Your Favorite Texas - ou Game or Memories

Discussion in 'On The Field' started by WorsterMan, Jul 3, 2015.

  1. WorsterMan

    WorsterMan SEC here we come!!

    The off season sucks, I am off work today, other members of the family are working or doing other things and it is raining so I cannot play golf. The boards are kind of dead as I imagine most are starting their 4th of July weekend plans.

    So I thought I would start a new thread that would generate some excitement about Horn football and bring back some good memories. Since 1963 I have watched about 1/3 of the TX - ou series at the game and about 2/3 on TV. Picking a favorite is hard but I have one in mind:

    1977

    Setting the table:

    Texas has not beaten ou since 1970. ou has used the Wishbone offense since 1970 to flatten just about everyone they played. Prior to the 1976 game, Darrell Royal determined that ou had spied on UT practices in prior years and publically called out HC Barney Switzer and the program. DKR offered $10,000 to any charity if Switzer passed a polygraph test. Switzer denied it, stated some coaches should listen to less guitar pickin' music and recruit better players. DKR said off the record ou were "sorry ********" and he didn't "trust them." But all the off the record comments were published in all the newspapers in TX & okie. The game ended in a bitterly fought 6-6 tie. I was at that game - it was one of the hardest hitting college football games I ever saw.

    Enter the 1977 game:

    Fred Akers is the new HC at UT. He uses a lot of positive mental attitude exercises. He installs the I & Veer formations to feature a tailback named Earl something... sorry can't remember his last name. Anyway this Earl guy lost about 20-25 pounds from the previous year and wore leg length sports panty hose to cut down on his frequent hamstring pulls - it worked as he went on to win the Heisman but that is another thread.

    I won't reprise the entire game, but here are a few highlights by quarter:

    1st quarter:

    UT QB Mark McBath injures his knee and is carried off the field
    Backup QB Jon Aune replaces him, runs 2 plays injures his knee and is carried off the field
    A few sooners cheered but a big hush fell over the UT fans - OMG now what!?
    Virtually no one in the stands knows who QB #3 is for UT and it isn't in the game program
    Scout team QB Randy McEachern trots on the field and enters the huddle
    OG Will Ingraham tells him to "just hand the ball to Earl and get he hell outta the way"
    Russell Erxleben kicks a 64 yard FG and the game is tied 3-3

    2nd quarter:

    McEachern engineers a deep drive into ou territory
    At the ou 24 he pitches out to Earl while Ingraham pulls and blocks ahead
    Earl went through a hole and cut back and hurdled an ou DB while TE Steve Hall from Broken Arrow OK putt he final block on DB Terry Peters
    It was almost halftime, Texas up 10 - 3... the UT fan noise and energy level in the stadium went way up
    Despite losing 2 QB's I remember feeling hope and some confidence we could win this game and stop the bleeding to ou

    3rd quarter:

    A long ou drive stalled and resulted in a FG, 10-6 Horns
    The Defense was playing tough - led by Outland Trophy winner Brad Shearer, Steve McMichael, Bill Aker, AA DB Johnny Johnson, LB Lance Taylor, DB Ricky Churchman. Vance Bedford was a freshman DB.
    Erxleben kicks a 58 yard FG, 13-6 Good Guys
    Even against a stiff wind, Erxleben had great punts all day long that bailed out the O or put ou in mediocre field position

    4th quarter:

    13-6 !!!
    Hope was growing among the UT crowd
    The Defense was playing very well, but there was a lot of time remaining
    ou QB Thomas Lott engineered a long drive toward the Texas end of the stadium
    The UT crowd was yelling it's guts out for the D to stop them
    4th down at the UT 5 yard line - THIS WAS THE GAME RIGHT HERE

    I was sitting lower deck press box side @ 20 yard line - so I could well see this soon to be epic play
    Play motion was to the right, but Lott quickly rolled to his left
    Taylor stayed home and sealed the outside, Lott cut in, Johnson & Shearer cut him down for no gain!
    ou held on 3 plays - Erxleben boomed a 70 yard punt to get the Horns out of a hole and pin the sooners back deep
    ou got to around mid-field but the threat was over.....

