Texas Tech University Athletics
Tech greats bid farewell to Texas rivalry
November 23, 2023 | Football
Red Raiders and Longhorns meet at 6:30 p.m. Friday evening from Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin
When asked to describe the anticipation leading up to the annual football game against the University of Texas, legendary Texas Tech quarterback Rodney Allison put it simply.Â
"There was nothing compared to that week of preparation and being in the locker room before you played Texas," said Allison, the recently retired Director of the Double T Varsity Club and one of the great quarterbacks in school history. Â
Ricky Williams, who led the Red Raiders to wins over the Longhorns in 1997 and 1998 – the last time Texas Tech won back-to-back games in the series – had a similar description.Â
"Every game was important, but there was something different about the Texas game," said Williams, who combined for 279 rushing yards in those two wins. Â
The game was first played in 1928 and the two programs have met continuously since 1960 as conference foes in both the Southwest (SWC) and Big 12 conferences. With Texas primed to depart for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) at the end of the 2023-24 academic year, this Friday in Austin will bring the latest chapter of the tradition to an end, at least for the time being.Â
Of course, the nearly century-long history of the rivalry cannot be simply pushed aside and wiped from each program's collective memory. There was Michael Crabtree's catch in 2008. There was Rob Peters' game-winning drive ten years earlier in 1998. More recently, there was Trey Wolff's walk-off field goal a year ago in 2022. Â
For some, a win against the Longhorns was career-defining. Tracy Saul still remembers walking into Memorial Stadium (currently known as Darryl K Royal- Texas Memorial Stadium) as a true freshman in 1989. 81,826 spectators had piled into the home of the Longhorns to watch the 39th Texas Tech-Texas football game — the second-largest crowd for a sporting event in the state of Texas at the time and over 40 times as many people as the population of Idalou, Saul's hometown.Â
"It was probably the top moment of my career, playing them down there," Saul said. "I was a little small-town kid … to walk out when that upper deck was full over there in Austin was a pretty crazy experience."Â
The game itself was an instant classic, with the Spike Dykes-led Red Raiders — aided by a 67-yard punt return by Saul in the third quarter that set up a Jamie Gill go-ahead passing touchdown — walking out of Austin with a 24-17 upset win over the 22nd-ranked Longhorns, Tech's first road win over Texas in over 20 years.Â
"The game was fantastic. I remember the Tech fans sticking around after the game. It was unbelievable," Saul said. "And then we get home after the game and the airport is just completely packed. It was a cool, cool week."Â
The 1989 contest was one of many UT-Tech games that came down to the final possession during that decade, which featured five one-score finishes. Tyrone Thurman, a first team All-American as a kick returner and one of the most-explosive players to wear the scarlet and black, was part of the 1986 (23-21) and 1988 (33-32) teams that squeezed out wins over Texas in Jones Stadium in Lubbock.Â
In what was another example of a Red Raider elevating their play against the Longhorns, Thurman made what was perhaps one of the most electrifying plays in the series' history when he broke a scoreless tie in the 1986 game with a 96-yard punt return for a touchdown, which still stands as the longest return in Tech history. He was a difference-maker in the 1988 game too, hauling in a first-down pass from Billie Joe Tolliver on 4th-and-1 to set up the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.Â
"I always told Spike (Dykes), 'We can always sit up and say we finished .500 against Texas," Thurman said with a laugh. "We didn't lose in Lubbock against them."Â
It wasn't just the players on the field that felt an extra sense of motivation against the burnt orange. The fans shared that energy too, which is perhaps why so many are advocating for the series to continue beyond Big 12 play. Dane Johnson, who defeated Texas as a freshman and a senior in 1994 and 1997, said Texas week in Lubbock was unlike any other game on the schedule.Â
"The whole town looked forward to the Texas game," Johnson said. "Whether it was home or away, it didn't matter. It didn't even matter if they were good or not. That week was always electrifying."Â
That electricity and anticipation may be ending soon, at least as conference opponents, but the consensus among current and former players is that the rivalry should live on for the next generation of Longhorns and Red Raiders. Â
"What made college football to me so special was the pageantry of it. The emotion, the connection for everybody that goes to those schools to get to play against each other," Johnson said. "It was more than just a game. I would love for it to keep going."Â
