Win or lose there would be property damage. Arkansas week was the one he dreaded the most. * Back in the 1960's my dad was General Manager of the Driskill hotel in Austin. The sophistication of the Razorback fan base knows no bounds Through the years, I have witnessed numerous examples of just how obsessed the fan base is. Rest assured that the Arkansas players have been made well aware of as to who is on the schedule this week. The players on the present Texas team don't know a Razorback from an Owl, a Miner, a Knight, or any other recent non-conference opponent. "For Arkansas fans, Texas has been the No. I have not had a single soul say, 'Do you remember the SMU game of '55 or '66?' They don't even talk about it. When we left the Southwest Conference and I'd see fans and they would talk about a game back when I coached or (Ken) Hatfield or Lou Holtz coached, the only game they ever talked about was a Texas game," Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles said. He thought it would be "neat" to pay homage to the past. It's been so "neat" that Arkansas has won 2 out of 3 matchups. Even after leaving the Southwest Conference, Frank Broyles understood fully how his fan base still viewed Texas. Mack Brown put Arkansas back on the schedule for a home-and-home when he arrived at Texas. The Longhorns imploded, and Arkansas eventually ditched the SWC for the SEC. Texas won 7 out of 10 contests between 1977-86. Arkansas requested that they continue to play Texas the week after the Horns played OU.Īfter Royal and Broyles retired, Fred Akers kept up the Longhorn domination of the Razorbacks, until the wheels fell off his program. The 8 teams already in the SWC were given the option to "reserve" one game for the same weekend it had always been on. Houston joined the SWC in 1976, and it caused a scramble to reorganize the yearly schedule. Texas had several close call wins as well over Arkansas under Royal, but the average score of a Texas win over the Razorbacks during that 19-year run (1958-76) was 27-11. The one blowout win over Texas under Broyles was in 1971 when Arkansas took out the frustration of 19 on the Longhorns 31-7. The total win margin in those four games was 10 points. And for this, Arkansas families named babies after him.īroyles won the adulation of hog fans everywhere by winning four out of 10 games against Texas in the 1960's. That's a winning percentage of 26%.įrank Broyles won 5 out of 19 games against DKR and Texas. In the game that mattered most, Broyles was 5-14 against Royal and Texas. Broyles won three SWC championships outright and shared four others in 19 seasons. The series reached the national stage when Frank Broyles arrived in Fayetteville and forged a friendship and rivalry with Darrell Royal. Losing on a regular basis just rubbed salt into the wounds. As the outsider, they looked at Texas and saw all that they hated and envied in an opponent, from facilities to recruiting advantages to historical success. This no doubt had a lot to do with the fact that Arkansas was the lone out-of-state member in the Southwest Conference. Off the field, the rivalry has ALWAYS mattered more to the Razorbacks, to the point of paranoia and obsession. They all have less than 23 wins against Texasīaylor has more wins against Texas (22) than Arkansas. What do former SWC members Arkansas, SMU, TCU and Rice have in common? Texas won the first game played between the two schools 54-0 in 1894, and Arkansas didn't win a contest until 1933 after losing 14 straight to the Horns. Texas dominates the overall series, winning 55 games while losing only 21 times to the Hogs. The two teams don't play each other on a regular basis, and for Texas there is no compelling reason to put the Razorbacks on the schedule.īecause no matter how much lipstick you put on this pig, the Texas-Arkansas series is one-sided, both on and off the field. There was a period back in 1960's and 1970's when the Texas-Arkansas rivaly mattered nationally, but that time has long passed. These two rivals continue on a yearly basis. Of course every once in a while they would ruin the family picture by doing something inappropriate or embarrassing, like actually winning a football game against us. You tolerate them because, hey they're family and because they are always good for a couple of laughs at family reunions. The Aggies are the goofy, half-wit cousin who loves to play dress up and protect the tree house in the backyard with toy sabers. The Sooners are the renegade program that invades your territory to steal some of your finest talent, and then bring them back across the border to try and humiliate you on home soil. Two of those rivalries are long-standing and continous. Growing up as a child of the 60's and as a Longhorn fan meant that every year three games were circled on the schedule. 1 : a competitive or antagonistic state or condition
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