Skip to main content
texas logo

The Mount Rushmore of Texas Longhorn Hits

by:RT Young•03/31/25
On3 image
Earl Campbell (Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)

The Tyler Rose turned 70 years young yesterday. The Longhorns’ first Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL MVP is one of the greatest players of all time but also one of the most legendary Texans. I was thinking, besides Earl Campbell and Willie Nelson, what other Texans have higher approval ratings? I can’t think of any that didn’t die in the Texas Revolution.

[Join Inside Texas TODAY and get FOUR MONTHS for just ONE DOLLAR!] 

Have you ever met anyone who didn’t love Earl? For instance, my father (an ardent Texas hater) adopted the Longhorns for Campbell’s senior season in which he won the Heisman and went to every game. Earl transcended sports. There is a dichotomy within Campbell himself. Off the field he might be the coolest customer who has ever lived, but on the field he was capable of delivering more punishment than any player ever has.

In honor of Earl’s birth, thank you Mama Campbell, I thought the next installment of our Inside Texas Mount Rushmore series should be the Rushmore of Biggest Hits in Texas Football history.

Like the real Mount Rushmore, this isn’t a ranking, simply four faces of equal gravitas who are etched into stone for eternity, side by side. Find Rushmore Volume One and Two.

Have it out in the comments section, but I regrettably did not choose any of Bryant Westbrook’s all time hits in a Longhorn uniform against Notre Dame, Virginia Tech or Texas A&M. Someone has to be FDR or James K Polk in the sculpting of a monument, after all.

We’ll do a monument to Westbrook at some point.

Face One: Earl’s Stiff Arm

Most Texans have seen Oiler Earl’s legendary run against the Rams, where multiple things happen that, if they occurred in isolation, would have made it an unbelievable run. But fewer Texans or Longhorn fans born after a certain year have seen Earl obliterate Rice safety Michael Downs.

Campbell’s stiff arm thrust the Owl defender into the air and carried him several yards back as The Tyler Rose scored. He delivered such a punishment to Downs (who had a nice NFL career), Earl has to claim him as a dependent on his tax return ever since. It is the embodiment of Campbell’s superhuman ability in a play, a reminder he was immortal and even future NFL veterans are mere mortals in comparison.

Face Two: Brian Robison on Rhett Bomar

This vicious hit inspired a Texas centric internet meme of being “BOMAR’ED.” Robison’s sack of the Oklahoma Sooner quarterback and car enthusiast was the physical symbol of Texas turning the tide on Bob Stoops’ squad. Mack Brown had lost five Red River Shootouts in a row but would win four out of five after this crushing hit by Robison. I will never get enough of Rod Wright’s upright robotic rumble into the Cotton Bowl’s end zone with the ball Robison knocked loose.

Face Three: Quan Cosby on Lendy Holmes

Another offensive play. But this pancake block delivered by Cosby on a poor Oklahoma defender during a Jordan Shipley catch and run is the literal play I think of when I remember the Colt McCoy to Shipley era. Those teams had a toughness and inability to be counted out, seen here when Cosby separated Holmes’ soul from his body en route to Texas’ legendary 45 35 win over the Sooners in 2008.

Face Four: Sergio Kindle Beheads Taylor Potts

My apologies to Tony Brackens, Nathan Vasher, and Quandre Diggs. The Longhorns have delivered a lot of punishment to their Red Raider brethren over the years and frankly those three hits, along with Kindle’s, could be their own Mount Rushmore.

The crazy thing about Kindle knocking Potts’ block off is I don’t know if it is targeting in 2025. I think it might be a clean hit even today, provided Kevin Mar isn’t officiating. The sack sealed the 2009 game for Texas in Austin and sent the Red Raiders back to the Staked Plains with their tails tucked between their legs.

Goodness, Potts was inhaled by Kindle, bones and all. It’s a hit Texas fans will never forget.

[Order THE LONGHORN ALPHABET today and teach your little ones the A to Z’s of Texas Football!]

Honorable mention: Bevo XV on the fence and photographer while pursuing Uga before the 2019 Sugar Bowl.

You may also like