Game Changers: The Greatest Plays In Texas Longhorn Football History

Is a play important simply for its youtube watchability? Like Westbrook against the domers or aggies or Brackens v. most unfortunate kicker ever?

Nebraska vs Texas (Oct 23, 1999)
05:51 UT – Jones, Mike 17 yd pass from Applewhite, Major

NU was ranked #3 at the time, and we had derailed their home winning streak and national title aspirations the previous year. They came into DKR expecting to exact revenge, and looked to be well on their way at halftime with a 13-3 lead. Texas rallied in the second half, scoring two TDs in the third quarter. After NU went ahead, Texas got the ball back with about 8 minutes to go, and on wrd and 6 from the Nebraska 17 yard line, Applewhite hit Mike Jones along the sideline, and Jones proceeded to run the slowest 17 yard dash in history, draped in defenders before crossing the goal line for the go-ahead TD.

Then, Eric Crouch was forced to pass to try and come back, didn’t happen.

I was at the game, and remember it being a big play because it proved the win in Lincoln was no fluke. (yeah, I get they disemboweled use in the Big XII CG)

El General:
 
This is an important philosophical point. If a play is badass enough, it can overcome even a lack of contextual importance. They should definitely be in the mix, but may lose out to a more meaningful play.
 
Of three you name, I’d probably pick Westbrook’s hit against the Aggies because it highlighted the quality of our defensive effort in a 16-6 win, we won the game in College Station, and reversed a decade long trend. Yeah, he got penalized for it (bullshit by the way) but it demonstrated our attitude in that game.

Oooops!

wrd = 3rd

uthookem -
 
I remember that game well. Good contribution. That season didn’t end up playing out as well as we would have liked, but it gave us hope that the new era was here to stay. I remember Hampton and Rogers having amazing games too.

Out of all of Colt’s plays, I feel like his tackle on the interception against OU last year may be his best. Saved a national championship berth, showed his grit and heads-up-icity, etc.

Awesome; I’ll purchase fo sho. Exciting stuff.

Just make sure you feature Stafford to Jones. I was watching with my Dad and older half-brother at home, and as soon as the catch is made my brother starts running around screaming “TEXAS FUCKING LONGHORNS!” And then grabs my 10 year old self, hoists me on his shoulders, runs to the front door, opens it, and screams at the top of his lungs “FUCK ARKANSAS! Scream it with me, Peter: FUCK ARKANSAS!” So I start screaming FUCK ARKANSAS, too.

My Dad is just staring at us, unable to say anything, looking at my older brother like, “Did I actually birth you?”

So I have a suggestion, then a question: Obviously, I’m a big fan of the Stony Clark’s goal line stop against OU. I reckon there is plenty of context and play diagramming to keep the kids and/or low level alumn’s happy for a page or two.

Second, will there be play’s that are of our not so glorious moment’s: Like Ricky’s dancing run against Penn St. in the 96 Fiesta Bowl that failed to get a first down and signalled the beginning our our collapse? Or certain people’s butterfingers in the 1982/83 timeframe?

Game changer?

http://cal.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1089778

(UC Berkeley Chancellor) Birgeneau confirmed that the chancellors and presidents of the Pac-10 member schools will be holding a conference meeting on June 6 in San Francisco, and said that he would be “surprised if something did not happen that revolutionized college athletics.”

I can’t recall any one play (I try to put the whole thing behind me), but certainly there was a play during the Washington State Holiday Bowl that sealed the deal in that game and sparked the changes of that offseason, many of which are still around.

Also, how about the sack of Justin Zwick with about 5 minutes left in the Ohio State game that pushed the ensuing field goal attempt to 50+ yards. The FG missed, we drove the field and scored with the pass to Sweed.

Oct. 31, 1998, last play of the third quarter.
T 3-10 T19 Applewhite, M. pass complete to White, Bryan for 76 yards to the NU5, 1ST
               DOWN TEXAS (M.Brown).

This one flipped the field on NU when Texas was in the midst of blowing a 10-3 halftime lead (already down 13-10). They’d already forced one fumble in the red zone to keep NU off the board, but mo was shifting heavily toward the Big Red. If they don’t get a first down, they probably lose.

On the otherside, you want to talk about important plays we don’t always remember:

Derek Lokey’s big tackle against Michigan in the 2004/5 Rose Bowl?

What about Major’s long pass to BJ Johnson after he replaced Simms in CU2 that signalled the beginning of his legend, even if we lost that day? If you can’t tell, with Congress out of town, we had a very beery lunch and my mind is a twitter.

12/7/96

2:40 in the 4th

Arguably the start of the era.

Tony Jeffery’s career long 5 yard slot motion end around.

Was it A.Ross who caused the fumble in Lincoln in 2006? That was clutchington.

Glorious Kicks
Lawrence 2009 Big 12 Title Kick
Bailey 2006 Snow Kick vs Nebraska
Mangum 2005 Rose Bowl winner
Dawson 1995 50-yarder into the win vs Virginia

Glorious Plays
VY’s 80-yd pump fake run for the Okie St comeback in ‘05
VY to Pittman to close the ’05 half and put the nail into OU in ’05
2005 has too many to count
Ricky’s record-breaking run against the Aggies in ‘98
Priest Holmes Sun Bowl dive against Mack Brown’s Tar Heels (could open the book with that ironic touchdown)
Colt to Quan to win Fiesta Bowl

Shipley’s punt return. OU. 2008.

Sweed’s touchdown catch against OSU has always stood out to me. Seemed to really confirm that Texas was national title good. Winning a night game, in the Shoe, against OSU was enormous for the program. And pretty much nobody had won a night game in the Shoe. The game was discussed nationally for months before it was played. It was on in primetime. Every college football fan in the country was tuned in. Texas won. National title followed.

Of course, you could probably pick several “key” plays in that game. I also remember an important J. Charles catch in the flat which was a huge third down conversion.

You could write a whole book around taking a knee against UNC in the Cole Pittman game in 2001.

Chance Mock to somebody late in the Texas Tech game for like a win or something? I don’t know, I was drunk and I think it was cold? Anyway, nearly fell down 5 rows of bleachers on that play.

VY to Pittman to close half against OU not only put the nail in the coffin, it was also run twice, the first time ending in a penalty on the horns. Previous years’ Mack Brown would have then closed up shop and took a knee. That year, they just ran the same play again and Pittman was wide-assed open…a thing of beauty.

You could also make a case for the first TD pass of that game to Taylor which broke a streak of four years of no TD passes for the Longhorns in that game.

Not to put in too many Vince plays, but the improvised TD pass to Cedric Benson vs. Arkansas in 2004 was a pretty big deal – that was a big game at a hostile field that exorcised the demons of the previous year’s loss.

