59 days until Texas Football: The Longhorns' next bowl game will be the 59th in program history
Inside Texas is putting a new twist on long-time photographer Will Gallagher’s time-honored countdown to Texas football kickoff. In addition to Will’s great pictures, the Inside Texas staff will go through every player on the roster by jersey number and offer a season outlook on each, from five-star to walk-on.
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We’ll also look back at other greats to wear that day’s number, with special reverence to some of Texas’ best.
Today is 59 days until kickoff. No one is currently assigned No. 59 for the Longhorns this season so we will look at Texas’ efforts to reach its 59th bowl game in school history this season.
Texas is 31-25-2 in postseason bowl games
The Longhorn football program is third all-time in bowl games played with 58, trailing only Alabama (75) and Georgia (61). While the Longhorns have higher aspirations in every season than simply reaching a bowl, the third-place total indicates how Texas has made it to a postseason classic both in the era when it was seen as a true reward and interregional test, and in the current era where the emphasis of placed on these super-sponsored contests are of diminished importance.
Texas’ first bowl game was on January 1, 1943. Texas ventured to Dallas to play Georgia Tech in the Cotton Bowl, a contest the Longhorns won 14-7. The first Longhorn loss in a bowl game came January 1, 1951, when Tennessee topped Texas in the same game. The Horns didn’t enter that game unblemished in bowls, as Texas tied Randolph Field 7-7 in the 1944 Cotton Bowl.
Many of the 58 appearances, 22 to be exact, have been Cotton Bowls. Texas is 11-10-1 in those games, with the most recent appearance being a win over Nick Saban’s LSU Tigers in the 2003 edition. While other bowl games the Horns have played in like the Freedom Bowl and the Bluebonnet Bowl have met their demise, the Cotton is still in existence and the Horns hope they can make it to the game currently contested in AT&T Stadium this season since it is one of two College Football Playoff semi-finals.
Some of the most consequential football games in UT history were bowl games, such as the 1964 Cotton Bowl win over Navy, 1965 Orange Bowl win over Alabama, the 1970 Cotton Bowl win over Notre Dame, and the 2009 Fiesta Bowl win over Ohio State to name a few. Of course, the two Rose Bowl wins in 2005 and 2006 stand out thanks to Vince Young’s heroics that led Texas to its fourth national title.
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There have also been difficult losses, like the 1971 Cotton Bowl versus Notre Dame, the 1978 Cotton Bowl loss to the Fighting Irish, the 1984 Cotton Bowl loss to Georgia, and the 2010 BCS National Championship game loss to Alabama.
Bowl games have been jumping-off points for careers. Most recently, Bijan Robinson became a name on the national scene thanks to his dominant performance versus a mediocre Colorado team in the 2020 Alamo Bowl.
Darrell Royal posted a program best 16 bowl appearances as head coach of the Longhorns. Mack Brown follows him in the record books with 15. Fred Akers is next with nine. No other UT coach has more than five.
Current head coach Steve Sarkisian is seeking his first bowl win at Texas in his third season leading the Longhorns. There’s more to his goal for the season than just reaching the six-win plateau, but if he does he’ll continue the Texas trend of playing in the postseason more times than all but two schools.
Recent player to wear No. 59: John Osborn
Osborn was a member of the scout team in his two seasons on the 40 Acres.
All-Americans to wear No. 59
None
Joe Cook co-authored this story.
