The 2016 Texas Longhorns football team, known variously as "Texas", "UT", the "Longhorns", or the "Horns", was a collegiate

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team representing the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

as a member of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

in the

2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 26, 2016, and ended on De ...

; the 2016 team was the 124th to represent the university in

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

. The Longhorns were led by third-year

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Charlie Strong Charles Rene Strong (born August 2, 1960) is an American football coach who is the current defensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He recently served as the Head coach, assistant head coach and Li ...

with Sterlin Gilbert as the team's

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

and Vance Bedford as the team's

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

. The team played its

home games A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium (formerly War Memorial Stadium, Memorial Stadium, and Texas Memorial Stadium), located in Austin, Texas, on the campus of the University of Texas, has been home to the Texas Longhorns football, Longhorns football ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, where the team is based. Following a 5–7 season the previous year, the 2016 preseason involved several coaching changes for the Texas Longhorns football team. A search for a new offensive coordinator carried over from the end of the 2015 season, and culminated with the hires of offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert alongside

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

coach Matt Mattox in December 2015. Departures and dismissals of specialists at the

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, and

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

coaching positions led to hires at those vacancies in February 2016. Despite the shakeup, the Longhorns signed a consensus top-15 ranked recruiting class on

National Signing Day National Signing Day has traditionally been the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for a collegiate sport with a school that is a Division II member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

, with additional transfers in the successive months improving the recruiting class to a consensus top-10 nationally. After a second-straight 5–7 season that included the Longhorns' first loss to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

since

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

, the University of Texas fired Charlie Strong at a morning meeting on November 26, 2016.

Preseason

The Texas Longhorns finished the previous season with an overall record of 5–7, with a 3–5 record in Big 12 play; this placed Texas at seventh in the conference. Although select 5–7 football teams, namely those with the highest

Academic Progress Rate The Academic Progress Rate (APR) is a measure introduced by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the nonprofit association that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, to ...

s (APR), filled several

bowl games In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

as an inadequate number of teams finished with the six wins traditionally required for bowl eligibility, Texas did not have a high enough APR; thus, the season ended with a regular season upset win over the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

. Towards the end of the 2015 season, Texas' administration reportedly began showing interest in hiring then

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

co-

Sonny Cumbie Sonny Jack Cumbie (born August 8, 1981) is an American football coach and former quarterback. He currently serves as the head football coach at Louisiana Tech University, a position he has held since the 2022 season. Cumbie previously served as ...

to serve as an offensive coordinator for the Longhorns in 2016. This interest culminated in several meetings and an eventual offer by Charlie Strong in early December 2015; Cumbie eventually turned down the offer. Concurrently, the Longhorns administration expressed interest in

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

co-offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert for the same job at Texas, among other candidates. Despite media reports suggesting that Gilbert took the Texas job on December 11, later reports from the same day indicated that Gilbert had also turned down the coaching offer. Allegedly, inconsistencies with the exact terms of the offer led to Gilbert's initial refusal. However, further negotiations between Texas and Gilbert resulted in the official announcement of Texas' hiring of the former Tulsa offensive coordinator, along with Gilbert's

coach, Matt Mattox, on December 12, 2015. Consequently, offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and offensive line coach Joe Wickline, who had remained a part of the Texas coaching staff since

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, were released. Concurrent with Texas' search for a new offensive coordinator,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

reportedly showed interest in Texas

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

and

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

coach

Jeff Traylor Jeffrey Michael Traylor (born May 9, 1968) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), a position he has held since the 2020 season. Early life Traylor attended Gilmer High Scho ...

