Thrilling Texas Longhorns football action is coming to Austin, Texas’ University of Texas and you can catch the excitement here.
The Texas Longhorns football team is proud to represent the University of Texas at Austin in the NCAA DIvision I as a member of the Big 12 Conference. The program plays all their home games at scenic Darrel K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, which lies right on campus and has been their home since 1924. The team is a powerhouse with over 900 wins over their entire career and an incredible .703 percentage win record. The program ranks highly in all-time wins lists and has claimed many national and conference championships.
If you are a fan of football, then you owe it to yourself to check out The Texas Longhorns when they come home. Because no one plays harder than Texas!
Football Traditions
A team with as long and storied a history as The Texas Longhorns was bound to develop unique traditions that rally fans together. Here are just a few of the most famous ones.
Bevo
The school mascot is a live Texas longhorn steer that remains present for football games and special events. The name “Bevo” comes from the slang term for a steer that is destined to become food.
Big Bertha
The university owns a drum that they claim to be the world’s largest drum.
“The Eyes of Texas”
The school song is traditionally led by the Orange Jackets on the football field. The lyrics are sung to the tune of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”.
Smokey the Cannon
A cannon that is fired on game day at the moment of kickoff and after every Texas score.
The World’s Largest Texas Flag
Texas will run a Texas Flag that is claimed to be the world’s largest before every home game, bowl game, or other sporting event.The flag is also dropped from the President’s Balcony during pep rallies and is owned by the UT Alpha Rho chapter of Alpha Phi Omega.
Lighting the Tower
The main gilding will be lit in orange after various sporting victories. Whenever the Longhorns win the National Championships, windows will be lit in a way so the main building displays a large number “1”.
About Texas Memorial Stadium
With a capacity for 100,119 fans, Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium, serves as the home for The Texas Longhorns football team. The stadium was first opened to the public on November 8, 1924, which was also the date of the first game ever played at the field. To date, the field can be said to provide a home field advantage, as the Longhorns have a 375-117-10 record at the field through November 17, 2018. It currently stands as the eighth largest stadium in the US and the ninth largest stadium in the world.
History
In 1923, former UT athletics director L. Theo Bellmont, along with 30 student leaders, presented the idea of building a concrete stadium to replace the wooden bleachers of Clark Field to the Board of Regents. The plan was to build “The Largest sports facility of its kind in the Southwest”. Upon its completion, it seated 27,000 persons in what became the lower level of the current stadium’s east and west grandstands. Originally, it was designed to also have a 440-yard track surrounding the field.
The stadium was dedicated in honor of the 198,520 Texans who fought in World War I. It featured a statue representing the figure of democracy that was later placed atop the north end zone seats of the stadium. When World War II claimed the lives of many former players, the stadium was rededicated after it was enlarged on September 18, 1948 prior to the Texas-LSU game.
Later, on November 12, 1977, a small granite monument was unveiled and placed at the base of the statue as part of another rededication. This time the dedication was for the memory of all alumni who fought in as well as those who died during all American wars.
The stadium was then named after legendary football coach Darrel K Royal, who had enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in 1943. Royal had led Texas to three national championships and eleven Southwest Conference titles.
Attendance record
Despite having a capacity of just over 100,119 fans, Texas Memorial Stadium has a history of capacity breaking matches. These are the top three, most attended Texas Longhorns games.
- September 15, 2018 #22 USC 103,507 W 37-14
- November 17, 2018 #18 Iowa State 102,498 W 24-10
- September 4, 2016 #10 Notre Dame 102,315 W 50-47 (2OT)
Achievements
The team has been around long enough to have played well over 1200 games. And during this long illustrious career, the Longhorns have tallied over 900 wins and have earned an incredible .703 record. This record includes a .561 record in Bowl games (31-24-2). The team has also claimed 4 national titles (1963, 1969, 1970, 2005), earned 5 unclaimed national titles (1914, 1941, 1968, 1977, 1981), and 32 conference titles.
The team has also fielded several standout players and coaches, of whom 2 have been Heisman winners 22 Unanimous All-Americans, and 61 Consensus All-American players. The program has even had 17 players and coaches that have made it into the College Football Hall of Fame.
But here are also some specific individual national awards and honors
Heisman Trophy
Most Outstanding Player
- Earl Campbell – 1977
- Ricky Williams – 1998
Maxwell Award
Best Football Player
- Tommy Nobis – 1965
- Ricky Williams – 1998
- Vince Young – 2005
- Colt McCoy – 2009
Walter Camp Award
Player of the Year
- Ricky Williams – 1998
- Colt McCoy – 2008, 2009
Chic Harley Award
College Football Player of the Year
- Earl Campbell – 1977
- Ricky Williams – 1998
- Colt McCoy – 2009