{"id":426299,"date":"2026-09-04T17:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T17:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/426299\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T17:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T17:52:08","slug":"longhorns-take-on-texas-state-on-saturday-in-their-first-home-game-of-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/426299\/","title":{"rendered":"Longhorns take on Texas State on Saturday in their first home game of the season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 A central Texas college football showdown nearly a century in the making is coming to DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday when the Longhorns take on Texas State in Texas&#8217; season opener.<\/p>\n<p>Texas State is making the trip to Austin for the first time since 1930. Back then, UT won 36-0.<\/p>\n<p>The Longhorns open the 2026 season against an experienced Texas State team. The Bobcats have made three straight bowl appearances, and this season they are moving into the revived PAC-12 Conference.<\/p>\n<p>Longhorn Head Coach Steve Sarkisian says that experience is something his team will have to take seriously, with Texas State bringing back several fourth-, fifth- and even sixth-year players.<\/p>\n<p>For Texas, all eyes will be on Arch Manning as he enters his second season as the Longhorns&#8217; starting quarterback.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cbsaustin.com\/news\/local\/bat-fest-free-sundays-at-the-bullock-and-more-to-do-this-labor-day-weekend\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ALSO | Bat Fest, Free Sundays at the Bullock, and more to do this Labor Day Weekend<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sarkisian says his team is ready, and knows the fans are ready to see what they can do this season.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is our fifth consecutive season when we&#8217;re already sold out for the entire season before the ball&#8217;s even been kicked off,&#8221; Sarkisian said. &#8220;Credit to our fans, the support they give us every time we go into DKR.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Longhorns are considered the most valuable college football program in the country, valued at more than $2 billion in a recent Indiana University study. That ranking helps generate a big economic return for Austin.<\/p>\n<p>According to a university study, each home football game generates about $63 million for the local economy. That money flows to hotels, restaurants, bars and retailers. <\/p>\n<p>Getting to the game<\/p>\n<p>The Longhorns and Bobcats kick off at DKR in Austin at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re heading to DKR or downtown on gameday, you will want to plan ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Those not going to the game should avoid I-35 near downtown Austin if at all possible.<\/p>\n<p>For those that are coming up northbound I-35 to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, stay on the lower deck.<\/p>\n<p>For getting onto 15th Street, use either the lower deck MLK exit or the temporary upper deck 15th Street exit.<\/p>\n<p>After the game, some traffic will be sent to the southbound I-35 Frontage Road from 15th Street. Others will be routed to 12th Street.<\/p>\n<p>UT says 12th Street is now the main access point to I-35.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 A central Texas college football showdown nearly a century in the making is coming to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-426299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}