Breaking News: Longhorn player has spoken about his retirement choice. unbelievable what he said…….
South Alabama Hiring Texas-Ex Major Applewhite as New Coach – Tracker
Keep up to date with all the latest news surrounding the Texas Longhorns and college football.
JAN 17 ‘STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM, NOW WE’RE HERE’ Former Texas Longhorns quarterback and assistant coach Major Applewhite is set to become the South Alabama Jaguars’ new coach, per a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Applewhite is being elevated from his current position as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator to replace Kane Wommack as the Jaguars coach, who left for the defensive coordinator role at Alabama under Kalen DeBoer.
Applewhite, the 45-year-old Texas-Ex, quickly decided to end his playing career after being signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent following the 2002 NFL Draft, as he instead finished out school and became a coach.
After being a graduate assistant for two years at Texas, working under then-coach Mack Brown in 2003 and ’04, he spent a year at Syracuse, Rice, and Alabama before finding himself back in Austin for the next five years. Firstly as running backs coach before being promoted to co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks.
From there, after a year off from coaching, Applewhite spent three seasons at Houston before returning to Alabama for two seasons as an analyst, where afterward, he’d take the offensive coordinator job at South Alabama in 2021.
JAN 11 THOMPSON COMMITS TO OU Former Texas Longhorns quarterback Casey Thompson will be returning to college football for a seventh season, committing to the Oklahoma Sooners on Thursday.
It will be Thompson’s fourth team since 2021, leaving Texas and eventually transferring to Nebraska, followed by Florida Atlantic.
Thompson, who has thrown for 5,338 yards and 52 touchdowns in his career, will likely be a backup to Jackson Arnold in Norman.
He is a native of New Castle, Oklahoma, signing with Texas as a member of the 2018 class.
JAN 10 NO MORE SABAN The Texas Longhorns are set to enter the SEC for the 2024 football season, looking to make a statement in their first year in the conference.
And now, it appears that one major obstacle could be out of the way – or at the very least less of a threat – with legendary Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban set to retire, per a report from ESPN’s Chris Low.
Saban has reportedly already informed his team of his intention to retire.
Saban, who is arguably the best coach in the history of college football, now hangs it up after winning seven national championships, 11 SEC titles, 12 SEC West Titles, two Paul Bear Bryant Awards, and multiple other accolades throughout his pristine career.
The Longhorns were 1-1 against Saban in the last two years, with a resounding victory coming this past September in a 34-24 win in Tuscaloosa – a win that helped cement the Longhorns playoff case.
Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Penn State’s James Franklin, Florida State’s Mike Norvell, and Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman have been listed as potential replacements.
JAN 8 KROB TO DRAFT Another impact player for the Texas Longhorns is heading to the 2024 NFL Draft, with all-purpose back Keilan Robinson becoming the latest to declare.
“Thank you to everyone who has helped me get to where I am today,” Robinson said in his announcement. “I will be declaring for the 2024 NFL Draft.”
Robinson first transferred to Texas from Alabama ahead of the 2021 season, following Steve Sarkisian to the Longhorns.
In his time with Texas, Robinson rushed for 542 yards on 82 carries and had 332 receiving yards on 35 catches with 11 total touchdowns from scrimmage. He was also one of the most electric return specialists in the country running back both a punt and a kick for a score over the last two seasons.
Robinson could have conceivably earned a waiver year from the NCAA for another year of eligibility. Instead, he will enter the draft where he is projected as an undrafted free agent.
JAN 2 X VS LEON The Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies are set to renew their rivalry in 2024, but it seems that things have already started to kick off.
Following the Longhorns narrow loss to the Washington Huskies on Monday night, former Aggies Leon O’Neal Jr. and Texas star receiver Xavier Worthy exchanged jabs on X.
O’Neal attempted to call out the Horns for their loss, sending a dig in their direction.
“Them boys had one good year and stg they dynasty yall went 8-5 last year and 5-7 year before yall act like yall (expletive) don’t stink,” O’Neal wrote.
Worthy then responded in kind.
“Who tf are u?” Worthy said.
If nothing else, the stage in College Station next season is going to be one heck of an atmosphere.
