The past is revisited when a rivalry as venerable as the one shared by Arkansas and Texas is renewed.

Today at Darrell K. Royal / Texas Memorial Stadium the two teams will meet for the 77 th time, revitalizing a rivalry that begin in 1894. Texas boasts a decided edge in the series, posting a 55- 21 record against Arkansas.

The Longhorns’ dominion over Arkansas was evident from the start. They won the first 15 meetings, shutting out the Razorbacks in 11 of those games and outscoring them 426-38.

Texas’ control of the series continued during the halcyon days of Arkansas football in the 1960 s. The Longhorns won six of the 10 games, including a 15-14 victory in 1969 when Texas and Arkansas were respectively ranked No. 1 and 2 in the country. The Hogs logged victories in 1960, 1964, 1965 and 1966 with the first three leading to conference titles and a national title in 1964.

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The history that attends the rivalry was brought into focus before Hurricane Ike postponed the game two weeks, allowing those with a reverence for the past to relive the days of the nowextinct Southwest Conference. Texas head coach Mack Brown said he welcomed the nostalgia evoked by today’s game.

“ This brings attention to those SWC games, to the players and the coaches involved in those games, ” he said earlier this month during the Big XII coaches teleconference. “ This week, a lot of people will be writing stories about what made those games special. ”

While youth are typically oblivious to the past, the Longhorns aren’t indifferent to it. Though they’re too young to remember the last time the two teams met as members of the SWC in 1991, they’re cognizant of what transpired before them.

“ There is a lot of tradition that we know about, ” said Texas running back Chris Ogbonnaya during the a team press conference earlier this month. “ They played us in the 1969 [conference ] championship. They’re an old Southwest Conference rival.

“ We’re excited about playing them. We know how much it means to older players and some of the people that were students in the ’ 60 s and ’ 70 s. ”

Senior defensive end Brian Orakpo referenced more recent history when asked about the rivalry. He was a freshman in 2004 when Arkansas quarterback Matt Jones’ untimely fumble prevented the Razorbacks from attempting a potential game-winning field goal, allowing the seventh-ranked Longhorns to escape Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium with a 22-20 victory.

“ I wasn’t even playing that year, ” he said. “ I just happened to be traveling. We played Arkansas at Arkansas and it was a close game. It was a very close game. It came down to the wire and we pulled it out. ”

Jones ’ miscue cost Arkansas the game, but the year prior in Austin he spurred the Razorbacks ’ to a 38-28 win over the fifth-ranked Longhorns. Orakpo said the loss reinforced the importance of not underestimating Arkansas, which enters the game as a 27 1 / 2-point underdog.

“ Matt Jones and company came in our house and beat us, ” he said. “ That’s something we can look at and just go off of. We’re not going to take these guys lightly. We’re going to come prepared, with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of emotion, and just really play the way we normally know how to play, and that’s Texas football. ”

Against Alabama last week in the SEC opener, Arkansas was on the wrong side of a 49-14 defeat. Offensive tackle Adam Ulatoski said Arkansas’ struggles won’t inspire overconfidence in the Longhorns.

“ This is Texas-Arkansas and not just another team, ” Ulatoski said during the team’s Monday press conference. “ All bets are out the window in a rivalry game like this. We’re going to have to go out there and play our best game against them. ”