The University of Texas at Austin is proud to be the home for The Texas Longhorns football program. The Longhorn nickname first appeared in Texas newspapers around the year 1900 and comes from the longhorn cattle that helped with The Lone Star State’s development. The Texas Longhorns compete in the NCAA Division I with the Big 12 Conference. The program has won over 900 games and has earned an incredible win-loss percentage of .705. The program ranks 3rd and 7th in all time wins and total win-loss record lists, respectively. In addition, the program has claimed 2 Heisman Trophy winners, 4 national championships, 32 conference championships, and 100 First Team All Americans (61 consensus).
Heart-pounding Football Action is here in Austin, Texas!
About Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center
The Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center is a multi-purpose arena located on the University of Texas at Austin campus. Locals and students will sometimes call the center “The Superdrum” because of its round, drum-like appearance on the outside.
The facility isn’t just an amazing sports arena, it’s also host to a wide variety of entertainment events, from bull-riding to concerts and more.
The stadium, originally called the Special Events Center, was first built to replace the Gregory Gymnasium for the university’s men’s and women’s basketball teams. The stadium was completed in 1977 at a total cost of $34 million. When the center opened on November 29, 1977, it hosted an 83-76 home team victory against the Oklahoma Sooners.
The center received later renovations from 2001 to 2003 at a cost of $55 million. These renovations added new and improved seating, top of the line video and sound systems, better lighting, and 28 classy suites.
The Special Events Center was later renamed The Frank Erwin Center, in honor of former UT Board of Regents member Frank Erwin who passed away in 1980.
Today, the “Superdrum”, has a two-level layout that can be modified to accommodate over 16,000 spectators for basketball games and over 17,000 spectators for concerts. Arena seating averages around 20 rows deep, while the mezzanine has around 24 rows of seats. It had its record attendance of 17,829 spectators for a John Denver concert. And the Texas Longhorns shared the stadium with the Austin Wranglers arena football team from 2004-2008.
Team Summary
The Texas Longhorn’s first season was back in 1893. This kickoff season was an undefeated season that included an upset victory over a Dallas football club. The team went on to remain an independent football program until the 1896 season when it joined the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
The Longhorns remained with the SIAA until the end of 1904. The program then left the conference to become independent from 1905-1912. The team then joined conference play from then on, with tenures with the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1913-1914), the Southwest Conference (1915-1995), and most recently the Big 12 Conference (1996-Present).
The team is most famous for their post-season appearances, ranking second in number of bowl game appearances, fourth in bowl game victories, most Southwest Conference football championships, and most Cotton Bowl Classic appearances and victories.
If you want to catch the hottest Longhorns games, then you can’t miss out on their rivalry battles against Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and TCU. Currently, Texas leads in all three of these rivalries, but fans know that every match-up is the hardest-hitting gridiron action.
The Texas Longhorns are a team with a history of peak performance and talented stars.
Achievements
It takes a special kind of team to become known as a stand out team. And the Texas Longhorns has certainly built up a history of accolades, awards, and achievement.
To date, the Texas Longhorns have had an impressive .704 All-time record (924-378-33) and a .561 Bowl record (31-24-2). The team has claimed national titles 4 times in 1963, 1969, 1970, and 2005. In addition, the team was in contention for national titles 5 times in 1914, 1941, 1968, 1977, and 1981. The team has also earned 32 conference titles over their storied career.
But it’s impossible to talk about the Texas Longhorns without recognizing that it has seen 2 Heisman winners, and 61 Consensus All-American players.
Notable Moments
You can’t talk about the Longhorns without remembering these intense moments in the athletic program’s history.
UT vs OU, Oct. 11, 2008
Texas vs Oklahoma, also known as the Red River Rivalry, is one of the hardest hitting rivalries in college football. But there hasn’t been a game quite like the match up on October 11, 2008. During this game, Texas earned the win with a 45-35 victory thanks to incredible plays by Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley. Fans still talk about Shipley’s 96 yard touchdown return. The Longhorns finished the 2008 season with a 12-1 record, ranking 3rd in the final BCS poll.
UT vs UA, Dec. 6, 1969
During the Longhorn game against Arkansas in 1969, the team was trailing behind with a 14-0 deficit in the fourth-quarter. But the team didn’t give up and managed to rally for a 15-14 victory that led them towards the national championship. But what made this a prouder moment for the Longhorns is that President Richard Nixon was on hand to see a 44-yard pass to Randy Peschel on the game winning drive on fourth down. Jim Bertelsen scored the game-tying touchdown and Happy Feller kicked the extra point they needed to claim that seasons 19th straight Texas win.
The greatest Game Ever Played
No one expected to see magic when the Longhorns squared off against The USC Trojans on Jan. 4 2006. At the time, The Longhorns were the second-ranked team facing off against the season favorite. It was also the third time in Rose Bowl history that the top two teams faced each other.
The Longhorns came in ready to defend their Rose Bowl title. Both teams had a combined 53 game winning streak, with The Longhorns having 19 straight wins and USC having 34. One team would walk away with their record broken and a lot of analysts had their bets against The Longhorns. But the game ended with a 41-38 Longhorns win that ended with Vice Young running for the winning touchdown with 19 seconds left. The game featured 1,100 yards, 10 touchdowns, and five incredible charges. Vince Young himself rushed for 200 yards and threw for 267 yards.
Even now, 15 years later, it’s still considered one of the greatest games ever played.