The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Forty Acres Insider: December 2
12.02.2025 | Forty Acres Insider
Important news happening in and around Texas Athletics compiled by Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte
Longhorn Nation,
OH WHAT A NIGHT — and what an unforgettable Thanksgiving week it was for our Longhorns, my friends! Y'all had DRK absolutely rockin'. Texas Fight was hoppin', the pads were poppin', and our Longhorns sent A&M packin' with a thrilling 27-17 victory. From the flashing lights to the drone show, fireworks, and a wall of Burnt Orange bringing the heat all the livelong day, the atmosphere was nothing short of electric. With the Eyes of the Nation locked on Austin, we showed out in a massive way. It made me so darn proud to be a Longhorn — and I know everyone in Burnt Orange & White on sight, across our great country and around the world, felt the same pride swelling in their hearts. That's the tradition, spirit, and winning pride of The University of Texas, served up with a heaping helping of Thanksgiving joy and capped off by raising that Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown hardware! Hook 'Em, Baby!!
ICYMI 🤘🎆#HookEm pic.twitter.com/qBxxav4RqZ
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) November 29, 2025
We haven't had many opportunities for night games at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium lately, but goodness gracious did we make the most of it on Friday night — stampeding to our ninth-straight home win (and 19th in our last 20). This one over the nation's No. 3-ranked squad and serving them up their first defeat. COACH SARK AND OUR SQUAD WERE PHENOMENAL, AND SO WE'RE Y'ALL — the best fans in the land. While Arch Manning was carving up the Aggies with both his arm and his legs, the defense was straight-up pissin' vinegar (pardon my French, but there's no better way to describe their ferocity), especially with star linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. sidelined. And special teams were at their complimentary-best once again as well. It was a total team victory powered by fanatical Texas Fight every step of the way — right on through to that postgame rendition of our beloved fight song blasting through the locker room. It was a beautiful site to see, and what a way to send out our seniors on a Senior Night — beating our rivals on the grandest stage under the lights. And check out this nugget: that's back-to-back years sweeping all three of our rivals — Arkansas, OU, and A&M. The last time Texas pulled off that trifecta — 1969 and 1970. Wrap your head around THAT!. What a weekend. What a night. And what a joy it is to share it with y'all. TEXAS FIGHT!
gonna have this moment on repeat for a while 🔂🥹#HookEm pic.twitter.com/4zkY8STPvg
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) November 29, 2025
The regular season is in the books at 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the SEC. Coach Sark led our team through a historic gauntlet of top-10 opponents, spent 42 days (four games) away from home, and won in every way imaginable. There were defensive gems, offensive explosions, and special teams heroics — whether it was gutsy overtime wins, bouncing back from a tough road game, or putting up punishing & dominant performances of several of the nation's best teams, our Horns did it all in a phenomenal year. As we await the latest College Football Playoff Rankings, I must say, outside of the undefeated and some of the one-loss squads around the country, you'd be hard pressed to find a better resume than ours — including Friday's sensational victory over a Texas A&M program that was in discussion for the number one spot. There's the fact that we are the only program with three wins over teams currently in the CFP top-15 (two in the top-10), and we're the first team since LSU in 2019 to beat three AP top-10-ranked squads in the regular season. Talk about a gauntlet, five of our 12 opponents this year are currently ranked in the CFP Top-15. That's a big reason why with our current No. 16 ranking, our strength of schedule (ranked 8th-toughest in the FBS) is the best among the CFP's Top 16 teams. And with all the talk about rivalry week, we took on that challenge multiple times with emotional meetings against a trio of longtime rivals that all went to the Burnt Orange & White (Oklahoma, 23-6; Arkansas, 52-37; Texas A&M, 27-17). And our guy Arch is really on a heater now too, throwing for 1,493 yards (nearly 300 per game) while tossing 12 TD passes, rushing for three more and scoring on a TD reception (16 total TDs responsible for) over the last five games. He's leading the way, our Horns are playing as one, and we ended the regular season on a high note. We'll see what's up next, so stay tuned for that.
