Forty Acres Insider: December 17

Chris Del Conte head shot

Longhorn Nation,

We're here for the Holidays my friends! WHAT A WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR and one that's jam-packed with Longhorn action to cheer for. It's a historic week with the first-ever home College Football Playoff game set for Saturday as all eyes are on our Longhorns in a much-anticipated round one clash with the Clemson Tigers at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium (3 p.m. CT/TNT). I know y'all are charged up for this one and just like every awesome Saturday on the Forty, we'll have all our game day activities fired up for a Holiday Pregame Party on Bevo Blvd., Smokey's Midway, LCL and all our traditional festivities. Then y'all will be amped up and ready to rock the house at DKR. We need every ounce of Texas Fight you've got to help give our Horns that patented home field advantage as we look to put over one more win and advance to round two of the CFP! It's survive and advance folks and to the victor goes a trip to the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on January 1 in Atlanta! Let's be ready to BRING IT BIG-TIME!! Hey, and there's plenty more to get you in the spirit this week with our Swimming and Diving squads taking on Georgia on Wednesday in addition to Women's (tonight and Sunday) and Men's (Thursday) Hoops at Moody Center, so let's give our Horns many Holiday cheers.

DKR in December ⏳⏳⏳#HookEm x #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/sU0uxepush
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) December 15, 2024

Fresh off three-straight wins over the last eight days, Coach Schaefer and No. 6 Women's Basketball will put their 10-1 record on the line with a pair of games at Moody Center this week. Tonight, it's La Salle (7 p.m. CT/SEC Network+) followed by a Sunday tilt against South Dakota State (2 p.m. CT/SEC Network+). Meanwhile, Coach Terry and Men's Basketball earned a pair of bounce-back wins last week and takes a 9-2 record into Thursday's matchup with New Orleans (7 p.m. CT/SEC Network+).

Things didn't end the way we'd hoped this year for Coach Elliott and our two-time defending National Champion Volleyball team. Our Horns reached the Sweet 16 for the 19th-straight season — the longest active streak in the nation — which is such a testament to the consistent success we've had. It's another top-10 finish, a 20-win season, and a bright future ahead. I'd be remiss if I didn't take time to thank Longhorn Nation for your undying support of our Volleyball program, and for raisin' the roof at The Greg all season long! We appreciate you oh so much!!

what a ride. thanks for everything, Longhorn Nation 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/5ItxnsFGRC
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) December 13, 2024

I've got to give an emphatic Hook 'Em to THE GREAT MADISEN SKINNER. What an incredible career she had, and we are beyond grateful for all she did for Texas Volleyball. She will go down as one of the greatest collegiate volleyball players ever and we were so fortunate to have her representing the Burnt Orange & White. Here's to you Madi, on to big things my friend. What starts here changes the World!

All eyes were on our Longhorns last week as it was Football Awards season, and we brought home a whole lot of hardware! Coach Sark always says team success leads to individual awards and that sure has been on full display recently. Kudos to all our honorees, check out the note below for all the details, and here's to many more to come!

AP All-Americans 🤘 pic.twitter.com/AFVvH7BZe0
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) December 16, 2024

In the spirit of awards season and in closing before we get to all the notes, here's a HUGE SHOUTOUT FOR OUR LONGHORN LEGEND CHRIS GILBERT, who the Doak Walker Award announced last week will receive their Legends Award this year. A College Football Hall of Famer, member of the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor and All-American running back, he rushed for 1,000 yards in three straight seasons for Coach Royal's teams in 1966-68. Congrats to Chris, this is such a well-deserved honor!

The PwC SMU Athletic Forum has selected former University of Texas running back Chris Gilbert as the recipient of the 2024 PwC Doak Walker Legends Award.
#PwCSMUAthleticForum #DoakWalkerLegendsAward #ChrisGilbert pic.twitter.com/3unhwXuoaj
— Doak Walker Award (@DoakWalkerAward) December 13, 2024

Can't wait to see y'all on Saturday. Get that Longhorn gear ready, bring your Texas Fight and let's GET THOSE HORNS UP HIGH!

