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Texas A&M–Texas Tech football rivalry

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Texas A&M–Texas Tech football rivalry
First meetingOctober 27, 1927
Texas A&M 47, Texas Tech 6
Latest meetingOctober 8, 2011
Texas A&M 45, Texas Tech 40
Statistics
Meetings total70
All-time seriesTexas A&M leads, 37–32–1[1]
Largest victory1. Texas A&M, 47–6 (1927)
2. Texas Tech, 56–17 (2005)
Longest win streakTexas A&M, 6 (1927–1945)
Texas Tech, 6 (1968–1973)
Current win streakTexas A&M, 3 (2009–present)
Locations of Texas A&M and Texas Tech

The Texas A&M–Texas Tech football rivalry is an American college football rivalry[citation needed] between the Texas A&M Aggies football team of Texas A&M University and Texas Tech Red Raiders football team of Texas Tech University. The series began in 1927. The rivalry had continued uninterrupted since 1957 when the two schools became conference rivals.[a] Texas A&M leads the series 37–32–1. Texas A&M started the series with a 12–3 advantage while the two teams played each other as non-conference opponents from 1927–1955. Texas Tech led with a 2–1 record during its probationary membership in the Southwest Conference from 1957–59. Texas A&M led the series during the Southwest Conference years (1960–95) with an 18–17–1 record. Texas Tech led the series during the Big 12 Conference years (1996–2011) with a 10–6 record. In summary, Texas A&M dominated the series during the early years (1927–1955) with a 12–3 advantage, while Texas Tech leads the series in the modern era (1957–2011) with a 29–25–1 advantage. Both teams are tied with six games each for the longest winning streak. Texas Tech holds the longest uninterrupted winning streak of the series, six games between 1968 and 1973, while Texas A&M has the longest nonconsecutive winning streak, six games in 1927, 1932 and 1942 through 1945. Texas A&M currently holds a three-game winning streak but with their departure from the Big 12 Conference in 2012, it is uncertain if the rivalry will continue in the future.

Venues

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When both Texas A&M and Texas Tech were members of the Southwest Conference (SWC) from 1960 to 1995, and the Big 12 Conference from 1996 to 2011, the match-up was exclusively a home-and-home series in College Station and Lubbock. In all, 29 games were played in Lubbock and 28 in College Station. Both teams held a 3-game home field advantage as the Red Raiders record was 16–13 in Lubbock while the Aggies record in College Station was 15–12–1.

Prior to Texas Tech joining the SWC for football in 1960, 13 games of the rivalry were held at a neutral site in Amarillo, Dallas, and San Antonio. Only one game was held in Amarillo, a 7–0 Texas A&M victory in 1932. From 1943–50, the series was held at second neutral site, Alamo Stadium in San Antonio. Texas A&M held a 6–2 record over Texas Tech at Alamo Stadium. The 1951, 1955, 1958, and 1959 games were held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and the series at Fair Park was split 2–2. In the early 2000s, an effort was made to move the series back to the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair of Texas but ultimately the rivalry game remained a home-and-home series.

Caption: "Texas A&M came to Lubbock"
Riding Into the Sunset after being vandalized in 1969.

Will Rogers & Soapsuds statue

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One of the most well-known landmarks on the campus of Texas Tech University is the statue of Will Rogers on his horse Soapsuds: Riding Into the Sunset. A campus legend holds that the statue was originally intended to be positioned with Will Rogers facing due west, so that it would appear he was riding into the sunset. However, that position would cause Soapsuds' posterior to face due east, towards downtown Lubbock, Texas, potentially insulting the Lubbock business community. To address this issue, the statue was turned 23 degrees to the east, causing Soapsuds' rear to face in the direction of the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.[2]

The campus legend led to Riding Into the Sunset becoming involved in the rivalry off the field. In 1969, the statue was vandalized after being covered in maroon paint, Texas A&M's primary color, after the Aggies lost to the Red Raiders 13–9.[3] Following the vandalism in 1969, the Saddle Tramps, a Texas Tech student organization, wrap the statue in red crepe paper prior to every home football game.[4]

Other Incidents

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  • After the 1962 Game, a hoard of Aggies approached within 20 yards of the Masked rider before a single A&M captain stood between them, calling off the attack.[5]
  • Unknown people, believed to be Texas A&M fans, kidnapped and vandalized the Masked Rider's Horse, Tech Beauty, the Friday night before their Saturday evening match-up October 5, 1963. The horse was found on Sunday. Tech Beauty had been haphazardly shaved and had the letters 'AMC' (referring to A&M College) painted in white or silver paint on each side.[5]
  • After upsetting the #5 Aggies 21–19 in 1999, Texas Tech fans tore down and carried a goal post from Jones Stadium to the base of the Will Rogers statue, they then continued south to 19th Street where they took it west before finally leaving it just west of the intersection of Flint Avenue and 19th Street.[6]
  • In 2001 after defeating #24 A&M 12–0, Texas Tech fans similarly tore down the goal posts and attempted to carry them out of the stadium in the same area where they had been carried out in 1999. During the incident, Mike McKinney, the father of an A&M football player and Texas Gov. Rick Perry's chief of staff at the time, was punched in the face. While at first believed to be a Tech fan, it turned out to be another A&M fan.[7] Mike McKinney would later become the Chancellor of the Texas A&M System.
  • After the 2011 Game, a war of comments between both coaching staffs started after it was insinuated that Texas A&M was faking injuries during the game to slow the pace of Texas Tech's Offense [8]
  • Unrelated to football, but another symptom of rivalry, Texas A&M lobbyists attempted to block Texas Tech from building a Veterinary College in Amarillo.[9] Texas Tech opened the college in 2021.

Game results

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Texas A&M victoriesTexas Tech victoriesTie games
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
1October 27, 1927 LubbockTexas A&M 47–6
2September 24, 1932 AmarilloTexas A&M 7–0
3October 3, 1942 College StationTexas A&M 19–0
4October 2, 1943 San AntonioTexas A&M 13–0
5September 30, 1944 San AntonioTexas A&M 27–14
6September 29, 1945 San AntonioTexas A&M 16–6
7September 28, 1946 San AntonioTexas Tech 6–0
8September 27, 1947 San AntonioTexas A&M 29–7
9September 25, 1948 San AntonioTexas Tech 20–14
10September 24, 1949 San AntonioTexas A&M 26–7
11September 30, 1950 San AntonioTexas A&M 34–13
12September 29, 1951 Dallas#7 Texas A&M 20–7
13October 10, 1953 LubbockTexas A&M 27–14
14September 18, 1954 College Station#19 Texas Tech 41–9
15October 6, 1956 Dallas#11 Texas A&M 40–7
16September 28, 1957 Lubbock#2 Texas A&M 21–0
17September 20, 1958 DallasTexas Tech 15–14
18September 19, 1959 DallasTexas Tech 20–14
19September 24, 1960 College StationTie14–14
20October 7, 1961 LubbockTexas A&M 38–7
21October 6, 1962 College StationTexas A&M 7–3
22October 5, 1963 LubbockTexas Tech 10–0
23October 3, 1964 College StationTexas Tech 16–12
24October 2, 1965 LubbockTexas Tech 20–16
25October 1, 1966 College StationTexas A&M 35–14
26October 14, 1967 LubbockTexas A&M 28–24
27October 12, 1968 College StationTexas Tech 21–16
28October 11, 1969 LubbockTexas Tech 13–9
29October 10, 1970 College StationTexas Tech 21–7
30October 9, 1971 LubbockTexas Tech 28–7
31October 14, 1972 College StationTexas Tech 17–14
32October 13, 1973 LubbockTexas Tech 28–16
33October 12, 1974 College Station#16 Texas A&M 28–7
34October 11, 1975 Lubbock#6 Texas A&M 38–9
35October 9, 1976 College Station#15 Texas Tech 27–16
36September 24, 1977 Lubbock#6 Texas A&M 33–17
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
37October 7, 1978 College Station#7 Texas A&M 38–9
38October 6, 1979 LubbockTexas Tech 21–20
39October 4, 1980 College StationTexas A&M 41–21
40October 3, 1981 LubbockTexas A&M 24–23
41October 2, 1982 College StationTexas Tech 24–15
42October 1, 1983 LubbockTexas Tech 3–0
43October 6, 1984 College StationTexas Tech 30–12
44October 5, 1985 LubbockTexas A&M 28–27
45October 4, 1986 College Station#14 Texas A&M 45–8
46October 3, 1987 LubbockTexas Tech 27–21
47October 1, 1988 College StationTexas A&M 50–15
48October 7, 1989 LubbockTexas Tech 27–24
49October 6, 1990 College Station#19 Texas A&M 28–24
50October 5, 1991 Lubbock#23 Texas A&M 37–14
51October 3, 1992 College Station#5 Texas A&M 19–17
52October 2, 1993 Lubbock#14 Texas A&M 31–6
53October 1, 1994 College Station#10 Texas A&M 23–17
54October 7, 1995 LubbockTexas Tech 14–7
55October 26, 1996 College StationTexas Tech 13–10
56October 25, 1997 LubbockTexas Tech 16–13
57October 24, 1998 College Station#8 Texas A&M 17–10
58October 2, 1999 LubbockTexas Tech 21–19
59September 30, 2000 College StationTexas A&M 33–15
60November 3, 2001 LubbockTexas Tech 12–0
61October 5, 2002 College StationTexas Tech 48–472OT
62October 4, 2003 LubbockTexas Tech 59–28
63November 11, 2004 College Station#22 Texas A&M 32–25OT
64November 5, 2005 Lubbock#16 Texas Tech 56–17
65September 30, 2006 College Station#24 Texas Tech 31–27
66October 13, 2007 LubbockTexas Tech 35–7
67October 18, 2008 College Station#7 Texas Tech 43–25
68October 24, 2009 LubbockTexas A&M 52–30
69October 30, 2010 College StationTexas A&M 45–27
70October 8, 2011 Lubbock#24 Texas A&M 45–40
Series: Texas A&M leads 37–32–1[1]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Texas Tech became a probationary member of the Southwest Conference in 1956, but did not obtain full membership and become eligible to be conference champion until 1960.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Winsipedia – Texas A&M Aggies vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders football series history". Winsipedia.
  2. ^ "Will Rogers & Soapsuds". Texas Tech University. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
  3. ^ La Ventana. Vol. 45. 1970. p. 607.
  4. ^ EHRENFELD, CHARLES L. "Texas Tech, Will Rogers and the legend of A&M". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
  5. ^ a b "A&M rivalry came to head with horse kidnapping".
  6. ^ "1999". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. [dead link]
  7. ^ "Despite strained relations after 2001 Tech-A&M fan fiasco, some sad to see rivalry end".
  8. ^ "Injury-faking allegations anger A&M staff". October 11, 2011.
  9. ^ "Texas A&M vet school tells Texas Tech: This state ain't big enough for the two of us". July 9, 2018.