The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Forty Acres Insider: September 23
09.23.2025 | Forty Acres Insider
Important news happening in and around Texas Athletics compiled by Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte
Longhorn Nation,
It was a truly epic night under the lights at DKR on Saturday (we sure do love our night games, don't we?!). OH WHAT A NIGHT — and what a glorious day on the Forty as well! I must say, Y'all brought the juice all the livelong day. Pregame was a big 'ol party on the Forty, and once inside, the stadium was absolutely en fuego — lights flashing, music pumping, fireworks flying, cannons firing, BEVO huffing, and an epic drone show while Coach Sark and our Longhorns were clicking on all cylinders (ALL GAS, NO BRAKES!). And that capped a week of domination across the Forty with Coach Elliott and our unstoppable Volleyball squad, who kept stampeding through the competition as the best fans in the land raised the roof at Gregory Gym for two more top-25 wins. Ain't no stopping us now, folks — it's a great time to be a Longhorn, and we're thrilled to have you along for the ride!
DKR AFTER DARK 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/QFTZqn6YpJ
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) September 21, 2025
Well, hello 103-THOUSAND-PLUS! DKR was electric again, and y'all delivered three-straight home games of 100K+ (305,869 to be exact!) cheering on our 3-1, No. 7-ranked Longhorns. That's Texas Fight at its loudest and proudest (appreciate ya, Glenn!). You showed up and showed out as we tuned up for SEC play, which kicks off in two weeks at Florida after Saturday's bye. And what a final tune-up it was — 600-plus yards of offense with 20 explosive plays, a stingy defense that held Sam Houston to just over 100 yards while racking up five sacks and 10 TFLs, plus big-play special teams. Arch's arms and legs were churnin' to the tune of five TDs (three by air/two by land) capped by a streak of 13-straight completions with precision passing that included three scores and seven throws of 15-plus yards. Meanwhile, our relentless defense forced three-and-outs and kept the Bearkats backed up and backpedaling all night long. It'll be a while before we're back in DKR, but we'll see plenty of you on the road and many more in Big D for the Allstate Red River Rivalry. Keep those Horns Up and Let's Hook 'EM.
vibes in DKR-TMS right now: ✨🎇🤘😈🏈🗣️#HookEm pic.twitter.com/FPFlhzYcPl
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) September 21, 2025
And Coach Elliott's No. 2 Volleyball squad just keeps on keepin' on! The roof was raisin' and The Greg was rockin' again with two more victories over top-25 ranked opponents. Wednesday was a sweep of No. 9 TCU followed by a straight-set takedown of No. 21 Baylor on Friday, keeping our record perfect at 8-0 — including seven wins over top-25 teams and five against the top-10. And we're just getting started! SEC play begins this week at Gregory Gym with Vanderbilt on Wednesday (8 p.m. CT/SEC Network) and No. 21 Missouri on Friday (8 p.m. CT/SEC Network+). Let's keep bringing the heat folks — SEE YOU AT THE GREG!
PERFECT SEASON CONTINUES (8-0) for @TexasVolleyball🤘🏻
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) September 20, 2025
Make it 7️⃣ wins over Top-25-ranked opponents (5️⃣th via SWEEP)‼️
✅ # 12 Creighton, 3-0
✅ # 8 Wisconsin, 3-0
✅ # 6 Stanford, 3-2
✅ # 4 Louisville, 3-2
✅ # 9 Arizona State, 3-0
✅ # 9 TCU, 3-0
✅ # 21 Baylor, 3-0 https://t.co/DAvkmrwwf4
Though Football is on its bye week, the Forty is still buzzing. In addition to Volleyball's two-step, Soccer hosts Vanderbilt on Friday (6 p.m. CT/SEC Network+), Men's (Sam Kendricks Classic) and Women's (Dust Off Your Boots Invitational) Swimming and Diving are both in action on Friday (3 p.m. CT) at the Jamail Texas Swimming Center, Baseball hosts a Fall Ball exhibition on Saturday at Dell Diamond (1 p.m.), and Men's and Women's Tennis hits the road at the ITA All-American Championships.
this weeks calendar 🤘#HookEm | @seatgeek pic.twitter.com/zIuTvltvt6
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) September 22, 2025
Talk about the pride in the Burnt Orange & White and a Horns Up for What Starts Here Changes the World. Our Longhorn Legend Leo Neugebauer is now officially the WORLD'S GREATEST ATHLETE after winning the Decathlon crown at the World Championships in Tokyo on Sunday. Already an NCAA Champion, NCAA record holder, Olympic Silver Medalist, Leo is now World Champion — Hook' Em to our guy "Leo The German!" And let's not forget another Longhorn Legend, Trey Hardee, who won decathlon gold at the 2009 and 2011 World Championships — that's three of the last nine world championship decathlon titles claimed by a Longhorn! And to add to the pride and winning tradition of our Sunday, Stacey Ann Williams claimed a silver medal with the Jamaican 4x400-meter relay team. That makes it three golds, a silver and a bronze for our Longhorns at this year's World Track and Field Championships.
NCAA Champ
— Texas T&F/XC (@TexasTFXC) September 21, 2025
Bowerman Winner
WORLD CHAMPION 🤘‼️#HookEm pic.twitter.com/GYmzmIoCvi
Finally — while I've got you, if you aren't streaming all the awesome content on LONGHORN NETWORK, what are you waiting for? From Longhorn Life features, docuseries, press conferences, competitions, highlights, behind-the-scenes specials, and history — it's all there for The Eyes of Texas, All the Livelong Day! And don't miss Longhorn Weekly with Coach Sark — we'll be off for the bye week but it's a must-watch show that's always loaded with special guests!
Awesome visits with @TexasFootball GM @BrandonHarris and Longhorn Legend @QCosby17 on this week's edition of Longhorn Weekly with Coach Sark. You can catch the show Thursday's on @am1300thezone/Longhorn Radio Network, Saturday on KBVO-TV as well as streaming on @longhornnetwork🤘🏻 pic.twitter.com/pCxkFimb3D
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) September 18, 2025
Football drives for a 55-point shutout
Well folks, we completed the hat trick of three fantastic Saturdays at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium and believe me when I say so much of that was thanks to y'all with the incredible atmosphere you provided, capped by one of our patented nighttime spectaculars! I know Coach Sark would be the first to say how impactful you all can be during a game, and you certainly came through this Saturday by packing the stands for the third-straight week in our 55-0 victory over Sam Houston. A score doesn't get much better than that, and it's one of the few times where 55 means we DID drive with all gas, no brakes (shoutout to Sammy Hagar). Even though Arch was at the helm with an incredible performance of over 300 passing yards and five total touchdowns, there was so much credit to go around it would take us to next week to list everyone out. The defense accomplished its goal, as Coach Taaffe says so frequently, of keeping the Bearkats out of their paint, while special teams were special with electrifying punt returns, upright splitting field goals and even booming punts (although we only punted twice and not until the end of the game). Our first NINE drives all resulted in points with SEVEN of those being of the "7" variety. Like I said, we'd be here all day to call them all out, but the literal 53-yard "arch" created by Manning to Wingo was a thing of beauty. Wingo finished with two TDs and 125 all-purpose yards with our returner extraordinaire Ryn Niblett just behind him with 123, while our stable of young backs also did a tremendous job for the second straight week and found the end zone twice. DeAndre Moore Jr. made his triumphant return and was all over the field. All of that behind the snowplow of our big offensive line. The defense was the definition of balance with five sacks by five different players and 10 tackles for loss by 10 different players. Meanwhile the turnover sword was once again held high after Jelani McDonald ended the first half with a pick. All in all, it was an awesome way to close out our non-conference season as we head into a much-deserved bye week before the SEC gauntlet begins! I know it will be November before our next family reunion, but you certainly made the last three weeks special and everything we wanted it to be!
UNREAL. pic.twitter.com/tobNXFK0p4
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) September 21, 2025
Some Monday Morning Highlights to start your week ☕️🎥 pic.twitter.com/xOkVHAbzbx
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) September 22, 2025
Volleyball improves to 8-0 with pair of sweeps against Top-25 teams!
Coach Elliott and our ladies are on a serious roll! The No. 2-ranked Longhorns added a pair of in-state wins at The Greg last week over ranked opponents to improve to 8-0 on the year. And get this, SEVEN of those victories have come against ranked teams, including FIVE in the top-10! Texas claimed a sweep against No. 9 TCU on Wednesday, as Torrey Stafford led the way with her fifth double-double of the season with a team-high 15 kills and 13 digs. The team returned to the court on Friday and swept No. 21 Baylor in front of another sellout crowd at Gregory Gym. Don't get me started on that freshman Cari Spears! Talk about a powerhouse when she connects with that ball. Cari posted a career-high 18 kills and added three blocks in the victory over Baylor. Spears swept the SEC Player AND Freshman of the Week accolades for the second-straight week, while Ella Swindle picked up SEC Setter of the Week honors. Longhorn Nation, get back out to The Greg this week and support this team as we'll start SEC play with pair of home games against Vanderbilt on Wednesday (8 p.m. CT/SEC Network) and No. 21 Missouri on Friday (8 p.m. CT/SEC Network+). See y'all there!
THE TEXAS LONGHORNS ARE 8-0🤘
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) September 20, 2025
With their SEVENTH-RANKED victory of the year 😱@TexasVolleyball x #itjustmeansmore pic.twitter.com/g7T8BBbMPt
Hook 'Em Horns,
P.S. — Tune into ESPN2 and all our platforms tonight to see our SEC opponents announced for the next four years!
Tuesday night, the @SEC is set to announce each SEC school's football opponents for the next 4 years
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) September 19, 2025
'SEC Now: 2026-29 Football Opponents Reveal'
🏈 7p ET | ESPN2, @SECNetwork
Details: https://t.co/RuDCEDAFlz pic.twitter.com/9ZmR1ebOIy
P.S. — Goodnight from the big guy!
goodnight from the big guy 😴✨🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/dOrhbvEFQY
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) September 21, 2025
P.S. — Goosebumps!
nobody does it like Texas 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/NMk1xagHvq
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) September 21, 2025
P.S. — This will put a smile on your face!
welcome to the Longhorn fam, Jake Vander Wal🤘🫶#HookEm | @AbbyVWal pic.twitter.com/lWjJB2bpWe
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) September 19, 2025
P.S. — Coach Miller's right, this is such a unique place!
it just means more at Texas 🤘#HookEm | @SMillerUT pic.twitter.com/uJE8Dt6xfq
— Texas Men's Basketball (@TexasMBB) September 19, 2025
P.S. — What a night honoring the Texas greats!
what a night honoring the Texas greats 🤘#HookEm | @txtassociation pic.twitter.com/Sc5SANkWGK
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) September 16, 2025
HEADLINES:
Video: Steve Sarkisian press conference (Week 5 – Bye Week):
No. 2 Volleyball's Spears and Swindle earn SEC weekly honors:
Video: Jerritt Elliott media availability (Sept. 22):
Game time announced for Football at Florida:
Video: Mike White joins Texas Gameday:
No. 3 Men's Golf Comegys ties for second at OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational:
Leo Neugebauer crowned Decathlon World Champion:
Video: Steve Sarkisian postgame press conference (Sam Houston):
Video: Longhorn Weekly presented by Texas Lottery (Week 4 – Sam Houston):
Texas Lottery Veteran Recognition: Joe Cimato:
Video: Sean Miller media availability (Sept. 18):
Video: Steve Sarkisian media availability (Week 4 – Sam Houston):
Women's Basketball passes 6,000 season tickets sold:
No. 2 Women's Golf takes down No. 3 Oregon, 3-2