JAN 1 MCCONAUGHEY SPEAKS The Texas Longhorns are set to take on the Washington Huskies in the College Football Playoff at the Sugar Bowl for a right to advance to the national title game in Houston next week.
In preparation for that game, longtime Longhorns fan Matthew McConaughey gave the team a pre-game hype speech, via his personal X account.
You can watch the video here:
DEC 3 HORNS TO NOLA The Texas Longhorns are heading to the College Football Playoff, coming in at No. 3 in the final rankings after their Big 12 Championship domination over Oklahoma State.
And when the rankings were announced, the Horns watch party might have been the loudest place in Texas.
You can relive that moment in this video below:
DEC 2 WORTHY HURT With the team up 42-14 in the fourth quarter, Texas Longhorns star wide receiver Xavier Worthy was injured while running after the catch in an attempt to reach the first down marker on third and long.
Worthy had a lower-body injury against Texas Tech, and appears to have yet another lower-body issue after the tackle.
Worthy was helped to the locker room shortly after the injury.
At the time of the injury, Worthy had six catches for 86 yards.
Worthy has been ruled out for the remainder of the game, after returning to the sidelines with crutches and a boot on his ankle.
DEC 2 RYAN WATTS OUT? Ahead of today’s Big 12 Championship in Arlington against Oklahoma State, Texas Longhorns cornerback Ryan Watts is not dressed to play as the Longhorns go through warmups at AT&T Stadium and is presumably out for the contest. He’s wearing However, the team has not provided an official word on his status.
Texas defensive back Austin Jordan has already been ruled out for Saturday’s game.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday that Watts would carry a questionable tag ahead of the Big 12 title game. He suffered a back injury on the first play from scrimmage in the 57-7 win over Texas Tech on Nov. 24. He exited to the locker room and didn’t return.
In his potential absence, the Longhorns will rely on Malik Muhammad and Terrence Brooks at cornerback.
DEC. 1 TOO FAR – The Big 12 Championship game between the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma State Cowboys is one of the biggest matchups of the college football weekend on Saturday.
And while there is certainly no love lost between the two programs, someone in Stillwater has now taken “Texas Hate Week” way too far.
According to the Oklahoma State student newspaper, The O’Colly, a dead longhorn steer was found in the front yard of the FarmHouse fraternity house. Per photos of the incident, the steer’s stomach had been cut open, with the message “(expletive) FH” painted on its side.
The Oklahoman newspaper has also reported that the carcass has been removed, and the Stillwater Police are actively investigating the crime.
NOV 30 JORDAN OUT Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian provided an injury update when speaking to the media on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s Big 12 title game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Arlington.
Sarkisian noted that cornerback Austin Jordan will be out for the game, but from the looks of things, it appears that Xavier Worthy, will be ready to go.
Ryan Watts, who was listed as questionable on Monday, remains questionable on Thursday.
“Everybody else is pretty status quo from what I touched on on Monday.”
Watts got injured on the first play from scrimmage in Friday’s 57-7 win over Texas Tech. Worthy had to be helped off to the sideline on two separate occasions while Murphy got injured due to some friendly fire on the sidelines.
NOV 29 SAY WHAT PAUL? The Texas Longhorns will be fighting for their College Football Playoff lives this weekend against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Not only will the Horns need a win over Oklahoma State to stay in the discussion, but they also likely need a Florida State loss.
If that happens, Texas should be in. However, should Alabama beat Georgia in the SEC Championship game, Paul Finebaum thinks otherwise.
“To me, Alabama and Texas are razor close,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s Get Up. “I’ll give Alabama the edge for one reason, because they would’ve beaten the biggest bully in the land, and that should count for something. That game on September 9 is important, but it’s not very important to me, because in my eyes, looking at college football, I see a better team in Alabama.”
Despite Finebaum’s attempts to overlook the matchup in Tuscaloosa, the Horns won the head-to-head matchup over Alabama by double-digit points. And that cannot be ignored.
Not only that, but ESPN’s FPI rankings, which take into account every facet of a team’s resumè, indicate that Texas outclasses Alabama in nearly every category.
All that said, none of that matters if either Texas or Alabama lose on Saturday.
NOV 27 RIVALRY RENEWED According to a report from ESPN’s Chris Low, the date for the renewed rivalry between the Texas Longh
