When Was The Last Time Kentucky Played Texas? A Brief History

The Kentucky Wildcats (4-6) will play the Texas Longhorns (9-1) in Austin this Saturday in the first time they'll meet since 1951.

Nov 16, 2024; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats defensive back Jordan Lovett (25) celebrates with linebacker Tyreese Fearbry (42) after he intercepted a pass during the second quarter against the Murray State Racers at Kroger Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images / Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

The Kentucky Wildcats and the Texas Longhorns have a very short history when it comes to football.

In fact, the two teams have only played once in the entire history of each program history. Much like Florida and Vanderbilt, Texas hasn't played Kentucky for over 70 years.

The one time Kentucky and Texas played was in 1951 in Austin. The Wildcats had been coached by the legendary Bear Bryant and were coming off the 1950 National Championship after finishing 11-1. Today, that is still the only football championship won by Kentucky.

Meanwhile, the Texas Longhorns were in their first year with head coach Ed Price. The previous year, the Longhorns went 9-2 and won the Southwest Conference. Texas ended up losing to Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl that year, ending any consideration they had for their first national title.

Now in 1951, both teams took a step back record-wise but the game still was a nail-biter. Looking at the box score, you would think Kentucky had the game won. They converted 21 first downs to Texas's eight and had a total of 287 yards on offense. But all of that only amounted to six points as the Longhorns won 7-6.

Texas scored a 13-yard touchdown in the first half from quarterback James T. Jones to Don Barton Reid.

Kentucky failed to score in the first half but finally broke through in the third with a six-yard touchdown pass from Babe Parlilli to Bucky Grunner but the extra point try fatally missed.

That would be the last time that either team scored as the Longhorns took the win home and finished the season at 7-3. The Wildcats couldn't replicate their past success in the year before but still went 8-4 with a win at the Cotton Bowl against TCU.

And now the two teams meet yet again finally in the great year of 2024.

Will Texas repeat as victors? The current betting odds sure think they will. ESPN Bet has Texas favored by -20.5. ESPN's matchup predictor also has Texas at a 94.6% chance of winning.

The game will kick off at 2:30 on ABC.

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