| Texas vs. Arkansas, 1969 The "Game of the Century" (1969 version) | |||||||||||||||||||
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| National Championship Game[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 6, 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Razorback Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Fayetteville, Arkansas | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Carl Landiss | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 47,500[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Chris Schenkel and Bud Wilkinson | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 52.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1969 Texas vs. Arkansas football game, sometimes referred to as the "Game of the Century", was a college football game played on December 6 in which No. 1 Texas visited No. 2 Arkansas at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas.[3] The Longhorns came back from a 14–0 deficit after three quarters to win 15–14.[4][5][6][7]
President Richard Nixon attended the game and established it as a national championship game by announcing he would award the winning team a presidential plaque declaring them "the number-one college football team in college football's one-hundredth year."[1]
With a Nielsen rating of 52.1 (a 74 share), this was and remains as of 2023[update], the highest TV rating in American football history, college or professional.{{Citation needed}}
- ^ a b Weinreb, Michael (June 18, 2013). "Tricky Dick's Trick Play". Grantland. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 18, 2010. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Darling, Ed (December 5, 1969). "The Eyes of Texas? They're all on Arkansas now". Tuscaloosa News. Alabama. p. 6.
- ^ "Gutty quarterback leads Texas to win". Tuscaloosa News. Alabama. Associated Press. December 7, 1969. p. 13.
- ^ "Longhorns decision Arkansas 15–14 with long bomb on fourth down". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. December 7, 1969. p. 1, sports.
- ^ Jenkins, Dan (December 15, 1969). "Texas by an eyelash". Sports Illustrated. p. 20.
- ^ Schenkel, Chris (November 19, 2003). "ESPN Classic – Game of the Century left lifetime of memories". ESPN Classic. Retrieved July 26, 2010.