by Travis Normand
November 12, 2024

The Longhorns have a section in their football media guide that covers their Thanksgiving Day “tradition.” I originally wrote about the Longhorn’s Thanksgiving Day “tradition” on November 29, 2020 (and you can see that post HERE). I then updated that post on December 2, 2020; December 4, 2020; and September 14, 2021. I was going to update it again for the 2024 season, but figured I would draft this shorter post (with more or less the same basic info) instead.

The purpose of this “shorter” post is to give a summary of what the Longhorn’s got (repeatedly) wrong in their media guide regarding Thanksgiving Day and their “tradition.” You can read the longer version that I posted back in 2020 if you want all the details.

I would also like to point out that I have been trying to notify them about this error (via social media), yet they have not updated the information. Instead, they continue to publish media guides every season that include the same inaccurate information.

Considering the reputation of the State of Texas, one might think that those attending and/or working for The University of Texas would have some basic knowledge of the state’s history. This is especially true regarding something that the University of Texas proudly calls a “tradition” and writes about in their football media guide. However, as you can see from my original post (linked above), as well as this “shorter” post, this is clearly not the case.

The 2024 Texas Longhorn Football Media Guide

As you can see on page 181-189 of the 2024 Texas Longhorn Football Media Guide; there is a list of “Year-By-Year Results.” Each season that the Longhorns have played football is listed with the outcomes for each individual game. Additionally, you will notice on each page there is a “Key” showing that a lower-case “t” (next to a listed game) means that the game was played on Thanksgiving Day.

Further, across the bottom of page 190, there is a section titled: “Thanksgiving Day Tradition“ which includes the following text (emphasis added):

“Including its first Turkey Day game in 1893, UT has played 87 times on the Thanksgiving holiday and posted a 59-25-3 mark. Texas A&M is the most common opponent with 69 matchups and UT holding a 46-20-3 advantage. The teams first met on Thanksgiving Day in 1900, however, that tradition ended in 2011 with A&M departing the Big 12 for the SEC. Texas faced TCU in 2012 and 2014, and Texas Tech in 2013 and 2015. The Horns have also faced Arkansas (1894, 1912, 1917), Notre Dame (1913, 1915) and Oklahoma (1910). Prior to 2012, Baylor (1994-95) is the only other team the Horns faced besides Texas A&M on Thanksgiving Day since 1917. Below is a breakdown of UT’s Thanksgiving Day notables:

First Thanksgiving Day game: Nov. 30, 1893 • 18-16 W • Dallas University
First game at Memorial Stadium: Nov. 27, 1924 • 7-0 W • Texas A&M
Last Thanksgiving Day game: Nov. 26, 2015 • 48-45 L • Texas Tech
Longest streak of Thanksgiving Day games: 17 (1957-73)
Longest stretch without a Thanksgiving Day game: 12 (1996-2007)
Record on Thanksgiving Day: 59-26-3 (.695)
Home Record on Thanksgiving: 41-14-1 (.755)
Road Record on Thanksgiving: 18-12-2 (.594)
Record against Texas A&M on Thanksgiving Day: 46-20-3 (.688)
Longest Thanksgiving Day winning streak: 15 (1949-66)
Longest Thanksgiving Day losing streak: 7 (1985-93)
Current Thanksgiving Day streak: Lost one: vs. Texas Tech (2015).”

This same section appears in most, if not all, of their football media guides going back to at least their 2006 Spring Football Media Guide (see page 173).

An Additional Thanksgiving Day Loss in 2021

In their 2020 Football Media Guide, on page 183, you will see that the “Record on Thanksgiving Day” was listed as 59-25-3 (.695); and the “Home Record on Thanksgiving” was 41-13-1 (.755). Note that these two stats include one less loss than the same two stats in the 2024 guide (as seen above). These two stats were updated with one-loss in the 2021 media guide (and thus the 2021, 2022, and 2023 media guides match what is printed in the 2024 guide).

When I first saw this, I assumed they played and lost to someone on Thanksgiving Day in November 2020 (and then included the loss starting in 2021). However, upon reviewing their 2020 football schedule, I noticed that the Longhorns didn’t play a game on Thanksgiving in 2020 (although they did play the day after, on November 27, 2020; and lost to Iowa State).

Seeing that their loss count went up by one (1) following the 2020 media guide (without playing a game on Thanksgiving in 2020), I tried to see if I could figure out where this loss had come from (my best guess at this time is that they didn’t include the 2015 loss to Texas Tech until the 2021 media guide; or after they printed it wrong five times in the 2016-2020 media guides).

The 2013 Thanksgiving Day Numbers

Looking at the 2013 Football Media Guide, they have their “Record on Thanksgiving Day” listed as 51-23-2 (.684); for a total of 76 Thanksgiving Day games. This 2013 guide covers up through the 2012 season, and the Longhorns lost to TCU on November 22, 2012 (which would have been their last Thanksgiving Day game at that point). In any event, 51-23-2 (from the 2013 media guide) is a total of 76 games, where as 59-26-3 (from the 2024 media guide) is a total of 88 games.

Note, if you scroll back up to the quoted text from the 2024 Media Guide, you will see that it says the Longhorns have played on Thanksgiving Day a total of 87 times with a record of 59-26-3. Of course, you can also do simple math and add up 59+26+3 and see that it equals 88. This illustrates how incorrect their media guides are, and how untangling this issue might be almost impossible.

Comparing the 2013 Media Guide (76 total games through the 2012 season) and the 2024 Media Guide (88 games through the 2023 season) gives us a difference of 12 Thanksgiving Day games. However, there are only 11 seasons between 2013 and 2023 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023); and I am not sure how they played 12 Thanksgiving Day games in 11 seasons. This is especially difficult when we already know there wasn’t a Thanksgiving Day game in 2020.

To make matters worse, the number of tied games in 2013 was two (2) and in 2024 it was three (3). I don’t even have to look at their schedules to tell you that they didn’t tie anyone on Thanksgiving Day between 2013 and 2023.

The 2015 Thanksgiving Day Numbers

Looking at their 2015 Football Media Guide (on PDF page 167 of 229) I found the same “Thanksgiving Day Tradition” section again. This section states that the Longhorns have played on Thanksgiving Day a total of 87 times (through the 2014 season). Further, the stat of “Record on Thanksgiving Day” is listed as 59-25-3 (.695). The good news is that 59+25+3 does add up to 87; however, 87 is an increase of 11 games since they wrote that the total was 76 games in their 2013 Media Guide.

Looking back at what was published in their 2013 Media Guide (and comparing it to the 2015 numbers), you see that their win total increased from 51 to 59 (or +8), the loss total increased from 23 to 25 (or +2), and the total tied games increased from 2 to 3 (or +1). That is an increase of 11 games, all played on Thanksgiving Day, in 2013 and 2014.

Of course, this is impossible.

New Thanksgiving Day Games Marked with a “t’

I also noticed that the 2013 media guide states that the Longhorn’s first Thanksgiving Day game was a 38-0 victory against “San Antonio” on November 28, 1895. However, two years later, their 2015 media guide suddenly states/lists that their first Thanksgiving Day game was a 18-16 victory against Dallas University on November 30, 1893. The 2015 media guide also lists, for the first time, the November 29, 1894 game against Arkansas as a Thanksgiving Day game. These two games had been listed in the “Year-By-Year” sections of the media guides going back to 2007 and before. However, they were not listed as a Thanksgiving Day game (with a “t”) until the 2015 media guide.

As I stated above, following the printing of the 2013 media guide, there were 11 additional Thanksgiving Day games added to the 2015 media guide (8 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie). I presume that this 1893 and 1894 victory account for at least two of those eight wins.

As for the additional tie, the only thing I can figure out at this time is that in the 2013 media guide (and before), the Longhorns did not have the November 30, 1933 game against Texas A&M (Tie 10-10) designated as a Thanksgiving Day game (with a “t’). However, in the 2015 media guide, that game has a “t” next it, likely making it the additional tie game that was added to the overall count.

Note: I believe the the three (3) tie games that that Longhorns have had on Thanksgiving Day were in 1921, 1933, and 1948 (all against Texas A&M).

Winning Percentage Didn’t Change

The 2015 Football Media Guide also has a new stat titled: “Home Record on Thanksgiving” and lists it as 41-13-1 (.755). The 2024 media guide (posted above) has this same stat as: 41-14-1 (.755).

Also, as discussed above, the 2015 media guide has the Longhorn’s “Record on Thanksgiving Day” listed as 59-25-3 (.695); whereas, the 2024 media guide lists this same stat as 59-26-3 (.695).

Notice anything? In both stats, the total number of losses increases by one (1) yet the winning percentage stays the same despite the additional loss.

11 Thanksgiving Day Games Missing

In my original post on this topic, I created two lists of games from the 2020 Longhorn Football Media Guide. These two lists were as follows:

The first was a list of eleven (11) games (see Table 2 in original post) that were played on Thanksgiving Day but were not included or counted as Thanksgiving Day games (and were not designated with a “t” in their 2020 media guide). I have since double-checked, and these are still not included or counted as Thanksgiving Day games in their 2024 media guide either. Therefore, the following eleven (11) games are missing from the stats related to the Longhorns’ Thanksgiving Day “Tradition” when they should be included.

(1) 11/29/1903 – Win vs. Texas A&M – Note: This game was actually played on 11/26/1903, which was Thanksgiving Day.
(2) 11/29/1908 – Win vs. Texas A&M – Note: This game was actually played on 11/26/1908, which was Thanksgiving Day.
(3) 11/28/1934 – Win vs. Texas A&M – Note: This game was actually played on 11/29/1934, which was Thanksgiving Day.
(4) 11/30/1939 – Loss vs. Texas A&M – Note: This is the correct date of the game; and it was Thanksgiving Day but is not labeled, and thus is not counted as such.
(5) 11/28/1940 – Win vs. Texas A&M – Note: This is the correct date of the game; and it was Thanksgiving Day but is not labeled, and thus is not counted as such.
(6) 11/27/1941 – Win vs. Texas A&M – Note: This is the correct date of the game; and it was Thanksgiving Day but is not labeled, and thus is not counted, as such.
(7) 11/30/1944 – Win vs. Texas A&M – Note: This is the correct date of the game; and it was Thanksgiving Day but is not labeled, and thus is not counted, as such.
(8) 11/29/1945 – Win vs. Texas A&M – Note: This is the correct date of the game; and it was Thanksgiving Day but is not labeled, and thus is not counted, as such.
(9) 11/30/1950 – Win vs. Texas A&M – Note: This is the correct date of the game; and it was Thanksgiving Day but is not labeled, and thus is not counted, as such.
(10) 11/29/1951 – Loss vs. Texas A&M – Note: This is the correct date of the game; and it was Thanksgiving Day but is not labeled, and thus is not counted, as such.
(11) 11/29/1956 – Loss vs. Texas A&M – Note: This is the correct date of the game; and it was Thanksgiving Day but is not labeled, and thus is not counted, as such.

In other words, the Longhorns have played on Thanksgiving Day 99 times (88 + 11); and their overall record is 67-29-3.

You might think this is not a huge deal, and that “mistakes happen.” I agree that mistakes happen (especially at the University of Texas); but, this is not some minor or unimportant stat. This stat is slightly more important as the Longhorns apparently have a “tradition” of playing on Thanksgiving Day which is a big deal to them. In fact, as you can see in their media guides, it is such a big deal, that they mark games each season with a “t” when played on Thanksgiving Day (and an “f” if played on the following Friday). Considering how big of a deal this is, one would think that the Longhorns would get it right.

How did they overlook 11 games?

In reality, I think the problem here goes a little deeper than simple football stats and counting. The real issue is that the University of Texas employees who are in charge of keeping records and stats don’t know Texas History. If they did, they would not have missed several early games from the late 1800s and an additional 11 games in the 1900s.

If I was going to give them the benefit of the doubt, I would say that all of this appears to be some sort of manufactured tradition that the Longhorns thought of in 2006. At that time, they went back to add a “t” next to games throughout their history that they thought were Thanksgiving Day games (or were games they had previously not marked). They were content with the list until about 2013-2015 (right after they stopped playing Texas A&M) which is when they went back and found games from the late 1800s that they had previously not cared about.

To make it worse, when they went back to label games with a “t”, someone apparently just sat down and went back through their “Year-By-Year” results and added a “t” next to any game that was played on the fourth Thursday in November (regardless of the year). What that person didn’t know, and what others working at the University of Texas clearly didn’t know, is that the State of Texas did not always celebrate Thanksgiving on that day.

In 1941, parts of the United States began celebrating Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November; however, Texas did not (and Texas continued to celebrate Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November through 1956). This finally changed, and the first Thanksgiving where the State of Texas celebrated Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November (as opposed to the last Thursday of November), was November 28, 1957. Before 1957, the State of Texas had celebrated Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November (which made a difference when there were five Thursdays in November); and this difference between “last Thursday” vs. “Fourth Thursday” accounts for at least 11 games. This is a piece of Texas History that is so clear and well-known to many … except for those who are counting stats at the University of Texas.