    The HORNS WIN !!!! :hookem::hookem::hookem:

    I saw grown men with tears in their eyes after that hard fought and long awaited victory over those sorry ********.
     
    • Like Like x 3
    • Hot Hot x 1
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2015
  2. Brad Austin

    Brad Austin 2,500+ Posts


    Oct 8th, 1994...

    As a Redshirt Freshman, James Brown was making his first collegiate star ever. Shea Morenz was injured the week before against Colorado. Texas fans had no clue what to expect. Young QB starting his first college game ever in this environment...that's nuts.

    Not to mention, Colorado RB Rashaan Salaam had just toasted our defense for 362 yards the week before. Texas fans being on edge and nervous was an understatement.

    And it all came down to Stonie Clark's game winning stuff on 4th down at the goal line to preserve the 17-10 victory. I was directly behind the tackle about 10 rows up going ballistic.

    Later that night I was drinking at the hotel bar and the OU team was doing the same. Had drinks with some of the OU offensive linemen and discussed their thoughts on blocking Stonie. They actually were real cool about it all and very complimentary.

    The whole way there I was told how mind-blowing the RRS is in person. Needless to say the actual experience far exceeded the enormous verbal build up. Been hooked on that annual trip ever since.
     
    • Like Like x 2
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2015
  3. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Amor Fati

    The 2005 win was just so satisfying after five straight losses, two of which were really ugly. Most everyone expected us to win that one pretty handily anyway but watching it play out felt soooo good. Billy Pittman's TD reception on the wheel route right before the half was a sportgasm.
     
    • Like Like x 3
  4. WorsterMan

    WorsterMan SEC here we come!!

    LHN replayed this game earlier today :hookem:
     
  5. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Worster,

    There are the obvious treats like Stonie's hit, Earl's run, Hadnot's great game, and a multitude of others, but here's a couple for you:

    1963, was my first Texas/OU. My best friend was Don Meredith's cousin, and Don got us tickets to the Friday night SMU/Navy game, the Saturday afternoon Texas/OU game, and the Sunday Cowboys game, All three Texas teams were underdogs and all three won. Aside from the excitement of Texas/OU. I remember Carl McAdams hit on Ernie Koy about the two yardline in the Southeast hashmark. To this day, that is the best form tackle I have ever seen.

    Richard Peavy's hit on Marcus Dupree which was Dupree's last play in college football, and broke both of their helmets. We were home team, and the hit occurred about the 20-25 yd line on the northwest sideline. Dupree got up and started to cross he field, to the OU sideline. The clock was running and Barry was screaming for him to get back in the huddle. Barry went charging out onto the field waving and screaming when he got to the end of the cord of his headset. Instant whiplash. I'm surprised he has ears left.

    Melancon shutting out Busted Rhymes.

    Ernest Lee in 1976. We had completely dominated the game but only had a 6-0 lead. We held OU and forced them to punt. One of the Johnson boys fumbled and OU recovered o inside our 10. The Sooners scored and only needed an extra point to win for the sixth year in a row. Ernest, a DL from Tyler John Tyler, lined up over the center and told him, "You're gonna snap the ball clean over the kicker's head". Earnest totally intimidated the snapper and got inside his head. The snap landed back between the 15 & 20 yd line, preserving 6-6 tie, and preventing DKR from losing to OU in his last year. Coach Royal would later say that tie was a major factor in his decision to retire.

    One that I'm sure no one will mention is Al Dowden, longtime SWC referee, who had a deal with the SWC office that he would never do the Texas/OU game. Dowden owned the funeral homes in Poteau and Heavner, and didn't want to do any games that would cost him business. His last year as an official, he agreed to do his one and only Texas/OU game. Just one of the little sidebars of this country's great sports spectacle.
     
    • Like Like x 3
  6. WorsterMan

    WorsterMan SEC here we come!!

    Ah, the 1963 trifecta!!! Outstanding - not many can say they pulled that off. My Dad still talks about those 3 games that weekend. You saw a lot of Texas sports history and players that would be history to come.

    The 1963 ou game was epic. UT was a BIG underdog. This was a good ou team. Mighty Bud Wilkinson. I remember watching the game on TV with my Dad - that was the first UT game I ever watched. The Horns D ***** slapped Joe Don Looney and won handily 24-7.

    Yeah, I was at the 1983 TX - ou game to see the incredible hit Peavy put on Dupree knocking his helmet off, knocking him out of the game and being the first step in knocking him out of ou & eventually college football. What if, what if Edwin Simmons stays healthy all season and runs like he did vs. ou.... dare I say big win over GA and NC? Unfortunately his knees were genetically bad. We can dream what if, but we will never know...

    That 1976 game was a train wreck on every play - ferocious hitting by both teams. I believe RB Ivey Suber fumbled the ball and gave ou a gift to score from our end of the field. I am so grateful that ou center snapped it over Von Schawmen's head to seal at least a tie.
     
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2015
  7. zork

    zork 2,500+ Posts

    Texas, led by Gardere, scored really late then OU rushed down the field and Lasher or whomever the OU kicker was, missed the FG to seal it for the Horns.

    The best part for me was getting to share that experience with my date on the top row of the stadium jumping up and down both on the Gardere pass (severe crowd eruption experience from up there)and then the kick sailing wide. Then working our way through the fair after the game with the crowd still going nuts and being more than slightly intoxicated in three ways(post-flask, Horn victory, company of hotness). Very fond memories of that weekend. Too bad she ended up being a debutante and not being interested in my non rich self. They are still vivid memories though. :cowrose:
     
    • Like Like x 2
  8. rickysrun

    rickysrun 2,500+ Posts

    Teddy Lehman happened right in front of me at my first Texas-OU game....Um 1st half of the '03 game...Maybe i don't understand this post
     
  9. Brad Austin

    Brad Austin 2,500+ Posts

    Teddy Lehman was so fast he ran a 3.98 40-yard dash backwards. :smile1:
     
  10. NJlonghorn

    NJlonghorn 2,500+ Posts

    That was my senior year, fall of 1990. Great game, great memory.

    But I'm gonna go with the prior year. I was living in London and the game wasn't on TV. I sat with a friend from Oklahoma, huddled with a transistor radio in the only corner of our apartment building that got reception of Armed Forces Radio, which was carrying the game on tape delay in the middle of the night. I think kickoff was at 1:00 a.m. OU was heavily favored, and my friend had been talking crap all week. The game was tight all the way, but UT won on a 4th quarter comeback led by fresh Peter Gardere.
     
  11. rickysrun

    rickysrun 2,500+ Posts

    Reread this thread, understand it now.

    Shipley's kick return in '08 game. Texas was about to get run when Shipley shifted the momentum. First time to me a Mack Brown-Texas team punched back and beat a better Bob Stoops- OU team. That return changed the game and for me changed the season.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  12. Htown77

    Htown77 5,000+ Posts

    2008!

    2006 watching our offensive line dominate in the 4th Quarter was great.

    2013 was like an early 90s, peter gardere, we had no chance upset.
     
  13. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    I didn’t even turn the game on because I thought we would just get run and it would be ugly. My daughter called me at halftime and said we were ahead so I turned it on and watched the rest. Went back later and watched it from the start. I could not believe the opening drive and how we just took it down the field on them.
     
  14. NBHorn7

    NBHorn7 Pimp Daddy

    It's the 1977 game, my first year at UT, we have talked about this before on the old site. It's all well documented, so I don't think I need to expound on it.

     
  15. IvanDiabloHorn

    IvanDiabloHorn 1,000+ Posts

    Gardere to Walker 1989
    Gardere to Cash 1990

    1976 6- 6 tie. Royal's last year and he called them what they were. Our boys out fought the cheating Switzer Sooners all day long and we had two field goals about to be negated by a late OU touchdown. My favorite play is that OU kicker missing the extra point. I always felt God reached down and flicked that ball.
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2015
  16. WorsterMan

    WorsterMan SEC here we come!!

    I almost did the same thing - not watch that game. I thought going in we would get slaughtered and I couldn't take another big beatdown from them. One thing I have learned over many, many years of watching this game is the best or favored team does not always win that game.

    Let that be a lesson to us!:hookem:
     
  17. Firefly

    Firefly 25+ Posts

    81 game. Played like crap the first half and trailed 14-3 at half. Came out in the second half and pushed ou all over the field to win 34-14. Jam was a workhorse!
     
    • Like Like x 1
  18. BevoJoe

    BevoJoe 10,000+ Posts

    The 1977 game when we lost two QBs, and the 1981 game when we came back in the 2nd half were my favorite game memories.
     
  19. mb227

    mb227 de Plorable

    who can forget...
    [​IMG]

    ahhhh....memories :hookem::hookem::hookem::hookem:
     
    • Like Like x 5
  20. WorsterMan

    WorsterMan SEC here we come!!

    A memory:

    1979

    I bought 2 scalped tickets for several hundred plus dollars each on the 50 yard to impress a girl I had known a while on a first date. She got very ill a couple of days before the game and called me on Friday in tears she could not go (she really was ill). My date backup options on Friday were not good and being cheap, I did not want to take a date I was not that all interested in and none of my buddies wanted to buy my ticket and go.

    So I sold my extra ticket at the game and went by myself. I got there early and a few minutes before kickoff here comes the late Dr. Lorene Rogers, President of UT and she sat right next to me. She was very friendly, gracious and we spoke several times during the Donnie Little led 16-7 victory. Unfortunately my normal game behavior was very inhibited as I had to dial back my normal yelling during the game.
     
    • Like Like x 2
    Last edited: Jul 7, 2015
  21. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Ivan,

    In 76, the OU kicker never got a chance to miss the kick because the snap land about 8 yards behind him, thanks in no small part to Ernest Lee intimidating him before the snap.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  22. IvanDiabloHorn

    IvanDiabloHorn 1,000+ Posts

    I meant flicked the ball over the kicker and I don't know why that thought always comes to mind. I remember being so pissed after they scored that we were going to lose and then so damn happy when we didn't.
     
  23. NBHorn7

    NBHorn7 Pimp Daddy

    I had a class with Ivey Suber, nice guy and became a cameraman for channel 7 in Austin. I never had the heart to ask him about that fumble.

    I remember that OU had a walk on deep snapper and that bad snap ended Von Schamann's streak of consecutive extra points at 140.

    Lionell Johnson told him that he was going to snap the ball over the holder's head, before the play.
     
  24. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    NB,

    I believe that it was Earl's old HS teammate Ernest Lee, who lined up over the center and told him he would snap the ball "clean over" the kicker's head. At least that was the quote in the DMN, and what Ernest said in interview.
     
  25. BevoJoe

    BevoJoe 10,000+ Posts

    1990 - I remember Lasher missing a FG about 45 yards as time expired. I watched the replay of the game I had recorded, when I got back home. During the final OU drive, Lasher was holding up a number 1 and shaking his cocky head saying something like "I've got this" and then he missed and was about to cry......loved it!
     
    • Like Like x 3
  26. NBHorn7

    NBHorn7 Pimp Daddy

  27. WorsterMan

    WorsterMan SEC here we come!!

    I too have always remembered it being Lionell Johnson spooking the sooner snapper, but I am not 100% on that.
     
  28. WorsterMan

    WorsterMan SEC here we come!!

    I DOG cussed Ivey Suber that day, gawd was I pissed off at him for the team that just fought their guts out against a better team, poor old DKR being 5-6 minutes from a victory and me.
     
    Last edited: Jul 7, 2015
  29. Statalyzer

    Statalyzer 10,000+ Posts

    Chris Ogbonnaya's big run in the 2008 is it for me, since I was above the corner that he was heading for, so he was running straight at me as I saw approximately this view except from higher up:
    [​IMG]

    Liar. :p

    Didn't he do the horns-down on the sidelines too?
     
    • Like Like x 2
  30. Bill in Sinton

    Bill in Sinton 5,000+ Posts

    Too bad they didn't have current rules. Wouldn't it have been great if we could have got the ball and ran it in for a score?
     
    • Like Like x 1

Share This Page