Forty Acres Insider: August 26

Chris Del Conte head shot 2025

Longhorn Nation,

GGGGGGiddy UP, folks! The athletics seasons are upon us, campus is buzzing with classes back in session, and you can feel the rumble of the stampede that's coming! We're already off and running this week with a big-time announcement, a huge celebration of another sensational year (and the one ahead), and a stacked slate of Longhorn competition right in front of us.

The moment y'all (and sports fans across the globe!) have been waiting for is finally here — our epic showdown with Ohio State in The Shoe on Saturday (11 a.m. CT/FOX). It's the first-ever season-opening matchup of the top two teams in the Coaches Poll and a rematch of last year's incredible CFP semifinal. The stage couldn't be bigger: ESPN College GameDay will spotlight this one in Coach Corso's farewell game (and headgear pick!), and FOX's Big Noon Kickoff will be live from Columbus, too. It's a much-anticipated clash of two college football titans. Coach Sark and our Horns have been grindin' in the Texas heat and are ready to rumble and I know you're fired up as well! Get your burnt orange and white best ready, throw your Horns Up, and let's Hook 'Em!

Week one 🤘 pic.twitter.com/MJxmUAXxRH
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) August 25, 2025

And wait, there's much more to cheer & raise those Horns High for. Soccer hosts TCU on Thursday (7 p.m. CT/SEC Network+) and College of Charleston on Sunday (1 p.m. CT/SEC Network+) at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Volleyball gets the season underway traveling to Wisconsin for two marquee matches — Friday vs. Creigton (8:30 p.m. CT/Big Ten Network) and Sunday vs. Wisconsin (1 p.m. CT/Big Ten Network). What a time to be a Longhorn — and perfect time to fire back up the ol' Forty Acres Insider! LET'S GO!!

Before we dive too far into this week's edition, I've got to spotlight some really exciting news from Monday: Texas Athletics has joined forces with Humann as our official cardiovascular health sponsor. You'll soon see their name on our fields and courts, and when you do, you can be proud knowing this connection runs deep, bleeds orange, and is built right here on the Forty Acres. Folks, for us to do this across our sports venues, we knew it had to have an incredible story of The University of Texas. Humann is a brand with a nationwide reach, yet its roots are right here on our great campus. How cool is that! Humann's extraordinary products — created & developed at UT and used by our student-athletes for over a decade — are designed to enhance cardiovascular health for not only our teams, but everyone. Their 16-year collaboration with UT is a shining example of WHAT STARTS HERE CHANGES THE WORLD. Learn more in the full story, watch the heartwarming & enlightening documentary, and catch Monday's press conference replay on LHN. Then puff out your chest with pride and let folks know exactly what the logo they see at games and on TV is all about! That's some pride and winning tradition on full display right there! Coach Sark reinforced that with his comments to open his weekly press conference: "Obviously, cardiovascular health is really personal to me and my history so to be aligning with a company like Humann that makes cardiovascular health a priority nationwide I think is unbelievable. The fact that their logo is going to be on our field will be a great collaboration with them, especially knowing all of our players take their products and see the results."

Austin Born. Science Born. 🤘

from a Nobel Prize winning discovery to the Forty Acres, Texas Athletics and Humann are teaming up to elevate cardiovascular healthhttps://t.co/n8qTALbRFV #HookEm | @livehumann pic.twitter.com/R1qWTfDJta
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) August 25, 2025

As our student-athletes returned in full force this week, Monday also marked the start of our ANNUAL CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK AND WELCOME BACK CELEBRATION on the Forty. It's the perfect time to take a well-earned victory lap — honoring our conference and national championship teams, as well as the many individual national champions and award winners from last year — while launching full speed into the year ahead. We did just that as an athletic department Monday night at Moody Center. It's always a joyous occasion to bring all of our student-athletes, programs and coaches together, break bread, enjoy some fellowship and hear words of gratitude and inspiration. We're beyond fired up for 2025-26 and couldn't be more excited to have it all underway. And folks, we know no one does it like Longhorn Nation. We're so darn lucky to have the best fans in the land riding with us. Let's do this!

Incredible evening celebrating our students, coaches and staff as we kick off the new year with President ⁦@JimDavis_UT⁩…#defendthecup 🤘🏽 pic.twitter.com/ogy38gOuty
— Chris Del Conte (@_delconte) August 26, 2025

Hey, before we get rolling with the notes — if you haven't checked out the TOUGH ALL DAY series on LHN, stop what you're doing and stream it now! There's no better primer to get you ready for the 2025 Football season. LHN is your one-stop shop for everything Longhorns — feature stories, mini-series, documentaries, press conferences, and classic games and moments in all of our programs' histories.

All Eyes on Texas
Folks, the eyes of not only Texas, but the entire nation will be on Coach Sark and our Horns this weekend as they head to Columbus for a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in the coaches poll against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Get this, it's the first time EVER you've got 1 vs. 2 to open the season! Whoa! So, of course, that means all the big players in the college football media world will be there, too, including ESPN College GameDay and Big Noon Kickoff, which will make uno, dos, tres times we've had a game where both of the great pregame shows were in attendance together. The other two times, you ask? Last year at Michigan, and in 2022 here at DKR against Alabama. So, all three under Coach Sark and more testament to what he's building! It'll also be the 11th time in the last five seasons we've been on GameDay, which has been there for all four meetings in the series history between our Horns and the Buckeyes going back to that 2005 classic! With that being said, this time will be in enemy territory, so we need every one of you Burnt Orange fanatics who will be there with us in Columbus to come out early and make sure that beautiful color hits the airwaves in force! If you're going, GameDay will be located outside St. John Arena and admitting fans starting at 5 a.m. EASTERN time, while Big Noon Kickoff will be at RPAC, which is southeast of the stadium and admitting fans at 7:30 a.m. EASTERN time. And while we're on the subject of GameDay, there have been so many incredible tributes for Coach Corso over the last few days in anticipation of his final show, and "Not so fast, my friend," you're not putting on your last head gear before I get my two cents in. I just have to say, you're the embodiment of what college football is all about. We all take the game very seriously, but you remind us every Saturday just how fun it actually is. You've put your own unique stamp on college football, you're part of the fabric of why we love it, and that's why we love you, too! You'll be missed, my friend!

The best gameday experience in the country returns September 6!
While our team's focus is squarely on Columbus for this Saturday's game at Ohio State, our staff is working tirelessly to welcome Longhorn Nation back to Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in 11 days for our home opener versus San José State at 11 a.m. CT (presented by St. David's HealthCare). It's been far too long since we gathered at DKR together, and you have once again shown the ultimate Burnt Orange and White pride and passion as tickets are SOLD OUT through Texas Athletics for the entire season. Fans who are still looking to secure tickets should visit SeatGeek, the official fan-to-fan Marketplace of Texas Athletics. Please note that tickets purchased through SeatGeek are the only tickets purchased on marketplaces that are supported by Texas Athletics. If you plan to purchase tickets from elsewhere, please be sure you know and trust any third party other than SeatGeek AND be sure to use ticket transfer technology which allows you to download valid mobile tickets to your wallet. Screenshots are not valid tickets and increase the potential for fraudulent transactions. Texas Athletics is NOT able to resolve issues for tickets purchased on other marketplaces and fans will need to contact the third party use to purchase game tickets.

We'll have a full breakdown of gameday activities in next week's Forty Acres Insider, but I want to give a sneak peak of some of the highlights you can look forward to:

All of our signature pregame experiences are returning this season, including Bevo Blvd (pres. by H-E-B), Longhorn City Limits, Smokey's Midway (pres. by Conecuh Sausage), Hook `Em Hangout, and Big Bertha's Bazaar at Moody Center. Pregame activities in all of these areas will open at 8 a.m. starting with Bevo ushering in a new home season with the Bevo Parade presented by Texas Farm Bureau Insurance on Bevo Blvd.
Big Bertha's Bazaar, our pregame retail experience at Moody Center, has a full slate of licensees ready to launch unique product all season long as well as several new photo ops that capture the excitement of Texas gamedays. Lineups will be announced each game week, and you'll definitely want to add the Bazaar to your gameday checklist.
This year, our partners at 1883 Provisions Co. are adding $5 (Bud Lights) and $6 (Corona Extra) 12 oz. beers to our Fan First menus that you can enjoy all game long. There will also be new menu items you'll find at select stands around the stadium, including turkey legs, brisket mac & cheese bowls, and Asian fusion hot dogs.
You'll definitely want to be in your seats early each home game so you don't miss a second of pregame including a featured flyover at each home game during the Showband of the Southwest's pregame show.
At halftime, you'll want to stay in your seats for the Longhorn Band's first halftime show of the season. In addition, we'll recognize our 2024-25 National and Conference Champions as well as all of our student-athletes for securing the Learfield Directors' Cup for the second consecutive season and fourth time in the past five years.

We'll dive into so much more next week but stay tuned for exciting announcements including our first Longhorn City Limits lineup of the season.

Give yourself extra time to travel to/from gamedays this season
One thing I want to draw your attention to is the impact of TXDOT I-35 construction on your travels to/from Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium this season. Based on your parking location – or if you are taking rideshare or alternative transportation to the game – please take a moment BEFORE HEADING TO THE STADIUM to familiarize yourself with your route to the game. There is one adjustment that we want to highlight that is a change from previous seasons:

As I-35 construction has permanently removed the 15th Street onramp to Northbound I-35, some postgame traffic flow has been adjusted. Some fans will now be directed toward the I-35 Southbound frontage road from 15th Street, while others will be directed straight south to 12th Street. The 12th Street intersection will now become a primary access point to I-35 (like the 15th Street intersection served in the past).

All pregame and postgame traffic flows including garage/surface lot specific directions can be found under 'Parking' on our Texas Football Parking page.

Important mobile ticket information for Apple iPhone users
For our fans with Apple devices, Apple has instituted Account Binding when single game transfers or purchased tickets from Texas Athletics are downloaded to your Apple Wallet. To protect your account, you should always download your mobile tickets to your primary phone that you want to use for the 2025-26 Texas Athletics season before transferring any tickets. When you download your first single-game ticket to your device, your Apple ID will be bound/linked to your Texas Athletics ticket account. Please note that downloading season tickets, which utilize ALL-IN-1 technology, do NOT bind your account, however it is highly recommended you immediately download your tickets from your account to the iPhone that you will use to scan at gates on gameday to avoid any confusion with any single game tickets you may hold. To learn more about this process, please visit TexasLonghorns.com/GoMobile and click on the 'Apple Account Binding' tab.

A Global Experience in Leadership and Service
This summer, a total of 15 student-athletes and four UT Athletics staff members embarked on a transformative cultural immersion trip to Portugal, exploring the vibrant cities of Lisbon and Porto. The group experienced Portuguese culture through scenic boat, bus, and Tuk-Tuk tours, competed in an "Amazing Race"-style adventure through Lisbon, and shared a memorable evening with UT alumni living abroad. Beyond cultural exploration, the trip emphasized leadership and career development through thoughtfully designed exercises aimed at equipping student-athletes with skills to elevate their teams. The group also made a meaningful impact through community service—planting crops, weeding, and feeding animals at a local farm. A standout moment was a one-day sports clinic, created and led by the student-athletes, where they coached over 50 local high school students in football, soccer, volleyball, and agility drills.

Another Summer, Another Successful "Courts for Kids" trip
The international theme of "giving back" didn't stop in Portugal. A different travel party of 10 student-athletes and two UT Athletics staff members ventured to the remote town of Icayuco in Oaxaca, Mexico to build a cement court designed for basketball, soccer, and volleyball and to host other cultural events within the community. This marked our department's NINTH international community service trip with Courts for Kids and our first trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. While staying in the community, we learned about their rich culture through food, farming, dance, nature, and their close connection to their history. This trip wasn't just about building a sports court. It was about building relationships, bridging cultures, and rediscovering what it means to live with purpose, gratitude, and connection. All who travelled to Oaxaca shared what Rowing junior Carys Luther said, "It was very special to be welcomed as warmly as we were in Icayuco. Overall, they taught me to stay curious and step outside of my comfort zone." Check out this amazing blog co-written by three of our student-athletes on the trip: Luther, Rowing's Paris Pavlas and Track and Field's Logan Patete.

Five student-athletes participate in joint SEC SAAC, Leadership Council meeting
A quintet of student-athletes represented The University of Texas at the joint SAAC, Football, Men's Basketball and Women's Basketball SEC Leadership Council Meetings in Atlanta on July 17–18. These student-athlete leaders engaged in meaningful dialogue around student-athlete well-being, leadership development, and the future of collegiate athletics. Their participation reflects our department's continued commitment to empowering student-athletes as leaders in and out of competition. Sending out a big-time Hook 'Em to our five student-athletes for taking advantage of this outstanding opportunity: Ashton Maloney (Softball / Texas SAAC President); Logan Popelka (Men's Track & Field / Cross Country / Texas SAAC Community Outreach Coordinator); Liona Lefau (Football / Texas SAAC Rep); Kyla Oldacre (Women's Basketball / Texas SAAC Rep); and Jordan Pope (Men's Basketball).

Hook 'Em Horns,

Chris Del Conte

P.S. — Welcome to the Forty, Texas students!

Happy FDOC, @UTAustin students 🤘 pic.twitter.com/1KY3GMOE6b
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) August 25, 2025

P.S. — El Presidente!

🤘🫡 https://t.co/QG99YSN9HT pic.twitter.com/lW0WPMXw1y
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) August 22, 2025

P.S. — This is awesome, Coach Sark taking some time to lighten the mood during an intense training camp!

Finished fall camp with a little bit of ✨magic✨@CMMAGIC pic.twitter.com/RJlaByQCeU
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) August 20, 2025

P.S. — What Starts Here! Well done Breana!!

making an impact on and off the pitch 👏#HookEm | #RunWithTexas pic.twitter.com/zM7sD2Fsb3
— Texas Soccer (@TexasSoccer) August 10, 2025

P.S. — We see ya Coach Brown, thanks for stopping by!

a wealth of wisdom 🤘https://t.co/4u84IF2quB pic.twitter.com/ywv4go43ML
— Longhorn Network (@LonghornNetwork) August 16, 2025

P.S. — Champions on the field and in the classroom!

Getting it done in the classroom 🤘👏 pic.twitter.com/HOjx5THa95
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) August 8, 2025

P.S. — Are you ready for some Volleyball!

M🏐🏐d for the season! #NCAAWVB x 📸 @TexasVolleyball pic.twitter.com/SDe5MGlaYP
— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) August 21, 2025

P.S. — Everybody loves a visit to the Forty Acres!

Welcome to the Forty, Austin Butler and Darren Aronofsky! Stop by anytime 🤘@austinbutler x @DarrenAronofsky pic.twitter.com/8JW0MUa2T7
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) August 15, 2025

Good vibes only 🤘@McConaughey pic.twitter.com/QA46mYWCFu
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) August 13, 2025

Only in Texas. Thanks for stopping by, @Austin_Gamblers 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/aQVPwmomqC
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) August 21, 2025

P.S. — Football Family indeed!

Fun day catching up with @CoachMackBrown and our Longhorn Greats @Jordan_Shipley, @JaxonShipley, @Studdard64, @TMan_Ricky & their families at today's @TexasFootball scrimmage🤘🏻 pic.twitter.com/4LnLP1Xh3w
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) August 16, 2025

P.S. — A must-watch right here! Gotta love Coach Sark!