Hogs vs. Horns History, Part 2: The Heartbreaking Losses

by Stephen Expat on Sep 23, 2008 9:06 AM CDT in Football Comment 11 comments

It's Texas week (again!). A couple of weeks ago, John detailed some of the heartwarming moments in the Arkansas-Texas football rivalry. Well, I'm here to recount some of the heartbreak, to be - in this instance at least - the John Lennon to his Paul McCartney. (In another attempt to emulate the late Beatle, I've started to bring my Japanese conceptual artist girlfriend to our blog writing sessions.)

Let's face it: No team has broken the hearts of Razorback football fans more often than the Longhorns. John and I have decided that the games below are the three most demoralizing Texas losses of our time as fans (which began in the early 1980s). Please share your most heartbreaking moments in the comments thread (we have a feeling some of you might mention a certain 1969 loss). Now, on with the misery!

1. Texas 16, Arkansas 14. Oct. 17, 1987, War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock. Hands down, this one hurts the most. Arkansas came into the game ranked No. 15 with a record of 4-1. The Longhorns, on the other hand, were unranked and below .500, with a 2-3 record. I probably don't need to remind you how this ended up, but here goes: Down 14-10 with 1:48 to go, the Longhorns began an 11-play, 56-yard drive that culminated in a knife-through-the-heart, 18-yard touchdown pass from Bret Stafford to Tony Jones with no time left on the clock.

Moments later, some losers heckled Arkansas coach Ken Hatfield on his walk back to the locker room, and he made the understandable - but perhaps not terribly PR savvy - move of talking back. This loss came only three weeks after Miami had humiliated Arkansas 51-7 on the same field, and I'm not sure that Hatfield's relationship with the fan base ever really recovered from the one-two punch of those defeats, even with back-to-back Cotton Bowl appearances in the next two seasons.

On a personal note, I remember watching this game at my grandmother's 75th birthday party in Pine Bluff. Needless to say, the ending dampened the festivities for a while, at least until the alcohol started flowing in earnest.

2. Texas 15, Arkansas 13. Oct. 19, 1985, Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville. Hatfield's second Razorback squad was off to a fine start, undefeated and sitting at No. 4 in the polls, when the unranked Longhorns (sensing a theme here?) came to Northwest Arkansas with a 3-1 record. The Hogs kept Texas out of the end zone, but lost anyway after Jeff Ward kicked five field goals for the Longhorns and his Razorback counterpart, Greg Horne, missed three field goal attempts. Within hours, it seemed, the oh-so-tasteful joke that Horne had tried to commit suicide after the game - but failed when he couldn't kick the chair out from under him - had spread across the state. (By the way, if you want to check out some hilariously dated footage, check out this clip from the pre-game show. Don't stare directly at those blue blazers - they may burn your retina.)

3. Texas 24, Arkansas 20. Oct. 21, 1989, Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville. OK - I know I sound like a broken record, but once again: Arkansas - ranked (No. 7), Texas - not ranked. Arkansas took a 14-13 lead into halftime, but the Longhorns used a third-quarter touchdown (followed by a two-point conversion) and a third-quarter field goal to take a 24-14 lead. Arkansas cut Texas' lead to six with a third-quarter touchdown run by Barry Foster, but failed to convert a two-point conversion attempt. Neither team would score afterwards, and Arkansas' hope for a second-straight undefeated conference season went down the tubes.

To their credit, the Hogs did a good job of cheering us up quickly: One week later, they defeated Houston 45-39 in an epic shootout in War Memorial Stadium.

Honorable Mention:
Texas 33, Arkansas 7. Dec. 4, 1982, Memorial Stadium, Austin. We were ranked No. 6, and Texas was No. 12. They routed us, which is always painful. To add insult to injury, this match-up take took place one week after the "pass interference, my ass" game against SMU.

