Texas
No. 7 Texas Longhorns will make Big 12 title game on their way out with win over Texas Tech
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas can avoid any potentially complicated tiebreaker scenarios or having to wait an extra day to clinch a spot in the Big 12 championship game. The seventh-ranked Longhorns are in with a win Friday night over Texas Tech in their final regular-season game as a member of the conference.
“Our players didn’t choose to leave the Big 12. … They’re just choosing to put on the burnt orange and white,” Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said. “So whether the commissioner’s rooting against our players to win or not, or we’re in the SEC or we’re in the Big 12, at the end of the day, our guys just want to play good football, and they want to win. … We need to be enamored with us, and that’s something that we’ve done.”
With a five-game winning streak since their Red River rivalry loss to 13th-ranked Oklahoma, who they are going with to the Southeastern Conference next season, the Longhorns (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) are the Big 12’s only one-loss team and last hope to get into the four-team College Football Playoff. They have to beat Texas Tech (6-5, 5-3) and win their first conference title since 2009 to stay in that conversation.
That would be quite a farewell by the Longhorns to the Big 12.
A week before the season even began, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark was before a crowd of Texas Tech fans when he told Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire he would be in Austin for the day-after Thanksgiving game and they “better take care of business” like last year when beating Texas.
“They were excited about the season. … And I was having fun with the fans at Texas Tech, and that’s pretty much it,” Yormark said about a week after his comments in Lubbock in late August.
Sarkisian this week said he’s since had several conversations with Yormark, who will be in Austin after also seeing the Longhorns win at Iowa State last week.
“Hopefully we put on a heck of a show for him,” Sarkisian said. “He’s the commissioner of our conference, and I’m hopeful that when he watches us play, he’s proud of the way that we play in representing the Big 12, because that’s the conference we’re in right now.”
STREAKING RAIDERS
Texas Tech is bowl eligible after winning its last three games. The Red Raiders have six consecutive November games, their longest such streak since seven in a row from 1992-94.
LAST MEETING?
The Red Raiders and Longhorns have played every year since 1960, first in the Southwest Conference and in the Big 12 since 1996. There are no more scheduled meetings.
“You’re losing some really good instate rival games through all this movement,” McGuire said. “I’m hopeful at some point that you could bring those games back.”
McGuire also mentioned Texas A&M, which last played Tech in 2011 before leaving for the Big 12 for the SEC. Texas and Texas A&M also last played then, but will meet for the 119th time next year as SEC foes.
BROOKS RUNS INTO HORNS
Red Raiders senior running back Tahj Brooks had a career-best 182 yards rushing last week against UCF and is second in the Big 12 with 122.5 yards per game. He has four consecutive 100-yard games, and eight of nine (with 98 yards in the other game), and has seven games in a row with TD runs. The Longhorns last week held Iowa State to 9 yards on 21 carries, the fewest they have allowed since 2009, and fifth game in a row holding their opponent under 100 yards. They have the Big 12’s top rushing defense, giving up 82.7 rushing yards per game, and only six total TDs on the ground.
10 WINS, TRIO OF TITLES
The Longhorns already have their first 10-win season since 2009, when they won their last Big 12 title before a loss to Alabama in the BCS national championship game. Texas’ only Big 12 championship game since was a loss to Oklahoma in 2018. Texas has won three Big 12 titles and been to six conference championship games. Only Oklahoma has more, with 11 titles and 12 Big 12 championship game appearances.
IT’S GOOD!
Bert Auburn has made 14 consecutive field goals, one short of the Texas school record shared by Anthony Fera and Phil Dawson. Auburn’s 23 made field goals are one behind the single-season school record set by Hunter Lawrence in 2009.
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Texas
Former Colorado defensive end Dayon Hayes transfers to Texas A&M
Former Colorado Buffaloes defensive end Dayon Hayes is set to continue his collegiate career at Texas A&M after transferring following a season-ending injury. Hayes, a 6-foot-3, 265-pound defender, began his journey at Pitt, where he played from 2020 to 2023, accumulating 13 sacks and 80 tackles over four seasons.
At Pitt, Hayes showcased his potential in his sophomore and junior years, logging around 500 combined snaps and producing 30 pressures. His breakout came in 2023 when he amassed 44 pressures and a 13% pass rush win rate, ranking 12th in the ACC. Hayes also demonstrated solid run defense, posting an average tackle depth of 1.6 yards and recording 10.5 stops for loss. His ability to set the edge and prevent runners from escaping outside made him a critical piece of Pitt’s defense.
Following his success at Pitt, Hayes transferred to Colorado as a highly sought-after addition to Deion Sanders’ revamped Buffaloes roster. He made an immediate impact, registering two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss in Colorado’s first three games. However, his promising start was cut short by a knee injury in the fourth game, sidelining him for the rest of the season.
Deion Sanders says he won’t attend the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay
Despite the setback, Hayes’ strong early performance likely earned him a medical redshirt, granting him another year of eligibility. With his final collegiate season on the horizon, Hayes opted to join Texas A&M, bringing his pass-rushing skills to the SEC. The Aggies, coming off an eight-win season, are set to face USC in the Las Vegas Bowl. Hayes’ ability to pressure quarterbacks and defend the run should bolster Texas A&M’s defensive front, adding experience and depth to their edge rotation for the 2024 season.
Texas
D-FW can claim Texas’ best high school football team in an otherwise down year for Dallas
ARLINGTON — North Crowley showed out on Saturday in its dazzling 50-21 victory over Austin Westlake in the 6A Division I state title game, winning the program’s second state championship and putting Fort Worth high school football on the map in front of 36,120 fans at AT&T Stadium.
Until North Crowley took the field at 7:30 p.m., there was a possibility the Dallas-Fort Worth area might boast only one state champion in 2024. Celina routed Kilgore 55-21 in the 4A Division I state championship to capture the program’s ninth state title and its first under coach Bill Elliott.
But North Texas teams came up short in the next three title games, the region’s worst showing at state since 2021, when South Oak Cliff became the first Dallas ISD school to win a recognized state championship since 1958, but Denton Guyer and Duncanville fell in the 6A state championship games.
Two-time state champion South Oak Cliff missed a last-second field goal, falling 38-35 to third-year program Richmond Randle in the 5A Division II state title game Friday night. It was SOC’s second straight loss in the state championship game.
“The future is still bright,” South Oak Cliff coach Jason Todd said. “We just gotta find out what’s going to get us over this hump.”
Smithson Valley, from the San Antonio area, topped Highland Park 32-20 as the six-time state champion faded in the second half of the 5A Division I state title game Saturday afternoon.
In the second game of the day, eight-time state champion Southlake Carroll extended its title drought to 13 years with a 24-17 loss to Austin Vandegrift in the 6A Division II game.
“It’ll happen one day. I’m excited about what the future holds,” said Carroll coach Riley Dodge, who fell to 0-2 in state title games as a coach.
The Dallas area claimed three football state champions in 2023 with Anna winning the 4A Division I state title and Duncanville and DeSoto sweeping the 6A Division I and II state championships, respectively. The southern Dallas County schools also swept the 6A state championships in 2022, when South Oak Cliff won its second straight 5A Division II state title.
But this year, the rest of Texas didn’t let the Dallas area, a high school football mecca, run the table. Teams from each of the state’s major metros — Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio —- won a title in each division of the UIL’s two highest classifications.
Even before this week’s state championship games, 2024 seemed to mark a changing of the guard. Neither Duncanville, DeSoto nor Houston-area power Galena Park North Shore made it to AT&T Stadium this year. Nor did 12-time UIL state champion Aledo, the juggernaut west of Fort Worth that had won the last two 5A Division I state championships.
But North Crowley did, after knocking off both DeSoto and Duncanville this season. North Texas might not have dominated the competition as it has in recent years, but for a third straight season, the king of 6A reigns in Dallas-Fort Worth.
“When you get to this point, there’s only one team that’s standing that’s hoisting the trophy. And fortunately for us, this year it’s us and we just happen to be from 817,” North Crowley coach Ray Gates said. “We’re elated to be able to bring that type of recognition back to our community, just to let people know that when you talk about this area, when you talk about Metroplex football, you can’t forget about us.”
On Twitter/X: @t_myah
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Texas
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