Austin, TX
The drive by No. 3 Texas to top of SEC fueled by defense with Kentucky
AUSTIN, Texas — Look under the hood of Texas’ drive to the top of the Southeastern Conference standings in its first season in the league and it is easy to see what generates the horsepower: Defense.
Texas (9-1, 5-1 SEC) plays Kentucky (4-6, 1-6) on Saturday and the Longhorns rank No. 1 in total defense, No. 1 in fewest passing yards allowed and No. 4 in points allowed per game (11.6). With two games left in the regular season, the Longhorns are tied for first in the SEC and rank No. 3 in the College Football Playoff.
This is from the team that boasted the “All gas, no brakes” motto about explosive offense when coach Steve Sarkisian took over the program in 2021.
“I love it what we’re doing defensively,” Sarkisian said. “I don’t think our guys believe that anyone can move the ball on them, that anyone’s going to score. And that’s a beautiful thing to watch.”
Texas has allowed 10 points or less five times this season, which started with a shutout and includes two games of not allowing a touchdown. The secondary has surrendered just three passing touchdowns while taking away 15 interceptions. Senior cornerback Jahdae Barron leads the team with four.
“The experience of our secondary is what has led to this,” Sarkisian said of the turnover-to-touchdowns ratio. “We just don’t blow coverages … They make every pass feel contested.”
Texas needs a win in its final two games to stay on track for the SEC championship game and hold a position in the playoff hunt as one of the top four seeds. Kentucky would love to play the spoiler in an otherwise dismal season.
Texas will be Kentucky’s fourth opponent ranked seventh or higher. The Wildcats beat Mississippi in the first one, then lost to Georgia and Tennessee by a total of eight points. The Wildcats have played in a bowl the last eight seasons and need to win their final two games to keep that streak alive.
“I want to finish strong,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said.
Ewers’ final home game?
Texas junior quarterback Quinn Ewers may be playing his final home game at Texas. The three-year starter led the Longhorns to the playoff last season, then opted to return instead of turning pro. An abdomen injury has hampered his season, but Ewers has still passed for 1,898 yards and 21 touchdowns. He avoided a question from reporters if this could be his final home game. Texas will honor its seniors before kickoff.
Inside outside
Texas senior defensive tackle Alfred Collins had the best game of his career last week against Arkansas with a sack, and a forced fumble that helped closed out the victory. At 6-foot-5, 325 pounds, he has emerged as the dominant pocket pusher to compliment the edge rush of standout freshman Colin Simmons, who leads Texas with six sacks.
Waiting for Vandagriff
Ewers and Kentucky’s Brock Vandagriff were both ranked among the top high school quarterbacks in the country in the 2021 recruiting class. The Wildcats are waiting for the Georgia transfer to have a breakout game this season. He has passed for 1,542 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. His 243 yards passing in Kentucky’s win over Ole Miss were a career high.
Red zone matchup
Texas had another sluggish game on offense in last week’s win at Arkansas and now faces a Kentucky defense that rates among the best in the country when backed up near its own goal line. The Wildcats rank sixth nationally and best in the SEC in red zone defense.
Terrific tight end
For all of its speed on the edges in the passing attack, it is Texas tight end Gunnar Helm who has been the most reliable receiver from game to game. His 37 catches for a 493 yards lead the team in both categories and he has three touchdowns.
Austin, TX
2026 4-star RB Javian Osborne visited by Texas ahead of trip to Austin this weekend
Forney (Texas) four-star running back Javian Osborne is set to return to Austin for his latest visit to Texas this weekend.
The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder has tripped to The Forty Acres more than any other program throughout his recruitment. On Tuesday, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian, RBs coach Tashard Choice and assistant Chris Gilbert repaid the favor and visited Osborne:
Osborne chose a trip back to Texas over Notre Dame this weekend and is coming off a visit to Georgia last weekend. The Longhorns staff wasted no time getting in the picture for the blue-chipper and that’s paid dividends so far.
“Texas, they’ve been in the picture since freshman year,” Osborne recently told On3. “I love how Coach Sarkisian utilizes running backs in the pass game and in the run. Just being able to utilize them in different situations. His offense is crazy his playbook. Coach Choice as well, he’s been in the picture since my freshman year.”
Earlier this month, Osborne named his top 10 schools. Alongside UT and UGA, Oregon, SMU, Texas A&M, Michigan, Florida State, Tennessee, Alabama and Notre Dame all made the cut. The Wolverines have also emerged as a top contender to this point
Osborne did all he could for Forney as a junior. He had over 150 carries and ran for 1,085 yards and 21 touchdowns, according to MaxPreps. He also caught three TD passes as Forney finished with a 5-6 record. As a sophomore, Osborne eclipsed 1,000 total yards and had eight scores.
He is the No. 74 overall prospect and No. 6 RB in the 2026 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He’s also the No. 10 player in Texas.
Texas signed No. 1 recruiting class in 2025 cycle
Last month saw Texas soar to the top of the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings, closing its 2025 recruiting cycle with a bang. It signed 11 top-100 recruits, five of whom are five-stars.
So far in the 2026 cycle, the Longhorns have two commits.
Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage five-star quarterback Dia Bell made an early pledge back in June and remains in the mix as the No. 13 recruit and No. 4 QB overall.
“They make me feel like I am home there,” Bell recently said of Texas to On3. “Those are two guys I love and I would love to be coached by. They are great to talk to, they are great coaches and those two are probably the biggest reason why I am strong with my commitment to Texas.”
He’s joined by Pearland (Texas) Shadow Creek four-star wide receiver Chris Stewart, a top-150 recruit in the On300. He pledged just eight days after Bell.
Austin, TX
Austin airport seeing mass cancellations as winter storm wreaks havoc on Texas airports
Drone video shows Butler Park in Austin blanketed in brilliant snow
Parts of Austin are snow-clad as Texas is experiencing another snowstorm.
This story has been updated to add video and photo gallery.
This winter’s harshest Arctic blast so far is coursing through Texas, stymying everyday functions like school, work, and travel. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is already among the airports with the highest number of cancellations in the world today, and other airports across the state are not faring much better.
For Austinites, Tuesday morning started with sleet and snow accumulations ranging from half an inch to 2 inches, according to the National Weather Service. Moreover, this winter storm cell has necessitated a winter storm warning that is in effect until 6 p.m. Tuesday. There is also a cold weather advisory in place until noon Wednesday as temperatures are expected to get as low as 23 degrees.
As for what this means for Austin’s airport, the organization has spent years preparing for storms like this. Despite the surge in cancellations, Austin is actually performing better than other Texas metropolises in terms of airfare on Tuesday.
From cancellations in Austin to full closures in Houston, here’s what to know about what travel will look like in the next few days across Texas.
Austin’s airport weathering the storm amid mass cancellations
At the time of writing Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has seen 69 total flights cancelled, or 16 percent of all flights, and 71 flights delayed — about 12 percent of all flights. These numbers rank Austin’s airport eighth in the world for origin airport cancellations on January 21, according to FlightAware.
While Austin-Bergstrom has remained open it the airport was forced to curb services because of the cold weather.
“Due to weather conditions, all parking trams are temporarily suspended. Please walk carefully to the terminal, as icy surfaces may exist,” the ABIA said in a social media post.
The top airlines that are seeing cancellations and delays at Austin’s airport are Southwest Airlines, with 25 cancellations and 42 delays; United Airlines with 16 cancellations and one delay; and SkyWest Airlines with 12 cancellations and five delays.
Other Texas airports are struggling with the weather as both Bush and Hobby close
Five of the airports with the most cancellations by origin airport in the world today are located in Texas. Most notably, both of Houston’s commercial airports have completely closed in what is a stunning move.
This means the top two airports affected by cancellations in the world are Bush Intercontinental Airport and Hobby International Airport in Houston. These two airports alone have generated a staggering 1,247 total cancellations, according to data from FlightAware.
In preparation for the weather, Houston had preemptively closed multiple overpasses around its airports. However, the weather was too extreme, and operations were forced to stop.
“Flight operations are temporarily suspended and our dedicated teams remain on site preparing for a safe return to operations as soon as weather conditions allow. We will provide updates as they become available,” Bush Airport said in a social media statement.
At the time of writing both Bush and Hobby remain closed. These mass cancellations are expected to have a cascading effect on air travel in the coming days, but neither airport has commented on how this will be handled.
Elsewhere in the Lone Star State Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio are all scrambling to maintain operations.
Dallas-Fort Worth International has seen 189 total cancellations while San Antonio International has seen 69 total cancellations at the time of writing.
Nationwide, Southwest and United are left holding the bag as they are the airlines with the most canceled flights, accounting for more than 900 canceled flights combined.
Beck Andrew Salgado covers trending topics in the Austin business ecosystem for the American-Statesman. To share additional tips or insights with Salgado, email Bsalgado@gannett.com.
Austin, TX
Austin weather: Snow moves out but refreezing possible later
AUSTIN, Texas – A winter storm has brought snow to Central Texas.
Snow and sleet in Austin area
The backstory:
Snow fell in Austin and across the southeastern portions of the FOX 7 Austin viewing area.
The majority of the snow began falling at around 2 a.m. to 3 a.m.
The whole system is expected to be out of the area before 9 a.m.
You may still see isolated light snow showers in the late morning, but the main event will be done.
Why you should care:
Roads will continue to be slick and slippery.
A Winter Weather Advisory remains for Blanco, Burnet, Gillespie and Llano Counties until 6 p.m.
Bastrop, Fayette and Lee Counties are under a Winter Weather Warning until 6 p.m. as well.
Timeline:
9 a.m. – Most of the snow will be out of the area
10 a.m. – Temperatures expected to get above freezing
Afternoon to Early Evening – With the higher temperatures (the high today will be 40 degrees) any snow on the ground will begin to melt and help improve road conditions
7 p.m. – Temperatures will drop below freezing again, so there is potential for refreezing on roads
What’s next:
Expect another cold night, with the low dropping into the low 20s and wind chills dipping into the teens.
A Cold Weather Advisory still be in place until noon tomorrow (January 22) due to an expected cold morning.
How much snow fell in Austin?
By the numbers:
Most of the areas that saw snow didn’t see that much.
Here are expected future snow fall totals, in inches, in the area:
- Austin – .1
- Bastrop – .6
- Giddings – .7
- La Grange – .9
- Lockhart – .5
- San Marcos – .3
- Blanco – .1
What you can do:
Track your local forecast for the Austin area quickly with the free FOX 7 WAPP.
The design gives you radar, hourly, and 7-day weather information just by scrolling.
Our weather alerts will warn you early and help you stay safe.
The Source: Information from meteorologist Leslie London.
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