In the midst of a pandemic, nearly anything is possible surrounding the college football season. Games might be canceled and replaced with other opponents. For now, none of Texas’ 12 regular-season games have been and the schedule remains the same. But if they are, head coach Tom Herman has a replacement in mind.
For years now, Texas has been reaching out to old in-state rival Texas A&M to renew a historic rivalry. For some reason, the Aggies refuse to schedule even a neutral site game with the Longhorns, letting the matchup go dormant for nine years now. COVID-19 could possibly change that.
“We’d love to play ’em, I know that,” Herman said. “I know that at least I know within our program we would love to play Texas A&M, certainly.”
Herman on playing A&M: "We've reached out to try to play them in the past. It didn't go real well. Maybe this will be the catalyst to make it happen. Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?"
— Brian Davis (@BDavisAAS) July 23, 2020
Texas A&M has seen its third game of the season against Colorado canceled. That would leave Sept. 19 as the open date for the Aggies, while Texas is currently scheduled to play against UTEP.
Located in El Paso, Texas, the Miners would have to travel over 575 miles just to face the Longhorns. In comparison, Austin and College Station are just 107 miles apart.
Nothing is for certain but it seems as Texas is willing to play game No. 119 in the rivalry. Texas A&M is the one who needs to accept the phone call from athletic director Chris Del Conte and figure something out.
The 2021 season will mark a decade since the last matchup when Justin Tucker hit a game-winning field goal at Kyle Field. While remembering the Lone Star Showdown by that moment is nice, some fresh memories between the Longhorns and Aggies would be even better.
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