There’s a little football game being played Saturday night at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. I’d say only students and alumni of the two schools involved really care, but I think the waves of interest spread just a bit farther than that.
Texas A&M, my beloved alma mater in College Station, and the University of Texas, the campus in Austin that I considered attending – mostly because I wanted to be in the Longhorn Band – have played on the gridiron 118 times since 1894. It’s a football rivalry that, sadly, ended after the Longhorns won 27-25 in 2011 and the Aggies bolted the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference.
This year, Texas and Oklahoma joined A&M in the now-16-team SEC, so the rivalry is on again. As we Aggies say … whoop!!! It’s great for the schools, great for the students, great for both institutions’ alumni – and great for the state of Texas.
UT, which Aggies lovingly call t.u., holds a commanding 76-37-5 advantage in the series. If not for the stretch between 1984 and ’94, when the ’Horns had a bit of a down stretch and the Aggies won 10 of the teams’ 11 showdowns, that dominance would be even more lopsided.
During the four football seasons I spent as an A&M student before graduating with a journalism degree in May 1983, the Aggies defeated Texas twice (1979 and ’80) and the ’Horns returned the favor my last two years in 1981 and ’82. During those last two games, I was a sports writer, then sports editor, for The Battalion, A&M’s student newspaper. So I was covering them inside the press box, where cheering and swaying with fellow students during the Aggie War Hymn isn’t allowed.
By far, my fondest memories of this cherished rivalry come from games many years later, including one I attended in 2005. That Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving, I drove my dear 77-year-old father-in-law, Shelley Collier Jr., a 1950 graduate of the University of Texas, and I three hours from Arlington to Aggieland so we could attend the 11 a.m. game at Kyle Field. It was a couple of years before he and my wife Kay’s mother, Caryl, moved to Dallas from McAllen in the Rio Grande Valley, and they had driven up in their RV to spend Thanksgiving with us and our young children, as well as Kay’s sister Mikie and her family who lived in the area.
Texas brought a 10-0 record and No. 2 ranking into that game, while A&M was 5-5 and fighting for bowl eligibility. No one really expected the Aggies to win behind redshirt freshman quarterback Stephen McGee, who was starting in place of the injured Reggie McNeal.
But they pushed the ’Horns to the limit, trailing only 34-29 heading to the fourth quarter. Texas and all-world quarterback Vince Young kicked two field goals in the final period to salvage a 40-29 win on its way to a national championship. The game was a true classic.
My father-in-law, whom I always called Dad, and I sat high in the upper deck in the north end zone, surrounded by Aggie alums like me. Especially during the second half with the game on the line, they were loud and standing almost constantly, so Dad had a tough time seeing what was happening. He was in good health, but most of the time, he remained seated and I would sit back down between plays to give him updates.
Despite missing out on some of the frenzied, decisive action of the second half, Dad always told me in his later years what a great time he had at that game. And over the years, before and after until the rivalry ended – temporarily, thankfully – in 2011, we always watched the clash together on TV, whether it fell on Thanksgiving or the day after.
Here’s part of the letter Dad hand-wrote me just days after the game:
“I can’t thank you enough for the tickets to the A&M-Texas game. It was, as best I remember, the 1st game I’ve attended in about 40 years. And I got to see what may be the finest football player to don a Texas U. uniform in all its history! And spending the day with you was a lot of fun also. As I’ve told you before, I’m proud to have you as a son-in-law.”
A great man of the deepest integrity, Shelley Hale Collier Jr., who spent his career as a bank owner/president in the Valley, passed away early on Christmas morning in 2019 at the age of 91. We all miss him so very much.
Saturday night’s game should be a great one – if the Aggies show up on both sides of the ball. Texas is 10-1 and ranked No. 3; A&M is 8-3 and No. 20. The winner will face Georgia in the SEC championship game, with a trip to the College Football Playoff at stake. The ’Horns are favored, as they should be, having lost only to Georgia. But A&M is capable of beating Texas with some luck – and, most important, a complete game.
I know my father-in-law will be cheering for his Longhorns from his heavenly armchair. But Dad, just like you always put up with me rooting on the Ags while sitting next to you, I know you’ll understand if I get just a little fired up watching them play your team for the first time in 13 years.
BTHO Texas!!! 😊 👍
A Life of Words 