Texas
The 10 best moments of the historic Texas-Texas A&M football rivalry
Texas and Texas A&M have an incredibly storied rivalry that dates all the way back to 1894. The 2024 showdown between the two schools will be the return of the historic rivalry — known at the Lone Star Showdown — will be the first matchup since 2011.
The 2024 matchup has quite a bit on the line, as the winner moves on to face Georgia in the SEC championship game. As the rivalry returns, what better time than to look back on the 10 best moments in the storied Texas-Texas A&M rivalry?
10. A rivalry is born, 1894
The football team for the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas — now Texas A&M — played two games in 1894. One was against Ball High School. The other was against a team they’d go on to play another 117 times.
Texas and Texas A&M, for all intents and purposes, kicked off their rivalry on Oct. 19, 1894, a game in which the Longhorns established the dominance they’d show during the two sides’ early matchups. Texas won the first seven games against A&M — and the Aggies scored a total of zero points across those seven games.
It took until the 20th century, Nov. 27, 1902, for the Aggies to log their first win over the Horns. Appropriately, they shut out Texas 11-0.
9. Horns end Kyle Field’s streak (1995)
Texas and A&M both entered the 1995 matchup as ranked teams, but the No. 9 Horns had to go to Kyle Field, where the No. 16 Aggies had won 31 consecutive games on their home field.
Texas, however, had this hot new freshman running back: Ricky Williams. Williams broke out for 163 rushing yards and two touchdowns, leading the Longhorns to their first win in College Station in 12 seasons.
This is not the only appearance Mr. Williams makes on this list.
8. Stephen McGee beats the defending champs (2006)
The Longhorns were coming off their 2005 national championship season and were ranked No. 11 heading into the 2006 Lone Star Showdown.
Texas A&M shocked the Longhorns in Austin in a low-scoring slugfest. Trailing 7-6 with 11 minutes left on the clock, Aggies quarterback Stephen McGee led a nine-minute touchdown drive to win the game. Texas A&M left with a 12-7 victory in what was A&M coach Dennis Franchione’s first win over Texas coach Mack Brown.
7. Mack Brown says hello (1998)
Mack Brown introduced himself to the Lone Star Showdown in style. His first season in Austin, included a 9-3 record and was capped with a 26-24 upset of No. 6 Texas A&M.
A&M had largely dominated the rivalry from 1984-1997. In that time frame, the Longhorns beat the Aggies just three times, but the 1998 Texas win in Brown’s first season as coach began a long string of dominance for the Longhorns. From 1998-2005, Texas lost to A&M just once.
6. JFK game (1963)
Texas defeated Texas A&M 15-13 in College Station in 1963, but that game had a lot more going on around it than usual. The game took place just six days after president John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas.
Kennedy was scheduled to peak at Texas the day before the game and many games were cancelled in light of the tragedy, but the Lone Star Showdown went on.
A&M endured a rough season that year but nearly upset No. 1 Texas in the game. The Longhorns went on to win their first national championship and beat Roger Staubach and Navy in the Cotton Bowl.
5. Hex Rally (1941)
The Hex Rally was a tradition at Texas in which Longhorns faithful would hold a pep rally ahead of the Lone Star Showdown in hopes of cursing the Aggies.
The tradition originates in 1941, as Texas had lost seven consecutive away games to Texas A&M. Some UT students consulted local fortune teller Mozzelle “Madame Augusta” Hipple, who told students to burn red candles the week before the A&M game. The red was meant to symbolize challenge and opposition.
Store owners, residents and UT supporters all around Austin burned red candles all week. The Longhorns went on to snap the losing streak with a 23-0 win. The rally became an annual tradition, but died out after A&M left for the SEC and the schools stopped playing.
The tradition is not being brought back ahead of 2024′s resumption of the rivalry and it is unclear if it ever will return.
4. Jackie Sherrill upsets Horns, starts streak (1984)
Texas had thoroughly dominated the series up until the 1984 matchup.
Texas A&M went into Austin to face the No. 13 Longhorns and rolled Texas in a 37-12 blowout. Aggies coach Jackie Sherrill was in his third season and picked up his first win over Texas.
“This was one of the biggest wins I’ve ever been associated with and probably ever will be associated with,” Sherrill said after the game.
The win seemed to turn the tide of the rivalry, as the Aggies went 10-1 in the series from 1984-1994.
3. Last matchup (2011)
Justin Tucker sent No. 25 Texas into the rivalry hiatus on a high note with a field goal to win the game for the Longhorns as time expired.
With Texas A&M set the leave for the SEC the next season, the future of the rivalry was in doubt and the 2011 game appeared to be a bit of a swan song for the rivalry. Texas A&M held a 16-7 lead at halftime, but Texas fought back and took the lead.
A&M retook the lead at 25-24 with 1:48 to play. Led by Case McCoy, the younger brother of Longhorn legend Colt, Texas drove the ball into field goal range to set Tucker up for the game-winning field goal. The Longhorns sent the Aggies off to the SEC with a 27-25 loss.
2. Ricky Williams: ‘Hello, record book.’ (1998)
Not only was the aforementioned 26-24 Texas win in 1998 historic as Mack Brown’s first win in the rivalry, but the Longhorns’ superstar running back Ricky Williams made history.
Williams dominated Texas A&M’s defense and broke Tony Dorsett’s 22-year-old NCAA Division I-A all-time rushing record in the process. Williams’ full statline is shocking. He carried the ball 44 times for 259 yards and a touchdown, while also hauling in five receptions for 36 yards.
