AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is atop the AP rankings after a comeback win over previous AP No. 1 Ohio State Saturday night.
A rally in the fourth quarter closed a 20-point gap and put the Longhorns over the Buckeyes 24-23, the largest ever fourth-quarter rally to beat an AP No. 1 team.
Samarth Srinivas, a UT student, described the momentum shift in DKR.
“It was [an] insane energy shift. Everybody was so loud,” he said. “I swear my eardrums were bleeding, but it’s okay because I was having the time of my life.”
He and other students are finding their way as Texas Football fans for the first time.
“I mean, [it’s] one of the best games, I feel, to make my first game,” said Srinivas.
The Horns have not been atop the poll this early in the regular season since 1965. Their ranking as the preseason number one last year was dashed by a loss to the Buckeyes in week one.
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For longtime Longhorn fans, this early momentum feels special.
“I was born and raised here in Austin, and I probably started going around five or six years old,” said Rudy Garza, who we found eating lunch at Dirty Martin’s.
The walls of the restaurant, which has been continuously operating since 1926, are lined with photographs and memorabilia from decades of Texas Football, UT, and Austin history.
Dirty Martin’s has been continuously operating since 1926 (Photo: CBS Austin/Audrey Wong)
A second-generation UT alumnus, Garza remembers when tickets to UT football games cost between one dollar and $1.50.
“We would go and sit in what they used to call the knothole section, which was wooden bleachers that were in the end zone where the big video production piece is now,” he said.
As an Austin native and season ticket holder, Garza has had a front row seat to the program’s evolution alongside the city.
“The growth in the program and the growth in the number of people that go to the games—and the intensity and the energy of the stadium—it’s just gotten so magnified,” he said.
After over six decades of following Texas Football, he says the start to this season feels promising for a deep playoff run for the Horns, and perhaps even a national championship.
“I’m confident this is the year,” Garza said. “I hadn’t worn my 2005 Rose Bowl hat in a long time, but I’ll be wearing it the rest of this season, and with high hopes.”
The walls of Dirty Martin’s are lined with photographs and memorabilia from decades of Texas Football, UT and Austin history (Photo: CBS Austin/Audrey Wong)
Daniel Young, a fan of roughly 40 years and the General Manager of Dirty’s, used to walk to DKR with his brother to catch the games.
“They had a track going around the field so you could kind of walk in and just be right there,” he said
As Texas Football continues to evolve, he says the tradition of Dirty’s remains constant.
“A lot of the players, especially on that 1969 team, still come to Dirty’s. And they’ll have little reunions here and everything,” he said.
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, he has a good feeling the Horns will be in the running for a national championship title.
“I feel really good about it,” he said. “But you know, the old sports saying says, ‘Take it one game at a time; respect your opponents.’ You know, us Texas fans: do the same thing, take it a day at a time.”
Texas will host UTSA this coming Saturday, Sept. 19.