Tag: Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium

Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium barely cracks top 25 list

DKR checks in near the bottom of the top 25 stadiums in college football.

The ESPN staff of college football writers and analysts were tasked with ranking the best venues in college football. In Austin, Texas, it is an experience to take in a game at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Plenty of legends including Tommy Nobis, Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams, Vince Young, and Colt McCoy have run out of the tunnel and put on a show for the fans, but where does it rank among their peers?

If you ask any of the Burnt Orange faithful, DKR should be No. 1 on the list but the staff at ESPN saw it differently. Earning a total of 38 points, the home of the Longhorns landed at No. 25 on the list. They were just two points behind the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Cotton Bowl Stadium on the Texas State Fairgrounds just missed the cut but would have ranked No. 27 with 35 points.

What ESPN says…

When Bevo XV, 1,700 pounds of longhorn, ambles his way down the ramp to the field, you are already awash in Texana. The game-day setting in Austin has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years as Texas has embraced the city around it: Outside DKR, there are pregame festivities on Bevo Boulevard. and free Longhorn City Limits concerts with name-brand headliners.

Inside, LED lights bathe more than 100,000 fans in burnt orange while fans watch the Longhorns on Campbell-Williams Field, named for Earl and Ricky, Texas’ two Heisman Trophy winners. Add in a “Texas Fight!” chant and a performance by the 400-member Longhorn Band — the “Showband of the Southwest” — playing Big Bertha II, the biggest bass drum in the world, and you’ve got yourself a Texas-sized party.

SEC Stadiums Ranked

Texas has dominated their record at home in each season since 2000

It is a tough place to play.

Playing football at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium can be a daunting task, especially for visiting teams. Since the year 2000, Texas is 112-33 at home.

Recently, EA Sports ranked Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium as the No. 19 toughest place to play in college football. Once upon a time, especially in the 2000 to 2009 era of Longhorns football, it was among the toughest venues to play a game if you were a visitor.

Texas was a combined 56-4 during that decade. They averaged 43 points per game and only gave up an average of 14.8 points.

Here is a look at the home record by year since the turn of the century for the Texas Longhorns at DKR.

Texas Longhorns home record by year

Year Record Avg Points Scored Avg Points Allowed
2000 6-0 46.5 10.0
2001 5-0 45.4 7.0
2002 6-0 32.8 9.3
2003 5-1 42.5 21.7
2004 6-0 42.3 15.8
2005 5-0 54.2 12.2
2006 5-2 37.4 14.4
2007 5-1 36.8 24.8
2008 7-0 47.7 16.4
2009 6-0 46.8 14.7
2010 2-5 24.7 24.7
2011 4-2 30.8 16.7
2012 4-2 43.2 23.7
2013 4-2 33.2 23.2
2014 3-3 23.8 30.8
2015 3-3 40.0 30.0
2016 4-2 30.3 24.8
2017 4-2 35.3 25.3
2018 5-1 30.7 20.0
2019 5-1 40.8 30.8
2020 3-2 30.8 17.6
2021 4-2 44.7 26.5
2022 5-2 31.7 19.3
2023 6-0 38.8 12.8
Total 112-33 37.6 19.8

Only once during this stretch did the Texas defense give up more points than the offense could score, it was during the forgettable 2014 campaign under first-year head coach Charlie Strong.

Last season the Longhorns defense gave up just 12.8 points per game at home, the lowest number since the 2005 national championship team. That season they surrendered just 12.2 points per game, but scored a blistering 54.2 points per game.

For the better part of two-plus decades, Texas has averaged a scoring margin of 17.8. During the first decade of the 2000s, that margin was a massive 28.7 points per game.

EA Sports ranks Texas among the 25 toughest places to play

Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium ranked as one of the toughest places to play in CFB.

The college football season is just over two months away, but for the first time in over a decade, college football fans will have a video game to hold them over for the time being. EA Sports ‘College Football 25’ is set to release on July 19 with a brand new set of features and a massive upgrade in graphics.

Among the new details coming to the game, one of the coolest features is going to be the inclusion of home-field advantage. EA Sports’ ranked the Top 25 toughest places to play in the new game, and unfortunately, Kyle Field and the Texas A&M Aggies come in at the No. 1 spot.

Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium cracks onto the list at No. 19. The Texas Longhorns have won seven straight home games dating back to the 2022 season when they lost to the eventual national champion runner-up, TCU Horned Frogs 17-10.

Texas-Memorial Stadium will have a few chances to rise in the rankings this year as the Longhorns are set to host both the Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators.

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Texas has one of the top college football facilities in the country

247Sports recently released their rankings of the top college football facilities in the country for 2021.

Everything is bigger in Texas. Continue reading “Texas has one of the top college football facilities in the country”

Texas Football: Could this be the last home game for Samuel Cosmi and Joseph Ossai?

On Friday when the Texas Longhorns take the field, it could be the last home game for Sam Ehlinger. Could say the same for two NFL hopefuls.

The Texas Longhorns’ final home game of the season will be emotional for a lot of players. There are 16 seniors who will be recognized during the pre-game ceremonies. These players were part of Tom Herman’s first recruiting class at the University of Texas.

Aside from the 16 seniors listed, this could be the final time that the Austin crowd will see Samuel Cosmi and Joseph Ossai suit up at home. Cosmi is slated to be one of the top offensive tackles and a first-round pick in the upcoming 2021 NFL Draft.

Last season prior to the Alamo Bowl, Cosmi submitted paperwork to the NFL Advisory Board to determine just where he would be slotted in the draft. This year feels like the year that he leaves for the next level. Most draft boards have him as a top 32 player for this upcoming draft class.

Joseph Ossai has been coming on strong this year. His performance against Oklahoma State put a lot of draft analysts on notice of his talents. He likely projects as a 3-4 outside linebacker in the NFL. He is a ferocious defender with a relentless motor. Teams will absolutely love that about him.

So while the 16 seniors could be suiting up for the last time. These two juniors could be alongside them. Another junior in Caden Sterns could be asked to make a similar decision, although he probably needs to return for his senior year.

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Texas Football: Longhorns social media buzz ahead of kickoff

Gameday is finally upon us with the Baylor Bears and Texas Longhorns set to play at 2:30 CDT. What is the buzz around social media

Gameday is finally upon us with the Baylor Bears visiting the Texas Longhorns. Both teams coming in off a bye, and both coming in off losses in overtime. This isn’t exactly a must win game for Baylor but you can make the argument for it.

For Texas it definitely has the feel of a must win game. While Baylor is in the first year of the Dave Aranda era, the Longhorns are halfway through year four of the Tom Herman Era. Fans are growing restless as it seems the same issues popping up week after week, year after year.

Hopefully a change in uniform can start this team trending in the right direction. The Longhorns will wear white jerseys at home for the first time since 1950. If that is what it  takes for the home team to kickstart a run then so be it.

As Deion Sanders once said “look good, feel good, play good.” You can’t deny that these throwbacks look really good. It is definitely one jersey combination that should be a regular in the rotation, especially if they win wearing them.

Sports superstitions and such, it means a lot to some. Let’s see how it all goes down for the Longhorns on Saturday.

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Throwback Thursday: Longhorns over UTEP 41-7

On this date in 2016, the Texas Longhorns and UTEP Miners met at DKR. In a throwback Thursday we look back at the Texas win.

The Texas Longhorns are preparing to host the UTEP Miners on Saturday in their first game of the year. However, it was four years ago on this date they these two teams last met. The quarterback for the Longhorns was Shane Buechele, starting for then head coach Charlie Strong. It was the second game following ESPN’s Joe Tessitore claiming “Texas is back folks!”

NBA All-Star forward and former Texas Longhorn Kevin Durant was on hand for this game. Durant was on the sideline to take in this game. Unlike the previous game, the Longhorns weren’t expecting much of a fight from UTEP.

Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

The Miners started off the game getting the ball first, however after a three and out the Longhorns got the ball. It started out as a promising drive. In fact it started inside UTEP territory after an Armanti Foreman return of nine yards. Texas would fumble the ball away but after another three and out, Texas got the party started.

Following a Jake Oliver catch for 10 yards and a personal foul from the Miners, Texas quarterback Shane Buechele found former quarterback Jerrod Heard for a 29-yard touchdown catch in the front corner of the endzone. That gave Texas the early 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, the Longhorns would add a field goal. They were set up when Brandon Jones blocked a punt from UTEP deep in Miners territory. The offense would go three and out before Trent Domingue 33-yard field goal.

On a third and one for the Miners, future Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones goes 51 yards for the touchdown. Texas lead cut down to just three. Unfortunately for the Miners, that would be their entire offense on the day. Texas would add another field goal to go up six. Buechele would find Jacorey Warrick for a touchdown just before the half. That made up for his fumble on the opening drive that robbed Texas of a touchdown.

Texas would outscore UTEP 21-0 in the second half. Chris Warren III started it off with a one-yard run midway through the third. Buechele would connect with Dorian Leonard for a 46-yard touchdown, Texas led at that point 34-7 with 6:07 left in the quarter.

Early on the fourth quarter Buechele would find Jerrod Heard again giving him his second touchdown of the game. Not a bad way to spend your birthday at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Texas would win this game 41-7.

Key Stats:

Buechele: 22/27 244 yards 4 TDs

Warren: 20 carries 95 yards 1 TD

Warrick: 7 receptions 73 yards 1 TD

Leonard: 2 receptions 52 yards 1 TD

Heard: 6 receptions 46 yards 2 TDs

Texas Football: Longhorns heavy favorites according to BetMGM odds

The early lines are out for the Texas Longhorns season opener on Sept. 12, with the line set at 42 in favor of the home team from BetMGM.

This past weekend the Texas Longhorns opening opponent took the field in their opener. The UTEP Miners defeated the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 24-14. Early on in that game the Lumberjacks had the lead but couldn’t hold onto it as the Miners rallied from a 14-3 deficit to score 21 unanswered. If the Miners fall down early to the Longhorns this coming Saturday, it might be all she wrote.

The Longhorns football team has a lot more firepower than SFA. Given with how UTEP struggled in space, Jake Smith and Jordan Whittington could have big games in Austin. Provided the Longhorns get off to a fast start, they could see plenty of runs as the game wears on. Look for Bijan Robinson to get plenty of looks.

Related: What we learned from SFA-UTEP

According to BetMGM the Longhorns are heavy favorites to win.

Opening Line: Texas (-42)

Over/Under: 61.5

Looking for some action on this game or others? Place your legal sports wagers online at BetMGM in CO, IN, NJ and WV. Bet now!

With the Longhorns favored by six touchdowns, expect the line to move some in favor of UTEP. One shouldn’t expect it to dip any lower than (-37) by the time the game kicks off on Saturday night.

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Austin health official thinks 25,000 fans at DKR is ‘too much’

According to a report from KXAN in Austin, Dr Mark Escott of the Travis County Health Authority believes it is too much.

The Texas Longhorns are preparing for the upcoming season and athletic director Chris Del Conte has stated there will be fans in attendance. In an email to season season ticket holders, Del Conte proclaimed they were ready to “rock n’ roll.” The plan around most major colleges participating in the fall season falls around 25 percent capacity. At Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium that means 25,000 screaming fanatics.

However, not everyone agrees with the sentiment of having that many fans in the stands. Recently KXAN, a NBC affiliate in Austin, had an interview with interim Austin-Travis County Health Dr. Mark Escott. Escott was not a fan of moving forward with 25 percent or 25,000 fans at DKR.

He spoke with local schools about their upcoming football season and even wants to start slow with them.

Let’s see if we can play, lets see if we can have two healthy teams play one another and then let’s talk about introducing parents of the athletes into the stands and again move gradually towards more people as we can prove success.”

When discussing fans at the stadium, Escott wants UT to limit the number even beyond the 25 percent being announced across the remaining FBS schools.

Packing 25,000 people in, even in a 100,000 seat stadium, introduces a lot of risk, not only to the people who are there but to the community as well,

While you can understand the sentiment behind the doctors thoughts, it really doesn’t hold much weight. The city of Austin holds zero authority over the University of Texas.

Texas announces COVID-19 safety guidelines for football games

Texas Athletics released a lengthy list of safety measures on Monday that will be in place for football games this fall.

Texas Athletics announced a significant list of safety measures for upcoming football games this fall. Continue reading “Texas announces COVID-19 safety guidelines for football games”