The Battle for the Chancellor’s Spurs lived up to the hype. The highs and the lows, the ESPN top 10 worthy catches, and the overtime madness made every Red Raider and Longhorn fan in attendance an excited nervous wreck for the entirety of the contest. The Red Raiders made timely plays throughout the contest including multiple clutch field goals by Trey Wolff to win the rivalry for the first time since 2008.  

First year head coach Joey McGuire has already made a splash early in his tenure following an impressive overtime win over a ranked Houston squad. Coming into Saturday’s matchup, he left no stone unturned as they were aggressive from the start. In the first drive alone, he decided to go for it on fourth down twice and was successful both times. Throughout the game, the Red Raiders went for it on fourth down eight times and converted on six of those.  

“Really proud of our guys I know there was a moment there it was 31-17 and at any point they could have given up and they didn’t,” McGuire said in his postgame press conference. “We asked them to come out at half and just keep fighting because good things are going to happen.” 

Quarterback Donovan Smith already has made enough plays in his young tenure to last an entire career. He consistently on third down made play after play with his arm or his legs to pick up first downs. He was patient in the pocket throughout, making reads and knowing when to bail out and make a play with his legs. He threw the ball 56 times, completing 38 of them for 331 yards and two passing touchdowns. He also carried the ball 15 times for 42 yards and a rushing score.  

 You can’t talk about Smith without talking about wideout Myles Price as well. He consistently made defenders miss to turn every one of his catches into a big play. He caught 13 passes for 94 yards  

Late in the fourth quarter, the Red Raiders drove the ball down the field and took the lead with 20 seconds left in the contest. Texas, with no timeouts, proceeded to drive the ball down the field 46 yards in three plays to set themselves up with a 48-yard goal that was good to send it into overtime. Texas started overtime with the ball and on the very first play, star running back Bijan Robinson fumbled on the 25-yard line. That all but assured the win for the Red Raiders as they got the ball back. Tech drove the ball to the Longhorn two-yard line before kicking the game winning field goal. Red Raider fans immediately stormed the field as soon as the ball crossed the goal post in celebration. For the second time in a row at Jones AT&T Stadium, Tech walked off with an overtime win.  

Despite the current excitement of the rivalry win, coach McGuire is more focused on what it means moving forward. “I was asked at the end “what does this mean about beating Texas?”. What’s it means to us is that were 1-0 in the Big 12,” McGuire said. “That’s what it means to us. I know I’m fired up to beat Texas, don’t get me wrong, but I’m more fired up to be 1-0.”