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“pass interference my ass” game. I was 8 and that was my first real razorback heartache. I just felt it all over again when I read this. I remember the ‘87 game and my Dad stormed out the front door and I stormed out the back door. Once outside I saw him walking back and forth muttering to himself but I knew better than to approach a wounded animal. Good posts. This week may be so bad it won’t even hurt.

by Carolina Hog on Sep 23, 2008 12:21 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I suppose the 2004 loss is the one that sticks out for me, for I was in Fayetteville for the game, and the memory is a lot clearer than what I have from the SWC days. The big if’s in that game were 1.) If the Hogs don’t get a safety for snapping it over the kicker’s head and out the end-zone during the first quarter . . . 2.) If Matt Jones just would have held on to the ball in the last two minutes and not have fumbled near the endzone . . . I think we ended up losing by those two points lost in the first quarter. Man. We didn’t do much else that season, but at least we could have said we had beaten Texas. Maybe this will be the year that all goes to crap, but it gets the stamp of approval by the fans, for, hey, we did beat Texas! We will soon find out.

by KevinHog on Sep 23, 2008 12:44 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I was 16 in 1969. It was probably the last time I got truly nervous before a UofA football game. Like Frank, I have never again allowed myself to care that much. Heartbreaking does not cover it. It is a curse that remains on the Razorback Psyche. We will never be rid of this demon until we have returned to our rightful place in the Top 10 as Quarterback U and win that well deserved National Title.

by BlindHog on Sep 23, 2008 12:46 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Blind,
When were we Quarterback U? With the way offense was played in the 60’s it would be hard to label anyone as Quarterback U back in the day.

by Carolina Hog on Sep 23, 2008 1:28 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I’m one of the people the 1969 game remark was aimed at, but that loss wasn’t really so heart-breaking. Sure, the sainted Bill Montgomery threw an interception on third down at the Texas 7 when a field goal probably would have put the game away, but Darryl Royal made a gutsy fourth down call and James Street threw a perfect deep pass to set up the game-winning touchdown. I figure Texas deserved to win and we showed we were just as good as them. Two big plays made the difference.

No, the loss to Texas that sticks in my crawl is the 1987 one, where Hatfield called timeout before the last play when Texas was out of timeouts, allowing them to set up the winning touchdown. My brother and I were watching it on TV at a casino in Lake Tahoe, and the guy next to us, who had bet on the Hogs, was so pissed that they were not going to beat the spread and that Hatfield had called timeout that he actually cheered for the Longhorns to win the game.

Did I mention that Hatfield called timeout as Texas, who had no timeouts left, was scrambling desperately to get off a last play?

by Whit E. Knight on Sep 23, 2008 6:24 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Hi Whit,

Re: the 1987 game, I didn’t remember the timeout detail. That’s beyond frustrating.

by Stephen on Sep 23, 2008 6:48 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Ah, you youngsters. The 1969 game was so exquisitely painful that, once experienced, nothing could ever compare. Remember, for all intents and purposes it was for the national championship. We never came that close again. I remember going to my room and just bawling for hours under my poster of Bill Montgomery. I recommend the reasonably good study of that game, “Hogs, Horns and Nixon Coming,” by Terry Frei. He tries a little too hard to pull politics into the game, when, as best as I can tell, nothing was more immune from politics in 1969 than southern college football. But his stories about the players, their lasting mutual respect, and the detailed account of the game, all have finally helped put balm on the wound.

by J. Hawg 3 on Sep 24, 2008 6:48 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

“Britnum to Crockett”, Bill Montgomery, Joe Ferguson, the pro passing attack. Until Darryl kicked Frank’s butt with the wishbone and he put Ferguson in the wishbone, Arkansas’ play in the heyday was measured by the success of her QB. Yeah, we had good tailbacks and better defense than we have seen in decades but, the standard was about the QB. Why do you think Ferguson even came here?

by BlindHog on Sep 24, 2008 1:29 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Stephen, can you ID those bawling cheerleaders? Or at least give us a year? My secretary thinks she knows one of them.

by J. Hawg 3 on Sep 25, 2008 7:15 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

J Hawg,

I don’t have any names, but I’m pretty sure the picture is from the 1978 SWC Tournament and was taken after the Hogs lost to Houston and placed their NCAA bid in serious jeopardy.

by Stephen on Sep 25, 2008 9:04 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs