For only the second time ever, Texas will be playing against Utah when the two meet in the Valero Alamo Bowl on New Year’s Eve. When they first met in 1982, Texas was a member of the Southwestern Conference, while Utah was apart of the Western Athletic Conference.
Currently with the Big 12 and the Pac 12, the Alamo Bowl is the best bowl game members from the two conferences can play in that are not New Year’s Six bowl games. With a record of 10-2, Utah if favored over the 7-5 Longhorns. Meeting in the regular season last time, this will be the most important matchup between the two schools.
Here is the Longhorns series history with the Utes:
All-time series history: Texas leads 1-0-0
Largest wins: Texas 21-12 in 1982
Latest Texas win: Sept. 18, 1982
The Longhorns began their 1982 season with a home game against Utah. Ranked No. 18 at the time, Head Coach Fred Akers was beginning his sixth season in charge of Texas. In a low scoring affair, both teams dominated running the ball, going for a combined 536 yards on the ground. Neither team threw the ball effectively, with the Longhorns having 28 yards and the Utes having 82.
Darryl Clark gained most of the yards on the ground for Texas, rushing for 162 yards on 20 attempts. He did not find the endzone though, as Terry Orr scored two of the three touchdowns on the ground. Orr added 61 yards and was the second-leading rusher for the Longhorns. Carl Robinson punched in the other score on one of his three rushing attempts.
Utah struggled to find the end zone all game, not scoring until nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. Two Longhorn touchdowns sandwiched two Ute field goals to make it 14-6. Utah finally broke into the endzone but failed to convert the two-point conversion, making it 14-12. Texas put the game on ice late in the fourth quarter with Robinson’s touchdown, winning 21-12.
Latest Utah win: No wins in the series
The Longhorns will play Utah on New Year’s Eve at 6:30 p.m. CST on ESPN.
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