Longhorn Nation always on our mind 🫶🤘#HookEm | #LonghornFriday pic.twitter.com/FpdDxkri5G
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) December 13, 2024

The best pre-game experience in the country starts at 11 a.m. this Saturday!

It will be a historic day on our campus this Saturday when we host a College Football Playoff game for the very first time. And with that, we'll be doing all the things that make the Texas Football pregame experience the very best in the country. Bevo Blvd (pres. by H-E-B), Smokey's Midway (pres. by Conecuh Sausage), Hook `Em Hangout, and Big Bertha's Bazaar will all open up at 11 a.m. That means one final opportunity this season to see our own Bevo XV at the Bevo Parade (pres. by Texas Farm Bureau Insurance) at Noon. And we need your help Longhorn Nation in getting the Forty Acres rocking early with the largest Stadium Stampede when Coach Sark and the team arrive on Bevo Blvd at 12:45 p.m. It's the holiday season, and we'll have some festive additions at Big Bertha's Bazaar on Moody Center plaza including photo ops with Santa Hook `Em at 1 p.m. It'll be the perfect spot to get those last-minute gifts for your Longhorn family and friends!

Pat Green headlines Longhorn City Limits this Saturday on the LBJ Lawn!

Longhorn City Limits will be in full swing this weekend as we welcome Texas Country legend Pat Green back to Longhorn City Limits pres. by Still Austin Whiskey prior to the Clemson game. Austin-based quartet Sour Bridges will hit the stage at 11:30 a.m. for an incredible afternoon of live music and just like the regular season, admission is F-R-E-E for all fans! In addition, the Still Austin Whiskey Lounge and Tito's Tailgate will serve up craft cocktails starting at 11 a.m. I'll see y'all there!

yeah I like Texas, ain't it fine here 🤘#HookEm | @PATGREENMUSIC pic.twitter.com/FCMssoJ2p4
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) December 16, 2024

Here's your complete schedule for Texas Gameday, CFP First Round edition

7 a.m. – Parking Lots open
11 a.m. – Bevo Blvd pres. by H-E-B, Smokey's Midway pres. by Conecuh Sausage, and Big Bertha's Bazaar open
11 a.m. – Still Austin Music Lounge and Tito's Tailgate at Longhorn City Limits opens
11 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. – Photo ops with Smokey the Cannon on Smokey's Midway
11 a.m. – Hook 'Em Herd signups begin for kids ages 7-12 across from Gate 1 on Bevo Blvd (spots available on first-come, first-served basis)
11 a.m. – UT Club Premium Terrace opens (1^st floor for UT Club members, 2^nd floor for private DDLT Event, 3^rd floor open for General Public)
11 a.m. - The Flat Creek Estate Wine Garden opens for the general public on the north side of DeLoss Dodds Way near Trinity St.
11 a.m. – Gate 8 Ticket Resolution opens for mobile ticket support
11:30 a.m. – Sour Bridges LIVE at Longhorn City Limits pres. By Still Austin Whiskey Co.
Noon – Texas Exes Tailgate opens at Alumni Center for Texas Exes members
Noon – Sports Radio AM 1300 AM The Zone Longhorn Gameday Pregame Show LIVE at Hook `Em Hangout begins
Noon – Bevo Parade pres. by Texas Farm Bureau Insurance on Bevo Blvd (fans line up at 11:45 a.m. at South Entrance on Bevo Blvd)
Noon – Photo ops with the College Football Playoff National Championship trophy until 2:15 p.m. across from Gate 5
Noon – Gate 25 and Gate 25 Ticket Resolution opens for Big Ticket holders who have purchased a CFP 1^st Round ticket (UT students)
12:45 p.m. – Stadium Stampede team arrival on Bevo Blvd (fans line up at 12:30 p.m. at North Entrance on Bevo Blvd)
1 p.m. – Pat Green LIVE at Longhorn City Limits pres. by Still Austin Whiskey Co.
1 p.m. – Ticket Resolution at Gate 1 and 32 open for mobile ticket support
1 p.m. – All stadium gates and Longhorn Hospitality areas open
1-2 p.m. – Santa Hook `Em photo ops at Big Bertha's Bazaar
2 p.m. – Longhorn Band March to the stadium (starts on Robert Dedman Drive near Longhorn City Limits)
2:30 p.m. – Bevo Blvd, Longhorn City Limits, Smokey's Midway, and Hook 'Em Hangout close; Big Bertha's Bazaar closes
Pregame - KC-130 Flyover from the VMGR-234 Rangers
3 p.m. – Kickoff vs. Clemson!

For a full list of activities and everything you want to know about all-things gameday, please visit our Football Gameday headquarters page.

Hardware rolls in from Football awards season

We mentioned last week that with team success comes individual accolades (even though every one of those individuals would be the first to tell you they're really team accolades), and that we were poised for some great news in that area. Well, we certainly weren't wrong on that as we rang in awards season and there was some big-time hardware as the presents. As you read in this space last week, big Kelvin Banks was barreling down I-10 toward his hometown of Houston to take part in the Lombardi Award festivities, and boy oh boy was it ever a homecoming. The look on his face when his name was called was just priceless as he sat on that stage with his proud dad beside him and his wonderful family at a table nearby. It was a great moment and couldn't be more deserved for one of the finest representatives of our team. He even said his heart was pounding as the very first syllable of "Kel…" was announced and he couldn't believe that at that moment he became our fourth all-time winner. You couldn't help but well up, and his wonderful mom had the waterworks flowing in pure pride and joy. It's just an awesome thing to see. In fact, it was so awesome, they decided, "Hey, let's do it again tomorrow." And that's just what they did, and this time shared it with the Barron for the ESPN College Football Awards broadcast. First up, Kelvin got to hear his name again, although in the orchestration of TV, it showed he actually found out he was our fifth Outland Trophy winner the day before, and from no less than a man who might be slightly bigger than him in T-Sweat. Yes sir, our Outland Trophy winner from last year got to be the one to tell our Outland Trophy winner from this year that we were going back-to-back! How awesome is that?! It makes us the first program in the award's history to have back-to-back winners with one coming from each side of the ball! Kelvin kept it a big secret from his loved ones to give them that joyous feeling again as it was revealed during the show, and Jahdae did the same for double the fun on Thursday night, even though he also found out earlier that he was our third winner of the Thorpe Award from none other than our first winner – Michael Huff. I have to tell you, knowing Jahdae and how much he has dreamed of winning this very award ever since he was a kid, he went after it, and he made the dream a reality both on and off the field. He asked people who knew, "What does it take?" And he did every one of those things without fail. So a huge Hook 'Em to those two and all of their teammates and coaches that helped win those awards too! But wait, that hasn't been all, as the All-America teams have also started to come out, and in addition Kelvin and Jahdae, we've seen Anthony Hill, Alfred Collins and Michael Taaffe all have their names etched in history, including all five of them on the Associated Press team! Plus, we had the All-SEC honors announced, including Kelvin receiving the Jacobs Blocking Trophy from the league, and Colin Simmons named to the All-Freshman team! And it wasn't just players, I want to give a special shoutout to our own PK – Pete Kwiatkowski who was named a finalist for the Broyles Award which is for the nation's top assistant coach! Way to go to all of you!

It's a great night to be a Longhorn 🤘@Kelvinbanksjr12 x @Officia1dae pic.twitter.com/JvwOuobCst
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) December 13, 2024

Continuing the legacy 🤘@Kelvinbanksjr12 x @TvondreSweat x @outlandtrophy pic.twitter.com/7VtE6aA814
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) December 13, 2024

Continuing the legacy 🤘@Officia1dae x @Huffy247 x @jimthorpeaward pic.twitter.com/tajhFUmita
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) December 13, 2024

