For Texas, the program\u2019s first-ever trip to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, this Saturday is more than a road game. It is a first encounter with one of college football\u2019s most recognizable settings, as more than 100,000 fans are expected to fill the stadium singing \u201cRocky Top.\u201d<\/p>\n
The No. 1 Longhorns will enter that environment with the spotlight turned up even more.<\/p>\n
ESPN\u2019s College GameDay will be in Knoxville for the matchup, adding another layer of national attention. Inside the stadium, there will be tens of thousands of eyes on Texas. Outside the stadium, there will potentially be millions.<\/p>\n
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is more worried about the noise than the attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going into what I would probably consider as the loudest stadium in the country,\u201d Sarkisian said.<\/p>\n
Neyland Stadium has been sold out for 30 consecutive games, according to Tennessee Athletics. The Volunteers averaged 101,915 fans per game in 2025, ranking sixth in the nation among Football Bowl Subdivision schools. The \u201cChecker Neyland\u201d tradition will also be in full effect, with sections of fans alternating orange and white clothing throughout.<\/p>\n
With the expected noise, communication at the line of scrimmage will become extremely difficult for Texas senior quarterback Arch Manning. Fifth-year center Connor Robertson will be in charge of holding the offensive line together to avoid costly false start penalties.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the non-verbal stuff is probably going to be super important for these kind of games,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cJust making sure that we\u2019re on the same page, all five of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Texas certainly had its trouble on the road last season with three losses at Ohio State, Florida and Georgia. Prior to those losses, Texas held an 11-game winning streak in true road games, dating back to a 2022 loss at Oklahoma State. This test at Neyland provides the Longhorns an opportunity to get back to the success they experienced in that stretch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think naturally for us, when we go on the road, we\u2019ve got to focus on what we need to do,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cWe need to stay really connected, and we need to have the ability to execute in all three phases to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both teams enter SEC play undefeated with an understanding of this game\u2019s importance in terms of resume building. Former Texas basketball head coach Rick Barnes, who now coaches at Tennessee, has been on the side of both UTs and raved about the passion Knoxville fans bring to the program\u2019s venues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will be one game you will never forget,\u201d Barnes said in a Houston Chronicle article. \u201cThe atmosphere at Neyland Stadium is unlike anything you\u2019ll ever see. When we beat Alabama here (in 2024), it was deafening. \u2026 And they never get tired of singing \u2018Rocky Top.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
With College GameDay and over 100,000 people in the stands at Neyland Stadium, this environment will have the Longhorns managing one of the highest levels of pressure a team in college football can face. Texas\u2019 ability to stay connected will be tested from the minute they run onto the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Texas, the program\u2019s first-ever trip to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, this Saturday is more than a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-447206","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\/447206","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=447206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}