After having to skip the Peach Bowl due to the lack of sideline space at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Bevo is back.
Texas’ live steer mascot is set to attend the Longhorns College Football Playoff semifinal against Ohio State on Jan. 10, the school announced Friday.
Breaking: the big guy is headed to Arlington 🤘 @TexasMascot pic.twitter.com/vE4MCLQnof
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) January 3, 2025
Bevo, who weighs more than 1,700 pounds and has a horn span of more than 58 inches, didn’t travel for Texas’ win over Arizona State in the Peach Bowl or the SEC championship game (a 22-19 loss to Georgia), both of which were held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The limited sideline space in the Atlanta stadium made it difficult to fit Bevo’s enclosure. Matt Garvey, the vice president of communications for the Peach Bowl, cited “the safety of Bevo and the players and the media and the camera crews that are on site.”
Bevo attends Texas home games from an enclosed pen at the southwest corner of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. He was present for the Longhorns’ Playoff semifinal loss to Washington at the Sugar Bowl last season, and he travels to Dallas for Texas’ annual Red River rivalry game with Oklahoma. He last appeared at AT&T Stadium, home of the Cotton Bowl game, in December 2023, when Texas defeated Oklahoma State in the Big 12 championship.
But it’s not unusual for Bevo to skip road games where sideline space is limited. The SEC said in a Dec. 5 statement that it looked into several alternatives to allow Bevo to safely attend the SEC championship, but ultimately had to leave the steer home as to not “jeopardize the safety of Bevo or the game participants.”
“With the narrow sidelines, location of multiple sets for television and camera carts, there is not enough space,” the league said. “While we want to honor tradition across the conference, the space limitation is a reality.”
(Photo: David Buono / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
