UT vs. A&M History
The UT Austin-Texas A&M rivalry is the oldest in Texas. In 1894, on a field slightly north of the UT campus, the football rivalry began with a loss for the farmers and a victory for our beloved steers. From A&M, founded on agriculture and engineering in a small town, to UT, founded on humanities and liberal arts in the city, this rivalry has been burning since the beginning.
In 1900, the Lonestar showdown became a Thanksgiving tradition.
In 1915, both teams entered the SWC.
In 1916, as the story goes, A&M students broke into the mascot’s barn and branded their victory of 13-0 from the previous year on the steer. 13-0 was somehow altered to say “Bevo.” Although this is technically a mythical explanation for Bevo’s name, it’s a fun story to tell.
Then in 1928, “Texas Fight” bid A&M a farewell in response to the “Aggie War Hymn.”
Texas Alums in 1933 & 1948 attempted to ignite the rivalry further, literally, by trying to set the Aggie bonfire ablaze, once by attempting to airdrop gasoline and flares.
Sadly, after 2011, the rivalry game went dormant for 13 years following A&M’s move to the SEC.
In Fall 2024, my first semester as a Longhorn, the smoke from the last game in 2011 had only just begun to settle to make room for the next matchup, where the Horns took the win, 17-7, once again. Most recently, Ms. Reveille’s team was sent home from DKR with their tails between their legs after a 17-27 loss.
My (unfortunate) history as an Aggie
After being raised my entire life by a Texas A&M family, it was almost guaranteed that my next chapter would be full of football games at Kyle Field in “The Home of The 12th Man.” My dad’s older brother graduated with the Aggie class of ‘04, and my dad graduated with the Aggie class of ‘07. So, of course, when my mom was pregnant with me in 2006, it was a given that one day I’d bleed maroon.
On May 6th, the Saturday before my dad’s finals week, he drove almost 7 hours at the crack of dawn from College Station to Odessa, TX, because my mom was in labor. At 2:07 pm that afternoon, the family’s next Aggie was born. The next day, my dad drove 7 hours back to College Station, pulled THE all-nighter of his life, and took all his junior-year final exams. During my dad’s senior year, we celebrated not only his upcoming graduation but also my first birthday. I spent my first year drooling on petroleum engineering textbooks and dressed in maroon onesies, the only proper attire in Aggieland. After my dad graduated, my family moved back home to Crane, TX. Over the years, I went to a few A&M football games, wore 12th man jerseys on College Day at school, and absolutely HATED orange. As far as I knew, my next stop was going to be College Station.
Now, A Texas Longhorn
Fast forward to my senior year of high school, Crane High School Class of ’24, I split our household in half when I finally came to my senses and decided to say Hook’em. Now, in my second year of college, I love Bevo, I love DKR, and I love being a Longhorn. But most importantly, I love when my Aggie-loving family trash-talks me all year, only to lose the rivalry game, which has happened twice now. If I had chosen A&M, the rivalry would not be nearly as fun as it is being a Longhorn, not only because A&M sucks, but because the Lonestar showdown is that much more special now.