Texas A&M Linebacker Previews 'Extremely Personal' Game vs. Texas Longhorns

November 30, 2024.

A day that Texas A&M Aggie football fans expected to end in great jubilance with a defeat over the Texas Longhorns at Kyle Field in a renewal of the Lone Star Showdown after 13 long years.

However, Steve Sarkisian and his team had other plans, silencing the hostile six-figure crowd in College Station and walking out with a 17-7 victory.

York Called the Loss "Disappointing"

It was a hard loss for everybody on the Maroon and White side, but it hit A&M linebacker Taurean York a little harder.

York, who has never been one to be subtle about his resentment of the Austin program, spoke to the press at SEC Media Days Thursday, explaining how they set out big goals at the beginning of head coach Mike Elko's hiring, and that the loss to the Longhorns was very damning to those goals.

"That was something we had in our plans since the very start when Coach Elko got hired," York said. "We talked about going to the SEC Championship and winning that, then going to the national championship. So, to have so many opportunities throughout the season and not be able to capitalize on those is definitely disappointing and just, to go against the in-state rivalry, the first time the game has been played in a long time, that hurt a lot, too. And it was at home."

"But that was last season, we're excited for this season, and we know when we go to their place, it's extremely personal."

York's views of the Longhorns go beyond staying true to Aggie traditions, him having his own personal reasons that date back to when he was being recruited by schools while in high school, with Texas barely paying him any attention.

“I wanted the A&M offer," York said last year, shortly before the fateful season finale. "Texas stayed 50 minutes away from me. They came on a helicopter to see my best friend. They weren’t paying me much attention. I didn’t invest too much in those guys anyways.”

And even at last year's Media Days, when previewing the return of the rivalry, York again did not shy away from voicing truly how personal it was between him and the University of Texas.

“It’s personal, that’s all I have to say, it’s personal,” York said last offseason. "I don’t talk to anybody from Texas because it’s that personal to me. They didn’t recruit me and there are a lot of comparisons going on about me and Texas players. So, I kinda put those rest in a sense.”

The Aggies and Longhorns square off in their second matchup as SEC members on Friday, Nov. 28, at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin.