UT-SG is Working to Bring Back Texas v. Texas A&M Rivalry

By Danielle Lopez in 40 Acres, Sports on September 27, 2017 at 2:51 pm | 3 Comments

Six years ago, Longhorns and Aggies took to the football field for their final battle in a 117-year-long tradition (never forget: UT won 27-25). But no matter how much time passes, the rivalry between UT and A&M runs deep—that’s why student body president Alejandrina Guzman and vice president Micky Wolf are working to reinstate the Texas v. Texas A&M Rivalry game.

On Tuesday morning, the student government leaders sent an email to the UT student body, announcing their plan. They called on students to join their mission and asked them to state their interest in reviving the game through a campus-wide referendum and survey on Wednesday.

Guzman and Wolf say they have been working on this campaign for months. During their campaign for president and vice president in the spring of 2017, one of Guzman and Wolf’s key platform points was the promise of a Texas v. Texas A&M game revival.

Read: Meet Alejandrina Guzman, UT’s first Latina student body president

“As somebody that grew up a huge, huge Longhorn fan and with the football season starting this year, I got this nostalgic feeling,” says Wolf, a third-generation Longhorn. “Even before the university mean so much more to me, it was all about football and being a fan. This is definitely something I’ve always wished we were able to bring back.”

Although they would settle for a one-time special event game for the time being, Wolf says the hope is that the Texas v. Texas A&M game will again be a home-and-home series, much like it was before the Aggies left the Big 12 for the SEC in 2011.  He says Student Government has been coordinating with university leadership, UT Athletics, and leaders from Texas A&M, doing what they can to bring people on board—even head football coach Tom Herman weighed in on the matter during his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

“Do I think it will ever happen?” he said. “Yeah, I do. When? I don’t know. It’s one of the most historic rivalries in college football history and I do think it will happen. That’s well outside of my scope of influence, but I do think eventually you’re going to see that game again.”

Read: Inside the mind of Coach Tom Herman and what it could mean for the Longhorns

Once the results from the poll are in, UT-SG along with student leaders from A&M plan to launch a student-led movement called “Reinstate the Rivalry” in hopes of making the game a reality.

“The Texas v. Texas A&M game is part of tradition,” Wolf says. “It’s something that brings people from the entire state together.”

Photo courtesy of UT Athletics.

Tags: aggies, football, rivalry, Texas vs. A&M