The 2023 Texas Longhorns football team represented 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 ...

during the

2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 154th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). ...

. They were led by third-year head coach

Steve Sarkisian Stephen Sarkisian (; born March 8, 1974)Stephens, Ken. – "QB Genealogy – Steve Sarkisian is latest in long line of talented BYU quarterbacks". – ''Dallas Morning News''– December 31, 1996. is an American football coach and former player ...

. The Longhorns played their home games at

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 ...

. The Texas Longhorns football team drew an average home attendance of 101,625 in 2023. The season marked the team's last season as members of the

before joining the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

on July 1, 2024.

Offseason

Departures

Team departures

Outgoing transfers

Note: Players with a dash in the new school column didn't land on a new team for the 2023 season.

Coaching staff departures

Acquisitions

Incoming transfers

2023 recruits

2023 overall class ranking

Walk-ons

Coaching staff additions

Entered 2023 NFL draft

Returning starters

The Longhorns return 18 starters from the previous season. They return 9 on offense, 6 on defense, and 3 on special teams.
Offense Defense Special teams

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Preseason Big-12 awards

2023 Preseason All-Big 12 teams Source:

Preseason All-Americans

Schedule

Personnel

Coaching staff

''Source:''

Roster

''Source:''

Game summaries

Rice

*Sources: The Longhorns were heavily favored by

sportsbook A sportsbook is a venue where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, such as golf, football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, horse racing, greyhound racing, boxing, and mixed martial arts. The method of betting varies wit ...

s in their season opener against the

Rice Owls The Rice Owls are the sports teams representing Houston's Rice University in college sports. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of the American Athletic Conference, Rice sponsors ...

, with a spread of 35.5 points (a roughly five-touchdown margin) in favor of Texas. After receiving the opening kickoff, Texas failed to convert on fourth down, resulting 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 ...

on their own 33-yard line that led to Rice taking a 3–0 lead following a subsequent

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, ...

. Texas's following drive culminated in a 37-yard

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 ...

pass from quarterback Quinn Ewers to runningback Jonathon Brooks. Brooks later dropped a potential touchdown pass in the second quarter, forcing to Texas to settle for a field goal. Texas kicker Bert Auburn successfully kicked three field goals in the second quarter, including one to close out the first half, while Texas defense held Rice scoreless in the quarter, intercepting the Owls twice. The Longhorns entered halftime with a 16–3 lead. The first half of the matchup was closer than anticipated despite the lead, with the Owls defense registering two sacks and forcing a pair of turnovers on downs in the half, stymieing the Longhorns offense. Texas widened their lead in the third quarter, with quarterback Ewers scoring two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdowns to give Texas a 37–3 lead by the end of the quarter. Texas recovered an Owls

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 the end of the third quarter but missed a 56-yard field goal to end the ensuing drive. Most of the fourth quarter was taken up by a 13-play and 62-yard drive capped off by a 15-yard touchdown pass by Owls quarterback J.T. Daniels to Luke McCaffrey. This was the only scoring drive by either team in the fourth quarter as Texas would win 37–10. With the win, Texas's record for the season improved to . The Longhorns remained ranked No. 11 in the AP poll and rose two ranks to No. 10 in the

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 ...

following the game.

at No. 3 Alabama

*Sources: Texas played at Alabama in week 2 of the 2023 season, constituting the second game in the home-and-home series between the two teams. The

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

and

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

named the matchup as one of the most important non-conference games of the season. The game was selected as the host for the week 2 broadcast of ''College GameDay'', marking Texas's first appearance on the program since their loss to

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 ...

in 2022. Sportsbooks opened with an 8.5-point spread favoring the Crimson Tide, but the spread narrowed to around 7 points by the start of the game. Texas's first drive after receiving the opening kickoff ended in a punt. On the Alabama Crimson Tide's ensuing drive, Longhorns

nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Hanna, Alberta. Throughout its history, it has consisted of lead guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan ...

Jahdae Barron intercepted Crimson Tide quarterback

Jalen Milroe Jalen Oluwaseun Isaiah Milroe (born December 13, 2002) is an American professional football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide and won the 2024 Will ...

. Texas would subsequently advance into the red zone but would end the drive with a 32-yard field goal after wide receiver Xavier Worthy failed to catch a pass in 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 ...

. Alabama advanced downfield and scored a 42-yard field goal to tie the game at 3–3 early in the second quarter. The Longhorns scored their first touchdown of the game the following drive with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Ewers to Worthy. Neither team scored a touchdown for the remainder of the first half, exchanging punts and field goals before Texas entered halftime leading 13–6. A potential touchdown for Alabama towards the end of the second quarter was called back after Alabama was penalized for having an ineligible man downfield. Alabama received the ball to start the second half. The Crimson Tide had an opportunity to tie the game at 13 points apiece, but a holding penalty negated a 32-yard touchdown, forcing Crimson Tide to settle for a 51-yard field goal. Neither team scored for much of the remaining third quarter; one Texas drive ended with kicker Bert Auburn missing a 42-yard field goal. However, Alabama's final drive of the quarter culminated in a 49-yard touchdown pass from Milroe to Jermaine Burton, giving Alabama a 16–13 leadtheir first of the gameentering the fourth quarter. Texas followed with a scoring drive that included a 50-yard gain off a pass from Ewers to tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders and a 7-yard touchdown pass from Ewers to Adonai Mitchell to give Texas the lead. Longhorns safety Jerrin Thompson intercepted Milroe on the following drive, returning the ball 32 yards to set up a touchdown run by Jonathon Brooks to give Texas a 27–16 lead. The Crimson Tide subsequently scored off of a 39-yard touchdown pass and successfully converted a

