Texas Says Its New Bevo Lab Did Not Call That Fourth Down Against Florida
Athletic director Chris Del Conte clarified his AI comments hours after the university unveiled Bevo Lab, saying the failed fourth-down play against Florida was an example of what the platform could suggest — not what it actually did.
Texas football's new analytics push drew national attention this weekend for an awkward reason. A report from the Austin American-Statesman on Friday, October 23, included a comment from Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte citing a fourth-down decision in the Longhorns' Week 7 loss to Florida as an example of the program using an AI-driven data analytics platform, USA Today reported Saturday. On the play, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian went for it on fourth-and-2 from his own 47, down three with about 8:30 left in the fourth quarter, and Arch Manning was dropped for a three-yard loss on a designed quarterback run; Texas lost 20-17, its second consecutive loss.
Del Conte described the failed decision in the Statesman story as "a pivotal embrace" of AI, and the comment drew ire from Longhorns fans and mockery elsewhere, USA Today reported. Hours after the initial story published Friday, Del Conte issued a clarification saying the fourth-down decision was an example of what the AI platform could suggest, not what it actually did.
The original comments came the same day Texas unveiled Bevo Lab, a new AI data analytics initiative the university said will "serve as higher education's premier sports intelligence platform and living laboratory." The lab, named for the school's live mascot, will be part of an academic and research center in the McCombs School of Business combining business education, performance analytics, applied research and industry participation, with all 21 of the school's sports programs and their 500 athletes taking part, according to the university as reported by USA Today. The project, built with help from Dell and Google Cloud, includes a unified data warehouse for game film and wearable data and a "transfer AI" function for roster evaluation — but, as USA Today put it, fans should not expect it to help Sarkisian script the opening drive for Saturday night's game against Ole Miss in Austin. Bureau pickup: Austin Bureau (TWN-097).
