Texas football: 5 best seasons in Longhorns history
By Ethan Lee
Ranking the five best seasons in Texas football history.
Few college football jobs are better than the head coaching gig at the University of Texas. There’s plenty of money and an abundance of resources that come with the position, but a few extra dollars and nicer facilities aren’t the only reasons why that job is so great.
Texas football is known for a prestigious college football program, one of the best in the entire sport. And that’s largely due to a rich history of success in Austin, Texas.
Texas has shown over its history that it is one of the premier college football programs in the country. The Longhorns have won 916 games, played in 56 bowl games, won 30 conference titles, and have claimed four national championships.
With so much success throughout the history of the program, it’s a little difficult to go through and pick the five best years in the school’s history. The Longhorns have done just about everything possible when it comes to having success as a program.
That said, here are the five best seasons in Texas football history:
5. Best Texas football teams: Colt McCoy leads Longhorns to BCS title game
Under national championship-winning head coach Mack Brown’s leadership and with star quarterback Colt McCoy throwing the ball all over the field, the Texas Longhorns looked to be one of the best teams in the country all throughout the 2009 college football season.
The No. 2 Longhorns jumped out to a quick 5-0 start before meeting up with the No. 20 Oklahoma Sooners in Dallas. And although the series is often labeled the “Red River Shootout, the game was low scoring and slow. Texas claimed a solid 16-13 win over the Sooners to advance to 6-0.
Wins over Mizzou, No. 13 Oklahoma State, UCF, Baylor, and Kansas came easy for the Longhorns. Texas didn’t get its next challenge until it faced Texas A&M in College Station. There, the Aggies tried to spoil Texas’ season but came up short as the Longhorns finished the regular season undefeated, beating their rival 49-39.
In the Big 12 championship game, the Texas Longhorns nearly got more than they bargained for. While Texas was unbeaten and had barely struggled all season, Nebraska proved to be a tougher team to beat than any of Texas’ other opponents. The matchup featured two Heisman candidates in Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh and Texas’ McCoy. Though it appeared that Nebraska was going to get the win, it was McCoy and the Longhorns who were able to come away with a 13-12 victory.
That Big 12 championship win propelled Texas into the BCS Championship Game against Alabama. McCoy ended up losing the Heisman to Bama’s Mark Ingram and then was injured early in the game while being tackled by Marcell Dareus. Without McCoy, Texas’ offense struggled and the Longhorns lost to the Crimson Tide.
Though the Longhorns fell in the BCS National Championship Game against Nick Saban’s Alabama, they finished the year at 13-1, tying 2005 for the most wins in a single season in school history. Texas won its third Big 12 title and its 30th conference title with that win over Nebraska.