History of the famous rivalry
The University of Texas and Texas A&M will meet for the 116th time
By: Kyle Cunningham
Issue date: 11/25/09 Section: News
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"This is one of the greatest traditions of all time," head coach Mike Sherman said. "This state looks forward to this game every single year. It's a very special game."
The first game ever played between the two Texas institutions was in 1894, when the Aggies traveled over to Clark Field in Austin. It was not only the Aggies' first matchup with the Longhorns, but their first game of college football ever that was sponsored by A&M. Their inexperience was evident in the score, as the Longhorns thrashed the Aggies by a score of 48-0.
On the eighth try, Texas A&M got into the win column, overtaking Texas on Nov. 27, 1902 in San Antonio by a score of 12-0. Texas disputes this win by the Aggies, however.
1909 is the first win over Texas that is not disputed by the school. The first undisputed win, like the first tie, was held at a neutral site; Texas A&M's defense shut down and shut out the Longhorns on Nov. 9, 1909 by a one-sided score of 23-0. Just over a half month later, the Aggies repeated their performance by beating the Longhorns in Austin 5-0. Bonfire was also started that year by Texas A&M students to show a "burning desire to beat the hell outta t.u."
A friendly competition began to turn into a hostile rivalry in the second decade of the 20th century. Texas grads decided that in 1916, the Longhorns needed a Longhorn on their sidelines. Steve Pinckney collected $124 from 124 Texas Exes to buy the steer, which was unnamed at that time, and delivered the animal to the Texas student body on Thanksgiving Day in 1916.
The owners suggested branding the steer with a large T and the score from the 1916 game (Texas won the 1916 matchup 21-7), but the student body decided the idea was too cruel for the animal. On February 11th, 1917, however, the owner of the stockyard where the longhorn was kept found a "13-0" (the score A&M beat Texas by in 1915) branding on the steer. While it has never been confirmed, it has been assumed to be Texas A&M students.
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