. On December 16, Traylor was offered and accepted a pay raise from the Longhorns, suggesting that Traylor's scheduled interview with the Missouri Tigers was eventually canceled. Traylor later interviewed for the vacant head coach position at Texas State in January 2016, though Texas State would eventually hire

Everett Withers Everett Rowe Withers (born June 15, 1963) is an American football coach and former player. He was the defensive coordinator at FIU, and was the defensive backs coach for the New York Giants and as the head coach for the Texas State Bobcats. Wit ...

as head coach. Traylor's son, Jordan Traylor, became a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

for the Longhorns on January 8 after finishing his collegiate football career at Texas A&M. On January 18, Texas running backs coach Tommie Robinson announced his departure from Austin to join the University of Southern California (USC) coaching staff for the same position, meaning that none of initial offensive staff hires made by Charlie Strong at the beginning of his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

at Texas will be set to coach the Longhorns in 2016. On February 11, Texas defensive backs coach Chris Vaughn was dismissed from the team after he was implicated in an ongoing NCAA investigation of the Ole Miss Rebels football team. The same day, wide receivers coach Jay Norvell left the University of Texas to coach at the same position at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

, resulting in a total of three significant coaching vacancies at Texas by mid-February. On February 12, Texas was set to reportedly hire

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

defensive backs coach Taver Johnson; however, Texas would eventually hire

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

defensive backs coach Clay Jennings on February 17 to fill the same vacant position at Texas. Concurrently, the Longhorns hired two other coaches to fill Texas coaching vacancies, including former

Toledo Rockets The Toledo Rockets are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Toledo. The Rockets compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The ...

co-offensive coordinator Anthony Johnson as a running backs coach on February 13 and former

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

running backs coach Charlie Williams as a wide receivers coach on February 15. Around the same time,

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

pitched an offer to Longhorns defensive line coach Brick Haley, though Haley decided to stay with the Longhorns.

Spring practice

The Longhorns began spring practice on March 7, which subsequent practices interspersed over the following weeks. Charlie Strong noted that the top three priorities for spring practice were to develop Texas'

defensive linemen In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

s, and quarterbacks. Spring practices began utilizing

shoulder pads The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder m ...

on March 11. On March 29, Jerrod Heard, who had served as the starting quarterback for Texas during several games in 2015, suffered a shoulder injury during practice. Although no timetable for his return to practice was set, the university indicated the injury was a minor sprain of his throwing shoulder. By April 5, the Longhorns had completed ten spring practice sessions.

Spring game

*Source: Texas' annual Orange-White spring game was set for April 16 at the Longhorns' home field in Austin, Texas; this placed the game 141 days before Texas' first official game against Notre Dame. Although the game was scheduled to play out over four quarters, inclement weather forced the spring game to end after

halftime In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

. Throughout the game, the 'Texas' team represented the first-team, while the 'Horns' represented the second-team. The spring game featured the hurry-up offensive scheme introduced by new offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert. The Texas side of the game began with the football to start the game, and were eventually stopped by the Horns defense to a punt following a three-and-out. Quarterback Shane Buechele threw a 27-yard pass to Armanti Foreman on the ensuing

drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" * ...

to score a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

for the Horns; running back Chris Warren III would run a 51-yard touchdown on the following drive roughly a minute later for Texas, tying the game at 7–7 to end the first quarter. The five subsequent drives ended without any scores, though one drive ended in a failed 46-yard

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

attempt from Mitchel Becker. In the second quarter, Texas would score two additional touchdowns on a run from D'Onta Foreman and a long pass from Shane Buechele to John Burt; following the last touchdown of the game, both teams turned the ball over via an

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

and a

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

. At halftime, Charlie Strong ended the spring game due to worsening weather conditions, concluding a 21–7 victory for the Texas team.

Fall practice

Camp practices in the leadup to the 2016 football season began on August 6. During fall practice, former starting quarterback Jerrod Heard was moved to the wide receiver position.

