The History of Texas Football by Bill Little (With Special Thanks to Lou Maysel, Author of “Here Comes the Texas Longhorns,” Vols
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The History of Texas Football by Bill Little (with special thanks to Lou Maysel, author of “Here Comes the Texas Longhorns,” Vols. I & II) It was a manly sport, mates would push or pull the this football, and for almost ball carrier for additional gain 25 years, those “Yanks” at while the defensive team tried the likes of Harvard, to wrestle him down or carry Rutgers, Princeton and him backward. Kicking was Yale had played the game an integral part of the game with fervor that captured then as it is now, but the scor- the headlines in the news- ing was different from today’s papers and magazines of system. A field goal was worth the time. five points while a touchdown The University of Texas produced only four points. A was a small college in Aus- successful goal-after-touch- tin that was 10 years old in down (free kick) counted two 1893 and was going about points, as did a safety.” the business of trying to The Texas team arrived establish itself as a “Uni- in Dallas at 8:30 a.m. and versity of the First Class,” quickly showed the Dallas the way the founders of the ruffians they meant business, Republic (and later, state) too. had envisioned it 50 years “When we got there,” re- before. called guard Billy Richardson, Through the mist, pic- “we all bought big cigars and ture, if you will, the way it strutted down Main Street.” History was that November night The University of Texas fielded its first team in 1893. The day quickly took on when 15 or so “wanna be” the bantering that would later football players, and a couple hundred fans, gath- By 1893, 88 colleges had football teams, and become famous in Dallas as the Texas-OU week- ered at the train station in Austin to ride to Dallas. the game had been scaled down to where 11 play- end. Fans of the Texas team began their won yell, It was nearly midnight when the train of the ers were fielded on each side of the ball. The which went like this: International and Great Northern Railroad—its playing field was 110 yards long. “Hullabaloo, hullabaloo, 392 great engine straining to go—finally heard the Writer-historian Lou Maysel, in his book, “Here ’Ray, ’ray, ’ray, conductor shout, “All aboard!” Comes the Texas Longhorns,” further explained Hoo-ray, hoo-ray, And more than 100 seasons later, the ride is the game of the day. Varsity, varsity, U.T.A.” still a grand one, as each season hundreds of “...(The) Goal Posts (were) at each end and Maysel in his book recalls that a young news- thousands of fans get excited when the conductor there was no end-zone area. The ball was put in boy listened to the yell and then responded in a of the day gives the implied command, “All aboard!” play from scrimmage by the center shoveling the loud voice: Thanksgiving morning, 1893, dawned a new ball back to his quarterback, who always handed it “Hullabaloo, hoo-ray, hoo-ray, day for that college in Austin, for those young men off to another player. Only lateral passes were Austin ain’t in it today, today.” were destined for Fairgrounds Park in Dallas, where legal, which made the game primarily one of fron- But he would be proved wrong. “Varsity,” as they would play the vaunted Dallas the team was known, took the field Foot Ball Club, the self-proclaimed with determination on that mild No- “Champions of Texas.” By the turn of the century, vember day. Unbeaten for several years, and “When the teams came out for the unscored on for a time as well, the football was still a crude, rough game game, a spectator who had never seen Dallas club heard a team had been of bullish runs up the middle, football before was first taken by the formed at the state university down players’ bushy hair, which gave them in Austin, and the bruisers from Dal- but it had caught on their only cranial protection,” wrote las issued a challenge for the up- Maysel. “Uniforms consisted of lightly- starts to “come on up.” The game at the Austin campus. padded breeches and homemade can- was set for Thanksgiving Day in the vas vests tightly laced over long-sleeved hopes that it would draw a crowd in Dallas, which tal power runs. End runs were occasionally tried, jerseys. Heavy stockings and shoes, some with was then a bustling city of nearly 40,000. but defensive ends always played extremely wide homemade leather cleats nailed on, completed To understand the game, you must first under- to avoid being out-flanked. the battle gear of that day.” stand the rules, and it helps