After a relatively uneventful offseason, the No. 11 Texas Longhorns are back on the field at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday to take on the Rice Owls and kick off their final year in the Big 12 with high hopes.
The 2023 offseason started with Texas adding a few key pieces from the transfer portal, most notably wide receiver AD Mitchell and safety Jalen Catalon, and finished with Texas picked to win the conference and with some expecting them to compete for the College Football Playoff. Head coach Steve Sarkisian has said that part of the team’s mentality is to embrace the expectation and has made jokes about the less-than-warm feelings from the remaining members of the Big 12 as Texas makes its final run through the conference.