Georgia vs. Texas Football History: Fran Tarkenton, Tom Landry and Bevo attack Uga

66 years later, Fran Tarkenton remembers every detail of his college football debut. It took place at Memorial Stadium, as the Texas stadium was called at the time. And it happened when Tarkenton brought himself into the game.

Tarkenton was the backup quarterback at the start of the 1958 season. Georgia’s offense was terrible and they failed to score a first down. Tarkenton watched with growing disgust.

“I had been pestering Wally Butts, ‘Let me in, let me in, let me in.’ He never did,” Tarkenton said last week.

So he took the initiative. When Texas punted early in the fourth quarter, Tarkenton noticed that Georgia’s starting quarterback was on the bench. The sophomore stood at the 50-yard line, right next to Butts, and didn’t wait.

“I just ran around the field,” Tarkenton said. “My teammates told me, ‘What are you doing here?’”

Either Butts didn’t have enough time to stop him or he just didn’t care. Asked what Butts said to him afterwards, Tarkenton replied: “Nothing! Nothing!” Anyway, what followed was still one of the longest drives in Georgia history: 21 plays, 95 yards, capped by Tarkenton hitting Jimmy Vickers for a 3-yard touchdown and then Aaron Box for the first Two-point conversion in the program made history (This year there was a new rule.)

Texas responded with a long drive of its own – 72 yards in 17 plays – and won the game. But the legend of Tarkenton’s career had begun, and it seemed like a good time for two of the biggest programs in college football to start a storied rivalry. But that was the last time Georgia visited Austin.

Until this Saturday, which is only the sixth time the two powers have faced off.

The rivalry, such as it is, has created moments: Bevo goes after Uga. Darrell Royal’s first game as Texas coach. Georgia moves a home game to Georgia Tech stadium for financial reasons. Tom Landry plays his final game with the Longhorns. Georgia ruins Texas’ national title hopes.

A short story:

1949: Orange Bowl, Texas wins 41-28

That should have been a mismatch: Georgia was ranked 8th and riding an eight-game winning streak. Texas was unranked with three losses and only got the nod to the Orange Bowl because SMU, which won the Southwest Conference, went to the Cotton Bowl.

The game started quite happily for the Bulldogs, who got a 71-yard pick six from Al Bodine. But the Longhorns rallied and took the lead with a touchdown run by Landry, who finished the game with 117 yards. The future Dallas Cowboys coach turned pro after the game. Butts suffered the first of three losses to Texas.

1957: Atlanta, season opener, Texas wins 26-7

This will go down in Texas history as the debut for Royal, who went 6-4-1 and ranked No. 11 in his first season.

The game goes down in Georgia history as an example of how different times were: Georgia moved the game to Georgia Tech’s home field because the attendance would be better there.

At the time, Georgia and Georgia Tech were having difficulty filling their stadiums when playing on the same day, “particularly Georgia, which is in a sparsely populated area,” wrote Dan Magill in the Georgia athletic department’s official newsletter.

“No Georgia fan could regret moving the Georgia-Texas game from beautiful Sanford Stadium to Grant Field as much as your Georgia Bulldog editor,” Magill added. “But we have to admit that this was financially necessary.”

Georgia was in the doldrums of the Butts era, finishing 3-7, and the opener set the tone. Just like at the start next year.

1958: Austin, season opener, Texas wins 13-8

After Tarkenton’s heroics, Texas quarterback Bobby Lackey responded with a long drive for the game-winner. The Longhorns finished 7-3 in Royal’s second season, and he won two AP and three Coaches’ Poll national championships during his 20-year tenure.

As for Georgia, the Tarkenton era had begun, although not without another hiccup. Butts did not play against Tarkenton the next week at Vanderbilt, which led to Tarkenton and teammate Pat Dye deciding to transfer. They had cleaned their dorm room but were stopped by an assistant coach. The next season, Tarkenton led Georgia to a 10-1 season and another trip to the Orange Bowl, where the Bulldogs defeated Missouri. It would take almost three decades for another duel with the Longhorns.

1984: Cotton Bowl, Georgia wins 10-9

Georgia essentially took a national championship away from Texas, which entered the game undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the AP and coaches poll and likely would have advanced after upsetting No. 1 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl that night. But Georgia quarterback John Lastinger ran for a 17-yard touchdown with 3:22 left and Kevin Butler hit the game-winning extra point, capping the low-scoring win that Vince Dooley liked.

Texas outscored Georgia 278-215, but committed four turnovers, including a muffed punt return that set up Georgia’s game-winning drive: Texas receiver Craig Curry, the little man on the punt return, thought Georgia had it would pretend to be, but instead he hit the punt was short and he tried to field it.

“I have no excuses. I don’t know what happened to me,” a tearful Curry said. “I had no idea it would be short. I just don’t know why I did it.”

Georgia, which entered the game as a No. 5 seed, moved up one spot to finish 10-1-1 in its first year without Herschel Walker watching the game from the press box.

“We’re not as good a team without Herschel, but this is as good a group as I’ve seen in 20 years of coaching,” Dooley said.

2019: Sugar Bowl, Texas won 28-21

The most memorable event occurred before the game and didn’t involve the players or coaches: Bevo lashed out at Uga, turning a supposedly happy photo op into a viral moment. (Read about it here.)

The incident foreshadowed the game as Georgia, struggling with multiple retirements and injuries, fell behind early and never recovered, losing 28-21.

2024: Saturday in Austin

Sixty-six years later, Georgia returns to Austin, this time with teams from the same conference preparing for a much-hyped matchup with national championship implications.

Tarkenton, who was in Napa Valley last week, said he would watch from his home in Atlanta if he was home by then. Like everyone else, he’s glad it’s happening.

“Texas has a great team and a great coach. We have the same thing,” Tarkenton said. “It is what it is supposed to be. Big teams like Texas and Georgia should play each other.”

(Illustration: Meech Robinson / The athlete; Photos: Hargrett Library / UGA)