Recruiting

2016 Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl Coin Toss

Following the 2016 recruiting cycle, a total of 28 players signed their

National Letter of Intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

to become a part of the 2016 Texas Longhorns football team. Prior to

on February 3, 2016, 17 players had pledged their commitments to the Longhorns, while four of these players became early enrollees at the beginning of the 2015-16 spring semester. Of the 28 recruited players, all are from

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

s in the United States, with none originating from other countries or from

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

s. Of Texas' recruits, 23 were from Texas, 4 were from

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, and 1 was from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Collin Johnson committed to the Longhorns on April 17, 2014, becoming the first player to announce their commitment to the team. As the final previously-uncommitted Texas recruit to submit his letter of intent on National Signing Day, Jordan Elliot initially became the final recruit of the 2016 class on February 3, 2016. However, offensive guard Patrick Hudson would later sign is letter of intent well after National Signing Day on June 29. Two players announced their commitments in 2014, while ten did so in 2015. Five additional players committed to Texas in 2016 prior to National Signing Day, with another four uncommitted players signing their letters of intent in June 2016. Thirteen of Texas' recruits primarily served as offensive players, while another thirteen primarily served as

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

players. Two additional recruits, Lil'Jordan Humphrey and Donovan Duvernay, were recruited as a general purpose athlete. On January 2, 2016,

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

prospect Jean Delance of

Mesquite, Texas Mesquite is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Dallas County, Texas, Dallas County with portions extending into Kaufman County, Texas, Kaufman County. The population was 150,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and maki ...

announced his commitment to the Longhorns during the 2016

Under Armour All-America Game The Under Armour High School All-America Game is a high school football all-star game typically held in early January in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game wa ...

. On the weekend of January 16–17, Texas hosted 19 prospective and committed players on official visits to the campus; of the 19 prospects, the Longhorns would eventually sign 15 recruits. Shortly afterwards, former longtime

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

commit Zach Shackelford, an offensive linesmen, flipped his commitment to the Longhorns. Two days later, Shackelford, along with three other Longhorns recruits, became early enrollees as Texas for the school year's spring semester; as a result, all four were eligible for spring practice with the Longhorns football team in 2016. On January 24, former cornerback prospect Obi Eboh dropped his commitment to Texas, instead opting to sign with

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

. On National Signing Day, seven players announced their commitment to the Texas football team and faxed their letters of intent. According to ESPN's metrics, Texas' recruiting class had climbed over 20 spots to hold a top 10 ranking following the prolific recruiting day. Among these recruits was runningback Erick Fowler, who had been committed to Louisiana State (LSU) up until National Signing Day. Following National Signing Day, Texas' 2016 recruiting class was ranked as the 13th, 10th, 13th, and 8th best in the country by

247Sports.com 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite bei ...

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, Rivals.com, and Scout.com, respectively. All four recruiting services listed Texas as having the best 2016 recruiting class in the Big 12 Conference. After additional recruits signed in June 2016, Texas' recruiting class was ranked 9th, 7th, and 3rd by 247Sports.com, Rivals.com, and Scout.com, respectively. In June 2016, the firing of then- Baylor head coach

Art Briles Arthur Ray Briles (born December 3, 1955) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach for the Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League. Briles was the head coach of the Houston Cougars from 2002 to 2007 and the Baylor B ...

in the aftermath of the Baylor University football scandal resulted in four players formerly committed to Baylor signing with the Texas football team; the players were able to change schools after Baylor failed to submit their national letters of intent to Big 12 Conference offices, allowing the players to request a release from the letter. Both 247Sports.com and Scout.com listed safety Brandon Jones of

Nacogdoches High School Nacogdoches High School is located in north east Nacogdoches, Texas. Nacogdoches High School is the high school of the Nacogdoches Independent School District. The school district (of which this is the sole comprehensive high school) include ...

as Texas' highest rated recruit; both services considered Jones to be the best safety prospect in the United States for 2016. According to ESPN, Texas' highest rated recruit was linebacker prospect Jeffrey McCulloch; fourteen of Texas' twenty-eight recruits, including McCulloch, were listed on the ESPN 300, which listed the 300 top recruiting prospects nationwide according to the network's metrics. Rivals.com listed linebacker and former LSU-commit Erick Fowler as Texas' top recruit for 2016. Several Texas recruits received various accolades during the 2016 recruiting cycle. Quarterback Shane Buechele was one of 18 quarterbacks who participated in the 2016

Elite 11 Elite 11 is a quarterback competition for high school quarterbacks. Elite 11 was founded in 1999 by Andy Bark and is run by his company Student Sports. Rising seniors participate in the contest. The quarterbacks submit videos of themselves pla ...

quarterback competition; Buechele also participated in

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

's ''The Opening'' alongside future Texas recruits Eric Cuffee, Erick Fowler, and Jeffrey McCulloch. Three players formed a part of the 2016

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

, while four participated in the 2016 Under Armour All-America Game; another three recruits played in the 2016 Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl.

Recruits

Personnel

A search for a new Texas offensive coordinator in December 2015 concluded with the official hiring of former Tulsa co-offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert on December 12, 2015 as both an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks' coach. As part of the negotiations, Matt Mattox, the former Tulsa offensive line coach, was also named to the same position at Texas. Both coaches were given three-year coaching contracts, with Gilbert and Mattox awarded $850,000 and $550,000 annual salaries, respectively. The move implicated the release of Shawn Watson and Joe Wickline, who had occupied the newly changed coaching positions since 2014. Jay Norvell, who had served as a co-offensive coordinator for much of the 2015 season, became solely a

s' coach following the coaching changes. On December 26, 2015, Texas defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway declared for the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

, thus forgoing his fourth year as part of the Longhorns football team. Jermaine Roberts, a cornerback recruit for Texas in 2014, announced his transfer from the Texas football team in February 2016; former Longhorns defensive backs Adrian Colbert and Bryson Echols similarly announced to transfer from the university in February. In addition to Texas' 2016 recruiting class, former

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

placekicker and 2015

Lou Groza Award The Lou Groza Award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker in the United States by the Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns ...

semifinalist Trent Domingue signed a financial aid agreement to join the Texas football program as a graduate transfer on July 24, 2016.

Roster

Preseason coaching changes

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Define $now = 08/10/2016 ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:09/01/2015 till:09/01/2016 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:lightline value:rgb(0.5,0.5,0.5) id:bg value:white id:current value:rgb(0.81,0.41,0.16) id:former value:rgb(0.85,0.55,0.35) PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:current from:start till:end text:

(Head coach) bar:2 color:current from:start till:end text: Vance Bedford (Defensive coordinator) bar:3 color:former from:start till:12/12/2015 text: Shawn Watson bar:3 color:current from:12/12/2015 till:end text: Sterlin Gilbert (Offensive coordinator) bar:4 color:current from:start till:12/12/2015 text: Jay Norvell (Co-offensive coordinator and Wide Receivers coach) bar:5 color:former from:start till:12/12/2015 text:Joe Wickline bar:5 color:current from:12/12/2015 till:end text:

Matt Mattox Matt Mattox (August 16, 1921 – February 18, 2013) was an American jazz and ballet dancer. He was a Broadway performer and a specialty dancer in many Hollywood musicals. His best-known film role was as Caleb Pontipee in the 1954 film ''Seven Brid ...

(Offensive Line coach) bar:6 color:current from:start till:end text:Jeff Traylor (Tight Ends and Special Teams coach) bar:7 color:former from:start till:01/18/2016 text:Tommie Robinson bar:7 color:current from:02/13/2016 till:end text:Anthony Johnson (Running Backs coach) bar:8 color:former from:12/12/2015 till:02/11/2016 text:Jay Norvell bar:8 color:current from:02/15/2016 till:end text: Charlie Williams (Wide Receivers coach) bar:9 color:current from:start till:end text: Brick Haley (Defensive Line coach) bar:10 color:current from:start till:end text:Brian Jean-Mary (Linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator) bar:11 color:former from:start till:02/11/2016 text:Chris Vaughn bar:11 color:current from:02/17/2016 till:end text:Clay Jennings (Defensive backs coach) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/2016 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightline unit:month increment:1 start:09/01/2015 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"2015–2016 Texas Longhorns coaching changes"

Returning starters

Texas' 2016 team will feature seven offensive players and ten defensive players that started games for the team in 2015, as well as punter Michael Dickson. In addition, fifteen other players that saw substantial playing time in 2015 are set to return as part of the Longhorns in 2016. According to ESPN, the total number of combined starts among Texas players returning in 2016 was 310, with 111 of those starts from returning offensive players and 119 from defensive players; Texas' 310 combined starts ranked third among teams in the Big 12.

Offense

Defense

Special teams

Award watch lists

In addition to individual awards, linebacker Malik Jefferson was named to

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

' Preseason All-American first team on July 1. Jefferson was also named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team on July 13, alongside cornerback Davante Davis and offensive linesmen Patrick Vahe and Connor Williams. The Big 12 also identified Jefferson as the Big 12 Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. *

Walter Camp Award The Walter Camp Player of the Year Award is given annually to the collegiate American football player of the year, as decided by a group of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I FBS head coaches and sports information direc ...

: Malik Jefferson *

Doak Walker Award The Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. Established in 1990, it is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Foot ...

D'Onta Foreman D'Onta Foreman ( ; born April 24, 1996) is an American professional football running back. He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, and was selected by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft. He has also played ...

Chris Warren III Chris Warren III (born June 6, 1996) is a former American football running back. He played college football at University of Texas and signed with the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2018. Early years and college career Warren wa ...

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that g ...

: Connor Williams *

Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player of the year in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and profess ...

:Malik Jefferson * Bronco Nagurski Award :Malik Jefferson *

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

:Malik Jefferson

Depth chart

Schedule

Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium at Night

Texas will play its first three games against teams outside the Big 12; two of these will be at

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

and one will be played

away Away may refer to: Film and television * ''Away'' (2016 film), a British film directed by David Blair * ''Away'' (2019 film), a Latvian animated silent film by Gints Zilbalodis * Away (2025 film), a drama film by Gerard Oms * ''Away'' (TV series ...

. The opening game against Notre Dame will be the second consecutive year in which the two teams have played as part of a scheduling agreement made in 2010. Although the game was initially scheduled on September 3, in April 2016 the game was moved to the following day to maximize national coverage. Similarly, a deal made in 2009 pits Texas and

California Golden Bears football The California Golden Bears football program represents the University of California, Berkeley, in college football as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference at the NCAA Division I FBS level. They were previously a member of the Pac-12 Confer ...

in a non-conference game, while the game between Texas and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) replaces an initially scheduled home-and-home series between Texas and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. On November 24, 2015, the Big 12 released its tentative schedule for intra-conference games, occupying the remaining nine games on Texas' schedule; four of these games are to be played at home, four away, and one game, the

Red River Showdown The Oklahoma–Texas football rivalry is a college football rivalry game between border rivals Texas and Oklahoma. The two teams first played each other in 1900, and the rivalry has been renewed annually since 1929 for a total of 120 games as ...

, will be played in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Although the Red River Showdown is set to take place on a team-neutral field,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

is designated as the home team on even-numbered years; thus, Texas will serve as the away team during the 2016 edition of the rivalry game. Conference games are set to be played in a round-robin format, and thus all Big 12 teams will face all other teams within the conference. Kickoff times for Texas' games against UTEP, California, and TCU were released by the conference on June 1. The Longhorns will play on consecutive weeks from September 4 to November 24 with the exception of the week of September 24, which serves as a

bye week In sport, a bye is the preferential status of a player or team that is automatically advanced to the next round of a tournament without having to play an opponent in an early round. In knockout (elimination) tournaments, byes may be assigned ei ...

. In addition, Texas will not play a game on the week of December 3 in contrast to six other Big 12 teams. All games will be played on Saturday except for the game against Notre Dame, which will be played on Sunday, and the game against

, which will be played on a Friday. The game between Texas and TCU was initially scheduled for

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

, but was rescheduled for November 25 in February 2016; Texas had switched between playing TCU or

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

on Thanksgiving after

left the Big 12 for the

Southeastern Conference (SEC) The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members include the flagship public universities of 12 states, 3 ...

in 2012. *Largest attendance recorded at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium. The record would later be broken on September 15, 2018 with an attendance of 103,507 against USC.

Media affiliates

Texas' flagship radio station is

KTXX-FM KTXX-FM (104.9 Hertz, MHz, "La Raza 95.1 y 104.9") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station community of license, licensed to Bee Cave, Texas, and serving the Greater Austin metropolitan area. The station broadcasts a Regional Mexican rad ...

