TEXAS, USA — A rivalry restored – more than a decade since Justin Tucker’s foot gave the Aggies a metaphorical boot out of the Big 12 Conference – Texas and Texas A&M are set to face-off in the college football game of the season.
All of the hype is matched by the price of admission, a steep $800 on average for nosebleeds, with some tickets going for as high as thousands.
The 119th meeting between the Longhorns and Aggies at Kyle Field on Saturday is a de facto SEC Championship appearance game, where the winner will be graced with a date with the Dawgs.
While the two hated rivals haven’t played in 13 years after Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC, a move copied by Texas more than a decade later, 2024’s matchup is primed to re-introduce one of college football’s greatest games. Here is a look at the history of Texas-Texas A&M:
Quick hits: Longhorns-Aggies all-time series stats
- First meeting: October 19, 1894
- Texas won 38-0
- Latest meeting: Nov. 24, 2011
- Texas won 27-25
- All-time series: Texas leads 76-37-5
- Largest victory: Texas won 48-0 in 1898
- Longest win streak: Texas, 10 (1957-1966)
- Current win streak: Texas, 1 (2011)
Memorable moments from the historic rivalry
1963: First game played after John F. Kennedy assassination
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated six days before this game was set to be played. Kennedy was supposed to speak at the University of Texas the day before the game, but the shocking news of Kennedy’s assassination was broke by WFAA.
Kennedy was assassinated on a Friday, and many games were canceled in light of the tragic news. The Longhorns and Aggies were set to play nearly one week later on Thanksgiving – Nov. 28, 1963.
Top-ranked UT fell behind the two-win Aggies, 13-3, heading into the fourth quarter. But Texas scored the last 12 points of the game to escape the upset, 15-13, and went on to win the program’s first national championship. Back then, national championships were awarded before bowl games were played, but the Longhorns validated their championship, defeating future Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach and Navy in the Cotton Bowl.
1984: Aggies take over in the late 80s-early 90s
Texas had dominated the series pretty handily up to this point, but the 1984 game sparked what would be considered a turning point in the rivalry. No. 13 ranked Texas hosted unranked Texas A&M, and the Aggies jumped to a 20-0 lead and cruised to a 37-12 upset over the Longhorns.
From 1984 to 1994, the Aggies went 10-1 against the Longhorns. The only loss to UT in this timespan came in 1990, where the Aggies fell to the Longhorns by a single point, 28-27.
1995: Texas takes over rivalry once again
Texas A&M won three straight Southwest Conference football championships between 1985 and 1987, which birthed the “Wrecking Crew” Aggies defense moniker that UT fans couldn’t escape. Texas A&M had won 31 games in a row at Kyle Field and were ranked No. 16 in the nation.
Texas, led by then-freshman running back Ricky Williams, were ranked No. 9 in the nation. Williams rushed for 163 yards and the Longhorns defense proved to be more stout than the “Wrecking Crew,” winning 16-6. The Longhorns went on to win the final Southwest Conference title before it disbanded.
1998: Start of the Mack Brown era at Texas
Mack Brown left North Carolina after leading the Tar Heels to a 10-1 record and top 5 ranking in 1997 to be the coach at the University of Texas. In his first year at the helm in Austin, Brown and the Longhorns, led by Heisman trophy frontrunner and eventual winner Ricky Williams, defeated a talented No. 6 ranked Texas A&M team, 26-24.
Despite the upset win by the Longhorns, the Aggies would still finish the season at 11-3 and as Big 12 champions, while the Longhorns finished 9-3 and with a No. 15 ranking.
1999: 12 Texas A&M students killed in campus bonfire collapse
The 1999 game at Kyle Field between the No. 5 ranked Longhorns and the No. 17 ranked Aggies took place just eight days after the annual Aggie Bonfire collapsed during its construction, killing 12 people – 11 current students and one former student – and injuring 27.
The game began with a flyover of F-16 jets, all piloted by former A&M students, in the missing man formation.
In a beautiful moment of unity, the Texas Longhorn Band dedicated their performance to the students lost and injured in the collapse, and ended by playing “Amazing Grace” and “Taps.”
The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band also played a tribute to the victims and, contrary to the usual tradition, marched off the field in a silent cadence.
No. 24 ranked Texas A&M upset No. 7 ranked Texas, 20–16, after scoring a go-ahead touchdown with 5:03 remaining and then forcing and recovering a fumble with 23 seconds to play.
2005: National championship-bound Longhorns struggle to beat A&M
Undefeated and No. 2 ranked Texas, led by Vince Young, struggled to win this game. Young, a Heisman Trophy candidate, had one of his worst games of the season, turning the ball over twice, which both led to Aggies scores.
Texas A&M had a 22-21 lead going into the third quarter, but a blocked punt by Michael Griffin that was returned for a touchdown sparked the Longhorns comeback. Texas went on to play USC in the national championship game in 2005, widely regarded as one of – if not the – best college football games of all-time.
2006: Aggies break six-game losing streak to defending national champs
Texas was 9-2, ranked No. 11 in the country, and had aspirations of making BCS bowl game. A Longhorns victory would have sealed a Big 12 South division title and berth into the Big 12 Championship game.
Instead, the Aggies played spoiler.
Texas A&M upset Texas in a defensive battle, 12-7, and snapped a six-game losing streak to the Longhorns.
Texas finished the year 10-3 (6-2 in conference) and missed their BCS bowl game opportunity. They played unranked Iowa in the Alamo Bowl and won 26-24.
Texas A&M finished their season 9-4 (5-3 in conference) and played against No. 20 ranked California Golden Bears in the Holiday Bowl. The Aggies lost their bowl game, 45-10.
2011: Longhorns kicker Justin Tucker bids Aggies farewell with walk-off winner
The last time these two teams ever played.
Texas A&M had already announced its intent to leave the Big 12 to join the SEC. The future of the longstanding rivalry between the Aggies and Longhorns was uncertain.
Texas A&M went into halftime up 16-7, but a 17 unanswered points for UT in the third quarter gave them an eight-point lead. The Aggies came back to take a 25-24 lead with 1:48 left in regulation. The Longhorns, led by Case McCoy, drove the ball into field goal range for now-Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker to send the Aggies off to the SEC with a farewell “L.”
Tucker’s 40-yarder as time expired split the uprights, and Texas won the game, 27-25.
2024: Will it ‘just mean more’ for Longhorns and Aggies as SEC members?
There were passing mentions of resuming the rivalry over the years. Then in 2021, Texas and Oklahoma were officially invited to join the SEC.
Texas A&M, thinking it had permanently split from the Longhorns, was stunned. The loss in 2011 was like a kick in the teeth. Texas’ move to the SEC was a gut punch.
Texas was initially approved for entry in 2025, then it was moved up to this year. The Aggies at least get home-field advantage and a nighttime kickoff at raucous Kyle Field for the reunion.
“I’ll be there at the game and my kids and family will be there,” former Texas A&M All-American linebacker Dat Nguyen said. “I want them to experience it and absorb it because we don’t want to take it for granted. Because you never know. Hopefully, (a breakup) won’t happen again.”
Former Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum is ready for the reunion. He summed up what it should mean to the players who are part of it.
“I always told our guys that in the tall buildings in Dallas and Fort Worth, and Houston and San Antonio, and in the deer blinds out in West Texas, this will be the most talked about subject this week,” Slocum said.
“And when you get older and for the rest of your life, people are gonna be talking about this game,” he said. “So, you need to make it turn out the way that you will enjoy talking about it.”
Texas and Texas A&M kick off from Kyle Field at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30. and the game will be aired on WFAA.
Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.
More Texas headlines: