1893 Texas Longhorns football team

1893 Texas Longhorns football
State champion
Conference	Independent
Record	4–0
Head coach	None
Captain	Paul McLane
Home stadium	Zoo Park, Hyde Park
Seasons 1894  →

1893 Southern college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Maryland			–					6	–	0	–	0
Texas			–					4	–	0	–	0
Central (KY)			–					2	–	0	–	0
Howard			–					2	–	0	–	0
North Carolina A&M			–					2	–	0	–	0
Vanderbilt			–					6	–	1	–	0
Auburn			–					3	–	0	–	2
Virginia			–					8	–	2	–	0
Ole Miss			–					4	–	1	–	0
Centre			–					4	–	1	–	0
Trinity (NC)			–					3	–	1	–	0
VMI			–					3	–	1	–	0
Kentucky State College			–					5	–	2	–	1
Delaware			–					2	–	1	–	0
Georgia Tech			–					2	–	1	–	0
Guilford			–					2	–	1	–	0
West Virginia			–					2	–	1	–	0
William & Mary			–					2	–	1	–	0
Navy			–					5	–	3	–	0
Richmond			–					3	–	2	–	0
Georgetown			–					4	–	4	–	0
Sewanee			–					3	–	3	–	0
Furman			–					1	–	1	–	0
Georgia			–					2	–	2	–	1
Western Maryland			–					1	–	1	–	0
Johns Hopkins			–					2	–	3	–	2
North Carolina			–					3	–	4	–	0
Tennessee			–					2	–	4	–	0
Tulane			–					1	–	2	–	0
Wake Forest			–					1	–	2	–	0
Hampden–Sydney			–					0	–	1	–	0
LSU			–					0	–	1	–	0
Maryville (TN)			–					0	–	1	–	0
Mercer			–					0	–	1	–	0
Wofford			–					0	–	1	–	0
VAMC			–					0	–	2	–	0
Alabama			–					0	–	4	–	0

The 1893 Texas Varsity ^[a] football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1893 college football season. In Texas' first year of playing college football, they went undefeated, pulling off an upset over the Dallas Athletic Club. ^[1]

While various unsponsored football matches had been played at the university since at least 1883; James Morrison and brothers Paul & Ray Mclane are usually credited as being the founders of the Texas football program. Even though the University's Athletic Association had been founded in 1892, college football at the time was usually managed by the players. Paul taught the team, almost all of whom had never played the sport before. Since the team did not have a coach until the following season, Paul served as the defacto team captain. ^{[2] [3]}

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
November 30		at Dallas Athletic Club	Dallas Fair Grounds Dallas, TX	W 18–16	2,000	[4] [5]
December 16		San Antonio Town Team	Zoo Park Austin, TX	W 30–0	500–600	[6] [7]
February 3, 1894	4:15 p.m.	at San Antonio Town Team	Jockey Club Grounds San Antonio, TX	W 34–0	500	[8] [9]
February 22, 1894	3:05 p.m.	Dallas Athletic Club	Hyde Park Austin, TX	W 16–0		[10]

Roster

The team, like all other college football teams at the time, operated under the one-platoon system which did not include separate offensive and defensive units. All players had the letter number 1.

The formation of five linemen, two ends, two halfbacks, one fullback and one quarterback, was the basic Texas football lineup for several decades onwards.

1893 Texas Varsity Roster

Name	Number	Position
William P. McLean	1	Quarterback
Addison Day	1	Fullback
Davil S. Furman	1	Right Halfback
Robert U. Lee	1	Left Halfback (QB against San Antonio)
Ray McLane	1	Right End
James Morrison	1	Right Tackle
Charles D. Bennett (replacing Morrison)	1	Right Tackle
Billy Richardson	1	Right Guard
Victor C. Moore (replacing Richardson)	1	Right Guard
John H. Myers	1	Center
John W. Philp	1	Left Guard
Rob Roy	1	Left Tackle
Paul McLane	1	Left End
Bibb Graves	1	Substitute
John Maverick	1	Substitute
Jesse Andrews	1	Substitute
Ross Clark	1	Substitute

Game Summaries

At Dallas Athletic Club

Texas vs. Dallas Athletic Club

1 2 Total •Texas 12 6 18 Dallas 10 6 16 Date: November 30, 1893 Location: Dallas Fair Grounds Dallas, Texas Game attendance: 2,000

On November 30th the Varsity team defeated the Dallas Athletic Club 18-16 at the Fair Grounds in Dallas in front of a crowd of around 2,000 people. Since football was a relatively new sport to the state, the Dallas club was considered the champions of the state and hadn't been beaten or scored against since their inception. Texas won the coin toss and scored a touchdown within 3 minutes which was promptly answered by Dallas with their own T.D. At some point Texas and Dallas both scored again but Dallas failed on their conversion attempt. Since at the time touchdowns were worth 4 points and PATs worth 2; the score at the end of the first half stood 12-10 with Texas in the lead. Both teams scored one touchdown in the second half in what was described as "sharp and close playing" to bring the final score to 18-16. Following the victory Texas was declared the "Champion eleven of Texas".

Vs. San Antonio Town Team

Texas vs. San Antonio Town Team

1 2 Total San Antonio 0 0 0 • Texas 12 18 30 Date: December 16, 1893 Location: Zoo Park Austin, Texas Game start: 3:00 PM CST Game attendance: 500-600

On December 16th the Varsity team beat the San Antonio Town Team 30-0 at Zoo Park in Austin. San Antonio won the toss and made a "brilliant run" that brought them to the Texas 25 but turned the ball over on downs. Texas then scored a touchdown after a slow drive downfield. San Antonio turned the ball over again on downs and Texas almost lost it on a fumble, but John Myers recovered. Texas' James Morrison scored the second touchdown to bring the score to 12-0 near the end of the half.

Texas received the ball to start the second half and drove down to the Town Teams' endzone but fumbled and San Antonio lost it on a safety, they drove down to their 25 but turned the ball over again and Texas scored their third touchdown but failed on the extra point, Texas 16-0. Throughout the game San Antonio had only been running the wedge play and as the Texas' defensive front adjusted they were more successful at stopping it, they got the ball back and Ray Mclane fumbled the ball just before the S.A. endzone after a 45 yard run San Antonio again jumped on it and got another safety, then got stopped on their 25. Texas scored two more touchdowns and missed one of the extra points to make the final score 30-0.

At San Antonio Town Team

Texas at San Antonio Town Team

1 2 Total • Texas 16 18 34 San Antonio 0 0 0 Date: February 3, 1894 Location: Jockey Club Grounds San Antonio, Texas Game start: 4:15 PM CST Game attendance: 500

On February 3rd of 1894 the Varsity team again beat the San Antonio Town Team, this time 34-0 at the Jockey Club Grounds in San Antonio. The game was viewed by a crowd of about 500; which was "largely composed of the society element of both Austin and San Antonio". San Antonio's primary formation again was the Flying Wedge but they lacked cohesion and Texas remained in control of the game, apart from a few missed extra points, with their superior rushing game.

Vs. Dallas Athletic Club

On February 22nd of 1894 the Varsity team again beat the Dallas Athletic Club, this time 16-0 at Hyde Park in Austin.

References

1. "All-Time Results" (PDF).
2. "The University of Texas played its first football game 130 years ago today". burntorangenation.com. November 30, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
3. "Longhorn Football 1883- 1926". texaslsn.org. January 22, 2024. Retrieved December 20, 2024.
4. "Varsity club wins - Defeats the Dallas club by eighteen to sixteen". The Austin Daily Statesman. December 1, 1893. Retrieved September 4, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Dallas-Austin". Fort Worth Gazette. December 1, 1893. p. 8.
6. "One more scalp dangles from the belt of the varsity football eleven". The Austin Daily Statesman. December 17, 1893. Retrieved September 4, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
7. "San Antonio defeated". The Houston Post. December 17, 1893. Retrieved September 4, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Austin vs. San Antonio - Five hundred people witness the varsity eleven's victory, score 31 to 0". The Galveston Daily News. February 4, 1894. Retrieved September 4, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Won by Austin". Houston Daily Post. February 4, 1894. p. 4.
10. "Varsity Wins". Fort Worth Gazette. February 25, 1894. p. 6.

1. They weren't called the Longhorns until 1903.