Texas worse losses by points

1904 Chicago 68- 0 – team coached by Ralph Hutchinson .

1904  Coach Ralph Hutchinson 6-2

From the first official year of Longhorn football in 1883 to 1903, the Longhorns’ win-loss record was 71-17-3 with three undefeated seasons, and included the first rivalry games against Texas A&M and Oklahoma. All of these victories were primarily regional, so on November 5, 1904, Texas selected one of its earliest teams with a national reputation to compete against.

The coaching staff should have chosen another football powerhouse than one coached by Amos Alonzo Stagg, a pioneer of modern football and one of the sport’s early innovators. The Texas Longhorns suffered a crushing 68–0 defeat to the University of Chicago at Marshall Field. A team that finished the season with a 10-0-1 record and shared the National Championship.

The irony of this game is that Chicago thought they might lose, so the city’s media and coaching staff decided to portray the Horns as large and savage to scare the Chicago players.   George Kindley was a 6’7” Longhorn football player on the 1904 team and the media chose to use his size to depict the whole Texas team composition. The media hype surrounding the game against the University of Chicago was ridiculous. Some things never change with the media. This game was billed as Texas averaging 197 pounds per man, when the average was actually 166 pounds less than the average weight of the Chicago team. It was said the Horns smoked corn husk cigarettes that made them crazy; they lived on raw chopped beef and fresh blood from cows and drank a half-pint of gore each morning. The media even said that the horns shot pistols for two hours every morning for entertainment.

If the comments about the size of Longhorn football players listed above were not stupid enough, consider the laughable depiction in the Chicago Tribune shown below.

There is more to this story about the 1904 Texas football team. This year Texas was selected to play Washington in an Olympic non-medal exhibition match. Texas triumphed with a 23-0 victory, contributing to Coach Hutchinson’s team’s 6-2 record in 1904.

It showcased Texas football on a national stage. One week after defeating Washington, Texas lost to Chicago 68-0.

1908 O.U. 50-0

The game was played in Norman on the coldest day in a decade.
OU’s Charley Wantland scored four TDs, including a 90-yard punt return, and the Sooners ran for 778 yards. Longhorn Coach Metzenthin was shocked that OU’s big tackles were faster than the Texas backs and said “ When big tackles …. run my fastest backs down from behind, I give up.” Metzenthin was so upset that the O.U. tackles could catch his fastest backs he pulled his team off the field with 7 minutes left in the game.

1973• No. 6 Oklahoma 52, Texas 13

O.U. found a winning formula to victory but got caught altering the transcripts of two players from Galveston. O.U. was placed on NCAA probation for two seasons but managed to convert illegal recruiting and the hiring of a Texas Coach to decimate the Horns this year. It was the worst defeat since a 50-0 loss in 1908. O.U. remains the third-worst violator of college recruiting rules, but the breaches did help O.U. build its program.
Here are the teams with the most infractions, according to the NCAA.
SMU, 10
Arizona State, 9
Oklahoma, 8

1988 Houston 66-15

On November 5, 1988, the Houston Cougars overwhelmed the Texas Longhorns 66–15 in Austin, delivering one of the most lopsided defeats in UT football history.

This game was a showcase of Houston’s explosive offense under head coach Jack Pardee and offensive coordinator John Jenkins, featuring future Heisman winner Andre Ware and a lightning-fast run-and-shoot attack. 69,600 fans in Austin witnessed the blowout.

1989 Baylor 50-7

Baylor 50, Texas 7 was the worst defeat in Longhorn football’s history until Mack Brown’s loss to O.U. It is a time in Longhorn football when expecting to win gave way to praying and hoping to win.

Texas was picked to finish 4th in the SWC because the team only had seven seniors.

This was not a good year for Texas football, but an excellent year for receivers. Tony Jones and Johnny Walker were a powerful duo. Johnny surpassed Ben Proctor’s 43 catches in a year and almost surpassed Tony Jones’s 838 season record mark. As a freshman, Tony Jones was the Blue Bonnet Bowl MVP.

1991 Miami 46-3

Miami entered ranked No. 3 and dominated No. 4 Texas.

• The Hurricanes forced six turnovers and held Texas to just 205 total yards.

• This win helped solidify Miami’s claim to a share of the national title, though Colorado was awarded the AP crown.

