1964 Texas Longhorns football team

The 1964 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1964 NCAA University Division football season. The Longhorns finished the season as Orange Bowl champions. In the 1965 Orange Bowl, Tommy Nobis made one of the most famous tackles in the game's history. On fourth-and-inches, and clinging to a 21–17 lead, he led his teammates to a game-saving halt of top ranked Alabama's quarterback, Joe Namath.

1964 Texas Longhorns football
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 21–17 vs. Alabama
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 5
Record	10–1 (6–1 SWC)
Head coach	Darrell Royal (8th season)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 60,130)
Seasons ← 1963 1965 →

1964 Southwest Conference football standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Arkansas $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	0	–	0
No. 5 Texas	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
Baylor	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Texas Tech	3	–	3	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
Rice	3	–	3	–	1			4	–	5	–	1
TCU	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Texas A&M	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
SMU	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

A heart-breaking 1-point loss to arch-rival Arkansas at Texas Memorial Stadium kept the Longhorns from repeating as National Champions.^[1] The Longhorns finished the regular season with a 9–1–0 record and defeated No.1 ranked Alabama in the 1965 Orange Bowl, 21–17.^[2][3]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 19	7:30 p.m.	Tulane*	No. 4	Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 31–0	60,000	^[4]
September 26	7:30 p.m.	at Texas Tech	No. 4	Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX (rivalry)		W 23–0	43,000
October 3	7:30 p.m.	Army*	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 17–6	65,700
October 10	2:30 p.m.	vs. Oklahoma*	No. 1	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)	NBC	W 28–7	75,504
October 17	7:30 p.m.	No. 8 Arkansas	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)		L 13–14	65,700	^[5]
October 24	8:00 p.m.	at Rice	No. 6	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)		W 6–3	73,000
October 31	1:00 p.m.	SMU	No. 6	Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 7–0	59,000
November 7	2:00 p.m.	at Baylor	No. 6	Baylor Stadium Waco, TX		W 20–14	39,686
November 14	2:00 p.m.	at TCU	No. 5	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX (rivalry)		W 28–13	34,529
November 26	2:30 p.m.	Texas A&M	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)	NBC	W 26–7	65,000
January 1	6:00 p.m.	vs. No. 1 Alabama*	No. 5	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	W 21–17	72,647
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[6]

1964 team players in the NFL

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.^[7]

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Ernie Koy, Jr.	Fullback	11	141	New York Giants
Olen Underwood	End	14	183	New York Giants

Awards and honors

• Tommy Nobis, All-America selection

References

1. "Arkansas Spills Longhorns, 14–13". The Victoria Advocate, via Google News. Victoria, Texas. Associated Press. October 18, 1964.
2. "Alabama Favored By 3 Points". The Times-News, via Google News. Hendersonville, North Carolina. United Press International. January 2, 1965.
3. "Texas Outlasts 'Bama in Orange Bowl, 21–17". Daytona Beach Morning Journal, via Google News. Daytona Beach, Florida. Associated Press. January 2, 1965.
4. "Longhorns saddle up enough, overwhelm Tulane unit, 31–0". The American-Statesman. September 20, 1964. Retrieved September 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Texas Gamble Fails; Arkansas 14-13 Victor". Austin American-Statesman. October 18, 1964. p. D1 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Mack Brown All-Time Results 2010-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
7. . Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2009-05-31. Retrieved 2018-03-28.