The performance sealed the fact that Williams would join Earl Campbell as the second Heisman Trophy winner in Texas history. In 1998, Williams ran for 2,124 yards and 27 touchdowns.
Williams’ record-breaking moment came in the first quarter when he surpassed Dorsett with a 60-yard touchdown run to put Texas up 10-0. Legendary commentator Brent Musberger punctuated the incredible moment with an iconic call. “Hello record book,” he exclaimed in the middle of Williams’ 60-yard scamper.
See the full call here:
1. Bonfire game
first game post-bonfire collapse. must remain No.1 on the list.
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Texas
Texas falls short in Elite Eight loss to Wisconsin, 3-1
Another deep run in the NCAA Tournament is over for the No. 1 seed Texas Longhorns (26-4) after falling to the No. 3 seed Wisconsin Badgers (28-4) in the Elite Eight on Sunday at Gregory Gymnasium in a 3-1 defeat.
Texas was consistently out of system for the entire match and struggled to consistently match Wisconsin in any area of the game even though the Horns held a statistical edge in several categories. The biggest issue was the subpar performance from junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford, who hit .132 with nine kills and four attacking errors — the Longhorns needed more from their star, outshone on her home court by Badgers standout Mimi Colyer notching a match-high 23 kills on a .309 hitting percentage.
The young Texas team struggled to find answers across the board as head coach Jerritt Elliott tried to find sparks from his bench, a failed effort.
In the first set, both teams came out swinging and stayed neck to neck attacking the net at 5-5. True freshman outside hitter Abby Vander Wal aided the Longhorns with four kills during the set, alongside fellow true freshman outside hitter Cari Spears landing three kills in the first set. Texas was able to gain a small lead as Wisconsin continued to capitalize on attacks and force errors to gain a 23-17 lead. Longhorn middle blocker Nya Bunton snagged a two kills for Texas as the match closed out with Wisconsin taking the opening set, 25-22, despite the Longhorns saving five set points.
In the second set, Wisconsin jumped out to an early 4-2 lead with Colyer snagging early kills. The Longhorns cut the lead to 11-10 by forcing attacking errors, but the Badgers stayed steady, maintaining their lead with outside hitter Grace Egan swinging strong at the net to extending the lead to 18-13. The Longhorns stayed in the match with the leadership of senior outside hitter Whitney Lauenstein tagging four late kills, but the Badges closed the second set, 25-21, having never trailed in it.
All gas in the intense third set with both teams pumping attack after attack with the Longhorns taking a 8-7 lead. While both teams stayed on each others heel’s by countering each other’s attacks until Longhorn setter Rella Binney served back-to-back aces to put Texas up 15-12. The Longhorns stood strong at the net, forcing Badger errors to close the third set, 25-20, to prolong the match, albeit only briefly.
In the fourth set, the Longhorns use the momentum from the third set and go on a 4-0 run with kills from Vander Wal and Spears. The Badgers did not lay down as they were able to for errors and counter attack with the aid of outside hitter Una Vajagic to go on a 12-4 run, putting Wisconsin up, 12-8. The Longhorns managed a 4-0 run while libero Ramsey Gary landed an ace bring the match to 18-15, but the Badgers eventually closed the fourth and final set by forcing seven Longhorn errors to end the match, 25-19.
Texas
Frigid air moves across North Texas Sunday ahead of mid-week warmup
Yes, it was just two days ago that DFW enjoyed temperatures in the 70s. However, cold winds arrived overnight to push that December warmth away, and frigid arctic air took its place.
Coats, gloves and hats are needed if you head out to support your family or friends in the BMW Dallas Marathon on Sunday morning. Temperatures will start right around freezing with wind gusts around 25 mph.
Bitter cold wind chills are expected throughout the day.
It seems every other year that North Texas gets a winter start to the Dallas marathon. The race starts with mostly cloudy skies, but the skies will clear by Sunday afternoon.
Highs will top out in the low 40s – one of the colder days DFW has had so far this season.
Lows Sunday night dip down into the 20s for the first time at DFW since last February.
The cold air is not sticking around. North Texas will quickly warm up.
After the coldest morning so far this season on Monday, it will be back in the 70s by mid-week. It will also be near record highs by next weekend.
Long-range models show the warm air is lasting until Christmas.
Texas
Why Texas A&M’s former Heisman winner was a generational dual-threat
On Saturday night, the 91st Heisman winner will be announced, as Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, and Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love are the four finalists who will contend for the most prestigious award college football has to offer.
All four players led their teams to double-digit wins. At the same time, Mendoza and Sayin are headed to the College Football Playoff after Indiana’s Big Ten Championship win over the Buckeyes vaulted the Hoosiers to the No. 1-seed, receiving a first-round bye in the CFP.
For Texas A&M fans, former star quarterback Johnny Manziel, who won the program’s second Heisman Trophy after his historic 2012 redshirt freshman season, was back in the news after Bleacher Report revealed back-to-back rushing comparisons to Jeremiyah Love’s prolific 2025 rushing production, which led to him becoming a Heisman finalist.
Manziel threw for 3,706 yards and 26 touchdowns, while rushing for an incredible 1,410 yards and 21 touchdowns on 201 carries, averaging seven yards per carry. Love, whose entire job is running and catching the ball, ran for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns on 199 carries, averaging 6.9 yards per carry.
This takes nothing away from Jeremiyah Love’s incredible season, but is just another reason Johnny Manziel’s 2012 season is still regarded as the most outstanding Heisman-winning campaign, outside of former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton’s 2010 Heisman season.
After throwing for 2,932 yards and 25 touchdowns, Texas A&M star QB Marcel Reed did not make the Heisman finalist cut.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty.
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