buy Tickets)
Saturday: ESPN College GameDay on-site (8 a.m. CT/ESPN/LBJ Lawn); FOX Big Noon Kickoff Live on-site (9 a.m. CT/FOX/Hook 'Em Hangout); LHN Longhorn GameDay (9 a.m. CT/LHN/Bevo Blvd.); Football vs. Alabama (11 a.m. CT/FOX/DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium)
Sunday: Soccer vs. UTRGV (1 p.m. CT/LHN/Myers Stadium)

One more week left to get your tickets and join us in celebrating our 2022 Class of the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor
We'll be inducting 11 former Longhorns greats into the 2022 class of the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor on Friday, Sept. 16 and we look forward to seeing everyone there! This year's class includes Sam Acho (Football, 2007-10), B.J. Bedford (Swimming & Diving, 1991-94), Kevin Durant (Basketball, 2006-07), Ovie Dotson (Basketball, 1976-79), Lindsay Garner (Softball, 2000-03), Kate Golden (Golf, 1986-89), Robyne Johnson (Track & Field, 1982-85), Anne Grousbeck Matta (Tennis, 1985-88), Jonny Levine (Tennis, 1982-84), Dustin Majewski (Baseball, 2002-03) and Kirk Stackle (Swimming & Diving, 1987-90). 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, just type in the promo code of HOH22. Parking will be available in lots 38 and 39 located in front of LBJ Auditorium.

UT Tower lit to celebrate Rowing's 2022 NCAA Championship
The University of Texas Tower was lit with the number '1' on Friday, Sept. 2 to commemorate Texas Rowing's 2022 NCAA Championship. Texas won the 2022 NCAA Championship in May in Sarasota, Fla., becoming the first team to win back-to-back titles since Ohio State accomplished the feat three-straight years from 2013-15. Kaitlin Knifton was selected as one of USRowing's Under 23 National Team Female Athletes of the Year.