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 one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that ...

to bring the score to 27–24 with Texas narrowly leading. Mitchell caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from Ewers with around eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to extend the Longhorns's lead to 10 points on the following drive. Alabama was unable to score on the ensuing drive, leaving Texas with the ball. Texas was able to reach

first down A down in gridiron football is an attempt by the offensive team to run a play to advance the ball, while the defending team simultaneously attempts to halt their advance. The down is a distinguishing characteristic of the game compared to othe ...

twice on its final drive, forcing Alabama to exhaust its three timeouts and successfully

running out the clock In sports strategy, running out the clock, also known as running down the clock, stonewalling, killing the clock, chewing the clock, stalling, eating clock or time-wasting (or timewasting), is the practice of a winning team allowing the clock to e ...

to secure the Longhorns's 34–24 victory. The win marked Texas's first against Alabama since the 1982 Cotton Bowl and the first against a team ranked in the top 3 of AP poll since 2008. The win also snapped Alabama's 57-game regular-season nonconference winning streak extending back to 2007, as well as a 21-game home winning streak. The

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and the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'' called the victory Sarkisian's biggest in his tenure as head coach at Texas. Ewers received several weekly distinctions for his performance Alabama, including the Walter Camp Foundation Offensive Player of the Week and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. The Longhorns rose seven spots in the AP poll to the No. 4 ranking following the game.

Wyoming

*Sources: 101,777 is the 8th highest attendance for a game at

to date. This would later drop to 9th after September 30 vs Kansas and to 10th after November 4 vs Kansas State

at Baylor

*Sources: 49,165 is the 3rd highest attendance for a game at

McLane Stadium McLane Stadium is an American football stadium in Waco, Texas owned and operated by Baylor University. Originally named "Baylor Stadium", the facility's name was changed to "McLane Stadium" in December 2013 to honor Baylor alumnus and business m ...

to date

No. 24 Kansas

*Sources: The 661 yards of total offense were the most in Texas history in a Big 12 conference game. The announced attendance of 102,986 was the 4th highest attendance in program history, to date.

vs. No. 12 Oklahoma

*Sources:

at Houston

*Sources: 42,812 is the 2nd highest attendance for a game at TDECU Stadium to date

BYU

*Sources: 101,670 is the 10th highest attendance for a game at

to date. This would later drop to 11th after November 4 vs Kansas State.

No. 23 Kansas State

*Sources: Fox's Big Noon Kickoff show was on Texas's campus for the first time this season. 102,846 is the 5th highest attendance for a game at

to date

at TCU

*Sources: 50,812 is the 3rd highest attendance for a game at Amon G. Carter Stadium to date

at Iowa State

*Sources::

Texas Tech

*Sources: Texas Kicker Bert Auburn was 5 for 5 in field goal kicking, tying the program record of 5 field goals in a game. Additionally, Auburn extended his field goal streak to 19, passing the previous school record of 15 consecutive field goals held by

Phil Dawson Philip Drury Dawson (born January 23, 1975) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns football, Texas Lo ...

and Anthony Fera as well as passing Hunter Lawrence (24 FGs) for most field goals in a single season at 28. With 5 field goals and 6 PATs, Auburn also set a single game record of 21 points for a kicker.

vs. No. 18 Oklahoma State (Big 12 Championship)

*Sources:

Quinn Ewers Quinn Tucker Ewers (; born March 15, 2003) is an American professional football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Texas Longhorns. Ewers was se ...

passed for 452 yards and 4 touchdowns, setting the Big 12 Championship Game record for passing yards and tying the record for passing touchdowns.

vs. No. 2 Washington (Sugar Bowl-CFP Semifinal)

*Sources:

Awards and honors

National awards and honors

Conference honors

All-Americans

NFL Draft

The

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

was held at

Campus Martius Park Campus Martius Park ( ') is a re-established park in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. After the Great Fire of 1805, Campus Martius (from the Latin for ''Field of Mars'', where Roman heroes walked) was the focal point of Judge Augustus Woodward's ...

Detroit, MI Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

on April 25–27, 2024. Longhorns who were picked in the 2024 NFL Draft:

Statistics

Individual statistics

Defense

Key: POS: Position, SOLO: Solo Tackles, AST: Assisted Tackles, TOT: Total Tackles, TFL: Tackles-for-loss, SACK: Quarterback Sacks, INT: Interceptions, BU: Passes Broken Up, PD: Passes Defended, QBH: Quarterback Hits, FR: Fumbles Recovered, FF: Forced Fumbles, BLK: Kicks or Punts Blocked, SAF: Safeties, TD : Touchdown

Special teams

Rankings

References

{{Big 12 Conference football champions

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 ...

Texas Longhorns football seasons Big 12 Conference football champion 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 ...