In the 2005 OU game the most memorable play for me was that monstrous Bomar sack. While it wasn’t exactly a pivotal play, it deserves honorable mention for being a truly memorable, rivalry game hit that inspired it’s own phrase. He got Bomared.

The 1963 season had many, many moments…probably none more decisive to DKR’s first MNC team than Duke Carlisle’s interception of a Don Trull to Lawrence Elkins pass attempt in our own end zone with time running out to preserve a 7-0 win over a very good Baylor team…

http://www.texassports.com/genrel/101606aaa.html

Here are the great games and moments listed on the football web site:

http://mackbrown-texasfootball.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/fb-great-games.html

4th & 18

OK, given your Royal-to-Brown timeline, these probably won’t make the cut. But they should.

1934: After Texas recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff at the Notre Dame 18, Bohn Hilliard followed guard Joe Smartt through a hole at right tackle for a touchdown on first-and-goal from the 8. Hilliard then followed his touchdown run by kicking the extra point. It turned out to be one of the biggest PAT’s in Texas history — Notre Dame needed a drive of just 9 yards for a second-quarter TD after a Longhorns fumble, but Wayne Millner missed the extra-point try. Texas won 7-6 on the same day Rice won at Purdue, legitimizing the SWC on national basis.

1939: Another crowd of less than 20,000 was filtering out of Memorial Stadium as Texas appeared on the verge of losing to Arkansas and falling to 2-2 after consecutive finishes of 2-6-1, 2-6-1 and 1-8. But with about 30 seconds left to play, quarterback Johnny Gill had Jack Crain and R.B. Patrick switch places on a called screen pass from the Texas 33. Crain, a 5-foot-7, 165 pound sophomore, sprinted 67 yards for the tying touchdown, then kicked the winning extra point once jubilant fans were removed from the field.

1940: Texas was 6-2 but not headed to a bowl game when it hosted top-ranked Texas A&M, unbeaten and all but a lock for the Rose Bowl with a win. But the Longhorns drove 65 yards in four plays after the Aggies kicked off out of bounds to keep the ball away from Jack Crain, going up 7-0 just 57 seconds into the game. The big play, as in the Texas-Arkansas game 29 years later, was not the TD, but the pass that set it up. On second-and-10 from the A&M 33, Noble Doss made a twisting, on-the-run, over-the-shoulder catch of a Pete Layden pass just before going out of bounds at the 1. Layden scored the game’s only touchdown on the next play, and Crain added the extra point. The Longhorns used only 13 players that day in upsetting A&M to extend the tradition of never losing to the Aggies at Memorial Stadium, one that lasted until 1956.

As for the Royal era, you’d have to consider (I’ll leave out the most obvious ones):

1958: Bobby Lackey’s jump-pass TD to Bobby Bryant on third-and-goal from the Oklahoma 7, capping a 74-yard, 12-play drive that tied the game at 14-14 with 3:10 left. Lackey’s extra-point kick, followed two plays after the kickoff by his interception of an Oklahoma pass, gave Texas a 15-14 win, its first over OU since 1951 and Darrell Royal’s first “signature” win.

1962: No. 6 Arkansas led No. 1 Texas 3-0 in the fourth quarter and faced third-and-goal from the Texas 5 when Danny Brabham tried to dive over the line. He was met squarely by linebackers Pat Culpepper and Johnny Treadwell, and the ball came loose when Culpepper’s helmet dislodged it. Joe DIxon recovered the ball for a touchback. Two possessions later, Texas embarked on a grinding, 85-yard, 20-play drive for the winning touchdown, which came on Tommy Ford’s 3-yard run on a pitch right with 36 seconds left.

1968: The play and drive were nothing special, and the game ended in a 31-22 loss at Texas Tech. But when James Street took over at quarterback midway through the third period at Lubbock, the Longhorns’ new wishbone offense began to click, and Texas embarked on a 30-game winning streak, of which Street was QB for the first 20.

 Post-Royal and pre-Brown, I’d consider the Brad Shearer/Johnnie Johnson stop of Thomas Lott on fourth-and-inches from the Texas 5 late in the game that preserved a 13-6 win over Oklahoma (1977); the “parting of the Tide” 30-yard TD run by Robert Brewer that put Texas on the scoreboard and sparked a 14-12 Cotton Bowl win over Alabama (1981 season); the aforementioned Stafford-to-Jones pass vs. Arkansas (1987); the Stonie Clark stop of James Allen at the 1 on fourth-and-goal with 36 seconds left to preserve a 17-10 win over OU in James Brown’s first start (1994); Phil Dawson’s 50-yard into-the-wind field goal on the last play of the game to beat Virginia 17-16 (1995), et al. And, of course, any play from the 1997 UCLA game that sealed Mackovic’s fate.

Lowden beat me to it, but here it is anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8f9k8ebErU

Not a play, but the “Rudy!” chant at the Holiday Bowl stands out to me in the very near term. We were at a crossroads post-Vince and it looked like we were heading back to being the talented but soft team we were pre-Vince. The vagina rubbing was in full climax mode heading into the game and for good reason. We had just lost to a horrible Ag team for the second year in a row. The majority of our fanbase thought we’d get spanked by a solid, top 10 Dennis Erickson team. The 1990 Cotton Bowl memory dies hard.

The preparation leading up to that game and the complete destruction of the Sun Devils in it foreshadowed the 25-2 run with a BCS win and N.C. game loss that was to come in the two years following.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LmuCg-Uvis

For the masochists here, will you have a section on the worst, most painful, gut-wrenching plays as well?? I think I’ve seen most of them in person….

Gaylon covered some of the ones I was going to mention — just a couple of differences

1958 Texas-OU game — I would put the two point conversion in instead of the jump pass. this was the first year for the 2-point play, and Darrel hated it. But he understood its value and ran in after the first score. It established his ability to use the rules (even when he disagreed with them) to the fullest, and it also established his willingness to to take what many fans sees as gambles after he has assessed the risk/reward factors.

Instead of the 1968 Texas Tech game I would move a couple of weeks later
1968 Texas OU game
It was a simple fullback dive for 7 yards and the winning score with only 39 seconds remaining. But it heralded a new offense for college football, and a new era for Texas. Steve Worster’s run capped off an 85-yard TD drive, which included four pass completions out of the formation, thus establishing the Bone as a dual threat offense.

1970

1. Texas 20 #13 UCLA 17
   Eddie Phillips to Cotton Speyrer for a 45-yard touchdown with only seconds remaining to keep the Texas win streak alive at 22. It was 3rd and 19 and the crowd was standing up before the snap with the entire student section stomping on the newly installed aluminum rows making as loud a racket as Memorial Stadium had ever produced.

1973 Cotton Bowl

1. Texas 17 #4 Alabama 13
   QB Alan Lowry bootlegs 34 yards for the winning score – except that every Crimson Tide fan from Dallas to Tusculoosa is convinced to the day that he stepped out of bounds on the 10-yard line while cutting back against the pursuit.

Bartoncreek,

I was headed there as well. That’s where Mack turned the corner.

1968 OU game, OU ahead 20-19. Texas behind Street’s passing drives to OU 21-yard line with about 20 seconds to play. Worster gets 7 on the first play, then gets the last 14 on the next play, after being hit numerous times and entering the end zone running backwards. Horns win, 26-20. This game firmly established the wishbone and was (I think) the second victory of the 30-game win streak.

1965 Orange Bowl (several plays): early in 1st quarter (hell, it may have been first play of game) Ernie Koy runs 80 yards around end as an opening pimp-slap to #1-ranked Bammer.

Same game—with Namath driving in for winning score, Horns stop them cold. Nobis met Bowman in mid-air on one play and drove him back into his own backfield, then stopped Namath short of the end zone to end the drive.

1970 UCLA game. Tommy Prothro had a good defensive scheme against wishbone and Bruins led, 17-13, threatening to end Horns’ win streak at about 20. With only seconds remaining, Phillips hit Cotton Speyrer for long TD. Fucking glorious!!

May 18, 1983 – The birth of Vince Young.

Does that count?

The quarterback draw by Robert Brewer against Bama.

Also, the stop of Lendale White by Robison, Huff, et al in the 2005 Rose Bowl without which there is no 4th and 5.

Dammit, srr50 beat me to it on two of my plays (actually I got the sequence wrong in the ’68 OU game—the 14 yarder came first, then the 7-yarder.

How about Gooch’s block against Baylor, 1990? Reserve guard takes out two guys, allowing Peter Gardere to throw a touchdown pass to Keith Cash in a come-from-behind win against Baylor. The Miami game nothwithstanding, the Shock-the-Nation tour had it’s share of highlights – Gardere-to-Cash against OU, the defense taking it to UH after taking it FROM the Coogs for 3 years running, Gardere’s run against A&M. All that said, Scott Gooch could make for a nice story that hasn’t been told yet…

A. Ross causing Lendale White to fumble on third down, setting up a 4th and 2 instead of 4th and less than 1. As someone mentioned above, he also had the fumble when Nebraska had the lead and only had to run the clock out. He was a game changing mofo on defense.

VY’s fake pass (getting Woods up in the air) and 80 yd run to start amazing comeback #2 against Ok. State.

Damn, beat by the last poster. Phillips to Speyrer with 12 seconds left against #13 UCLA. Coming into the season, Texas had reeled off 20 straight wins with a Nat Champ the previous year. A lopsided win over California and a decisive win over Tech brought it to 22 wins before Texas sputtered against the Bruins in Memorial Stadium. Dejected fans began exiting throughout the fourth quarter; the stadium was only about 3/5ths full when both Bruin defenders pulled up and attempted to swat the pass, which settled untouched into Speyrer’s tummy around the 10, and he tumbled backward into the endzone. I’ll never forget the cacophony of honking horns from the parking lot. Texas straightened up for seven more wins to go to 30-0, with only the 21-14 win over Baylor close.

My second most memorable play was watching the Irish run down the ramp preparatory to playing for the AP Nat Champ at the Cotton Bowl that same season. Seeing their game faces versus our cavalier jocularity, I knew right then and there “the Streak” was coming to an end.

Ricky’s Heisman run.

Include Chris Jesse’s magnificent rescue as an Honorable Mention.

1989 Peter Gardere to Johnny Walker TD with 1:33 remaining to beat oklahoma, ending a 4 year losing streak to the sooners and beginning the then freshman Gardere’s unprecedented 4 year domination in the red river shootout.

Griffin’s INT against Leinart in the 2006 Rose Bowl.

First thing I thought of was Brackens. But of course I got beat by the very first poster!

It tends to get overshadowed by Ricky’s record-breaking run, but Kris Stockton kicked a game-winning FG against a&m in 98, back when beating a&m meant something. In fact that may have been the last time they were ranked in the top 5.

Ced Griffin blowing up Hamby after he dropped a would-be touchdown. Game would have been pretty much broken wide open with momentum squarely in OSU’s favor.

From the 2005 Ohio State game I would actually mention Cedric Griffin’s hit on the TE that broke up the touchdown. The TE had hit Griffin late out of the back of the end zone on the previous play, so there’s some real quick karma to write about there. Plus a TD in that situation makes the game almost unwinnable. The Sweed TD catch saved time. We still had time and Vince Young if that pass falls incomplete.

As for the dark days and big plays, I know we ended up getting embarrassed by Miami, but Mark Berry’s stop on the option play two-point conversion attempt at home against A&M in 1990. As a 13-year-old kid, sad as it may be, that play was my first visual evidence that we could beat the Aggies. Our previous win over them was before I paid attention to football.

I’m sure lots of us will have multiple comments on this one.

I just realized that my choice from the 2005 OU game has been mentioned a few times: Pittman’s TD at the end of the first half. We knew we were better, it wasn’t that big a game as that season turned out, but I don’t know that there’s ever been a more cathartic play since I’ve been watching Texas play football. Clearly plenty of backstory leading to that game and play.

Speaking of OU, I don’t know what play to select right now, but the 2008 game has to have a big one on the list. Just an amazingly tense game between the #1 and #5 teams in the nation. We were ranked 5th and still not given much of a chance heading into it. Just a tremendous back-and-forth game. Maybe the sack on Bradford where Orakpo flushed him (while being held, of course) and Kindle drilled him? Maybe the long Ogbonnaya run? Perhaps the Cosby decleater on Holmes.

Does the entire 06 National Championship game count as a “play”? If not, I elect the 4th down stop that precluded the game winning drive. I haven’t been in a stadium that damn loud since the ref pulled that extra yard out to show they didnt make it.

one that for some reason doesn’t get talked about all that much, but is my very favorite defensive play ever…

1977 OU game… after a long, long nightmarishly long losing streak to the cheaters from norman, followed by a heartbreakingly bitter tie in ‘76 and a great man being run out of the sport early by a man whose moral compass was always set to ’money talks’, we really needed to beat them. If for nothing else, just to show an uncaring universe that good could still triumph over evil (which, for those of us living through the mid-70’s was no sure thing anymore..).

It just seemed that when it came down to it, something bad was going to happen to the Horns. A quick kick which the cheating bastards “mysteriously” sniffed out and blocked. The previous year, just when it looked like Royal was finally going to pull one out, a sudden fumble deep in our own territory, and an excruciating tie. Just something bad, some ungodly luck on the sooner side, that’s just the way the world was. But every year you’d think…. well, maybe…

This year, we’d changed to the I and Earl Campbell was healthy again, and we had some talented young QBs… maybe this would be the year nothing cataclysmic happened to us…
Then our starting quarterback is injured. Uh oh. Well, our backup has actually looked pretty good when he’s played so far though, highly touted recruit, maybe he’ll be fine. Then our backup quarterback goes down…

Ah, but then Earl puts us on his back, and carries us deep into the fourth quarter with a 13-6 lead. Maybe, just maybe, we start to think, there IS a just and loving God. And I bet he looks a lot like Earl Campbell.

But then, before our worship really kicks in, the highly-compensated team from that dusty state to the north, led by a vastly underrated wishbone QB Thomas Lott, mounts a drive and gets inside our five, and it appears that the land thieves are going to score, and extend their special brand of misery into the Akers era. The defense tightens up, and all of a sudden, it’s 4th and 1. They go for it, run the triple-option, and Lott keeps and turns upfield, squares his shoulders… And it looks for all the world like a sure thing touchdown. Oh man, here we go again.
 
Then, the play… seemingly out of nowhere, Johnnie Johnson flies into the hole, takes the bigger Lott head-on, Brad Shearer gets there, and they just stop Lott stone cold. Longhorn ball.

A couple of plays later, and an absolute monster of a punt from Erxleben, standing at the very back of the end zone (as I recall, the punt returner was at about midfield, and when the ball came out with afterburners aglow, he just turned immediately and sprinted, and the ball still sailed waaaaaay over his head), and the Drag went into a party mode that lasted until January came and McEachern remembered he was supposed to be a career backup.

Anyway, this play needs to go in… great play, in a great game, and it broke that long dry spell – although Texas lost the next year, they won 4 of the next 5, until, as you put it, “the darker times”. At any rate, Johnson put a stake through the heart of that particular curse, which was as bad as it got until the infamous Satan/Stoops bargain of the early 21st century.

The book should come with some Craig Way audio. “The kick is up, and…. it’s….. GOOD!! IT”S GOOD!!!!"

Go ahead and throw in the Spanish broadcasts too. Pistolas McCoy y Yordan Sheeeeply!!!

November 13, 2004

Trailing the mighty Jayhawks 20-23, with 2 minutes to go, Kansas QB Brian Luke hits Charles Gordon for a 16-yard gain on a 3rd and 7. This play would allow KU to run out the clock and beat the #6 Longhorns. But wait! Gordon is flagged late in the play for a phantom offensive pass interference call. This bogus call would cost Kansas the game as they had to punt and gave Texas the ball on the 47. VY threw a TD pass with 11 seconds remaining.

Texas would go on to play Michigan in the Rose Bowl, in what would turn out to be a practice run for next year’s national championship team.

You know what that call was all about don’t you? Dollar signs! But it’s ok because I’m obviously not bitter about it. Oh, and the next year KU traveled to Texas for redemption. This game would be broadcast on ABC for all the world to see. Payback!! Kansas proceeded to get curb stomped by the Longhorns to the tune of 66-14

Not nearly a game changer, but if you love big hits, Vasher against TCEH in 2001… also my first game to watch live in DKR when I was a senior in HS, so it holds a special place in my mind. Picking my jaw up off the bleachers (and watching others do the same) was a memory I’ll never forget.

Jerry Gray running down Bo Jackson in 1984, separating his shoulder in the process. People didn’t run down Bo Jackson.

Shouldn’t there be a great run by Campbell? Which would be best? I have more specific memories from his Oiler days, unfortunately.

Great stuff, guys. Enjoying it all.

When Hollywood makes a movie of this “book,” will Ralphie May play the part of HenryJames? Or, will the producers go the method route and cast John Belushi’s corpse?

1995 Hawaii game…beginning of Ricky Williams era…game was exciting enough, being late night start to season, lots of new faces, etc. No one really knew about Ricky (at least I didn’t) and Shon Mitchell got most of the press coming in, etc. Game was very one sided for UT, and we were enjoying the show and drinking heavily…then we were all stunned…middle of 3rd quarter Ricky explodes through the line for a 65 yd TD leaving everyone in his dust…then trots to the sideline and takes off his helmet. With his dreads & full beard (at 18 yrs old!) we were shocked to see someone like him in the Burnt Orange. All I could say was “Look at this F***ing Guy!” Beginning of an amazing career at Texas and one of the best all time RBs in CFB history.

“Shouldn’t there be a great run by Campbell? Which would be best?”

The most spectacular was probably the one where he lifted up the SMU DB at about the eight yard-line and carried him into the endzone with him.

2005 UT-tOSU game.

Jamaal Charles hit on the linebacker who had just intercepted VY (Carpenter or Hawk).

Quan’s hit on Lendy Holmes was significant for so many reasons. There was a general perception that Mack beating OU was all about VY and OU’s own faltering program, rather than actually being better than a great OU team. And once the 1st quarter ended with us struggling to stay in the game, it echoed remnants of years past before VY.

Shipley’s KR TD was electric and showed that we had the explosive big-play potential, but we still looked like a punching bag, otherwise. When Quan laid out Lendy Holmes, it showed that we can not only take a punch to the chin, but we can deliver one too.

The most spectacular was probably the one where he lifted up the SMU DB at about the eight yard-line and carried him into the endzone with him.

Close Nordberg. It was Rice and it was Freshman (and future Dallas Cowboy) Michael Downs who became famous across collegiate film rooms in a matter of six seconds.

Also, how about the sack of Justin Zwick with about 5 minutes left in the Ohio State game that pushed the ensuing field goal attempt to 50+ yards. The FG missed, we drove the field and scored with the pass to Sweed.

I always thought Ced Griffin’s Touchdown Pass Breakup on the Buckeye TE in the back of the end zone was the most underrated play in this game. None of the other cool shit matters if they score that TD.

The 1969 Big Shootout – after Street scored on the initial play of the 4th quarter, Arkansas drives right down the field and has first-and-goal at the 9 (result of a well-timed defensive hold by Freddie Steinmark, another game changing play). Rather than keep it on the ground and have their All-American kicker give them what would have been for that defensive struggle an insurmountable 17-8 lead, Bill Montgomery underthrows Chuck Dicus in the end zone on 3rd down and Danny Lester intercepts. Two possessions later is Street to Peschel.