to know that the game “The necessity of making only five yards on Wrote the Dallas News that day, “To a man folks saw that day was considerably different than three consecutive downs to get a new set of downs who had never heard of Walter Camp and doesn’t the game we know today. also dictated straight-ahead football. Teams could know a half-back from a tackle, the professional The first college game between Rutgers and station any number of players on the line and tight game of football looks very much like an Indian Princeton had been played in 1869, and 50 stu- mass formations were used. Players behind the wrestling match with a lot of running thrown in.” dents participated in what amounted to a group of line could start forward before the center shoveled Texas jumped out to an early lead in the game, guys pulling off their coats to engage in a primitive the ball back and momentum plays employing attended by 2,000 fans, but at halftime the Varsity game of soccer. this practice were the vogue then. Often, team- lead was only 12-10. 2001 Texas Football The History of Texas Football So intense was the competition that one of the the final game of that year. Football reached the presidential level in 1905, two referees quit at halftime because he was tired By the turn of the century, football was still a as it addressed its first crisis on the national scene. of the players’ constant crude, rough game of Rough play, coupled with a lack of helmets and arguing with him. After On May 10, 1900, the bullish runs up the adequate protection for the body had produced so a bicycle race at inter- middle, but it had many deaths and injuries, that President Theodore mission, the Texas team Board of Regents officially caught on at the Austin Roosevelt summoned representatives of Harvard, extended its lead early campus. A muddle over Princeton and Yale to the White House for a in the second half, and declared the UT colors to school colors was settled conference. held on to win 18-16. when, on May 10, 1900, In short, Roosevelt—who had formed the The upset victory so be orange and white. The the Board of Regents of- “Rough Riders” as a military unit in San Antonio stunned Dallas that end first band was organized ficially declared them to years before—emphatically told college football Tom Monagan, who be orange and white. to tone down its savage nature. The move was played the game with a in 1900 as well. The first band was orga- adopted nationwide, and it led to the adoption of broken finger suffered nized in 1900 as well. The the forward pass—the most revolutionary change early in the fray, said afterwards, “Our name is initial instruments were purchased from a local the game has ever seen. pants and our glory has departed.” pawn shop, and the brass horns had to be taken to The rules were different and the ball was fatter, “With that,” wrote Maysel, “he pulled on his a tin shop for soldering but the pass would overcoat, jerked his cap down over his eyes, wiped before they could be open the game. It some blood off his face and started for home.” used. In 1903, a Daily Texan would also create the That first team went on to win three more In 1903, a Daily writer, D.A. Frank, first first Texas super History games, shutting out all its opponents while wav- Texan writer, D.A. Frank, back—a multi-sport ing their colors of old gold and white to victories first labeled the team, labeled the team, “The star named Clyde over San Antonio (twice) and Dallas (again). “The Longhorns,” and Littlefield. By 1912, In fact, Texas went on to shut out its first six the name eventually Longhorns,” and the name today’s conventional opponents in 1894 as well, but finally met the big stuck after constant us- scoring of six points for time when Missouri blanked the Varsity, 28-0, in age. eventually stuck. a touchdown and four 393 Notre Dame and Texas players, including Fighting Irish captain Knute Rockne (far right in black shirt), watch Notre Dame quarterback Gus Dorias’ kick clear the crossbar in a Nov. 27, 1913 matchup between two of college football’s most storied programs. www.MackBrown-TexasFootball.com The History of Texas Football downs for a first (as well as a 100-yard field) were selected by the Blue Ribbon Committee, came as play. Dennis saved the play with a spectacular in place. the climax to the 1920 season, when Texas and leaping catch in front of the goal posts and came Perhaps the most controversial part of Texas Texas A&M met as two juggernauts on Thanks- down on the four, just clearing the first down football in those early years came in 1911, when giving Day.