After what probably seemed like the longest 13 years of any Aggie or Longhorn fan’s life, the Lone Star Showdown is back.

And there couldn’t be more at stake in the return of this legendary rivalry.

After Georgia’s win against UMass and Texas A&M’s loss at Auburn last week, the Bulldogs were locked into the SEC Championship.

Their opponents? Whoever comes out on top between the two Texas teams Saturday night at Kyle Field.

As if there wasn’t enough riding on this game already in terms of emotions for both sides and analyst Paul Finebaum believes it will live up to its hype, saying on Get Up Friday morning that this game was the biggest game in the history of the Texas A&M football program.

“They (Texas) have to be on upset alert because this is not a hyperbole. This is the biggest game in the history of Texas A&M,” Finebaum said. “They’ve been waiting for this since the moment it was announced in December.”

Finebaum added that he liked where A&M’s minds were after the quadruple-overtime loss to the Auburn Tigers.

Despite the advantages that Texas A&M may have, Finebaum expects the Longhorns to challenge the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship in their first season in the conference.

“As big as it is, Texas is a better team,” Finebaum continued. “I believe they will win and move on to Atlanta next week.”

Even if that is the case, the Aggies still are cleared by far for a bowl game, but after what the 12th Man has seen in Mike Elko’s first season, they would want nothing more than to put their name in the running for a national championship.

And defeating their biggest rivals to do so would make it all that much sweeter for Texas A&M.

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A Texas nonprofit is continuously doing something good to address the critical need for adoption in North Texas. There is an even brighter spotlight during November, as it is National Adoption Month.

Heart Galleries of Texas helps children in foster care find permanent homes in a unique way. They use powerful photography to tell each child’s story, connecting them with caring families. They recently received millions in state funding to continue their mission in Texas.

“We were so lucky that this past legislative session we received $12 million to start heart gallery programs based on a model outside of Central Texas to replicate across the state,” Kori Gough, Heart Galleries of Texas Director said.

Since 2014, the Central Texas Heart Gallery has helped 400 children get adopted and they have a big goal for next year as well.

“This all started 25 years ago when a young woman who was a foster parent really was seeing these groups being stuck in foster care. She came up with this concept of using the power of photography to help,” Gough said.

She said these pictures show the personality of the child, it’s not just a headshot and it really makes all the difference.

“There are 5,000 kids in the state of Texas that are available for adoption. Of those 5,000, about 1,500 have been identified as needing extra recruitment. So, we want to have all those kids in a heart gallery program because we want to increase their adoption rates incredibly. This is for those children who are spending quite a bit of time in foster care. They are growing up; they are in need of a home to call their own.”

Gough said they have seen a big increase in adoption rates over the past decade.

“We now have 11 heart galleries, which include some in Dallas/Fort Worth. The more we can do it, the more children will be visible, and the more children we can get adopted,” Gough said.

Current locations in North Texas include the National Life Group – Professional Building in Addison, Stonebriar Mall in Frisco, Hulen Mall in Fort Worth, Town East Mall in Mesquite, The Parks Mall in Arlington, Metropolitan YMCAs on the west side of the region.

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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