{"id":427673,"date":"2026-09-06T02:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T02:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/427673\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T02:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T02:36:09","slug":"longhorns-open-season-with-win-over-texas-state-as-football-fever-returns-to-austin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/427673\/","title":{"rendered":"Longhorns open season with win over Texas State as football fever returns to Austin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 The Texas Longhorns opened the 2026 season with a win over Texas State, but the excitement around the Forty Acres started long before kickoff.<\/p>\n<p>Longhorn fans packed the area around DKR Stadium Saturday, bringing tailgates, school spirit and plenty of anticipation for the return of college football to Austin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is game day, let\u2019s go. Bobcats versus Longhorns,\u201d said Joshua Matyukov, a UT student.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday\u2019s game marked the first meeting between Texas and Texas State since 1930, when the Bobcats were known by a different name.<\/p>\n<p>For Texas State fans, the matchup offered an opportunity to see how the program stacks up against the Longhorns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTexas State, they\u2019re really coming up. We\u2019ve grown our program a lot,\u201d said Garrett Chapel, a Texas State fan. \u201cSo I\u2019m excited to see how we can compete against the big brands like Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/cbsaustin.com\/news\/local\/texas-state-returns-to-austin-for-first-texas-matchup-since-1930\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Longhorns, Bobcats Kick Off First Matchup Since 1930<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Bobcats are also entering their first season in the Pac-12, and fans say a game against Texas could bring additional attention to the program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think this is going to bring a lot more attention to Texas State,\u201d said Taylor Sharp, a Texas State alumni. \u201cHopefully they get some more NIL money going through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Texas State fans were hoping to see their team make a statement, Longhorn fans were eager to see what Texas could do to start the season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to seeing number 16, making some complete passes, some touchdowns,\u201d said Matyukov.<\/p>\n<p>The excitement surrounding football also extended beyond the stadium.<\/p>\n<p>Home football games bring thousands of fans into Austin, creating a boost for local businesses as people eat, shop and spend time around the city.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve kind of been waiting, anticipating this first game, especially because it is a local game against Texas State, so everyone is here,\u201d said Phillip Torres, owner of Texas Drip BBQ.<\/p>\n<p>And Saturday\u2019s game was only the beginning.<\/p>\n<p>Texas has seven home games scheduled this season, giving Austin businesses more opportunities to benefit from the crowds throughout the fall.<\/p>\n<p>The Longhorns now turn their attention to one of the biggest games of the season.<\/p>\n<p>Texas will host Ohio State next Saturday at DKR Stadium in a top-five showdown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo every game is a good game. It\u2019s a good contribution for us as well,\u201d said Randy Tijerina, with Juicy Lucee\u2019s ATX. \u201cI know that next week is our big game. It\u2019s a good push for the rest of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Longhorns and Buckeyes kick off next Saturday at 6:30 p.m. . <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 The Texas Longhorns opened the 2026 season with a win over Texas State, but the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-427673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427673","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=427673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}