Men's Basketball breaks out offensively in pair of home wins

RT and our guys produced a pair of dominant home victories last week and are 9-2 on the year with two home games remaining before starting SEC play. Four Longhorns reached double figures in scoring on Thursday en route to a 91-67 victory over New Mexico State. Arthur Kaluma led the way with a team-high 18 points, and Tramon Mark added 14 points and seven boards in the win. Then on Sunday afternoon, it was time to go back through the record books as our guys put on a show in a 121-57 victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. An incredible eight players reached double figures in scoring, as the Longhorns recorded the eighth-most points in a single game in program history and most since the 2003-04 season. The 64-point margin of victory also marked the ninth largest in program history and largest since the 2005-06 season. The guys hit 17 three-pointers on the afternoon, just one shy of the school record. Individually, freshman Nic Codie had a breakout performance with a career-best 20 points, Jordan Pope had 17 points while knocking down 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, and Julian Larry turned heads by recording a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 13 assists (by the way, that's the most dimes by a Texas player since T.J. Ford back in 2001 … not bad company, Julian!). The Longhorns are back in The Mood against New Orleans on Thursday (7 p.m. CT/SEC Network+) for their final game before taking a 10-day break for holidays.

all Horns all the time 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/F3bGLrsbXl
— Texas Men's Basketball (@TexasMBB) December 14, 2024

Women's Basketball back in The Mood for pair of games this week

Our No. 6 Women's Basketball team won a pair of games last week and improved to 10-1 on the season. On Wednesday in Moody Center, the Longhorns put up 97 points in a win over Southern and shot over 50-percent as a team for the seventh time this year. Taylor Jones was a monster inside with 19 points and 11 rebounds for her 20th career double-double, while Madison Booker scored 17 points and added six rebounds. Booker then posted 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead the team to a 65-54 victory at Richmond on Sunday. She has scored 20 or more points in three of her last four games and is truly one of the best players in the country! Richmond entered the game averaging over 75 points per game, but our stifling defense held them to just 54 while forcing 24 turnovers and converting them into 26 points. And I have to give a shoutout to the best point guard in the country, Rori Harmon, who dished out seven assists against Richmond and now has 573 in her career, good for third place on our all-time list. Rori currently ranks in the top-10 in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio, total assists and assists per game. Coach Schaefer and our team are back in The Mood for a pair of games this week. We host La Salle on Tuesday (7 p.m. CT/SEC Network+) and then face South Dakota State on Sunday (2 p.m. CT/SEC Network+). So come join me and cheer on this exciting team in person!

have yourself a day @MaddiewitdaB_ 🤘

2️⃣5️⃣ pts
1️⃣1️⃣ reb#HookEm pic.twitter.com/H5lNTVThQb
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) December 15, 2024

Swimming shines on the world stage!

Talk about what starts here changes the world … and world records! What can you say but WOW when it comes to our guy LUKE HOBSON – who set not one, not two, not three, but FOUR WORLD RECORDS at the World Aquatics Short Course Championships in Budapest, Hungary last week. Hobson started the week by swimming alongside teammate Chris Guiliano and leading Team USA to gold and a world record in the 4x100-meter free relay. He followed that by setting TWO world records in ONE race, leading off the 4x200-meter free relay in a world-record time of 1:38.91 on the opening 200-meter free leg and joining Texas Ex Carson Foster in helping Team USA set the world record in the overall relay with a time of 6:40.51. Two days later, Hobson returned to the pool and broke his own world record in the 200-meter free to win gold with a time of 1:38.61. Hubert Kos returned to his home country and claimed individual gold in the 200-meter back with a World Championship and European record time of 1:45.65, and Foster added a silver medal in the 400-meter free with a time of 3:36.31. On the women's side, Jillian Cox won the bronze medal in the 1500-meter free with her time of 15:41.29, and signee Eva Okaro broke the Junior World Record in the 50-meter free with her time of 23.66, just missing the podium in fourth.

Back here in the states in Bloomington, Ind., our divers were in action at the USA Winter Nationals and had all five competing individuals reach the finals in their respective events. Hailey Hernandez led the way by winning gold on 1-meter, while Tanner Braunton reached his first-ever USA Nationals final and finished seventh on platform.

