It was a drizzle that almost looked like snow, smothering the stadium as the final whistle blew and the Texas players bolted to the student section. This group of fans who had been through it all, the lows and highs, had gotten what they had come for.
As the Aggies in their maroon and white left the turf of DKR quickly, the cold air that would normally raise hairs across your forearms felt oddly warm. It was a night that will never be forgotten for all who witnessed, and it was the kind of game that makes you re-realize why we watch sports to begin with.
Texas’ feeling after the Lone Star Showdown was only matched one other time this season against Oklahoma — but the magnitude was different on Friday. Nobody felt it after the boring, overhyped and underplayed 14-7 loss to Ohio State. Nobody felt it after the embarrassment in Athens, Georgia. Hell, who felt it after the overtime escapes against Kentucky and Mississippi State?
It buried deep as the disappointments stacked higher: The struggles in the run game and the constant movement of the offensive line room all season long. The wince on Arch Manning’s face during his throwing motion in the non-conference games. From preseason No. 1 to dropping out of the AP poll less than two months into the season. The pride Texas felt after the Lone Star Showdown wasn’t reached all year long, but it was all let loose on Friday night.
“This group has been through a lot,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said after the game.
The stakes of the great Texas-Texas A&M rivalry matchup had never been higher. The last time these two squads met in DKR was 2010 going 5-7. There was no College Football Playoff in existence, just pure hatred for the other program. This time, it was different, with so much more on the line. One team had an undefeated season at risk. The other team had their postseason dreams in jeopardy. And the noise was loud all week long.
Texas A&M’s offensive lineman Ar’Maj Reed Adams called the Longhorns “cowards.” Aggie junior wide receiver KC Concepcion got custom-made cleats with Longhorns sawed off. Texas senior edge rusher Ethan Burke challenged the sportsbook maker’s athletic ability. It got weird, but this game meant more than it had ever before. No. 16 hosting No. 3 for the first time in 15 years in front of over 100,000, including the governor of the state and A-list celebrities.
A game for pride with everything on the line.
So it’s no surprise that at halftime, after a slow first half that included five punts and a field goal in a 10-3 deficit, the head coach spoke of it.
“I just challenged them,” Sarkisian said. “It was about pride for the next 30 minutes. It’s about Texas fight… They felt it. I felt it in the locker room. It was a real moment.”
A self-proclaimed great speech maker, whatever Sarkisian said in there worked. The Longhorns outscored the Aggies 24-7 in the second half, for a 27-17 final finish. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Arch Manning had a passing and rushing touchdown, sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner finished with 162 yards on 19 carries, and Texas outgained Texas A&M by 125 yards in the final 30 minutes of play. The defense picked up two interceptions, one by sophomore corner Kobe Black and one by senior safety Michael Taaffe. When all was said and done, Texas had ended the Aggies’ undefeated season and won the Lone Star Showdown.
“I’ve never been prouder of a team,” Sarkisian said.
They wouldn’t let Manning off the field. No matter where he went — cameras, sharpies, dap-ups, a cannon, the governor, they all followed him. “College football’s first flop” was seemingly and suddenly at the mountaintop of Texas football. Whether it was the people cheering for him or the shine in his smile as he greeted the fans. From the boos at UTEP to the cheers at A&M, Manning was finally adopted by the Texas nation, and he was proud.
Now Longhorn nation awaits the College Football Playoff Poll on Tuesday, with the Allstate playoff predictor giving the Longhorns a 2% chance of making the postseason. Sarkisian was clear in his pitch of why his roster deserves to make it. He spoke of how teams will stop scheduling big non-conference opponents, of how Notre Dame also lost to Northern Illinois in the season the Fighting Irish went to the playoffs, and of how his squad is the first to beat three top-10 teams in a season since Joe Burrow’s LSU.
“I have no doubt in my mind that the team we have in that locker room downstairs is a playoff football team and worthy of an opportunity to play for a national championship,” Sarkisian said.
Read the spark notes of the past five years, and you’ll see the Longhorns climbing back up the mountain. From 5-7 in 2021 to 13-3 in 2024, Sarkisian has brought a winning culture back to the University of Texas. With Friday’s win, Texas has now beaten all of Arkansas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma in back-to-back seasons for the first time in over 50 years. Whatever happens on Tuesday when the college football playoff rankings are released, this should all be remembered.
But for now, the Longhorns shall focus on the victory. As that almost-snow-filled mist glided through the lights and into the stadium, it felt like it washed away every struggle of the past few months — the run game issues, the injuries, the doubts — in a rivalry that still cuts deep.
And now the playoff committee decides what comes next, but Friday night stood on its own — the clearest photo yet of the culture Sarkisian has built and the fight that’s carried this team through every storm.
