Aggies vs. Longhorns:
Farmers vs. cattle:
Lone Star Showdown
First rivalry game since 2011 has major SEC, Playoff implications By Mathias Cubillan Sports Writer
With the eyes of the college football world gazing upon Kyle Field, Texas A&M is preparing for one of its most anticipated battles in a decade. For the first time since 2011, the Longhorns and Aggies will meet on the gridiron. This is not just a battle for pride — a spot in the SEC Championship is on the line. “What makes college athletics is rivalries, and it was really sad that Texas-Texas A&M rivalry didn’t happen for this long,” A&M director of athletics Trev Alberts said in August. “I think that this game has a chance to be the best rivalry football game in all of college football. I really believe that.” A win for either side means getting their ticket punched for a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship. This showdown marks the 119th clash between the two sides, with the Longhorns holding a 76–37–5 advantage. Both programs seek bids in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. “It’s important that we don’t lose
historic state rivalry
Over a century of hardcore passion binds instate rivals together
sight of where we’ve come from, what we’ve accomplished [and] the fact that this is the first time in our SEC history that we’re in this position,” coach Mike Elko said. “… So from that perspective, there has to be some understanding of the direction we’re going and that it’s a good direction for Year 1 and where we’re at.” Powered by a pair of coaches that have reawoken dormant programs, the Lone Star Showdown features two teams on positive trajectories. Elko’s return to Aggieland has been fruitful thus far, with two wins against thentop-10 ranked opponents. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has had the Longhorns on a rocket ship since he took the reins in 2021, amassing a 34-15 record that culminated in a College Football Playoff appearance in 2023. Sarkisian brings an offensive ingenuity that has the Longhorns boasting one of the most productive in the country. As one of San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan’s disciples, Sarkisian uses pre-snap motion and misdirection to
By Noah Ruiz Sports Writer With the cool air of late November drifting into College Station, Aggieland readies itself for a final autumn clash on the gridiron. As anticipation grows, the Texas A&M faithful pace back and forth, dreaming of crushing their bitter rivals and having the last say to family and friends alike. The pregame jitters are in full swing, with the most dedicated fans relishing the moments before Kyle Field goes dormant for another long and grueling offseason. For over a decade, this unrest — which spread from classroom to household — meant that the LSU Tigers were coming to town for rivalry weekend. But not this year. A 38-23 thrashing in October seemingly eons ago already took care of the Bayou Bengals. No, this
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year, for the first time in 13 years, an old face will return to meet the Fightin’ Farmers to close another historic fall campaign: the Texas Longhorns. It is no longer a battle to end the regular season. This will be a war. War, however, is an Aggie specialty. A&M was founded as an allmale military school in 1876, with a graduate serving in every American major armed conflict since the Spanish-American War in 1898. Texas was not founded until 1883 — seven years after the Maroon and White — making A&M the first public institution of higher learning in the state of Texas. Though already rivals by blue- or white-collar identity, the two teams would not meet on the football field until 1894. That year ushered in a period of Longhorn dominance, highlighted by a combined record against the Aggies of 15-4-2 that stretched to 1911 as both teams remained without a conference. As founding members of the Southwest Conference in 1914, new stakes would be introduced, putting conference titles in the mix for the first time. Additionally, this would start a trend of A&M and UT enduring a changing world in college athletics, locked together as part of HISTORY ON A7