Something I hope CFP Committee & media covering College FB will discuss more when talking about Texas is the STRONG FINISH. In last 7 games (6 wins, 3 vs. longtime rivals), the Horns have faced 4 top-10 teams (all still in top-15) and won 3 of those (only loss at No. 5 Georgia)🤘🏼
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) December 1, 2025
Here's to hoping everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day week with family and friends. Our squads sure did provide a whole lot of victories to celebrate during the festive week. Coach Schaefer and now No. 2 Women's Basketball knocked off No. 3 UCLA (76-65) and No. 2 South Carolina (66-46) on successive days to claim the title at the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas. Tourney MVP Rori Harmon was en fuego, leading the way in those games. She tallied 26 points versus UCLA and followed up with nine assists and the game-winning jumper with less than a second left against the Gamecocks — becoming Texas' all-time career assists leader along the way, to boot. Coach Miller and Men's Basketball closed out their time at the Southwest Maui Invitational with a 102-97 victory over No. 22 NC State, with Jordan Pope scoring 28 points and our Horns netting 16 three-point shots in the process. Coach Elliott and No. 3 Volleyball made a heck of a run through the SEC Tournament in Savannah, including a victory over No. 6 Texas A&M, to advance to the Championship match where we came up just short in a five-setter against No. 2 Kentucky. Cari Spears and Torrey Stafford earned All-Tournament honors in our warmup for the NCAAs.
your 2025 Players Era Champions 🤘🏆#HookEm pic.twitter.com/wpYB1T8E0m
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) November 28, 2025
Now it's ON TO ANOTHER FANTASTIC WEEK, with the NCAA Volleyball Tourney seedings announced Sunday and the opportunity to begin the road to the championship right here at Gregory Gym. Coach Elliott and our 23-3 squad earned a No. 1 seed (No. 3 overall seed) and will get things started on Friday at The Greg against Florida A&M (7 p.m. CT/ESPN+), and with a victory on Friday night would advance to play the winner of No. 25 Penn State and USF on Saturday (6:30 p.m. CT/ESPN+). I know you'll be amped up and we are too — can't wait to see you then and let's raise the roof for some postseason volleyball, help our Horns thrive and advance, and make another deep tourney run. There's high octane hoops on the way this week as we'll host a pair of ACC/SEC Challenge games in The Mood on back-to-back nights. Men's Basketball will be in action on Wednesday with Virginia in town (8:15 p.m. CT/ESPNU), while No. 2 Women's Basketball hosts another ranked opponent, this time No. 11 North Carolina on Thursday (6 p.m. CT/ESPN2). Wednesday is National Signing Day for Football as well so stay tuned for all our coverage on that across all of our platforms and streamed on Longhorn Network. Can't wait to roll out the news of all our newest Longhorns!
𝐍𝐨. 1️⃣ 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐝 – 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥
— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) November 30, 2025
🤘 @TexasVolleyball#NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/mwfc5BDehC
Limited single-session tickets for NCAA Volleyball First & Second Rounds go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m.!
After earning the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Coach Elliott and our Volleyball squad earned the right to host NCAA First and Second Round contests here on the Forty Acres this weekend, and we're ready for Longhorn Nation to get the Horns' House rocking for the postseason! A limited amount of single-session tickets will be available for this Friday's and Saturday's matches beginning TOMORROW (Wednesday, Dec. 3) at 10 a.m. CT online at TexasLonghorns.com/Tickets. Can't wait to see y'all at the Greg for the start of our journey!
And it's goodbye to A&M
It was a night to remember in the long lore of one of the best rivalries in the history of college football. An undefeated Texas A&M team coming into DKR for the first time in 15 YEARS with so much on the line for both teams, and my friends, our Horns met the moment and more with the Texas Fight they've shown all year, saying goodbye to A&M and putting over one more win to the tune of a 27-17 victory after a decisive 24-7 second half. It was a complete team win with the defense holding one of the nation's top offenses to season lows of 337 total yards and 180 passing yards, along with the Aggies' second-fewest points this year (and just by one point). Then on offense, the switch flipped in the second half and the squad finished the game with 218 rushing yards that were 100 over the season average allowed by Texas A&M coming into the game! Meanwhile, despite the Aggies being one of the top sack teams in the nation, our guy Arch was dialing up the completions behind a line that gave him time and only surrendered one all night. That's why I have to give a special shoutout to big Trevor Goosby, and on the other side of the ball, Ethan Burke. Those guys and their teammates got it done up front, and for that, both guys got SEC honors. Part of that for Ethan carried over to special teams where he put that big paw up and batted back yet another field goal, making him the only player in the SEC with two this year. While, on the flip side, Mason Shipley nailed both of his attempts for the good guys, including getting us on the board first. After another one to make it 10-6, some Arch to Wingo magic happened for the lead, all the while it was off to the races for "call me Quintrevion." How about 155 rushing yards, giving him 341 in the last two games against the Aggies?! Whoa! He'd gotten their attention so much, they forgot about young Nick Townsend who made it pay off! Then in shades of Colt and Case McCoy in this game, it was Arch right up the middle for a decisive blow, and it was 16 on defense who appropriately shut the door on Texas A&M's next drive. I mean, come on, someone get the script out because the fifth-year fifth-generation Longhorn who has given so much to this place gets the INT on Senior Day in the setting of this rivalry. You can't write it any better that, and it gets the waterworks going since no one deserves it more than Michael Taaffe. The final blow then came from Kobe Black and the celebration was on! So much credit goes to the culture these guys and this coaching staff have created, and Coach Sark was justly rewarded as the Dodd Trophy National Coach of the Week!
Best way to start the week?
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) December 1, 2025
Monday Morning Highlights 🎥☕️ pic.twitter.com/h2FLtwqOUw
Men's Basketball back in The Mood on Wednesday against Virginia!
Fresh off a 2-1 mark at the Southwest Maui Invitational over Thanksgiving week, Coach Miller and our guys are back in the friendly confines of Moody Center when they play host to a talented Virginia squad as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge on Wednesday (8:15 p.m. CT/ESPNU). After a tough 87-86 loss to Arizona State in the opening round in Maui, our Longhorns bounced right back and earned a 119-78 win over host Chaminade and followed with an impressive 102-97 victory against No. 23/22 NC State on the final day of the tourney. Jordan Pope knocked down SEVEN three-pointers against the Wolf Pack, and Dailyn Swain earned a spot on the Maui Invitational All-Tournament Team. And how about this nugget? That marked the first time since the 2009-10 season that the Longhorns had topped the century mark in back-to-back games! The guys averaged 102.3 points per game on 59-percent shooting from the floor, including a 44-percent mark from three-point range, over the three contests, and SIX different Longhorns averaged double figures in scoring during the tourney. Let's welcome this team back to the ATX by PACKING THE MOOD and giving them a great home-court advantage on Wednesday night!
Women's Basketball up to No. 2 and hosts North Carolina on Thursday!
Coach Schaefer and our ladies are the TALK OF THE NATION in women's college basketball! Our Longhorns went to Las Vegas and hit the jackpot, taking down No. 3 UCLA (76-65) last Wednesday before following that up with a gritty 66-64 victory over No. 2 South Carolina on Thursday to claim the title at the Players Era Championship. In the win over the Bruins in the opening game, Texas took control of the game early, built a 20-point lead by halftime (45-25), and withstood a late UCLA run to close out the double-digit victory. Congrats to Coach Schaefer who earned his 150th victory while at Texas with the win. The following night on Thanksgiving, it was the Rori Harmon show. Midway through the fourth quarter, Rori recorded her 777th career assist to become the all-time leader in assists in program history – but that was just the appetizer. With the score tied at 64-64, Harmon made a baseline jumper with 0.7 seconds left to lift the Longhorns to the win and collected some well-deserved hardware by earning Tournament MVP honors. The ladies weren't done for the week, as they returned to The Mood on Sunday and claimed an 81-63 victory over Penn. Get out to Moody Center this week as the Longhorns host No. 11 North Carolina as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge on Thursday (6 p.m. CT/ESPN2) and follow that up with another home game against Prairie View A&M on Sunday (2 p.m. CT/SEC Network+).
