Texas Longhorns Set to Spend Extended Time on Road in October

The Texas Longhorns have been fortunate to spend three of their first four games at home, sweet home.

Coming out of their Week 5 bye, the Longhorns are set to embark on a month-long road trip filled with SEC destinations. Texas is set to make the trip to Gainesville on Saturday to take on the Florida Gators before heading up north to battle the Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry. The next week, the Longhorns go to Kentucky before facing a daunting Mississippi State team to round out the month of October.

Ahead of his team’s extended road trip, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian highlighted the challenges of playing on the road and his expectations for the team.

Texas Longhorns on Parade

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian leads players on to the field before the game against the San Jose State Spartans at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

“I think that we've got a really good formula for success when we go on the road,” Sarkisian said. “You know, we've played very well on the road. You know, we've played well away from DKR and I think that part of that is part of the process that we do.“

Sarkisian thinks he can put his finger on what makes the Longhorns stand out on the road, and it does not have to do with their on-field preparation.

“I think that we've created a culture around here where connectivity is so important, and you got to have connectivity on the road, you got 100,000 people cheering against you.” Sarkisian said. “Ultimately, we've played pretty good. We haven't played perfect. I don't know if anybody plays perfect on the road, but when you're connected and you play well, you can give yourselves opportunities to find success along the way, and you can overcome some of the adversity that you're going to get faced with.”

Since joining the SEC ahead of the 2024 season, the teams Texas faces have seemingly gotten better. Last season, the parity in the conference was significantly less, with the better teams being farther ahead than the worse teams. This season, it feels like that gap has shrunk.

“There’s not a game on anybody’s schedule in our conference where you’re just like nobody really needs to tune into this one because we know what’s going to happen,” Sarkisian said. ”I think everybody better buckle up every Saturday in our conference.”

With Saturday’s kickoff scheduled for 2:30 p.m., the Longhorns open as 7.5-point favorites against the Gators, who have struggled with injuries on top of inconsistent play early this season.