What Happened Last Time the Texas Longhorns Faced the Florida Gators?

A week after they take on the Oklahoma Sooners in the ever-so storied Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, the Texas Longhorns return to the state capital of Austin to host the Florida Gators at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium for some Week 7 SEC action.

The meeting will be the sixth all-time between the two teams, and just the third time since 1940, with the Longhorns holding a 3-1-1 lead in the all-time record.

However, at this point in time last year, they were undefeated against the Gators, until a fateful trip to Gainesville last season put an end to the perfect record, and in the eyes of many, Texas' chance to qualify for the College Football Playoff.

What Happened Last Time Texas Faced Florida?

Texas Longhorns Football — Florida Gators wide receiver Dallas Wilson (6) runs with the ball after a catch for a touchdown against the Texas Longhorns during the second half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Week 6 of the 2025 season took Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns down to "The Swamp" at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL for their first bit of conference action.

The Horns were well rested, fresh off of a bye week and a 55-0 stomping of Sam Houston State the week before that, so surely the offense was on point against Billy Napier's team.

Well, one would think.

The Gators opened up the game with a 13-play drive that went for 84 yards and spanned nearly seven minutes, resulting in a five-yard touchdown run by running back Jadan Baugh.

Texas was unable to make anything happen on their drive, and they booted it back to Florida, who added three more points at the tail end of the quarter thanks to a 34-yard field goal off the cleat of Trey Smack.

The Longhorns would then catch a break early in the second quarter when linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. recovered a fumble by Gators tight end Hayden Hansen, putting the team in prime field position for their first score of the day, which came courtesy of a six-yard passing touchdown from Arch Manning to running back Quintrevion Wisner.

With just under five minutes in the half, the Gators would hit paydirt once again when DJ Lagway connected with Dallas Wilson for a 13-yard touchdown, making the score 19-7 in favor of Florida at the half.

The third quarter opened with punts by both sides before Florida tacked on three points thanks to another Smack field goal, making the score 22-7 Gators.

Texas would respond on their next drive, as Manning would connect with Ryan Wingo on a 38-yard passing score that kept the lead within one score, only for Lagway and Wilson to hook up for their second scoring connection on the day, this time in the form of a 55-yarder to put the Gators back up by multiple scores.

The fourth quarter turned out to be the most damning for the Longhorns, especially Arch Manning in the beginning, as he opened the final 15 minutes with interceptions on the first two drives, only for Texas safety Michael Taaffe to pick off Lagway after the second pick thrown by Manning.

After the two teams traded punts, Texas inched closer to the lead with a Wisner rushing score with nearly 3:30 left to go, and after forcing a punt from the Gators, Texas fans knew that the game was far from over.

Unfortunately, that final drive started with 55 seconds left on the clock and resulted in Manning being sacked twice, with his Hail Mary on 3rd & 12 as time expired falling incomplete, giving the Gators their first ever win over the Burnt Orange.

Manning finished with 16 of 29 passes completed for 263 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions and also led the team in rushing with 37 yards.

Texas will look to redeem their defeat from last year when the Gators come to town on October 17.

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