Texas has won the first two chapters of the rebooted rivalry. Texas A&M gets its shot at revenge in front of its own crowd on Black Friday.
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FRI NOV 27 · 6:30 PM CT
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Texas A&M
This one's got a Heisman-caliber quarterback walking into the loudest building in the sport with a two-game winning streak in the series on the line. Arch Manning closed last season on an absolute tear, and Steve Sarkisian has spent the offseason building around him instead of hoping he carries it alone. Across the field, Marcel Reed isn't a game manager anymore, he's the guy his own locker room voted to lead the program.
Texas A&M isn't just playing for a rivalry trophy here, it's playing to prove last year's 11-win, first-ever CFP season was a floor, not a ceiling. That's a real threat to a Texas roster that leaned hard into the transfer portal to reload at receiver and running back. Both sides bring real questions into Kyle Field: can the Aggies replace 13 departed starters fast enough, and can Texas's new pieces gel by the time Black Friday rolls around.
Neither side has released depth charts or injury news yet since we're still months out, so treat any name beyond the two quarterbacks as speculation. What's not speculation is the stage: ABC primetime, Kyle Field, and a rivalry that Texas has controlled since the SEC reunion in 2024.
Texas Longhorns
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Fully healthy — no injuries to report
Texas A&M Aggies
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Fully healthy — no injuries to report
Texas Longhorns
Texas A&M Aggies
Elko has been blunt that consistency, not talent, was what separated last year's Aggies from a true title run, and a home rivalry game against the team that's owned them the last two meetings is exactly the kind of spot that exposes whether that lesson stuck. For Texas, the equation is almost the opposite problem: a loaded roster with proven pieces walking into the most hostile road environment on the schedule.
Both programs enter with something to prove, which is usually the recipe for the version of this rivalry everyone remembers. Kyle Field hasn't forgotten the last two losses, and Texas hasn't forgotten it's still the better team on paper. Whoever handles that tension better probably walks out with the trophy.
