Texas Football: The last time the Longhorns...
How well-versed are you on Texas football and the last time that certain statistics or milestones were accomplished or surrendered?
[Get Inside Texas Plus until the start of the 2023 season for $29.99!]
Well, we are betting that there’s a handful of facts, figures, and dates that may have fallen out of your collective memory banks. Hey, that’s easy to understand with all that recruiting news and potential coaching hires and whatnot rolling around in your head.
The sports information office at every university is tasked with keeping up with every bit of minutia surrounding the teams they publicize, and the staff at Texas is one of the best, if not the best, in the nation at the task. There are two pages of “Last Times” in the Longhorns’ football media guide, one for Texas accomplishments and the other for record against Texas.
We picked out five really tough “last times” and five others that will be easier to answer if you are ever asked in a discussion with friends…or Aggies. This is the first in series, so check back for more in the future.
And away we go.
The tough ones
When was the last time Texas…
Had a receiver with 15 or more receptions
That would be Oct. 25, 2008, when Jordan Shipley hauled in 15 passes in a 28-24 win over Oklahoma State. Shipley had 168 yards and a touchdown receiving in the win. It was the only time a Texas receiver had 15 catches a game.
Had a 300-yard rusher in a game
D’Onta Foreman reeled off 341 yards (on 33 carries) on the road against Texas Tech on Nov. 5, 2016 in a 45-37 win. Foreman also scored three times in the victory, which was the Longhorns’ first on the road of the season. Foreman’s production that day ranks third in Texas’ single-game record book, behind Ricky Williams’ 350 yards on 37 totes against Iowa State in 1998 and Roosevelt Leaks’ 342-yard output, also on 37 carries, at SMU in 1973.
Had a return for a touchdown on the opening kickoff of a game
You have to go way back to Sept. 24, 1966 when Greg Lott reeled off a 88-yard TD return to start the game at Texas Tech. The Longhorns needed Lott’s big return in a 31-21 win as they were outgained 373-248 in total offense. It’s been 674 games since Texas had a TD on the opening kickoff, making it one of the longest “last times” on the list.
Had a field goal of more than 59 yards
The legendary Russell Erxleben nailed a 60-yard field goal on Oct. 29, 1977 at home against Texas Tech in a 26-0 win. It’s still the longest field goal ever by a Texas kicker and has set the bar high for 559 games. Erxleben also had a 35-yard field goal in this game but missed a PAT.
Had fewer than zero yards rushing
That would be on Oct. 7, 2000 against Oklahoma, when the 11th ranked Longhorns rushed for minus-7 yards in a 63-14 loss in the Cotton Bowl. The Sooners had season-highs in rushing yards (245) and attempts (56). Oklahoma’s points were, at the time, the most it had ever scored against Texas, or for that matter a ranked opponent. It’s been 308 games since that forgettable day in Big D
The easier ones
When was the last time Texas…
Had 400 or more yards rushing in a game
That was just this season when the Longhorns, aided by Bijan Robinson’s 243 yards, racked up 427 on the ground in a 55-14 win at Kansas. Texas performance in that win also is the most recent time it had more than 500 yards of total offense (539), a player (Robinson) score four TDs, and a player (Bert Auburn) kick seven PATs in a game.
Had two kickoff returns for a TD in the same game
Never. That’s right, it’s never happened.
Had a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery on the same play
Anthony Cook produced this rare trifecta in the Longhorns’ 32-27 win at TCU on Oct 2. 2021. After that victory Texas dropped seven straight games, though that was not because of Cook.
Held an opponent to less than zero yards rushing
The Longhorns’ defense stymied USC’s attack to minus-5 yards on the ground in a 37-14 win at home on Sept. 15, 2018, a span of 59 games.
Had an opponent score 70 points
Never. It’s been since a 63-21 loss to Oklahoma in Dallas in 2012 that the opposition has scored more than 60 points in a game against the Longhorns.
And a real easy one…
When was the last time Texas…
Beat A&M
That happened on Nov. 25, 2011 as Justin Tucker’s 40-yard field goal on the game’s final play was the difference in a 27-25 victory. It was Texas A&M’s last Big 12 game and the 118th meeting between the bitter rivals before the Aggies departed for the Southeastern Conference… and lives forever in Longhorns’ lore.
