2023 Texas Longhorns football team

Note: Players with a dash in the new school column didn't land on a new team for the 2023 season.

The Longhorns return 18 starters from the previous season. They return 9 on offense, 6 on defense, and 3 on special teams.
Offense

Listed in the order that they were released

2023 Preseason All-Big 12 teams

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The Longhorns were heavily favored by sportsbooks in their season opener against the Rice Owls, with a spread of 35.5 points (a roughly five-touchdown margin) in favor of Texas.[79] After receiving the opening kickoff, Texas failed to convert on fourth down, resulting in a turnover on downs on their own 33-yard line that led to Rice taking a 3–0 lead following a subsequent field goal. Texas's following drive culminated in a 37-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Quinn Ewers to runningback Jonathon Brooks. Brooks later dropped a potential touchdown pass in the second quarter, forcing to Texas to settle for a field goal.[80] Texas kicker Bert Auburn successfully kicked three field goals in the second quarter, including one to close out the first half, while Texas defense held Rice scoreless in the quarter, intercepting the Owls twice.[80][81] The Longhorns entered halftime with a 16–3 lead.[80] The first half of the matchup was closer than anticipated despite the lead,[82] with the Owls defense registering two sacks and forcing a pair of turnovers on downs in the half, stymieing the Longhorns offense.[83]

Texas widened their lead in the third quarter, with quarterback Ewers scoring two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdowns to give Texas a 37–3 lead by the end of the quarter.[83][81] Texas recovered an Owls fumble at the end of the third quarter but missed a 56-yard field goal to end the ensuing drive.[81] Most of the fourth quarter was taken up by a 13-play and 62-yard drive capped off by a 15-yard touchdown pass by Owls quarterback J.T. Daniels to Luke McCaffrey.[83] This was the only scoring drive by either team in the fourth quarter as Texas would win 37–10. With the win, Texas's record for the season improved to 1–0.[81] The Longhorns remained ranked No. 11 in the AP poll and rose two ranks to No. 10 in the Coaches Poll following the game.[84][85]

Texas played at Alabama in week 2 of the 2023 season, constituting the second game in the home-and-home series between the two teams.[88] The NCAA and Fox Sports named the matchup as one of the most important non-conference games of the season.[89][90] The game was selected as the host for the week 2 broadcast of College GameDay,[91] marking Texas's first appearance on the program since their loss to TCU in 2022.[92] Sportsbooks opened with an 8.5-point spread favoring the Crimson Tide, but the spread narrowed to around 7 points by the start of the game.[93][94][95]

Texas's first drive after receiving the opening kickoff ended in a punt. On the Alabama Crimson Tide's ensuing drive, Longhorns nickelback Jahdae Barron intercepted Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe. Texas would subsequently advance into the red zone but would end the drive with a 32-yard field goal after wide receiver Xavier Worthy failed to catch a pass in the end zone. Alabama advanced downfield and scored a 42-yard field goal to tie the game at 3–3 early in the second quarter. The Longhorns scored their first touchdown of the game the following drive with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Ewers to Worthy. Neither team scored a touchdown for the remainder of the first half, exchanging punts and field goals before Texas entered halftime leading 13–6.[96] A potential touchdown for Alabama towards the end of the second quarter was called back after Alabama was penalized for having an ineligible man downfield.[97]

Alabama received the ball to start the second half. The Crimson Tide had an opportunity to tie the game at 13 points apiece, but a holding penalty negated a 32-yard touchdown, forcing Crimson Tide to settle for a 51-yard field goal.[96][97] Neither team scored for much of the remaining third quarter; one Texas drive ended with kicker Bert Auburn missing a 42-yard field goal. However, Alabama's final drive of the quarter culminated in a 49-yard touchdown pass from Milroe to Jermaine Burton, giving Alabama a 16–13 lead – their first of the game – entering the fourth quarter.[96][98][99] Texas followed with a scoring drive that included a 50-yard gain off a pass from Ewers to tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders and a 7-yard touchdown pass from Ewers to Adonai Mitchell to give Texas the lead. Longhorns safety Jerrin Thompson intercepted Milroe on the following drive, returning the ball 32 yards to set up a touchdown run by Jonathon Brooks to give Texas a 27–16 lead. The Crimson Tide subsequently scored off of a 39-yard touchdown pass and successfully converted a two-point conversion to bring the score to 27–24 with Texas narrowly leading.[96] Mitchell caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from Ewers with around eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to extend the Longhorns's lead to 10 points on the following drive.[100] Alabama was unable to score on the ensuing drive, leaving Texas with the ball. Texas was able to reach first down twice on its final drive, forcing Alabama to exhaust its three timeouts and successfully running out the clock to secure the Longhorns's 34–24 victory.[96]

The win marked Texas's first against Alabama since the 1982 Cotton Bowl and the first against a team ranked in the top 3 of AP poll since 2008.[101] The win also snapped Alabama's 57-game regular-season nonconference winning streak extending back to 2007, as well as a 21-game home winning streak.[102] The Associated Press and the Houston Chronicle called the victory Sarkisian's biggest in his tenure as head coach at Texas.[103][104] Ewers received several weekly distinctions for his performance Alabama, including the Walter Camp Foundation Offensive Player of the Week and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.[105][106] The Longhorns rose seven spots in the AP poll to the No. 4 ranking following the game.[107]

The 661 yards of total offense were the most in Texas history in a Big 12 conference game.[111]

The announced attendance of 102,986 was the 4th highest attendance in program history, to date.