("The Horn", 104.9 FM) based in Austin, Texas. Fourteen other FM stations and twenty-one AM stations cover UT's football games around Texas, while a pair of FM and AM stations based in Austin cover Texas games in Spanish. Texas Longhorns football games are broadcast via satellite radio on

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word (Latin script: ), meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbr ...

channel 117, XM channel 202, and

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

channel 969. On June 1, the Big 12 announced that the Red River Rivalry game between Texas and Oklahoma would be televised by

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (branded on-air as FS1) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 airs an array of live sporting events, including Majo ...

, making it the first time since

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

that a

FOX Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

-affiliated channel covered the game; between 1998 and 2016, the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...

(ABC) carried the rivalry game.

Season summary

Rankings

The preseason

Coaches Poll In the United States, the Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has ...

was released on August 4, 2016, with Texas outside of the top 25 but receiving 34 points; this marked the first time the Longhorns appeared in any of the major ranking polls since Week 7 of

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. Similarly, the preseason AP Poll, released on August 21, 2016, placed Texas outside of the top 25 but awarded the Longhorns 12 points. In both polls, Texas was the fifth highest ranked team in the Big 12. Following a victory against Notre Dame in the season opener, the Longhorns were ranked in the top-25 for the first time since December 2013. Texas moved from an unranked position to 11th in the AP Poll, marking the highest rank given to Texas by the poll since October 2012.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. No. 10 Notre Dame

*Sources: Leading up to Texas' opening game against Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish were favored to win by three to four points. The game between Texas and Notre Dame was to be the debut of Bevo XV, the fifteenth of a succession of live

Texas longhorn The Texas Longhorn is an American breed of beef cattle, characterized by its long horns, which can span more than from tip to tip. It derives from cattle brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors from the ti ...

mascots that traditionally appear at Texas' football games. Shortly before the game, Texas' depth chart was released, indicating that both quarterbacks Tyrone Swoopes and Shane Buechele would share playing time, though Buechele was reportedly expected to start at the position. Buechele became the first

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

to start for Texas in a season opener since 1944. At the game, 102,315 people were in attendance at Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium, setting an attendance record for the venue and beating the former record of 101,851 set during the 2012 game between

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. The game began with Texas kicking off to Notre Dame, after which the Fighting Irish were able to score on their first possession following a 54-yard run by running back Tarean Folston and a 13-yard touchdown pass from

DeShone Kizer DeShone Allen Kizer (; born January 3, 1996) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and was selected ...

to wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown. The Longhorns would also score a touchdown on their ensuing

, scoring off of a 19-yard pass from Shane Buechele to wide receiver Armanti Foreman; a string of three-and-outs by both teams kept the score at 7–7 by the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, both Texas quarterbacks Buechele and Swoopes capped off scoring drive with 1-yard touchdown runs, while Notre Dame scored one touchdown in the quarter on another touchdown pass from Kizer to St. Brown. At the end of the first half, the Longhorns led 21–14. Notre Dame kicked off to Texas to begin the second half, with the Longhorns quickly scoring just two plays later on a long 72-yard pass from Buechele to wide receiver John Burt. A forced three-and-out by the Texas defense allowed Texas to regain possession and gain a 17-point lead after a 25-yard

by recently transferred placekicker Trent Domingue. Despite the double-digit lead, the Fighting Irish would score 21 unanswered points in the third and fourth quarters off of two passing and one rushing touchdown orchestrated by Kizer; an additional 3 points were prevented after defensive end Naashon Hughes blocked a field goal attempt by Justin Yoon at the end of the third quarter. Following these scores, Notre Dame would lead 35–31 after having trailed since the end of the first half. Texas regained the lead late in the fourth quarter on a 19-yard touchdown by running back D'Onta Foreman; however, the subsequent

point after touchdown The conversion, try (American football), also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, extra point, two-point conversion, or convert (Canadian football) is a gridiron football play that occurs immediately after a touchdown. The scoring team att ...