How ‘bout Roy William’s (The OU version) going airmail to knock the shit out of CS, causing him to throw a duck to Teddy Lehman, sealing victory for the sooners? Or the 1985 game RRR where the official disallowed Keith Stansberry’s interception in the endzone, allowing the Longhorn’s to kiss their sister, tongue and all, and squeek out a 15 – 15 tie? If it has to be a Longhorn highlight, I’d vote for VY going 80 against OSU coming out of halftime in the NC year. I was at that game and could hear Young as he chugged by at the 50. With Texas behid so far at half, it began the comeback.

Don’t forget the one where Vince scored the touchdown in the Rose Bowl with like less than a minute left. That one was kind of big.

If Matt Nordgren’s double dribble into the Baylor endzone is not included, the terrorists have won.

Same for Nathan Vasher’s hit on Carlos Francis. Not that I’m biased or anything.

And for some more trivia on why this book is being made, the publisher (Random House’s Neighbor) asked us to write a sports book that would appear to both Ann Coulter and Dr. Seuss fans alike.

That nails our demographic pretty well.

Only good plays or bad?
The Good, Bad, and Ugly from the Colt McCoy era:
The Good:
- Lawrence kick in 2009 Big 12 Championship
- Shipley’s return vs. OU in 2008
- Colt to Quan to win the 2009 Fiesta Bowl
- Colt’s “Almost Heisman Moment”: 75-yard TD run vs. A&M in 2009
- Jamaal Charles’s two 70+ yard TD runs vs. Nebraska in 2007

The Bad
- Gideon’s dropped INT vs. Tech in 2008
- The roughing the punter call vs. OU in the 45-35 game. That doesn’t happen, we win 45-28, too much for the voters to ignore.
- Jamaal Charles’s fumble on the goal line vs. OU in 2007

The Ugly:
- Colt’s pinched nerve on a QB sneak vs. KSU in 2006
- Colt gets cheap shotted by Kellen Heard (I believe) in the following week
- Colt pinches nerve vs. Alabama in 2010 BCS Championship Game

The third-biggest play of the MNC Rose Bowl, after fourth-and-five and the stop on Lendale White was the one-foot-down interception by Michael Griffin in the second quarter. Texas is on the verge of going down 14-3. Instead, they score TDs on the next two drives, sandwiching a stop, and have the lead at halftime. Huge deal.

Butch Hadnot running all over 5th ranked Cougar High has to be in there I think.

And maybe some kind of collage of the approx. 962 Sprint Draws run by Metcalf on third and 7+ (an improbable 649 of which actually went for a first down).

My personal favorite is Dan Neils 2 or 3 big blocks as the pulling guard in Holmes’ long TD run (before roll left). Musburger called the TD as Holmes crossed the 50, but Neil blew open a huge hole on that play.

Phil Dawson’s kick to beat UVA was pretty nice, not sure if that has been mentioned yet.

I know we’re focusing on Royal forward, but I think Noble Doss’ “Impossible Catch” against A&M in 1940 may merit inclusion.

And now I see that Gaylon mentioned it already.

Brewer’s QB draw for Texas’ first score versus Alabama in 1982 Cotton Bowl:

Early in the fourth quarter, Alabama stretched the lead to 10-0, and then Texas finally got on the scoreboard. Brewer, who had thrown for less than 100 yards in the first three quarters, suddenly began to find receivers like Donnie Little and Lawrence Sampleton.

The Horns soon faced a 3rd-and-10 from the ‘Bama 30-yard line, and as he stepped to the line, Brewer saw Alabama’s defensive setup, and he quickly called timeout.

"I saw their safety (Tommy Wilcox) move up, and I knew if we ran the play I would be sacked," said Brewer. Having already been sacked seven times in the game, Brewer was well versed in the ‘Bama blitz package.

The play Akers and OC Ron Toman came up with during the timeout was simply called "One." It was a QB draw that had been used when Donnie Little played the position, but it wasn’t in the game plan.

Alabama had been playing man all game, sending linebackers with the Texas running backs and corners with the wideouts. The play had Rodney Tate and Terry Orr both swing out of the backfield while Little and Herkie Walls ran deep routes.

Mike Baab had the key block as he had to handle All-SEC nose guard Warren Lyles. "When Robert called it, I thought, ‘Oh shit,’ " said the Longhorn center. "The whole play basically comes down to my block."

Lyles helped out when Baab raised up as if to pass block, he made a move to the left. Baab just influenced him out that way, and Brewer easily scored.

The field was so wide open for his QB draw, Robert Brewer remarked that "my mother could have scored."

That cut the Alabama lead to 10-7, and the next time Texas got the ball, Brewer led them 80 yards to the winning score. Brewer hit four straight passes of 37, 10, 19, and 10 yards before Terry Orr bolted over from the 8-yard line for the touchdown.

For me, a top play in UT history is 2004 UT versus Kansas, 4th and 18 with 1:09 left. I was getting married this day, and this game almost single handedly ruined the day. Who runs for it on 4th and 18? VY is who. This was VY’s first step into legendary status.

Game of the Century: “Right 53 Veer pass” on 4th and 3:

In the 100th year of college football, it truly was the “Game of the Century.” In a game between unbeatens played at Arkansas’ Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, the Texas Longhorns were ranked Number 1 in the country, having won 18 straight games. The Arkansas Razorbacks were ranked Number 2, having won 15 straight. The Texas wishbone attack, then still a novelty, was an offensive juggernaut that averaged over 44 points per game coming into the contest. Arkansas led the nation in scoring defense, yielding only 6.8 points per game. In addition, both the Razorback offense and Texas defense were ranked in the top ten nationally.

The Longhorns got off to a sloppy start, losing a fumble on the second play from scrimmage and turning the ball over a total of six times. A 1-yard leap into the end zone by Bill Burnett in the first quarter and a 29-yard touchdown reception by Chuck Dicus in the third quarter put the Hogs up 14-0 with 15:00 to play.

James Street scrambled for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. Longhorns coach Darrell Royal had decided before the game to go for a two-point conversion after the Longhorn’s first touchdown to avoid a tie, and Street dove into the end zone to make it 14-8.

Arkansas quarterback Bill Montgomery next led the Razorbacks on a 73-yard drive down to the Texas 7. On third down, Montgomery was intercepted in the end zone by Danny Lester, Arkansas’ first turnover of the game. A field goal would have likely put the game out of reach for Texas.

Still down 14-8, Texas began a desperate drive for the end zone that appeared to stall with 4:47 remaining when Royal opted for yet another gamble on fourth-and-3 from their own 43-yard line. During a timeout that Texas took before the fateful play, Royal shouted at Street, “Right 53 Veer pass.” The play was a deep pattern throw to the tight end. The play wasn’t in the Texas game plan package. “Are you sure that’s the call you want?” Street said. “Damn right I’m sure!” Royal snapped. Street had noticed Arkansas defenders looking into the Texas huddle, so he fixed his gaze on split end Cotton Speyrer while explaining the play to Randy Peschel, saying “Randy, I’m looking and pointing at Cotton, but I’m talking to you.” Street then hit Peschel on the dramatic play, with Peschel making a difficult catch over his shoulder in double coverage. It not only converted on fourth down, but also gained 44 yards, putting the Longhorns on the Razorbacks 13.

Two plays later Jim Bertelsen ran in for the game-tying touchdown. Donnie Wigginton, the third-string quarterback who was the holder, made a big save on a high snap and Happy Feller booted the extra point for the winning score with 3:58 remaining.

Arkansas made a push into Texas territory, hoping for a field goal from All-American kicker Bill McClard. Arkansas was down to the Texas 40 when Tom Campell intercepted Montgomery on the Texas 21-yard line with less than a minute left.

“Trailing the mighty Jayhawks 20-23, with 2 minutes to go, Kansas QB Brian Luke hits Charles Gordon for a 16-yard gain on a 3rd and 7. This play would allow KU to run out the clock and beat the #6 Longhorns. But wait! Gordon is flagged late in the play for a phantom offensive pass interference call. This bogus call would cost Kansas the game as they had to punt and gave Texas the ball on the 47”

By bogus you mean he stuck out both arms and shoved the Texas DB two steps off the route so he could catch the ball. If I were you I would worry about the impending death penalty on the way towards your basketball program in response to your school running the ticket sales like the Mafia. Or the fact that your football program is headed right for 4-8 this year. Those are real things you need to worry about.

pretty much every time earl touched the ball.

AM at Texas, 1980: The defense of Ole Smokey.

Texas rose to No. 1, after beating Arkansas (College Football’s first regular season game of the new decade) and OU, but closed out a disappointing 7-4 regular season with a beat down by the Aggies. However, honor was saved by an out of bound play on the field.

Late the fourth quarter, with Aggies firmly in control of the game, the freshmen Corp Cadets entered the field from the North tunnel in an attempt to capture Ole Smokey. The Texas Cowboys apparently were tipped off about the maneuver and were there waiting for them. A rumble fist fight ensued in the North end while the teams were at the South end. The Cowboys pummeled the Cadets while the Police stood by and watched. The game was postponed during the action and the home crowd finally had something to cheer. The saber-grabbing Yell Leaders began to run down the sideline to help their comrades but were intercepted and turned back by the Texas Cheerleaders (score one for the Skirts). After several minutes of beating, the Police finally broke up the melee and the Cadets retreating in dishonor.

To top over the day, we launched water balloons from the roof of Moore-Hill onto the Yell Leaders as they were leaving the stadium.

Major’s TD pass to McGarity against NU in 1998 was, IMO, as big a play as there ever was in UT history.

No one was beating NU back then. Even fewer were beating the Huskers in Lincoln. I think it could be argued that that win sped up Mack Brown’s timetable by at least five years – it bought us instant credibility not just in Texas, not just in the Big 12, but across the country.

And without that leap in credibility, do our capital improvement projects get delayed until the middle of the decade … and thus into the gaping maw of the recession? Does our recruiting see a leap in quality in quantity? Does Mack get bored/frustrated and take, say, the Browns job?

And of course, if we don’t win this game, it’s unlikely that we get the chance to exorcise the shit out of a few demons in the Cotton Bowl against Mississippi State.

I’m also wondering about negative plays that ended up being extraordinarily important. Was there a particular play that we can point to that finally ended the Mackovic farce? The fumble in the ’76 OU game? The Curry fumble? Was there one play in particular in the 91 Cotton Bowl? For the latter, I think Randall Hill running up the Cotton Bowl tunnel was an important play not just in Texas history but the history of college football.

Worst moment: Bill Curry’s muffed punt versus 1984 Cotton Bowl, allowing Georgia to win 10-9 over Nr. 2 previously unbeaten Texas. That play cost UT a national championship as Nr. 1 Nebraska lost to Miami later that night at the Orange Bowl, beginning Miami’s rise to multiple national championships and national prominence.

Ramonce Taylor’s reverse against Ok State in 2004.

This is one of those plays you had to be there for to really realize how important it was. As you all may remember, we were down 35-7 before mounting an epic comeback to pull within 7. At that point, it seemed like the game might still be a fight.

After Vince snaps the ball, you can hear an audible gasp from the crowd. I’ve never heard DKR louder than that run and the ensuing TD celebration.

Carlos Francis getting Vasherized on the fake punt.

Vince with the pump fake against one of many Woods brothers to start yet another comeback against OSU (has OSU had more Woods brothers or chokes against Texas in the last 10 years).

Not sure if there was any one play, but the Jamaal Charles game against NU at home, where we just kept running the ball in the 4th quarter to make the comeback.

The Maj throwing the long bomb to finally polish off Washington (this game featured lots of oft-overlooked greatness…Ivan Williams was just a beast, and Derick Johnson made his emergence).

Victor Ike’s kickoff return for TD against Oregon in the 2000 Holiday Bowl and Mike Tirico’s ensuing aneurism, followed by 3 dropped passes in the endzone (the one my goddamn seats were in) by our stud frosh WRs.

f Joey Harrington.

Ditto on VY’s anklebreaking 4th & 18 run against Kansas. Without that play there is no Rose Bowl.

I just remembered that this a book you’re putting together. Some of this won’t translate very well. “And then, Earl knocked the shit out of him. I mean, really hard. You really should have seen it. Oh well, moving on…”

Bubba Jacques holla!!

I remember Shaun Rogers and Casey Hampton blowing up two short fourth down conversions in that win over Nebraska in Austin.

The worst play I can remember came in Grant Teaff’s retirement party. Baylor Pass, receiver catches the ball, takes a step, is hit and the ball comes out. It’s either a fumble or incomplete pass right? Well you would be wrong. Baylor ball at the spot of the catch. In fact, that whole damn game goes on worst plays list.

Derrick Johnson’s hit/strip of Matt Jones to rob Arkansas of victory in 2004.

Hard to argue we win that game otherwise (Arkansas down two with about two minutes left, third down from our 15), so along with the 4th and 18 scramble, another single play that absolutely had to happen for us to make the 2004 Rose Bowl.

One more Vince moment that probably won’t make the final cut…

VY’s freshman run vs OU. The beginning of the Vince era. Hard to vote it onto the final list because of the final score of the game, but just an incredibly display of his raw talent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_L938fqzXg

What about a play from the 1994 Sun Bowl? That was my freshman year and we finished the season ranked #25. I remember being happy that we were ranked at all. We had only been to two bowl games in the previous seven seasons (the 46-3 loss to Miami in the Cotton Bowl and the 32-27 win over Pitt in the 1987 Bluebonnet Bowl).

Priest Holmes had a good day rushing. 161 yards on 27 carries, 4 touchdowns. We scored a TD in the final minute and a half to win 35-31. We also had a defensive score in the beginning of the second quarter.

I think that game probably helped give us confidence to go into College Station the next year and claim the last ever SWC Championship. Of course the next year was also Ricky Williams’ first year.

It’s awesome that there is still a major ‘cult’!

I believe Larry Dibbles stripped Jones, not DJ.

2003 – Second Chance Mock to Roy Williams to beat Tech.

Our greatest offensive play was by the poor A and M guy that intercepeted the pass with little time left and instead of falling down proceeded to lateral a fumble to us and allowed us to score and go on to win NAT CHAMP> GO Aggie

The record breaking Ricky Williams run against A&M in 1998.

This might have been the single most important play in modern Texas football history. This rebounded our program in Mack Browns first year, and also made Texas relevant on a national scale. Before Ricky Williams broke the record A&M was recruiting the state better than Texas. Texas needed something to put it back in the national spotlight and give Mack Brown the leverage he needed to establish himself as the predominant program in the state. I don’t think that Mack Brown could have had the success at Texas that he has had without the help of Ricky Williams in his inaugural season here.

You mention the Cotton Speyrer catch against UCLA which was great thanks to the 2 UCLA defensive backs with 6 foot legs that had played a great game against us only to go crazy and both go for the interception allow throw to split them for a TD. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING

By bogus you mean he stuck out both arms and shoved the Texas DB two steps off the route so he could catch the ball. If I were you I would worry about the impending death penalty on the way towards your basketball program in response to your school running the ticket sales like the Mafia. Or the fact that your football program is headed right for 4-8 this year. Those are real things you need to worry about.

Nope. By bogus I mean that it should have never been called.

What does ticket sales have to do with the basketball program? Why would it only affect the basketball program? Do you know what happened or did you just skim the ESPN headlines?

And you’re telling me that KU football might go 4-8 during an obvious rebuilding year, under a new head coach who only had a few months to recruit? You, sir, are an optimist. I like your style.

Aaron Ross’ forced fumble against NU.

Vince escaping from the arms of two Michigan DTs.

Major Applewhite taking a huge hit (and a concussion) while tossing the winning TD against Nebraska.

1990 – There had to be a play during the Houston game. That game sparked us to a SWC championship. And then when we beat A&M. There was the long Gardere run for a TD and the defensive stop on the 2 pt. conversion that gave us the 1 pt. win.

“Nope. By bogus I mean that it should have never been called.”

Why? Look at the replay. Gordon clearly pushed off. I understand it was a big play, but just because it was a big play does not mean the refs should ignore an obvious penalty. The refs did Texas no favors that day. The penalty count was 10 on Texas and 3 on KU. Mangino, a proven asshole, bitched because he is an asshole, not because the call was wrong. And Mack Brown and Vince Young made the lardass pay next year — 52-0 at halftime.

Pushing off is illegal and Gordon clearly pushed off on Brown before the catch. In fact, he did it with both arms. You might get away by a slight pushoff with one arm. But shoving both arms in the DBs chest at full extension will get called every time. Never understood how any objective person could say that was a phantom PI call when it was so obvious.

Phillip Geiger roughing kicker – 2001 CGG
Tony Jeffery TD catch after VY’s 4th&18. – 2005 v KU
Gilbert’s 1st TD pass – MNC v ’Bama

Earlier in the drive before Roll Left the pass from Brown to Fitzgerald from the goal-line – pass was a prayer, and the catch was incredible.

I think you should include a section on the worst plays as well, or maybe a section on plays that were “almost” game changers. In that category, I’d nominate Stanley Richard’s almost interception in the flat against Miami in that miserable Cotton Bowl. If he catches it, he strolls into the end zone. All year that team seemed to start slow, and then would make a big play to take charge. I think that was the play that might have gotten the Horns fighting spirit up and made a game out of it.

1977 vs the aggies – Earl puts an exclamation mark on UT’s first heisman trophy season with a 60yd swing pass reception TD. We thought we’d seen everything that Earl could do up to that point in his career (including block punts) and then he slips out to the left and takes it to the house for his only pass reception touchdown.

Leave the KU fan alone. It’s blatant homerism and so it can’t be talked down.

If instead it had been a Texas receiver doing the exact same thing with the game on the line KU fans would have been livid if it weren’t called. Gordon stares directly at Brown from the 29 to the 33, runs directly at him, uses his hands to push off, and then makes the catch. To be fair, though, I’ve never been a fan of the “let players cheat at the end of a game” logic. You know, where the refs are supposed to “let them play” in the closing moments of a game. People that argue this are pretty much always saying that the rules should be ignored or enforced differently at the end of a game.

For these reasons I hope the PI call is put in the book along with a frame-by-frame analysis showing the push off.

People that argue this are pretty much always saying that the rules should be ignored or enforced differently at the end of a game.

Officials have a difficult job, and one of the most difficult parts, IMO, is figuring out when a player is purposely reckless at the end of a game in order to get away with something that “would affect the outcome” if a penalty were called.

I’ve always thought that the PI call was a close one. But my answer has always been, “Fourth and eighteen.”

Officials have a difficult job, and one of the most difficult parts, IMO, is figuring out when a player is purposely reckless at the end of a game in order to get away with something that "would affect the outcome" if a penalty were called.

If that’s a difficult part of the job then the difficulty is entirely self-inflicted. Deciphering the intent as you describe is completely unnecessary. Either a rule was broken or it wasn’t. If the refs didn’t worry about “letting them play” at the end of the game then they wouldn’t have to try and figure out if the player was trying to pull one over on them because it’s the end of the game.

It’s a foul or it isn’t. It’s a penalty or it isn’t.

And I would like to suggest the long Stafford to Jones touchdown pass in the Bluebonnet Bowl against Pitt. First play from scrimmage. No, it won’t be a Top 50 play but it was the first bowl game I watched Texas play in from start to finish.

KU – Texas game 2004 penalties:

Texas – 10 for 103
KU – 3 for 23

i very little faith in colt mccoy as the qb through the first half his freshman season, but i remember one specific play against texas tech that changed my entire perception about him. i can’t remember if it was a designed run or a scramble, but he busted off some 40 yard touchdown sprint up the sidelines for a TD in what i think was a pretty close game on the road. that’s the moment i realized that we had something special.

Just an idea, but since plays can be so difficult to visualize from a book, maybe you could add online content. I think it’d be pretty cool to have a page with videos of every play in the book.

Never did get the highlights of those exhibition games UT played against Mizzou in Mexico, back in 1896.

Another under-the-radar Colt play, 2006 RRS after a turnover in the 3rd setting up UT 1-10 around the OU 35, play action to Charles then bomb down the sidline to Sweed for TD. Pretty much signaled that 1) this game was done – because the Horns decided to go for the jugular rather than play it safe and 2) Colt was the real deal. Too bad it didn’t go to Shipley in order to kickstart the “roomates” narrative.

Did anyone mention Stoney Clark’s goal line stop vs. OU? That is still my favorite defensive play of all times.

The field goal in the 1997 UCLA game was pretty big. I mean, getting beaten 66-0 would have been awful!

“Did anyone mention Stoney Clark’s goal line stop vs. OU? That is still my favorite defensive play of all times.”

So funny you asked as I was researching this. I was around the goal line that day and when the OU guy got the ball, it looked like he would waltz into the end zone. Stonie came out of nowhere . . . last play of the game IIRC!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf7JaWiJG7s

Speaking of defensive plays, Aaron Ross separating the ball from the Neb receiver to set up the winning kick from Bailey has to be included (if it hasn’t been mentioned already).

Jamaal Charles’ 80 yard TD, first half of 2005 OU game. Broke the game open and made it clear we were finally going to beat OU after 5 years of suck.

Also acceptable: Billy Pittman’s long TD before half in the same game, if you just want a reason to mention Billy Pittman.

“Gordon is flagged late in the play for a phantom offensive pass interference call. "

If you can’t describe the following 3 things about that play, then your opinion about it is worthless:
1. What did the receiver do on the play?
2. What did the defender do on the play?
3. What does the rule book say about 1 and 2?

Here’s a hint about #3: the offensive player has the burden of avoiding contact.

Huck, I think it’s complicated because there are so many calls made and not made over the course of a game.

Of course the flag is thrown or not, or the whistle blown or not. But there are clear mistakes made both ways. The end of the A&M-UCLA game a couple of years ago, where not one but two Bruins are whacking Donald Sloan on the arm as he drives for the tying shot… no call. Reasonable people can disagree whether Freeman Johns should have thrown that flag. How is that an easy call for the guy who threw it?

I’m with Bob, if that call goes against us, we’d be livid. Homerism happens on all sides.

I don’t know about game changer, but I can watch this over and over. I miss Quan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbSaXAEoYvQ

Lam Jones’s KO return versus SMU. His peak speed on the play dazzled.

Great idea on the book, I’ll pre-order eleventeen of them.

we’re also interested in the plays that gave us hope during the darker times as well. So 1985-1997 will still be covered, greater importance be damned.

Ah, this is right in my wheelhouse, having been on campus for 7 of the worst years of Texas football (1986-1992). I’m too lazy to read all the previous entries, but if they haven’t already been mentioned, I suggest these pyrrhic plays:

- KeithKerry (who could tell?) Cash’s non-TD TD catch vs. UNT in Austin to preserve us the from unmitigated embarassment of losing to a 4A high school team;
- Dawson’s last-second hang-in-the-air-forever bomb to beat UVA in Austin;
- Stony Clark’s stoning of OU at the goalline;
- Stopping A&M’s 2-pt conversion for the win (thanks to ESPN for showing everyone what play the Ags would run), giving me my sole victory over the Ags while on campus;
- and I could go on, but I don’t want the PTSD flashbacks to keep me up tonight.

1999 or 2000 cotton bowl where we tbagged miss st and Jackie sherril…Ricky had a short TD run where he absolutely trucked the defender. It was replayed four or five times while the guy laid on the ground. I’ve never seen someone get run over that bad to this day. I almost felt bad for his family watching all the replays. Not really a game changer (I think we won like 31-3), but I’ll never forget this play.

While the recent era has more than its share of highlight material, one of the more meaningful plays was the defensive TD against OU in 2005. While it happened towards the end and the outcome had been decided long before, let me list out the cool things that happened:

1) A verb was born. While being Bomar’ed has fallen out of use, I will still bring it up at appropriate times: “Shit! Quan Bomar’ed the hell out of that DB!”

2) DT Roy Miller ran back a fumble 70 yards or so. Would’ve been epic by itself.

3) It became clear that No Chin’s reign of terror was over; Texas was no one’s bitch anymore.

Some fantastic thoughts on this thread. Keep it coming, folks. These sorts of bar room discussions are what makes for a fun project and an interesting read.

How about the crazy Ramonce Taylor scramble around the back of our own endzone?

Haven’t looked back through all of the posts – but the big kicks sometimes get neglected and I’d like to see them get some love.

The big game winners for Phil Dawson, Dusty Mangum, Ryan Bailey (I was at that NU game in the snow….what an amazing game), and Hunter Lawrence.

Along those lines, Aaron Ross’s forced fumble vs. NU to get us the ball back and make the field goal possible.

Also, Jamaal Charles’s 80 yard TD v. OU in 05. That’s when it started to sink in (for me at least) that we finally had the stronger team and were going to break that horrible 5 year streak.

Richard Peavey’s hit on Marcus Dupree of OU in Texas’ 1983 win over OU. They both lost their helmets and were slow to get up. Dupree went the wrong way after getting up, heading toward the Texas bench. It was the last game he’d play for OU. He went missing after the game and many think he quit because of that hit. Best overall defense I ever witnessed.

Defensive stop on two point conversion against Texas a&m in 1990 to win the game. A&M scores to cut Texas’ lead to 28-27. Aggies go for two and the option to Darren Lewis is stuffed by …… (?). Rumors about Texas hearing the play call from TV announcer swirl after the game. Texas wins 28-27 to finish regular season ranks #3. (Let’s not talk about the ensuing bowl game.

Sigh. Kids today.

Street to Spyrer on 4th down late in the 1970 Cotton Bowl to clinch a national championship.

Trailing 17-14 with 6:52 left to play, the Longhorns took over at their own 24 yard-line. In the 17-play, 76-yard TD drive that followed, UT converted two fourth-and-two situations, the last coming at the Notre Dame 10-yard-line when James Street completed a clutch pass to Cotton Speyrer that took the UT to the two.

Picked that one about two inches off the dirt.

Hello, i am searching for partners for our new nail page, are you interested? :)

That is pretty instresting

Hello There. I discovered your blog using msn. That is a very neatly written article. I will make sure to bookmark it and return to learn more of your useful info. Thank you for the post. I?ll certainly return.