The feud between the teams started in 1894 then ran uninterrupted from World War I until a memorable 2011 game and a bitter realignment-driven split.
Just a few weeks after Mack Brown was hired as the coach of the Texas Longhorns in 1998, several business and civic leaders from San Antonio invited him to join his counterpart, Texas A&M Aggies coach R.C. Slocum, for some political glad-handing.
“You can’t do that, they take that stuff seriously! You’re in Texas, they’ll fire you before you get started,” an animated Slocum says, while recalling the same thought. “ would be on the front page of every paper in Texas if he had done that.” For all the outward pageantry, it’s really the bitter, irrational dislike of others—for no other reason than going to a different school—that is most ingrained in such a uniquely American venture. There are 13 FBS programs in Texas, and all have varying degrees of scorn for one another. The reasons vary from the slight to the historical, and are often magnified by the results on the field.
One of the most-played major college football series of all time, the Aggies and Longhorns had been a staple uninterrupted from World War I until 2011. There have been iconic moments, especially given the connection to Thanksgiving, which cements football and family together for many in the state. In a related note, Texas and Texas A&M are often Nos. 1 and 2 in the country in total athletics revenue, swapping places depending on which boosters saw their school in second place the prior year. For most of the past decade, such a victory was worthy of some hollow boasting and cause for some sniping among those who track West Texas Intermediate past the decimal point. Come Saturday, things can finally be settled on the field like they once were.
“We were playing with so many emotions and, in my career, I never felt more pressure than I did that day to win the game—we had to win,” Slocum says. “I didn’t tell that to the players. They’d been through enough already with all the sadness and everything. But to myself, with all we’ve been through, to go through with a loss in that game … I’m so thankful we won.
After Pac-10 expansion fueled a series of foundation-rattling moves in conference realignment, Texas A&M decamped the Big 12 for the SEC in 2012. The home side trailed late in the fourth before quarterback Ryan Tannehill found Jeff Fuller on a 16-yard touchdown pass to give A&M a one-point lead after a missed two-point conversion. With 1:48 remaining on the clock, the Aggies and their wrecking crew defense did what they had quite often that season under coach Mike Sherman—let the outcome slip away late.
Tucker, who believes the kick wound up playing a big role in him getting a shot in the NFL, calmly stepped up to drill a 40-yard field goal as time expired to give Texas the 27–25 win.
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