(PAT) attempt was blocked by Notre Dame and returned 98 yards for a defensive PAT, tying the game at 37–37. The three ensuing drives ended in no scores, leaving the game tied in regulation and bringing the game into

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

. Texas began the overtime period on offense and were able to score a touchdown via a 3-yard touchdown run by Swoopes; Notre Dame quickly responded with a 25-yard

screen pass A screen pass is a play in gridiron football consisting of a short pass to a receiver who is protected by a screen of blockers. During a screen pass, a number of things happen concurrently in order to fool the defense into thinking a long pass is ...

from Kizer to receiver C. J. Sanders to tie the game at 44–44. In second overtime, the Longhorns defense held the Fighting Irish to a 39-yard field goal. With Texas now only in need of a touchdown to win the game, Swoopes scored on a 6-yard touchdown run after six consecutive rushing plays, ending the game in a 50–47 Longhorns victory. The 97 combined points were the sixth-most in Longhorns history and were capped by only the third overtime game and second overtime victory in the program's history. The win also marked the first win against a top-10 ranked team at home since 2008 and their first win against such a team in week one since 1983. The game's telecast on ABC/ESPN garnered a 7.0 television rating, becoming the network's second most viewed opening game in addition to breaking viewer records for opening games in seven

television market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

s. In addition, the game's broadcast broke

average minute audience Average minute audience (AMA) is a type of measurement that directly reflects the television audience size. It is calculated by averaging the number of viewers for each minute of programming throughout the event. It is commonly used by broadca ...

, unique viewer, and total minutes watched records on

WatchESPN ESPN began offering a TV Everywhere platform in 2010, allowing subscribers on participating Multichannel television, television providers in the United States to stream programming from ESPN's linear television channels online, on Mobile device, ...

, ESPN's Internet streaming service. With the victory, Texas moved to 1–0 for the year.

Week 2 (vs. UTEP)

*Sources: Entering week 2, Texas was favored to win by roughly 30 points against UTEP, and began a game as a ranked team for the first time in Charlie Strong's tenure at Texas. The game started with the Longhorns kicking off to UTEP, though the Miners' first three drives ended in three-in-outs, with the Texas defense holding UTEP to 8 total yards on those drives. A touchdown pass by Buechele on Texas' first offensive possession was negated after wide receiver Jacorey Warrick

d the ball just before crossing the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on the opposite side of the field ...

, resulting in a

touchback In American football, a touchback is a ruling that is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to travel ...

and awarding UTEP with possession of the ball. A subsequent 29-yard touchdown pass by Buechele to Heard marked the first score of the game. Later in the first quarter, a UTEP punt was blocked by defensive back Brandon Jones, leading to a Longhorns field goal to put Texas up 10–7 at the end of the first quarter. The blocked punt was Texas' first since their

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

game against

. At the beginning of the second quarter, Texas was not able to capitalize on a fumble recovery, and Miners running back Aaron Jones would score on a 51-yard touchdown run. However, a 43-yard field goal by Domingue and 8-yard touchdown pass by Buechele to Warrick later in the second quarter placed the Longhorns further ahead at the end of the first half, 20–7. Texas received the ball to begin the second half, but did not score until the second drive of the half following a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Chris Warren III. A 46-yard touchdown pass by Buechele to receiver Dorian Leonard midway through the third quarter gave Texas a 34–7 lead. The Miners fumbled the ball twice on

punt return Punt or punting may refer to: Boats * Punt (boat), a flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow developed on the River Thames * Falmouth Quay Punt, a small sailing vessel hired by ships anchored in Falmouth harbour * Norfolk Punt, a type of racing ...

s in the third quarter, but were able to recover the football each time; however, UTEP was unable to score at any point in the game outside of their sole rushing touchdown in the second quarter. Only one score occurred in the fourth quarter on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Buechele to Heard, and the game ultimately ended with a score of 41–7, with the Longhorns winning. The win marked the 50th win in Charlie Strong's head coaching career, including his tenure at

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. Ten players made their first collegiate football appearances during the game, including three true freshmen. With the victory, Texas moved to 2–0 for the year.

Week 3 (at California)

*Sources: Prior to the game,

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outco ...

s favored Texas to win by around seven points. Following a string of injuries that occurred during Texas' first game against Notre Dame, all starting players that had sat out during the game against UTEP were expected to play against California. Texas' first

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

game of the season began with California receiving the ball, and the Golden Bears' first drive led to a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback

Davis Webb Davis Matthew Webb (born January 22, 1995) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the offensive pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He play ...

to receiver Jordan Veasy; Texas would also score on their first possession off of a 4-yard run by Chris Warren III, tying the game early in the first quarter. California's next two drives ended in a

turnover on downs In gridiron football, a turnover on downs occurs when a team's offense has used all its downs but has not advanced the ball enough to earn another set of downs. The resulting turnover gives possession of the ball to the team on defense. Backgro ...

and a punt, allowing the Longhorns to pull ahead 17–7 with a Trent Domingue field goal and another rushing touchdown by Warren III; however, the Golden Bears were able to score a rushing touchdown at the end of the first quarter to narrow the score to 17–14. The second quarter featured a combined 37 points between the two teams, with scoring plays that included a 41-yard pass from Buechele to Warrick and a safety for the Longhorns and a 29-yard pass from Webb to receiver Melqui Stovall. The blocked punt by Brandon Jones that resulted in a safety was his second of the season, marking the first time that a Longhorns player blocked multiple punts in the same season since 2012. Texas quarterbacks Swoopes and Buechele were each intercepted once in the second quarter, though Buechele left the game briefly in the quarter due to a possible injury after starting the game. A long 51-yard field goal attempt by Domingue to end the half missed, keeping California in the lead 35 33 to the half. Neither California nor Texas were able to score in the third quarter, in stark contrast to the first half. While Domingue missed a 49-yard field goal wide right for the Longhorns on their first possession of the half, all other drives for both teams ended in punts in the third quarter. Texas would score first in the fourth quarter on a 47-yard run by Foreman, taking only one play to reach the

. The Golden Bears would quickly respond with a 76-yard drive capped off by a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Webb and subsequent Chad Hansen

two point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion, two-point convert, or two-point attempt is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a conversion (gridiron football), one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point con ...

. A 10-yard touchdown pass by Buechele to receiver Jake Oliver briefly tied the game 43–43, only for California to reclaim the lead with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Webb to Hansen. Although Texas regained possession of the ball with under four minutes remaining, the Longhorns were unable to make a first down. The Texas defense was unable to hold the California offense to a three-and-out on their last possession, allowing the Golden Bears to end the game with a

quarterback kneel In American football and Canadian football, a quarterback kneel, also called taking a knee, genuflect offense, kneel-down offense, or victory formation, occurs when the quarterback touches a knee to the ground immediately after receiving the sn ...

and win 50–43. With the loss, Texas moved to 2–1 for the year.

Week 4 (Bye week)

On September 23, starting offensive guard Kent Perkins was arrested for DWI, and as a result was suspended for the following week's game against Oklahoma State.

Week 5 (at Oklahoma State)

*Sources: Oklahoma State was favored to win by 2–3 points before the game.

Week 6 (vs. Oklahoma)

*Sources: Oklahoma was favored to win by 13–14 points.

Week 7 (vs. Iowa State)

*Sources:

Week 8 (at Kansas State)

*Sources:

Week 9 (vs. Baylor)

*Sources:

Week 10 (at Texas Tech)

*Sources:

Week 11 (vs. West Virginia)

*Sources:

Week 12 (at Kansas)

*Sources: The overtime loss to Kansas was the Longhorns' first loss to the Jayhawks since

Week 13 (vs. TCU)

*Sources:

Notes

References

{{Texas Longhorns football navbox

Texas Longhorns football seasons

Texas Longhorns football The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate team representing the University of Texas at Austin (variously Texas or UT) in the sport of American football. The Texas Longhorns, Longhorns compete in the NCAA Division I Football B ...