1969 Texas vs . Arkansas football game The 1969 Texas vs . Arkansas football game , sometimes referred to as the " Game of The Century " , was a legendary college football game on December 6 , 1969 in which the top - ranked Texas Longhorns visited the second - ranked Arkansas Razorbacks at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville , Arkansas . The Longhorns came back from a 14 - 0 deficit after three quarters to win 15 - 14 . They would go on to win the Cotton Bowl Classic and be selected National Champions . Buildup . The relative parity which had existed within the Southwest Conference ended with the arrival of Darrell Royal and Frank Broyles at their respective schools , with either Texas or Arkansas winning or sharing the SWC crown 8 out of the 10 years leading up to the game . Both Texas and Arkansas had won one national championship in the 1960s , and the schools developed a bit of a rivalry after Arkansas defeated in consecutive years top - ranked Texas teams in 1964 and 1965 . In 1968 Texas handed Arkansas their only loss of the year . The 1969 season marked the 100th anniversary of college football . This game would decide the Southwest Conference Championship , as well as its berth in the Cotton Bowl Classic , and ABC television executive Beano Cook arranged for Texas and Arkansas to play the final game of the regular season , moving their usual October date to the first weekend in December . ABC Sports executive Roone Arledge persuaded Arkansas coach Frank Broyles to move the game with a promise that President Richard Nixon would attend the game , and ABC would televise Arkansas ' season opener in 1970 against Stanford ( and its star quarterback , Jim Plunkett ) . Broyles even talked Arkansas officials into installing AstroTurf , then still a novelty , at Razorback Stadium . The game would kick off at Noon Central Standard Time since the stadium in Fayetteville did not have lights at the time . There were early discussions of moving the game to an evening start at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock , where Arkansas played two or three home games per season , but ABC did not consider the lights at Little Rock to be sufficient . For a long while , it looked as though the game would be a meeting of also - rans . Ohio State was dominating the Big Ten and the chances of the game being anything other than just the last game of the season were pretty remote . However , as the Longhorns took a Saturday off to prepare for their upcoming game on Thanksgiving Day with Texas A & M , Michigan and its upstart coach Bo Schembechler upset the Buckeyes . Texas vaulted to No . 1 in the polls and Arkansas claimed the No . 2 spot . Ultimately , due to good fortune , it worked as the move made the game the focus of the entire sporting world gaining a television rating of a 52 . 1 share , meaning more than half the TV sets in the country were tuned to this game . That set the stage . Even the day took on an eerie feeling . Billy Graham attended to give the pregame prayer . The night before , a steady , cold rain fell in Fayetteville and an icy fog hovered over the stadium as the crowd awaited the arrival of President Nixon , who would award a plaque symbolic of the National Championship to the winner . Due to the lack of a suitable airport in northwest Arkansas ( Fayetteville ' s Drake Field was far too small , and Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport would not open for another 30 years ) , Marine One landed on the practice fields just east of Razorback Stadium as the game was starting . The game . In the 100th year of college football , it truly was the " Game of the Century . " In a game between unbeatens played at Arkansas ' Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville , the Texas Longhorns were ranked Number 1 in the country , having won 18 straight games . The Arkansas Razorbacks were ranked Number 2 , having won 15 straight . The Texas wishbone attack , then still a novelty , was an offensive juggernaut that averaged over 44 points per game coming into the contest . Arkansas led the nation in scoring defense , yielding only 6 . 8 points per game . In addition , both the Razorback offense and Texas defense were ranked in the top ten nationally . The Longhorns got off to a sloppy start , losing a fumble on the second play from scrimmage and turning the ball over a total of six times . A 1 - yard leap into the end zone by Bill Burnett in the first quarter and a 29 - yard touchdown reception by Chuck Dicus in the third quarter put the Hogs up 14 - 0 with 15 : 00 to play . James Street scrambled for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter . Longhorns coach Darrell Royal had decided before the game to go for a two - point conversion after the Longhorn ' s first touchdown to avoid a tie , and Street dove into the end zone to make it 14 - 8 . Arkansas quarterback Bill Montgomery next led the Razorbacks on a 73 - yard drive down to the Texas 7 . On third down , Montgomery was intercepted in the end zone by Danny Lester , Arkansas ' first turnover of the game . A field goal would have likely put the game out of reach for Texas . Still down 14 – 8 , Texas began a desperate drive for the end zone that appeared to stall with 4 : 47 remaining when Royal opted for yet another gamble on fourth - and - 3 from their own 43 - yard line . During a timeout that Texas took before the fateful play , Royal shouted at Street , " Right 53 Veer pass . " The play was a deep pattern throw to the tight end . The play wasn ' t in the Texas game plan package . " Are you sure that ' s the call you want ? " Street said . " Damn right I ' m sure ! " Royal snapped . Street had noticed Arkansas defenders looking into the Texas huddle , so he fixed his gaze on split end Cotton Speyrer while explaining the play to Randy Peschel , saying " Randy , I ' m looking and pointing at Cotton , but I ' m talking to you . " Street then hit Peschel on the dramatic play , with Peschel making a difficult catch over his shoulder in double coverage . It not only converted on fourth down , but also gained 44 yards , putting the Longhorns on the Razorbacks 13 . Two plays later Jim Bertelsen ran in for the game - tying touchdown . Donnie Wigginton , the third - string quarterback who was the holder , made a big save on a high snap and Happy Feller booted the extra point for the winning score with 3 : 58 remaining . Arkansas made a push into Texas territory , hoping for a field goal from All - American kicker Bill McClard . Arkansas was down to the Texas 40 when Tom Campell intercepted Montgomery on the Texas 21 - yard line with less than a minute left . Controversy . President Richard Nixon attended the game along with several members of his staff and U . S . Representatives George H . W . Bush of Texas and John Paul Hammerschmidt of Arkansas , having announced that he would give a plaque to the winner , proclaiming it to be the National Champion — to the chagrin of observers who thought it premature to do so before the New Year ' s Day bowl games , and of fans of Penn State , which would also end the season undefeated . Arkansas took a 14 - 0 lead , and held it into the fourth quarter , but Texas came from behind to win , 15 - 14 , and accepted Nixon ' s plaque . Texas beat Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl Classic , and removed any doubt as to whether it deserved consideration as National Champion , although Penn State fans still insist that their team , also undefeated and winner of the Orange Bowl , was better . However , it is worth noting that the Cotton Bowl Classic first invited Penn State to play the Southwest Conference champions . The Nittany Lions declined the invitation , preferring to spend New Year ' s Day in warm Miami , where they defeated Big Eight champion Missouri . This decision was made while Ohio State was still ranked # 1 with only one game to play , so at the time , it did not appear that a national championship was likely to be at stake . The 1969 Texas - Penn State conflict , never settled on the field , has been one of the major arguments in favor of a Division I - A playoff . Arkansas lost the 1970 Sugar Bowl to Ole Miss , led by Archie Manning . The entire Texas - Penn State debate and Nixon ' s involvement led to a quote from Penn State coach Joe Paterno , a conservative Republican , during a commencement speech at Penn State in 1974 about Nixon , " How could Nixon know so much about college football in 1969 and so little about Watergate in 1973 ? " This game has been nicknamed " Dixie ' s Last Stand , " since it was the last major American sporting event played between two all - white teams , although two schools in the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) , LSU and Ole Miss , did not integrate their varsity football squads until 1972 . With the Vietnam War still raging and Nixon in attendance , protestors came to the game , and one of them got into a tree overlooking the stadium and held up an antiwar sign . An urban legend grew up around this game , claiming that this protestor was Arkansas native and future President Bill Clinton . Clinton , however , was not at the game , as he was then a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford in England , and was listening to the game on a shortwave radio with some American friends . The two coaches in this game , Darrell Royal of Texas and Frank Broyles of Arkansas , both retired after the 1976 season . Both became athletic directors at their respective schools , Royal for the entire Texas athletic program and Broyles solely for the Arkansas men ' s program , as Arkansas had a completely separate women ' s athletic department from 1971 through 2007 . Royal retired from his AD job in 1980 , but Broyles continued on through 2007 , with the men ' s and women ' s athletic programs merging immediately after his retirement . Broyles spearheaded Arkansas ' move from the SWC to the SEC in 1991 , and was later instrumental in the Razorbacks and Longhorns playing a two - year series in 2003 ( at Austin ) won by Arkansas and 2004 ( at Fayetteville ) won by Texas . The last meeting was in 2008 in Austin won by Texas 52 - 10 . Texas holds a 56 - 21 - 0 ( 72 % ) lead in the all - time series between the schools . They are scheduled to play again in Fayetteville in 2014 . As an addendum to the paragraph above : Frank Broyles did retire as the head coach of the Razorbacks after the 1976 season . At that time , however , Coach Broyles had been named and served as Men ' s Athletic Director , as well as head coach of the Hogs since the 1974 season .