Texas Longhorns fans will no doubt be looking for their beloved mascot, Bevo, at the Texas vs Ohio State game today. But unfortunately, Bevo XV won’t be there.
The good news is that Bevo’s missing by choice, not because he was banned.
The Trip Was Too Long This Early in the Season
The 2,100-pound, 10-year-old steer didn’t come to the August 30 game because the trip was just too long this early in the season — for both him and his handlers, KXAN reported.
His handler and executive director of the Silver Spurs Alumni Association, Ricky Brennes, told KXAN that they would have needed to leave Tuesday, on the second day of school, to make it to Saturday’s game.
“It probably would have been at least an eight-day round-trip for us to bring Bevo up there,” he said. “We limit his trailer time to about six to seven hours a day, and so it’s just a lot of time on the second day of school to pull our students out for six days, and then we turn around and have three home games in a row.”
The trip to Columbus, Ohio, is already more than 18 hours by car when you’re not traveling with a steer. But with Bevo, it would take the students away from school for a long time at the beginning of the semester. Plus, when traveling with Bevo, they look for pastures where Bevo can stay comfortably overnight. And they stop every three or four hours to let him stretch his legs.
Bevo, is however, expected to make appearances at the next three home games.
Bevo Was Banned Last Season from Two End-of-Season Games
In an interview with NBC4i, Brennes said that he did wish they had asked Ohio State, just so they could know if Bevo would have been welcomed there.
“We would’ve absolutely loved to have Bevo at Ohio Stadium,” Brennes told NBC4i. “It’s an iconic stadium; it’s a huge game between two iconic programs. It would’ve been a thrill to have him there, honestly, I kind of wish we would’ve asked (Ohio State) just so we would’ve known what the answer would’ve been.”
Last season, Bevo was banned from two big end-of-season games. He wasn’t allowed to attend the SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on December 7. SEC officials said space constraints prevented them from allowing Bevo, KXAN reported. But Georgia’s mascot, Uga XI, was allowed to be there.
In a statement to Burnt Orange Nation, the conference said:
When we received the request for Bevo to be on the sideline in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, our staff looked at several alternatives including the sideline location. The reality is there is limited sideline space at the stadium. We can’t 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. While we want to honor tradition across the conference, the space limitation is a reality.
He also was banned from the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on January 1, which was also at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
But Bevo was allowed to attend the Cotton Bowl, when Texas faced Ohio State on January 10.
Where Is Bevo Today? Was He Banned from the Ohio State Game?