The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Forty Acres Insider: October 21
10.21.2025 | Forty Acres Insider
Important news happening in and around Texas Athletics compiled by Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte
Longhorn Nation,
Talk about grit, tenacity, perseverance, and TEXAS FIGHT — Coach Sark and our Longhorns embodied all of that with a nail-biting victory late Saturday night in Lexington. In another critical SEC showdown, our Horns rolled up their sleeves, dug deep, battled through wave after wave of adversity and — when it mattered most — delivered a relentless third- and fourth-down goal-line stand that set up Mason Shipley's historic 45-yard walk-off field goal in overtime to secure a 16-13 win. Horns went up high as the perfect snap, hold and glorious 45-yard field goal sailed straight down the middle of the Kroger Stadium uprights!
There were so many emotions in the ebb and flow of this closely contested road battle, and plenty to work on, grow from and build on for the long season ahead (we're just at the midway point folks!). But as Coach Sark told the team in the locker room after the game — we're fired up to get another SEC win, let's celebrate as a team and get back to work next week! And what a sight for sore eyes the postgame scene was as Saturday night crept into the early hours of Sunday in the Bluegrass State. It was an electric scene as our connected, resilient group of men celebrated the plays that helped send us back home to Austin victorious. Longhorn Nation — THANK YOU! To those who fought with us in Kentucky and to all who cheered from around the world, your energy fuels us every step of the way.
Longhorn Nation appreciation post 🤘🫶#HookEm pic.twitter.com/ZLaWPGQcTs
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) October 19, 2025
We've got one more away from home in this lengthy OCTOBER ROAD SWING before we return to the friendly confines of DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium for a well-earned family reunion on the Forty to start November. This week it's Starkville, the Cowbells, and Mississippi State (3:15 p.m. CT/SEC Network) as we look to put over one more win. Let's get those Horns Up and put an exclamation point on October, my friends!
Let's go to Starkville 🤘 pic.twitter.com/60Hr8fzHW1
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) October 20, 2025
I must say y'all brought it big-time at Gregory Gym again last week as PERFECTION CONTINUED for Coach Elliott and Volleyball with home wins over our rivals from Arkansas (Friday) and Oklahoma (Sunday). The Sunday night victory over the Sooners was a primetime featured broadcast on ESPN, putting our sensational Longhorns in the spotlight for the nation to see! They absolutely keep on keepin' on making it 16-0 on the year, 8-0 in the SEC and 9-0 at The Greg. Now the show goes on the road with trips to Ole Miss on Friday (7 p.m. CT/SEC Network) and LSU on Sunday (1 p.m. CT/SEC Network+) on the docket this week. It's part of a three-game road swing as we'll head to College Station on Halloween (6:30 p.m. CT/SEC Network+) before returning home for a clash of titans with No. 3 Kentucky in the house on Sunday, Nov. 2 (Noon CT/ESPN).
CONFIRMED: the river runs Burnt Orange 😉🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/l2Vg0Vt4RY
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) October 20, 2025
It's ANOTHER AWESOME WEEK ON THE FORTY AND BEYOND. Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving host Tennessee in a high-powered, double dual meet Friday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center (check the notes below for all the fun stuff we're doing around that one). Fresh off a fun Sunday afternoon with y'all at the Orange-White scrimmage, Women's Basketball will be back in preseason action on Thursday night at Moody Center with Lubbock Christian in town for an exhibition (7 p.m. CT). Beach Volleyball hosts TCU on Friday and Saturday, while Softball's Fall Ball action continues Friday night at Red & Charline McCombs Field against Our Lady of the Lake (6 p.m. CT). Soccer closes out its season against Ole Miss on Sunday at Mike A. Myers Stadium (2 p.m. CT/SEC Network+). Men's and Women's Tennis are in tourney action as is Men's Golf in a week loaded with competitions for our Longhorns.
on the calendar this week 🤘#HookEm | @SeatGeek pic.twitter.com/GJyJvVzmBC
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) October 20, 2025
Hey, and while I've got you, here's to a HUGE SHOUTOUT TO ALL OF OUR PHENOMENAL FANS that showed up and showed out for our 4-0 Fall Ball Softball victory over Texas A&M on Friday. Y'all packed the house for our defending National Champs, made it a truly special night and we are beyond grateful for your never-ending support of ALL Longhorn sports!
y'all showed up and showed out 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/Y25Rcb2HZH
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) October 18, 2025
Longhorns Survive Lexington with Another Precious SEC W
Under the blue moon of Kentucky, Coach Sark and our Horns went into a raucous SEC nighttime environment and emerged with a 16-13 overtime victory. It wasn't always the prettiest, but folks — it got the job done to SURVIVE AND ADVANCE. The defense was defiant, the special teams were special, and the offense came up with the plays they needed to bring home that precious W in the late hours of Saturday night into Sunday morning. No matter what the moment called for, this team stood strong, stood together, and didn't blink. The defense delivered three more quarters of its no-paint policy — stretching the streak to eight straight without surrendering a touchdown — but even when Kentucky did manage to break through in the fourth quarter, our squad made sure they wouldn't get back there again with one of their patented goal-line stands. That set up Mason "New" Shipley to knock home the game-winner from 45 yards out — one of three as-clutch-as-they-get field goals on the night, including a season-long 53-yarder in the third quarter and a go-ahead 39-yarder with 57 seconds left in regulation. And while we're talking about Mason, you can't leave out holder (and punter) extraordinaire Aussie, Aussie, Aussie Jack Bouwmeester and the bullseye snapping of Lance St. Louis. Special shoutout to you guys for delivering in the clutch to set the table for Mason to drill those kicks. I tell you, if Mason hadn't been the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week, we had a line for that accolade that not only included Jack — who punted the heck out of the ball — but Ryan Niblett, who was running wild again returning punts. Truly a special effort from the entire unit. But that wasn't the only conference recognition. Big Colin Simmons took home Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week for the second-straight time after racking up three sacks and forcing a fumble against the Wildcats. Talk about a sack machine — that's 5.5 sacks in the last two games for the pride of Duncanville! And earlier in the game, it was the definition of complimentary football as the punt unit downed the ball at the nine, the defense came up with a stop — including the oh-so-close sack for a safety by Trey Moore — then Mr. Niblett did his thing to set up the offense inside the five, and the O punched it in from there for the lead. While everyone loves seeing the offense pile up big numbers, one of the most important was zero – once again, no turnovers. Job well done in that department. Now it's back on the road to another raucous SEC environment. By the time the game ends, it'll be another night game under the lights of Starkvegas, where the cowbells will be ringing. So we need as many of you there as we can get — or if you can't join us, make sure we can hear you in Mississippi (3:15 p.m. CT/SEC Network)!
Monday morning highlights from the road W ☕️🎥 pic.twitter.com/lDrE6fWIhR
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) October 20, 2025
Volleyball earns pair of home wins to improve to 16-0!
Stop me if you've heard this before, but our No. 2 Volleyball squad returned to good ole Gregory Gym last Friday night and swept Arkansas, 3-0! Freshman Abby Vander Wal took over the court with a team-leading 13 kills and hit a whopping .393 off 28 swings. These freshmen are something else I'm telling you, as Cari Spears added a career-high six blocks in that match! Then we turned the page and played host to the Red River Rivalry on Sunday night in The Greg, and it just doesn't get better than Texas and Oklahoma on primetime TV. Our Horns got the 3-1 win behind Torrey Stafford's 17 kills and .417 hitting percentage. And a big-time Hook 'Em to Torrey who reached 1,000 CAREER KILLS during the previous win over Arkansas! A spicy kill is one thing but when we aced those Sooners it was even better, and that's exactly what our libero Emma Halter did. To the tune of FOUR ACES in Sunday's victory. Coach Elliott and the ladies will take to the road this week for games at Ole Miss on Friday (7 p.m. CT/SEC Network) and LSU on Sunday (1 p.m. CT/SEC Network+). Let's keep it rolling!
big killa 🤘#HookEm | @StaffordTorrey pic.twitter.com/vcxSaIbnhz
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) October 17, 2025
Cheer on our Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving teams this Friday vs. Tennessee!
Longhorn Nation, the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center is THE PLACE TO BE this Friday night as our Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving teams take on Tennessee in a signature dual meet starting at 5:30 p.m. Central. We've got plenty of fanfare you won't want to miss including appearances by the Longhorn Band, Texas Cheer, Texas Pom, and Hook `Em. Before the meet, we'll celebrate our seniors and unveil the Men's 2025 National Championship banner, the 16th in our storied program's history, that will hang from the rafters of our world-class natatorium. Doors will open at 4 p.m., admission is F-R-E-E, and the first 250 fans will receive a commemorative koozie. Plan to arrive early as Olympians including Anna Elendt, Lindsey Looney, and Jack Kelly will be signing autographs on the concourse from 4:15-4:50 p.m. Our partners at 1883 Provisions Co. will have Fan First pricing on our core concessions offerings all meet long and "Lappy Hour Pricing" prior to 6:30 p.m., so come out early and cheer on our Horns in one of the most exciting meets of the season!
Hook 'Em Horns,
P.S. — Love this!
all around excellence ✏️🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/nT2AwHHYDK
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) October 17, 2025
P.S. — Spot secured in the History Books for Mason Shipley!
Record book updating today ✍🏻 👉🏻 all-time walk-off field goals in Texas history. There are now 9️⃣ and I've been blessed to be working with @TexasFootball for all of them🤘🏻
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) October 19, 2025
What incredible memories being on the field watching these kicks split the uprights as time expires‼️ pic.twitter.com/LgKBaVTaSV
P.S. — WOW, this picture says it all when it comes to our big playmaker Ryan Niblett!
NIBLETTTTTT 🗣️😮💨#HookEm pic.twitter.com/3IZxOP9gEq
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) October 19, 2025
P.S. — Thanks for stopping by Coach Brown!
Fun time visiting with the Texas Women's & Men's Swim Teams. Great young people and very well coached! pic.twitter.com/mc0QOo0zOr
— Mack Brown (@CoachMackBrown) October 20, 2025
P.S. — Talkin' Hoops at SEC Basketball Media Day
live from Birmingham, AL 🤘🎥#HookEm pic.twitter.com/UOjqI6sZt4
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) October 15, 2025
talking hoops @SEC 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/STuhzjASWn
— Texas Men's Basketball (@TexasMBB) October 14, 2025
P.S. — Awesome Sunday at the Mood!
sure feels good to have y'all back in The Mood 🤘🫶#HookEm pic.twitter.com/PnwUxBnqdr
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) October 19, 2025
P.S. — Love to see Coach Miller connecting with our students on campus!
grateful for the people that make the home court advantage 🤘#HookEm | @TexasDarlins @TexasWranglers pic.twitter.com/nTx8XnpOLo
— Texas Men's Basketball (@TexasMBB) October 17, 2025
P.S. — So cool to see former Longhorn Justin Leonard in the winner's circle again!
His second win of the season 🏆🏆
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) October 19, 2025
Justin Leonard moves to No. 9 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings after the win @DECCGolf. pic.twitter.com/uw0SczByB1
HEADLINES:
Men's Tennis' Eriksson advances to ITA Texas Regionals semifinals:
No. 5 Men's Golf in second after round two at The Williams Cup:
Video: Steve Sarkisian press conference (Week 9 – Mississippi State):
No. 22/18 Football's Shipley, Simmons receive SEC weekly honors:
No. 2 Volleyball's Swindle named SEC Co-Setter of the Week:
Six former Longhorns on NBA opening night rosters:
Video: Steve Sarkisian postgame press conference (Kentucky):
Men's Cross Country places fourth at Pre Nats behind Torres' personal best:
More than a team: Volleyball's Devin Kahahawai:
Video: Steve Sarkisian media availability (Week 8 – Kentucky):
No. 5 Men's Golf's Maas named SEC Men's Co-Golfer of the Week:
Video: Vic Schaefer at SEC Tipoff:
Video: Sean Miller at SEC Tipoff:
Video: Women's Basketball appears on SEC Now:
Video: Men's Basketball appears on SEC Now:
No. 1 Men's Swimming and Diving sweeps SEC weekly accolades:
No. 2 Women's Swimming's Cox, Okaro garner SEC weekly honors:
No. 21/17 Football's Taaffe named Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year semifinalist:
No. 21/17 Football lands four on Lombardi Award midseason watch list:
Women's Basketball ranked No. 4 in Associated Press preseason poll: