3 Texas football QB’s that dominated OU in Red River

3) Texas football QB’s who dominated OU: Pete Gardere

This is definitely the most surprising name on the list. Former Texas quarterback Pete Gardere was the starting signal caller in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, during one of the darker periods in the program’s last 40 years. Texas was not very good under head coach John Mackovic at that time, but Gardere somehow still upset Oklahoma on four different tries as a massive underdog.

The first time that Gardere beat the Sooners was in 1989, when he started out the season as the backup. He was behind Mark Murdock on the depth chart, but soon worked his way into the starting role. By the time the Red River Rivalry game arrived in 1989, Gardere was ready to lead the Longhorns to an upset win of No. 15 Oklahoma. This was really the first major upset win of Gardere’s career on the Forty Acres.

He followed that up by doing much of the same in the underdog role with the Longhorns to kick off the new decade. Texas downed No. 4 Oklahoma by the final score of 14-13 in 1990. That year was a much improved season as a whole for the Longhorns in the win column. They finished up with a double-digit win season and with a No. 12 ranking in the AP Poll.

The last two years that Gardere faced the Sooners were pretty special too. Texas wasn’t near as good of a team during the 1991 season than they were in 1990, but that didn’t matter to Gardere and his squad in Red River that year. Texas got another close win, by the final score of 10-7, over No. 6 Oklahoma.

Then the last outing for Gardere against the Sooners was in 1992. Likely his best season individually with Texas (maybe outside of 1990) saw Gardere once again work past Oklahoma. This time by the final score of 34-24.

Gardere wasn’t necessarily the most impressive Texas quarterback statistically. He rounded out his career with 7,396 passing yards, 49 total touchdowns, and 46 interceptions. But he got it done against Oklahoma at an unbelievable clip at least.