No October home games will be challenging hurdle for Texas Longhorns national title hopes
Kickoff times and TV windows are here 🤘@TexasLonghorns x @SEC pic.twitter.com/LBCws9Hu5m
October will be a challenge for the Texas Longhorns. UT has a grand total of zero home games at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin in October. The entire month will be on the road. And while none of the opponents are ranked in the Top 15, the strain of the month could cause the Horns to stumble.
Home field advantage probably means more in college football than in any sports. College football stadiums, especially in the SEC, feature the most boisterous and rowdy fans. There is the youth of many players. There are much tougher logistics. There is the time spent actually traveling and unfamiliar beds and unfamiliar food and unfamiliar people. It is tough for players to get into a comfort zone.
Typically, Texas' road and home games ping pong through the schedule. One week on the road, followed by a home game. Sometimes it's two. But this year, Texas plays four games on the road in a row. Of course, one of those games is at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas for the Red River Rivalry against the Oklahoma Sooners. The Longhorns will technically be the home team this year, but that doesn't factor in the travel impact on the team.
Texas opens the month at the Swamp to play a possibly resurgent Florida Gators team. Florida's star quarterback DJ Lagway will be a challenge for the Texas defense. Lagway was injured last season when the Gators traveled to Austin and missed the Texas game. With the OU game the following week, No. 17 Florida might be the most dangerous game Texas faces all season.
Texas follows up the visit to Gainesville with the trip to Dallas to face the Sooners. Then UT will travel to Kentucky and Mississippi State in the back-to-back weeks after the Sooners. The Wildcats and Bulldogs brought up the rear in the 2024 SEC standings. But their cause could be helped against the Longhorns thanks to possible road weariness by Texas.
Sure, at Ohio State in August and at Georgia in November loom larger than any game in October for the Horns. But an entire month on the road can't be discounted as a true hurdle Texas will have to survive.
Follow us on X/Twitter at @LonghornsWire.
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