checking in 🙂↕️🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/vimcV9OOFM
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) December 1, 2025
Fran Harris honored as Texas Exes Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient
Here's a big-time Hook 'Em Horns to Women's Basketball legend Fran Harris, as she became the first-ever female student-athlete to be honored as a Texas Exes Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient! The captain and leading scorer of our undefeated 1986 National Championship team at Texas, Fran is a former WNBA champion with the Houston Comets and a gold medalist with USA Basketball. Beyond her athletic accomplishments, Harris is a Fortune 100 consultant, the author of 20 books and has served as an announcer for ESPN, Longhorn Network, SEC Network and ACC Network and currently works as a TV analyst for the WNBA's Dallas Wings. You can watch Fran's acceptance speech from the November 21st ceremony by clicking on this link. The Texas Exes recognizes as many as six recipients each year to honor alumni who have distinguished themselves in their profession, community, and through service to the University. And I must say how cool it was to see Gary Farmer, Bill Gurley and Lynn Utter – all long-time donors and fans of UT Athletics – recognized in this year's class. What Starts Here!
Tonight we're honoring our newest recipients of the Distinguished Alumnus Award! Learn more about each recipient and read their full bios here → https://t.co/9B82JZJxGB 🤘 pic.twitter.com/4JCgcK09bs
— Texas Exes (@TexasExes) November 21, 2025
Hook 'Em Horns,
P.S. — THANK YOU Longhorn Nation!
All love for y'all & DKR 🫶🤘 pic.twitter.com/BgCcGnWJVA
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) November 29, 2025
P.S. — Horns Up!
Put 'em up, y'all 🤘 pic.twitter.com/LjXKMFTdDp
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) November 29, 2025
P.S. — It sure is pretty!
ain't she pretty 🤩🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/X37Aq4l5F7
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) November 29, 2025
P.S. — We see ya Coach Bates — welcome to the Forty — and fellas, thanks for coming out!
low-quality pic, high-quality content 🤘#HookEm | @TexasLonghorns pic.twitter.com/RrykvDir22
— Texas Soccer (@TexasSoccer) November 30, 2025
P.S. — How about Bevo's buddies, The Clydesdales!
Just some friends of @TexasMascot 🤘 pic.twitter.com/B1d1VXEOcC
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) November 28, 2025
P.S. — A must-have for Longhorn Fans!
And It's Goodbye to A&M! Purchase the official Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown victory tee TODAY! 🤘https://t.co/HZAUAcfFWh#HookEm pic.twitter.com/gQufVq1pGA
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) November 29, 2025
HEADLINES:
No. 14/14/16 Football's Sarkisian named Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week:
Video: Rori Harmon appears on ESPN's Vibe Check:
Video: Steve Sarkisian joins The Herd with Colin Cowherd:
Video: PGA TOUR's "Official Visit" with Men's Golf:
Video: Steve Sarkisian appears on SEC This Morning:
Video: Sean Miller media availability (Dec. 1):
No. 14/14/16 Football's Burke, Goosby collect SEC weekly honors:
Video: Steve Sarkisian postgame press conference (Texas A&M):
Women's Golf's O'Keefe selected for Curtis Cup practice session:
Texas Lottery Veteran Recognition: Mario Chavez:
No. 2 Women's Swimming's Cox named SEC Swimmer of the Week:
No. 1 Men's Swimming's McKean garners SEC co-Freshman Swimmer of the Week:
