Texas plays its first Southeastern Conference game of 2026 on the road. University of Texas Athletics lists the Longhorns at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on Saturday, Sept. 26, with kickoff at 11 a.m. CT on ABC.

The same schedule lists Tennessee as No. 14/13. Texas game notes for the trip name Chris Fowler on play-by-play, Kirk Herbstreit as the analyst, and Holly Rowe as the reporter. Those notes also place ESPN’s College GameDay on Tennessee’s campus from 8 to 11 a.m. CT, with Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Nick Saban, and Herbstreit among the hosts. The notes list Neyland Stadium’s capacity at 101,915.

How Texas got to 3-0

The public schedule shows three wins, all at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, and an 0-0 SEC mark going into Saturday:

  • Sept. 5, Texas State, 59-7
  • Sept. 12, No. 1 Ohio State, 24-23
  • Sept. 19, UTSA, 30-6

The Sept. 12 result is the one that reset the season. Texas Athletics’ notes call it the program’s first win over an Associated Press No. 1 team since a 45-35 victory against Oklahoma on Oct. 11, 2008. The notes say Texas trailed 23-3, then shut out Ohio State 21-0 in the fourth quarter. Arch Manning was named the SEC’s co-offensive player of the week after completing 23 of 37 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown. Offensive lineman Trevor Goosby was named co-offensive lineman of the week. The notes describe the rally as the largest comeback of the Steve Sarkisian era at Texas.

The other two passing lines in those notes: Manning was 20 of 27 for 305 yards and four touchdowns against Texas State on Sept. 5, and 17 of 33 for 164 yards and two touchdowns against UTSA on Sept. 19. Against UTSA he was also Texas’ leading rusher, with 50 yards on nine carries. The notes list him at 15-3 as a starter and 11-0 in starts at DKR.

UTSA was a running day for the group as well. Texas posted a season-high 228 rushing yards, with Hollywood Smothers (10 carries, 54 yards), Derrek Cooper (11 carries, 44 yards), Raleek Brown (10 carries, 45 yards), and Michael Terry III (seven carries, 39 yards).

First game in Knoxville

Saturday is the first Texas game played at Neyland Stadium. The Longhorns and Volunteers have met three times before, all at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, and Texas leads the series 2-1. The results on the Texas game notes are a 14-20 loss on Jan. 1, 1951, a 16-0 win on Jan. 1, 1953, and a 36-13 win on Jan. 1, 1969. This is the fourth meeting, and the first since 1969. Tennessee’s game center lists the same three scores.

The rest of the Texas schedule

After Knoxville, the Texas athletics schedule lists:

  • Oct. 10, Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, 2:30 p.m. CT (Allstate Red River Rivalry)
  • Oct. 17, Florida at DKR, early window (11 a.m. to 12 p.m. CT)
  • Oct. 24, Ole Miss at DKR, flex start
  • Oct. 31, Mississippi State at DKR, night window (5 to 7 p.m. CT)
  • Nov. 7, at Missouri, early window
  • Nov. 14, at LSU, flex start
  • Nov. 21, Arkansas at DKR, afternoon window (2:30 to 3:30 p.m. CT)
  • Nov. 27, at Texas A&M, 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC (Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown)

This is a desk preview drawn from the public schedule and the Sept. 21 Tennessee game notes. It is not a report from the stadium, and it does not project a winner.

Sources: University of Texas 2026 football schedule; Texas game notes, Sept. 21, 2026; Tennessee athletics game center.

Photo: Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium by Fredlyfish4, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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