Quinn Ewers 'fired up' for Texas A&M rivalry

Texas may have joined a new conference, but in doing so the Longhorns have rehashed a century-old rivalry between them and the Texas A&M Aggies.

The Longhorns, who currently lead the all-time series 76–37–5, will reignite the rivalry inside Kyle Field on Nov. 30. Despite never playing a game against them, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers offered his perspective on the longstanding grudge between the two programs.

“[They] topped playing back in 2011, if I’m correct,” Ewers said of his knowledge of the rivalry. “Think I was eight, but hearing stories from my family and my dad, my dad actually said he believed growing up that the Texas A&M game was bigger than the Red Rivalry game. I’m excited to have that game back and it’s going to be cool, especially going to Kyle Field Thanksgiving weekend and that place is going to be rockin’. We’re all fired up for it.”

While the series heavily favors the Longhorns historically, the series was fairly even in the final years before Texas A&M’s departure to the SEC. In the final six years of the rivalry, the bitter rivals split those games with three wins apiece.

The first game of the rivalry dates back to 1894, and while Texas has dominated many stretches of the game’s history, Texas A&M was able to string together a 10-1 record against the Longhorns from 1984-1994, exactly a century from the start of the series. While they split the final six games, Texas won 12 of the last 17 matchups before the Aggies’ move to the SEC over a decade ago.

2011’s matchup saw Texas sneak away with a 27-25 victory following a game-winning kick by Justin Tucker as time expired. The two programs have went their separate ways in the years since, but the Longhorns’ choice to join the Aggies’ conference allows for this old rivalry to be rekindled.

Multiple attempts to revive the series have been put on the table but all have failed, which includes legitimate legislation proposals by Texas lawmakers on more than one occasion. It had to take a college football-shifting conference realignment to revive the series, and now both sides can look forward to fighting for bragging rights this Thanksgiving season.

For both parties, if one thing is for sure — Nov. 30 can’t come quick enough as Texas is set to travel to College Station for the first time in 14 years.