2018 Texas Longhorns football team
The 2018 Texas Longhorns football team, known variously as "Texas", "UT", the "Longhorns", or the "Horns”, represented the University of Texas at Austin during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Longhorns played their home games at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, and competed as members of the Big 12 Conference. They were led by second-year head coach Tom Herman. Texas, coming off a 7–6 season in Herman's first year, began the year ranked 23rd in the preseason AP Poll. In the first game of the year, the Longhorns were upset by Maryland in a game played at FedExField in Landover, Maryland. The team won its next six games, including a dramatic win over No. 7 Oklahoma in the 113th Red River Showdown. The Longhorns rose to as high as No. 6 in the AP Poll, but fell in consecutive weeks to Oklahoma State and West Virginia. At the end of the regular season, Texas had a record of 7–2 in Big 12 play, good for second in the standings and earning them a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game against Oklahoma. The Sooners won the rematch by a score of 39–27. Texas was invited to the Sugar Bowl to play SEC runner-up No. 5 Georgia, which Texas won in an upset by a score of 28–21. They finished with an overall record of 10–4 and were ranked 9th in the final AP Poll, the most wins and highest ranked finish for the school since 2009. The team was led on offense by sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who finished with 3,292 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns, and a Big 12-leading 16 rushing touchdowns. His 41 total touchdowns was third in the conference and seventh nationally. Wide receiver Lil'Jordan Humphrey led the team with 1,176 receiving yards. On defense, the team had three first-team all-conference members in defensive lineman Charles Omenihu and defensive backs Kris Boyd and Caden Sterns. Preseason Award watch lists Listed in the order that they were released Big 12 media poll The Big 12 media poll was released on July 12, 2018 with the Longhorns predicted to finish in fourth place. Schedule At the time, largest attendance recorded at Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Personnel Roster Game summaries vs Maryland Tulsa USC 900th Program Win TCU At Kansas State Texas lost their first game on the road at Maryland and then won their next three games at home, and their last two victories came against ranked teams—No. 22 Southern California and No. 17 TCU. But the travel games (especially in this series) have not been in the Longhorn's favor. The home team has won last six games between the two teams and Texas has not won in Manhattan since 2002. Texas was the only team to score in the first half of play, with two touchdowns, a field goal, and a safety. Kansas State had a chance to score a touchdown on the final play of the first half when Alex