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Norman Fitzroy Maclean was an American author and scholar noted for his book “A River Runs Through It.” In the movie rendition of his book, there is a profound statement about how rivers reveal the history of time.
My thoughts focused on the essence of time as told by the Red River. The quote goes:
“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words….” (OU STILL SUCKS).
Of course, I don’t feel that way most of the time, but today I do!
The whole story of the Texas-OU rivalry from 1900 to 2009 is primarily a rivalry of young Texans playing for different states. It has always been hard for me to understand why any great athlete would choose Norman, Oklahoma over Austin, Tx. But they do, and over the last 15 years, the Sooner Texans have embarrassed the Horn Texans many times.
We have to change that scenario, and I hope this weekend is the beginning of the end of Oklahoma’s domination of the Horns.
Below is the story of the 1947 Texas -O.U. Game with DKR starting for the Sooners.
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1947 • NO. 3 TEXAS 34, NO. 15 OKLAHOMA 14
1947 is Bud Wilkinson’s first game against Texas.
Darrell Royal intercepts a Bobby Lane pass, but a penalty flag negated the interception. Known as the “Sisco Game” by O.U. fans in honor (or dishonor) of referee Jack Sisco, The game turned on a disputed play as time expired in the first half with the score tied at 7-7.
Texas quarterback Bobby Layne’s handoff to halfback Jimmy Canady bounced to Layne, who pitched it to Randall Clay, who ran for a touchdown. O.U.’s head coach claimed that Clay’s knee touched down, but Referee Sisco disagreed. As Texas pulled away in the second half, O.U. fans threw bottles and cushions onto the field and hanged Sisco in effigy. For the whole story on the Texas-OU series from inception until 2009, click on the link https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/texasou-games
The link to the whole story about the Sisco game is at:
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Most of you have seen the bust of James Street and Duke Carlisle, but you have not seen the busts of Eddie Phillips and Vince Young. Here they all are. Each of these quarterbacks was instrumental in defeating the Land Thieves during their National Championship years.
CDC officially confirmed in writing that the busts of the 4 Longhorn national championship quarterbacks will each have a home at DKR Stadium.
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Eddie Phillips and Vince Young
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The History of Longhorn football as seen through the “Eyes of Texas” Peter Gardere
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PETER THE GREAT
by Larry Carlson ( lc13@txstate.edu )
There’s a word in the American lexicon that is more overused, abused — and certainly more misused — than even iconic, awesome, and incredible.- Unique is the word.
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Sorry, but there are no degrees. Nobody is more unique than anyone else. No barbecue joint is the most unique. That diving catch was not pretty unique.
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Given all that, Peter Gardere does, indeed, hold a unique spot in the Texas-OU record books.
Those who bleed burnt orange know this.
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Peter comes from a family with significant sports genes. His grandfather George played quarterback at Texas in 1922, and Peter’s father as a defensive back starter suffered a season-ending broken neck on the first play of the first game in 1953.
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Gardere was recruited by Texas, Notre Dame, Penn State, and other great universities, but Peter finally chose Texas because of His Longhorn genes ,
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and Coach McWilliams recruiting skills.
Peter says “my Coach was David McWilliams ….…. He was such a
great guy, who was a lot of fun, and we enjoyed playing for him.”
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Peter also earned Mackovic’s respect. Mackovic says about Peter, “I don’t know anybody who earned as much respect from his teammates and coaches this year as he did.”
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In 1953 Smokey the Cannon was born to offset the power of the O.U. Rugnecks cannon. Smokey was built by U.T.’s mechanics engineering laboratory, but all was not well with young engineers building cannons. Twice Smokey was almost excommunicated. The first came after a shot close to the stand in 1954 exploded inside the barrel, which brought a complaint from a woman who said she suffered temporary deafness and a burnt hole in her dress from the blast.
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Smokey went through an overhaul to accommodate a double barrel 10- gauge shotgun for the 1955 season. Unfortunately, that did not work, so Smokey converted to a 12 gauge blank. In 1966 the SWC faculty committee outlawed all cannons for league games. However, the SWC reinstated cannons at football games in 1969!
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Longhorn memories through “The Eyes of Texas” Billy Schott
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Author and Professor Larry Carlson is convinced that Billy Schott should replace the present most interesting man in the world.
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But that I ain’t gonna happen! Still, Billy’s life is fascinating, and he deserves to be celebrated by the Longhorn Nation for his genetically driven burnt orange passion.
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You have to experience the Cotton Bowl tunnel from a Longhorn player, coach, trainer, or manager’s point of view to know that Billy Schott’s profound article captures the essence of walking down the tunnel as a participant in the Texas-O.U. game.
https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/billy-schott-oralhistory
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Oklahoma was a soft touch in 1964 and 1965 when Gomer Jones was the head coach. “We had their signals both years Gomer was there,” Texas assistant Coach Coffee recalls. Bill Ellington had them down Cold. O.U.’s codes were simple to decipher.
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link to “stealing signals” is below.
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A special thanks to the Austin-based law firm of Minton Bassett, Flores & Carsey. Without their sponsorship in 2021, there would be no TLSN oral history section.
If you do not know the “C” in MBFC it is our John Carsey who was a member of Abe Lemons NIT championship team.
MBFC sponsored Herkie Walls, Peter Gardere, Buck Cody, Gary Plock, Rob Moerschell, Mike Barnes, Beth Coblentz, Billy Schott, and Octavious Bishop broadcasts.
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In 2022 TLSN seeks two to three sponsors to defray some expenses in hiring professionals to present original content on the TLSN website.
If you are interested in sponsoring, please get in touch with Billy Dale at williamdale@msn.com.
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TLSN is not associated with the UT Athletics Department or any organization closely aligned with UT.
TLSN is an independent organization celebrating Longhorn Sports History and assisting qualifying Horns who need temporary financial assistance.
The TLSN website and newsletter are free, educational, historical, and insightful. Sharing Longhorn sports history through the eyes of those who created it.
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