Texas band forced to share seats, leave equipment outside due to Houston ticket mishap

One of the shorter road games Texas will play this season was Saturday’s contest against Houston. Just under three hours, the Longhorns decided to bring their band with them. While Texas Fight was played from up in the second deck, it may have sounded a little different.

Texas brought their entire band but wound up being shorted 100 seats by Houston. This forced some members to share seats and some drums were not brought into the stadium. In the photo below, you can see the section they were sitting in on Saturday afternoon.

“Hours ahead of today’s Texas-Houston game, the UT band was told they received about a hundred fewer seats than expected,” Jeff Jones of KVUE said via X. “Band members are sharing seats to make it work, and about half of the drum line had to leave instruments (being watched by security) outside the stadium.”

Hours ahead of today’s Texas-Houston game, the UT band was told they received about a hundred fewer seats than expected.

Band members are sharing seats to make it work, and about half of the drum line had to leave instruments (being watched by security) outside the stadium. pic.twitter.com/0YaPtEYJCe

— Jeff Jones (@JeffJonesSports) October 21, 2023

Now, this is not the first time Texas and Houston have had problems with seating arrangements when playing in the Space City. It’s hard to forget Bleachergate back in the early 2000s, the last time the two in-state programs faced off against one another.

It’s why Texas refused to play Houston as a nonconference opponent. The only reason they played one another was due to expansion from the Big 12. Former UT athletic director Delodd Doss was the one behind not scheduling the Cougars again.

With the band having some difficulties on Saturday, it’s a similar scenario to something that occurred over two decades ago. Texas is eventually heading off to the SEC and will need some nonconference opponents to put on the schedule. It will be interesting if Houston ever gets another shot at the Longhorns.

Steve Sarkisian provides injury update on Quinn Ewers

Texas will be driving home to Austin letting out multiple sighs of relief, escaping Houston with a close win. Everyone was holding their breath when Quinn Ewers went down with an injury and Maalik Murphy had to take but. But with a win now wrapped up, all attention is shifted toward the starting quarterback’s health.

Steve Sarkisian provided an update on Ewers during his postgame press conference. He confirmed his shoulder was the issue and the quarterback tried to get back on the field. There was no specific diagnosis at this point, with more coming in the foreseeable future.

“Quinn (Ewers) has a hurt shoulder,” Sarkisian said during his postgame press coference. “We’ll know tomorrow. He tried to play through it.”