The return of the Texas vs. Texas A&M rivalry will be in primetime
On November 24, 2011, 88,645 fans filed into Kyle Field for a primetime Thanksgiving game. It was the last scheduled meeting between the Texas Longhorns and the Texas A&M Aggies, as the Aggies were heading to the Southeastern Conference. The game started under the Kyle Field lights, and Justin Tucker’s rivalry-defining kick sailed through the uprights as the clock approached 11 p.m.
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When the rivalry returns, it’ll be at a Kyle Field that now holds over 100,000 people. And it will once again be at night.
Texas and Texas A&M will kick off at 6:30 p.m. on November 30 at Kyle Field. ABC will televise the game.
Tucker’s field goal put the rivalry at 76-37-5 in favor of the Longhorns. During that game, Texas scored 17 third-quarter points and just three in the fourth quarter, but those three were the most pivotal. They were set up by a 25-yard scramble by Case McCoy that put the Longhorns at the Aggie 23.
The return of the rivalry is in College Station, where the Longhorns have won five of the last six contests. Put another way, Texas has lost in Kyle Field just once this century and it was by one possession in 2007.
Since the Longhorns last played in Kyle Field, the home of the Aggies and the nationally recognized 12th Man has ballooned in size. The capacity is listed as 102,733 but over 107,000 have fit into Kyle Field twice this season.
This season, Texas A&M has played four primetime games in College Station. The Aggies have defeated New Mexico State, LSU, and Bowling Green. They fell to Notre Dame in week one, 23-13.
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Texas has played in three primetime games, all at home, and defeated ULM and UTSA before dropping October 19’s contest with Georgia.
The contest has major SEC Championship implications. Texas has a game with Kentucky in between the Longhorns’ trip to College Station, but Steve Sarkisian’s bunch is currently a 20.5-point favorite over the Wildcats. Texas A&M heads to Auburn, and though Jordan-Hare Stadium is a difficult place to play, this year’s Tiger team is of a poor quality.
That sets up an increased likelihood that both Texas and Texas A&M will enter November 30’s contest with 6-1 records in SEC play, and the game will function as a de facto SEC semifinal.
There are significant implications outside of the league race in this rivalry, especially after a hiatus of over a decade.
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The nation will get to see those storylines resolved in primetime at 6:30 p.m. on ABC.