Miami #4 crushed Texas #3 with a 46–3 victory in the 1991 Cotton Bowl, a game infamous for both its dominance and controversy. Miami racked up 15 penalties for 202 yards, including numerous unsportsmanlike conduct calls, breaking Cotton Bowl and school records. Their excessive celebrations and taunting left many viewers appalled. Miami ushered in a new era of college football, marked by a “sorry winner” attitude that shocked the nation with unprecedented arrogance in victory. The backlash from their behavior led to national criticism and prompted the NCAA to introduce a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration. The game became a defining moment for Miami’s bold style and the clash between traditional football norms and emerging swagger.

1997 UCLA 66-3 Rout 66

Larry Carlson writes about the UCLA game low lights but highlights for Marty Cherry . The article is titled Cherry Lemonade . He starts the article by saying: “Unless you lived through the worst home loss in UT history, Longhorn fans likely don’t recall the name of Marty Cherry. The sophomore from the Arkansas side of Texarkana got a rough football baptism as a relief pitcher for the eleventh-ranked Horns on a hot mid-September day in 1997. A stunning 66-3 whipping from UCLA — to live in infamy as “Rout 66″ –.” While Marty Cherry played no worse than anyone else on this day of infamy, he at least learned a lesson that many men would have chosen if given a choice. Marty left football and became a Ralph Lauren model.
Making, well, Cherry lemonade out of a lemon game.
The rest of the article is at :

https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/cherry-lemonademarty-cherry-1

2003 Sooners 65-13

Jason White cemented his Heisman Trophy credentials by throwing for 290 yards, and Mark Clayton set a school record with 190 receiving yards on eight catches. Six Texas turnovers led to 31 Oklahoma points, and OU’s 52-point margin and 552 yards were school records for the series.

Chance Mock started for the Horns but, after some early interceptions, was replaced by Vince Young, who passed for a respectful 135 yards and ran for 127.

Derrick Strait recovered two fumbles, intercepted a pass, deflected three others, and had 11 tackles.

2012 Sooners 63-21

A matchup between #13 Oklahoma and #15 Texas was expected to be competitive. Instead, it turned into a rout that exposed deep flaws in the Longhorns’ defense and coaching staff.

The Longhorns allowed 677 total yards, including 343 rushing yards. Texas quarterbacks were intercepted twice and sacked many times. The defense was absolutely overwhelmed and obviously not prepared to play.

• Texas quarterbacks combined for 2 interceptions and were sacked multiple times.

2014 BYU 41-7

This game marked Charlie Strong’s second game as Texas head coach .

BYU exploded in the third quarter, scoring 28 unanswered points, including three rushing touchdowns by quarterback Taysom Hill, who famously hurdled a Texas defender en route to a 30-yard score.

The 2014 season was yet another example of the numerous defensive breakdowns that plagued Texas football during that era. The traditional powerhouse status of Texas football had faded, and the teams of this period were generally average to good at best. It was undoubtedly a challenging time for Texas football, marking a dark chapter in the history of Longhorn sports. This game hurt the overall culture of Texas football.

2015 TCU 50-7

This game was a low point in Charlie Strong’s second season. The 30–0 first quarter reflected a collapse in preparation and execution. Mack’s last years as the Texas Coach recruiting skills was part of the reason for the two devasting losses by Texas to TCU and BYU under Coach Strong. Texas had lost all grasp of a winner mentality in 2015 and this game is indicative of the mental and physical decline of the Longhorn program. Texas football had succumbed to a turbulent mentality. Texas football winning tradition was no more outmatched by better recrits and more prepared teams.

The Chicago game is just one of many blowout losses the Longhorns have endured. While most might prefer not to dwell on it, I think these tough defeats should but does not always drive essential coaching and recruiting changes that build stronger teams in the future. Take Mack Brown’s crushing loss to the Sooners in 2003, which was followed by a National Championship for the Horns.

Unfortunately, from 1988 to 1997, Texas’ record was 66-55. The U.T. Athletic Department was lost in its quest to return to greatness until it hired Mack Brown. Fifteen years later, prior to NIL, Texas faced significant struggles from 2012 to 2021, ending with a record of 72 wins and 55 losses. Only with the hiring of Coach Sark and the infusion of funds into the recruiting equation did a winning format reemerge.