Colin Simmons Officially Makes Texas Longhorns History After Surprising Stat Change

Colin Simmons now officially stands alone at the top of a major category in the Texas Longhorns football record books.

Texas football announced that Simmons is now officially the program's single-game sack record holder after a stat change turned his five sacks to 5.5 sacks from Saturday's 20-17 win over Tennessee. He had previously tied the single-game record of five.

The surprising stat change involves a sack in the fourth quarter that had previously been given to Hero Kanu. But since he and Simmons teamed up on the play, the one sack was turned into 0.5 sack for both he and Kanu.

This also means that Simmons is now the FBS's current leader in sacks this season with 7.5, which moves him out of a tie with LSU's Princewill Umanmielen.

Colin Simmons: "I Was in That Mode"

Texas Longhorns defensive end Colin Simmons (1) speaks to the press during SEC Football Kickoff Media Day at the Tampa Marriott. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

On the same day Simmons made history, he also was a part of some controversy after an inappropriate celebration in the first half that drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Simmons apologized afterwards, saying he was "in that mode."

Despite the unnecessary celebration, it's hard to argue with that.

"Also I do want to say I apologize for the celebration," Simmons said. "I was definitely in that mode, feeling myself, but you know it happens. ... Next play mentality. We don't harp on that."

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian made it clear that Simmons made a mistake but credited him for what was a historical day in Knoxville.

"Can't happen. That's a bad football play," Sarkisian said. "We had harped and talked about this game about not getting emotional with the crowd and that was an emotional play. A couple others that were close too. We had a real talk about it at halftime about how we needed to play in the second half, we needed to celebrate with one another."

Texas defensive lineman Colin Simmons (1) celebrates after a sack of Tennessee quarterback Faizon Brandon (11) during their game at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Sept. 26, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Simmons is now up to 28.5 career sacks.

Texas heads into its bye week before taking on the Oklahoma Sooners in the annual Red River Rivalry in Dallas, Simmons' hometown.

Simmons has never been shy about talking trash to Texas' biggest rivals like Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Perhaps with a potential win over the Sooners, Simmons will deliver some more memorable smack talk. After all, he is 6-0 against the Longhorns' three designated SEC rivals (Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Arkansas).

That said, he's certainly learned when not to take things too far.

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