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Posted by TaylorTRoom on November 4th, 2008 under Football

It was interesting to read the national media yesterday, and discover a few things.  Namely- everybody saw the UT-TT game, everybody thought it was a terrific game (really a great promotion for the B12), and people are impressed with both teams.  I got to thinking about where it ranked in the history of big games in Texas, and this is what I came up with.  Here follows a list of the greatest games played in Texas between Texas teams.  The standards for this list include national stakes, national attention, and star power.  I’m putting them in chronological order.

 1.  SMU @ TCU in Fort Worth.  For the first time, SWC teams had national recognition.  It was understood that the winner would be MNC (pre-bowls).  Reporters like Ring Lardner from NY came to Cowtown to see the game.  The winner would be invited to the Rose Bowl, which was the only significant bowl game at the time.  TCU had Sammy Baugh and Ki Aldrich, SMU had Bobby Wilson and Harry Shuford.  SMU won 20 – 14 on a Hail Mary, went to the Rose Bowl (the Rose Bowl payout retired SMU’s stadium debt, saving the program), lost, and TCU was named post-season MNC.

2.  Texas @ SMU, 1947.  Bobby Layne, Tom Landry, Doak Walker, Kyle Rote, top 5 teams.  This was the first game to make the Cotton Bowl seem too small.  SMU won 14 – 13 when Tom Landry slipped before receiving a 4th down handoff late in the game.  Hang in there, Blake Gideon; you’re in good company.

3.  TCU-TAMU 1955.  This was an early season matchup of top 5 teams.  TCU had Jim Swink, and TAMU was loaded with future NFL stars (Pardee, Conrad, Crow, etc.).  The game was noteworthy for being played in a hurricane in College Station.  It was a crazy game that the Ags won 7 – 6.  They were not allowed to go bowling, so TCU went to the Cotton Bowl that year.

4. 2008 UT @ TT.  Wow.  50 years between #3 and #4.  There have been big games in Texas, but they generally involved UT and OU.  I was tempted to add one of the early ’80s Texas/SMU games, but the ‘81 game was untelevised (SMU probation), the ‘82 game didn’t have an elite Texas squad, and the ‘83 game lacked James and Dickerson.

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8 Responses

  1. DrJHorn said:

    November 4th, 2008 at 4:45 am

    Interesting, Taylor. Surely there have been some other clashes with major national implications for the two Texas teams in the game but can’t think of any off the top of my head.

    What game rounds out your top 5? Earl Campbell and #1 Texas vs. #12 A&M in 1977? David Klingler and #3 Houston vs. #14 Texas in 1990? Ricky Williams and #9 Texas vs. #16 A&M in 1995?

  2. EyesOfTX said:

    November 4th, 2008 at 5:13 am

    The UT/UH game in 1990 would rank #5 on this list, IMO. That was a big, big game on national TV with national implications.

    Nice stuff, TTR.

  3. DrJHorn said:

    November 4th, 2008 at 5:22 am

    Apparently, #2 A&M defeated #5 Texas in 1975 by 20-10. The Ags got crushed by Arkansas 31-6 the following week, however. The SWC race finished in a Texas-Arkansas-A&M tie. The Razorbacks went to the Cotton Bowl, making the #2 vs. #5 tilt more forgettable, I suppose.

  4. Ag_in_TX said:

    November 4th, 2008 at 6:07 am

    Taylor,

    I was going to say the Thanksgiving Day game in 1975 as well.

  5. TaylorTRoom said:

    November 4th, 2008 at 9:07 am

    The interesting thing about the first three games I listed is that both teams finished out their seasons reasonably well. TCU and SMU both claim 1935 as a MNC year. SMU tied PSU in the 1948 Cotton Bowl, finishing #3, and Texas beat Alabama in the 1948 Sugar Bowl, finishing #5.

    TCU went to the 1956 Cotton Bowl (lost to Syracuse), and TAMU finished #17 (just checked that; I had thought they finished higher).

    That’s why I don’t like the 1990 UH game; UH couldn’t go to a bowl, and Texas was drilled in its bowl. The 1975 Horns finished #6, and the Ags #11, so maybe it should be #5 on the list.

    I know it’s early to add this Tech game to the list, but if each team finds its way to major bowls, and don’t discredit themselves, it probably belongs.

  6. Ag_in_TX said:

    November 5th, 2008 at 6:10 pm

    Hope the new gig is going well. You are missed.

  7. sooner tim said:

    November 5th, 2008 at 6:17 pm

    I thought it wasn’t until the late ’60s, maybe even early ’70s that the champion was declared after the bowls? I’ve been living under the assertion that SMU won the national title in that game. No less a purple blooded Frog than the greatness of Dan Jenkins has said so in printed word. And what Dan Jenkins says, I believe!

    I’m pretty sure I remember that he wrote that it was the first college football game he ever attended, as a young’n in Fort Worth, and it’s the game that hooked him on the Game. And, yes, the Frogs won in 1938 with the diminutive Davey O’Brien at the helm.

    I’m not terribly versed on UT history, but doesn’t ‘70-something Grant Teaff bite the head off a defenseless animal and send Don’t Dance U. to the Cotton Bowl somewhere in this discussion?

  8. DrJHorn said:

    November 5th, 2008 at 8:04 pm

    You may be thinking of Baylor’s 1974 “Miracle on the Brazos” Cotton Bowl season, sooner tim, although Teaff’s locker room worm consumption was later. During an upset over Texas in 1978. srr50 can tell you how many rings were on that worm.

    Unfortunately, Baylor lost 3 regular season games in 1974 and did not crack the AP Poll until late November. Penn State then beat Baylor in the Cotton Bowl, 31-20, as well. Doperbo has that game logged as a “vicenary game” in his archives.

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