Fastest. In. History. 🤐#AQUABudapest2024 | #OMEGAOfficialTimekeeper pic.twitter.com/j9aD9c2y8S
— USA Swimming (@USASwimming) December 15, 2024

Indoor Track & Field posts fast times in Louisville

Coach Flo and our Indoor Track and Field teams kicked off the season with a hot start at the Louisville Opener last week. Our group produced some fast times, as junior Logan Popelka ran the 12th-fastest time in NCAA history and the fastest in men's program history in the 300-meters with a time of 32.54. On the women's side, Akala Garrett claimed the top time in the 500-meters at 1:10.40. Her time moved her up to No. 24 on the USTFCCCA All-Time Performer List.

And while we've got you, be sure to tune in Thursday night (5:30 p.m. CT/6:30 p.m. ET) as the one and only Leo Neugebauer returns to The Bowerman ceremony for the second-straight season. Could our guy be the third Longhorn to bring home the trophy? You can watch a stream of the ceremony at this link. Good luck, Leo!

Hook 'Em Horns,

Chris Del Conte

P.S. — Kudos to Coach Sark and our award winners! We're just getting started!!

National awards during Coach Sark era at Texas🤘🏻🏆 pic.twitter.com/GPV6YgRCb2
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) December 13, 2024

P.S. — The 2025 Football Schedule is set!

It's HERE 🤘‼️ pic.twitter.com/tP4vStyFdZ
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) December 12, 2024

P.S. — The Pride and Winning Tradition of The University of Texas!

The Tradition Continues🏆🏆🏆 … @jimthorpeaward winners 2005 @Huffy247, 2006 Aaron Ross & 2024 @Officia1dae 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻 pic.twitter.com/Sg4tQRNC5i
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) December 13, 2024

The Tradition Continues🤘🏻

Texas' 5th @outlandtrophy is 3rd-most of any program AND for first time in Outland history a school has back-to-back winners from both sides of ball🤘🏻

1963➡️Scott Appleton
1965➡️Tommy Nobis
1977➡️Brad Shearer
2023➡️@TvondreSweat
2024➡️@Kelvinbanksjr12 pic.twitter.com/utml2E6kwW
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) December 13, 2024

P.S. — DKR for the Holidays!

DKR in December ⏳⏳⏳#HookEm x #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/sU0uxepush
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) December 15, 2024

P.S. — Appreciate you and your incredible daughter, my friend. What Starts Here!

Forever grateful to @CoachAngeKelly as it is her coaching legacy to prepare her young 👩‍🎓athletes to be healthy, happy, confident & independent women for the "game of life." Proud to say, my youngest is ready…
TY AK 🧡🤘@_delconte @TexasSoccer @TexasOneFund @TexasLonghorns https://t.co/tOQ4a61azo pic.twitter.com/Hjt8UqA1uK
— derek missimo (@DMissimo) December 11, 2024

P.S. — Jake is the absolute best of the best!

Last night, Jake Majors was honored as part of the 2024 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class 🤘@jakob_majors x @NFFNetwork pic.twitter.com/4tZOeEv3cq
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) December 11, 2024

P.S. — How about our guy T-Sweat?!

Big man on the move 👀 @TvondreSweat

📺 #CINvsTEN on FOX
pic.twitter.com/1QDAmiJxz6
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) December 15, 2024

P.S. — The Teddy Bear Toss game was once again a rousing success!

another year, another teddy bear toss 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/lf282vfGae
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) December 13, 2024

P.S. — We see ya, Coach Schloss!

The program belongs to the players and former players 🤘#HookEm | @CoachSchloss pic.twitter.com/7g0g0Brrh9
— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) December 14, 2024

HEADLINES:

Video: No. 4/4/3 Football player media availability (Dec. 16)

No. 6/6 Women's Basketball to participate in Players Era Women's Championship in 2025

Video: Steve Sarkisian press conference (Dec. 16)

No. 13 Volleyball falls to Creighton in NCAA Regional Semifinal

No. 4/4/3 Football's Barron wins 2024 Jim Thorpe Award

No. 4/4/3 Football's Banks wins 2024 Outland Trophy

No. 4/4/3 Football's Simmons placed on SEC All-Freshman Team

No. 4/4/3 Football's Banks wins 2024 Lombardi Award

Football's 2025 slate revealed

No. 4/4/3 Football's Banks earns Jacobs Blocking Trophy

Video: Rodney Terry media availability (Dec. 11)