It’s been 57 years since the Tennessee Volunteers and the Texas Longhorns squared off on the gridiron, but that all changes this fall when the two proud programs take the field in Neyland Stadium during Week 4.
There are countless storylines heading into the matchup, including the Manning Family’s return to Neyland with Arch Manning, the SEC opener for both teams, and, of course, the battle of the ‘UT’ moniker.
While speaking to the media during SEC Media Days on Monday, Heupel cracked a joke at the Longhorns.
“First time the real UT plays the other UT in a while,” Heupel said with a big grin. “Obviously a big game. Just inside the landscape of this conference as you open up conference play, but a program that’s done a really good job under Coach Sarkisian. I think its unique that you have a Manning that’s coming to where a former Manning played, and that’ll be unique for our fanbase and also theirs.”
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Both Tennessee and Texas are proud of their ‘UT’ roots. But in the eyes of the SEC, Tennessee holds the claim to the two letters as one of the founding members of the conference. Ever since the Longhorns first joined the conference in 2024, the SEC has referred to Tennessee as UT and Texas as TEX when shortening the names for its in-house teams.
Texas fans may not have the time to laugh at Heupel’s joke, though. The Longhorns are entering a year that’s filled with pressure as one of the preseason darlings in the sport. Texas has one of the top rosters in the nation and Heisman hopeful Arch Manning as its quarterback, but the Longhorns need to make a strong run in the College Football Playoffs sooner rather than later. It’s a big year for Texas, and Tennessee is hoping to give it a huge speed bump during both teams’ SEC opener on Sept. 26.
The Vols and Longhorns will kick off at noon ET on Saturday, Sept. 26. Either ABC or ESPN will broadcast the game.
The week four matchup is also Tennessee football’s annual Checker Neyland game. Tennessee faces Furman, Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State in its first three games while Texas faces Texas State, Ohio State and UTSA in its first three games.
