Top five Texas Longhorns wins against Southeastern Conference teams

As the Longhorns embark on their inaugural season as members of the Southeastern Conference, history indicates that Texas has earned a number of program-defining wins against SEC teams throughout its history.

[Sign up for Inside Texas and get ONE MONTH for $1!]

Texas has faced SEC members 61 times since the conference’s inception in the early 1930s, boasting a 38-21-2 record in those contests. A large number of those games, 23 to be exact, were in bowls. Some of them were battles against teams no longer in the SEC like Tulane and Georgia Tech. Others were clashes with powerhouses of their era like Alabama in the 1970s.

As Texas moves into its new league, it’s time to take a look back at some of the Longhorns’ top victories over teams from the SEC.

#5 – 1969 Cotton Bowl
No. 5 Texas 36, No. 8 Tennessee 13

The Volunteers won the 1967 SEC title and came in second in 1968, earning a spot in the Cotton Bowl. Five teams from the SEC were in the top 20 at the end of the 1968 season, indicating the quality of the conference was during that campaign.

Texas also entered from a position of strength. The Longhorns implemented the Wishbone early in the year and rode it to major successes over the final nine games. As Southwest Conference co-champs, Texas arrived in Dallas looking to make a statement. That they did, jumping to a 28-0 halftime lead and finishing with a 36-13 win. Texas rushed for 279 yards and passed for 234 yards for a grand total of 513. Steve Worster, Chris Gilbert, and Ted Koy all added rushing touchdowns while Cotton Speyrer hauled in five passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns, including a 79-yard reception. This win would springboard the Longhorns into back-to-back titles in 1969 and 1970.

#4 – 1965 Orange Bowl
No. 5 Texas 21, No. 1 Alabama 17

Entering this game, Alabama had already won the SEC and been named the national champion by the Associated Press and the Coaches’ Poll. Led by Joe Namath and under the watchful eye of Bear Bryant, the Crimson Tide arrived in Miami sporting a 10-0 record and looking to solidify their status as one of the best teams of the 1960s. Standing in their way was a Texas team that finished second in the SWC behind Arkansas, who topped the Longhorns by one point in Austin.

That would serve as Texas’ only blemish. The Longhorns scored a 21-17 win over the Crimson Tide, stuffing four Alabama attempts at the goal line late in the fourth quarter. Namath himself was stopped on the last try. While Broadway Joe was livid, one Alabama assistant was quoted by Sports Illustrated as saying “if we can’t score in four tries from the six we don’t deserve to win.” Namath earned the game’s MVP honors, but Texas took home the bowl victory over the national champions and notched Darrell Royal‘s first win over the Bear while he was in Tuscaloosa.

#3 – 1973 Cotton Bowl
No. 7 Texas 17, No. 4 Alabama 13

Once again, Royal matched up against Bryant’s SEC champion Crimson Tide. Once again, Texas won a tight one.

Roosevelt Leaks rushed for 120 yards while Alan Lowry added 117 and the needed two touchdowns. Billy Schott made one field goal, missed another, and saw his replacement in Mike Dean miss his only attempt as well.

Even so, Lowry’s second score, a 34-yard run with 4:22 left in the game, put Texas ahead 17-13. The Longhorn defense netted a shutout across the final 30 minutes, and Royal remained undefeated against the Bear with two wins and a tie.

#2 – 1982 Cotton Bowl
No. 6 Texas 14, No. 3 Alabama 12

Royal’s protege, Fred Akers, was the Longhorns’ head coach in this contest. Like his mentor, Akers got one over the Bear. Led on drives by quarterback Robert Brewer, the Longhorns scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to overcome a 10-0 deficit. Brewer rushed to the end zone for 30 yards to make it 10-7, while Terry Orr added an 8-yard run to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive that ended with 2:05 left. Texas took a safety to make it a 14-12 contest, but Alabama could not do anything with its final chance and the Longhorns won their third straight matchup and the seventh of eight then-meetings with the Tide.

[Subscribe to the Inside Texas YouTube channel!]

#1 – 2023 Texas at Alabama
No. 11 Texas 34, No. 3 Alabama 24

Easily the most consequential regular season game against a SEC opponent, and considering the context of the 2023 season, the most important win over a SEC team in program history. Quinn Ewers and company marched into Bryant-Denny Stadium and not only gave Alabama its first non-conference loss since Louisiana-Monroe in 2007, Texas provided the Crimson Tide with its first double-digit loss at home of the entire Nick Saban era. The Longhorns rode this win to a Big 12 Championship and an appearance in the final scheduled iteration of the four-team College Football Playoff.