SALT LAKE CITY — When Utah and Texas kick it off Tuesday evening at the Alamo Bowl, it will mark just the second-ever meeting between the two schools as the No. 11-ranked, 11-2 Utes come in a touchdown favorite over the 7-5 Longhorns.
The only other time Utah and Texas met on the football field, the roles were reversed with the Longhorns being a nationally-ranked foe and favored to win the game.
That was back in 1982 when Utah, under first-year coach Chuck Stobart, were big underdogs yet stood toe-to-toe with the Longhorns before losing 21-12 in front of 70,158 fans at Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin.
The Utes came into the game as 17-point underdogs against the defending Cotton Bowl champions, who were ranked No. 14 in the country and would eventually get as high as No. 8. The Utes were given little chance of winning, but ended with more first downs (21-18), more possession time (36 minutes to 24) and nearly as many yards (306 to 341) in almost pulling off a big upset.
Longtime Salt Lake Tribune sports editor John Mooney, who covered sports for more than 50 years in Utah, even called it “one of the greatest football efforts in Ute history” in his write-up of the game.
Utah got on the board first with a 35-yard field goal by Tim Fahringer, but Texas came back with a pair of touchdowns to go up 14-3 at the half as Fahringer missed a 30-yard field goal attempt that could have cut the margin.
The Utes dominated play in the second half as a Fahringer field goal made it 14-6 in the third quarter and a 15-yard touchdown pass from Kenny Vierra to Tex Wise early in the fourth quarter. Stobart elected to go for two, but Vierra’s pass was batted down.
Then Texas went on a 75-yard drive to put the game away.
“Utah played as tough as we wanted for this game,” said Texas coach Fred Akers afterward.
Quarterback Robert Brewer added, “I have to give Utah credit, They sure were a feisty bunch.”
Utah’s Stobart was frustrated by one of the many close losses he had in his three years as the Ute coach, including one the week before at Arizona State.
“We could have won that game,” he said. “We could have won the last two, that’s what’s sickening about it. Doggone it, we were close but just not quite there.”
Of Stobart’s 17 losses in three seasons, 14 were by 10 points or less, including 11 by a touchdown or less.
If he had won a few more of the close games, like the 1982 Texas loss, Stobart might have lasted a few more years at the U.