Texas Longhorn fans prepare to travel for showdown in Georgia

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas fans will make the stampede across the southeastern portion of the United States to Athens, Georgia, as the No. 10 Longhorns clash with the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs this upcoming Saturday.

Charlie Dunn, a dedicated Texas Longhorns fan and alumnus, is continuing a cherished tradition of attending road games with his father. “I tell people that I was brainwashed as a young child to go there,” Dunn said. This weekend, the father-son duo will travel to Athens to take in Saturday’s contest inside Sanford Stadium. “For the first time, we get to go, like, to their stadium, which I think is going to be awesome to see,” Dunn added.

They will be joined by thousands of fellow Longhorn fans, including 60 members of the Texas Exes organization. Margaret Williams, travel director for Texas Exes, expressed excitement about the new travel opportunities in the SEC. “It’s really fun now that we’re in the SEC because obviously there’s a lot of new sort of like, you know, travel destinations that we’ve never gone to before,” she said.

The Texas Exes Atlanta Chapter is preparing to welcome alumni and fans with open arms. “They’ll definitely have some warm Texas Longhorn arms to land in regardless of whether they’re in Athens or if they’re in Atlanta,” said Hunter Miranda, fundraising chair for the chapter.

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The group is holding a welcome party and happy hour on Friday at Botica, beginning at 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

“For those of us living in Atlanta as Texas fans, we’ve been waiting for the Longhorns to be a part of the SEC,” said chapter vice president Ryan Esparza.

For those unable to attend the game, a watch party is planned. “A really large crew who maybe weren’t able to get tickets are going to be joining the watch party,” said Esparza, with Miranda mentioning that door prizes will be given out.

Despite the competitive atmosphere, Texas fans remain confident. “We’ve got a lot of Bulldogs around us, and they like to have their voices be heard when they’re better than us. So I would like to very much be able to quiet them,” Esparza said. Williams added, “I mostly wanna say Hook ’em Horns, let’s go get ’em.”

Anyone interested in attending any of the events held by the Atlanta chapter of the Texas Exes is encouraged to contact the chapter.