The Texas Longhorns football team represents the University of Texas at Austin in college football.

History Early history (1893–1956) The University of Texas fielded its first permanent football team in 1893, managed by Albert Lefevra, the secretary-treasurer of the UT Athletic Association. The team played four games, a pair in the fall and two more in the spring, winning all four games while shutting out all four opponents. The first was against the Dallas Football Club that claimed to be the best in the state. Held at the Dallas Fair Grounds, the game attracted a then-record 1,200 onlookers. It was a tough and spirited match, but when the dust had settled, the "University Eleven" had pulled off an 18–16 upset. "Our name is pants, and our glory has departed", growled the Dallas Daily News. The Texas club would go on to a spotless record and earn the undisputed boast of "best in Texas." After the inaugural season Texas officially hired its first coach, R.D. Wentworth, for $325 plus expenses. Wentworth shut out the first six opponents, outscoring them 191–0 before miserably losing their final game to Missouri 28–0. There were a number of firsts in Wentworth's one and only season as head coach at Texas. Texas' first ever meeting against Texas A&M occurred in 1894 and resulted in a 38–0 shutout victory for Texas in Austin. Texas also faced Arkansas in the first meeting between the two schools in 1894. The game resulted in a 54–0 shutout victory for Texas as well. These two firsts set the ground for the long extensive rivalries with the Aggies and the Razorbacks over the next century in which Texas would dominate both series with the two schools including several anticipated games. The 1896 Texas varsity was the first team to play out of state, as the team ventured east for games against Tulane (a 12–4 victory) and LSU (a 14–0 loss). The games were played on a Saturday and Monday in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively, which was a particularly brutal travel schedule for that time.

Texas quickly established a winning tradition in its first seven years of football going 36–11–2. The Texas football program quickly rose to prominence during the early 1900s with winning records each season, including undefeated seasons in 1900, 1914, 1918, and 1920. In 1900, Texas had its first ever meeting with Oklahoma, a 28–2 victory for Texas. During this same period, Texas also began rivalries with TCU, Texas A&M, Baylor, and Vanderbilt teams, where Texas quickly became the powerhouse and favored team. Texas participated in the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1913 to 1917, winning two titles in 1913 and 1914 with 7–1 and 8–0 records those years. In 1914, standout halfback Len Barrell scored 14 touchdowns and kicked 34 extra points and one field goal to tally 121 points for the Longhorns. He held the UT record for points in a season for 83 years before Ricky Williams broke it in 1997 and again in 1998. Texas was selected as National Champions in 1914 by the Billingsley Report Ratings after finishing 8–0 on the season; this championship is recognized by the NCAA. In 1915, Texas joined the upstart Southwest ConferenceI, winning the conference championship in 1916 and 1918. In 1916, 15,000 fans packed Clark Field to witness Texas’ 21–7 upset win against Texas A&M. It was the first UT vs. A&M game in Austin since 1909 and the first game in which the first Bevo was unveiled. Texas was again selected as National Champions in 1918 by the Cliff Morgan Ratings when the team went undefeated at 9–0. Texas then won their first outright SWC Championship in 1920 with an undefeated record. 1920 was also the year in which the Texas–Texas A&M rivalry took hold with this historical meeting as both teams entered the game undefeated and unscored on that season. 20,000 onlookers (the largest in state history at the time) witnessed a back and forth defensive battle as Texas defeated Texas A&M, 7–3 on Thanksgiving Day. The game gave the Aggies their first loss in two years and closed another undefeated season for Texas. Texas would post a 35–6–3 record over the next five seasons led by coaches Berry Whitaker and Edward J. "Doc" Stewart through the 1926 season. Three of those losses came to Vanderbilt.

Clyde Littlefield was the first superstar to both play for and coach the Longhorns. In his first season as head coach, he led Texas to a 6–2–1 record, bettering Edward Stewarts previous record of 5–4. His first season included a hard-fought victory over a then-tough Vanderbilt team in Dallas 13–6. During his second season, he won the SWC going 7–2 including huge shutout wins over TCU and Texas A&M. The 1928 Longhorns were the first to wear "Texas orange" (burnt orange) jerseys. The change was made because the bright orange jerseys UT had worn faded from repeated washings. Burnt orange jerseys were worn for the next decade until a wartime dye shortage forced UT to go back to the bright orange. Burnt orange was not re-adopted until Darrell Royal did so prior to the 1962 season. Littlefield also won another SWC Championship in 1930 and led his team to a near perfect 8–1–1 record. The following season saw Texas finish at 5–2–2 in 1929. The 1930 season was most remembered by the 98-yard touchdown drive against Oklahoma where both teams were tied 7–7 going into the fourth quarter. Texas managed to tack on a field goal to put the game away, 17–7 and their fourth straight win over the Sooners at the time. The 1930 team won the SWC Championship and was selected as the National Champion that year by several sportswriters however the school does not officially recognize this year. Littlefield almost captured another SWC Title in 1932 by finishing 8–2 but lost to SWC foe TCU 14–0. Throughout the 1930s Texas' main in-conference foe was TCU as both teams sought after recruits within the state. Coach Littlefield only had one losing season, in 1933, mainly due to younger players and injuries to starters. From 1893 to 1932, Texas had 40 consecutive winning seasons. After finishing the 1933 season 4–5–2, the Longhorns' first losing season in program history, many people called for his resignation. Littlefield ultimately gave in to the calling of his resignation and left the head coaching position in 1933. He resigned as the Longhorns football coach but stayed on as a very successful track coach. To this day, he is still the fifth most successful coach for the University of Texas with a record of 44–18–6. After the resignation, Jack Chevigny, a national celebrity and ex-Notre Dame player, was hired in 1934. His first season as head coach included a stunning victory over Notre Dame, 7–6, in South Bend, Indiana which was considered the greatest moment of his career and one of Texas' biggest victories at the time. After his initial winning season of 7–2–1 (often credited to Littlefield), Chevigny's career at Texas came crashing down when the Longhorns went 4–6 in 1935 and 2–6–1 in 1936, after which he resigned. Chevigny's coaching tenure never fully developed after the victory at Notre Dame. After his resignation he joined the Marine Corps as many people enlisted during the early stages of World War II. Chevigny died as a United States Marine Corps first lieutenant in the battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. Another legend surrounding Chevigny is that, after the 1934 victory over Notre Dame, he had been presented a fountain pen with the inscription "To Jack Chevigny, a Notre Dame boy who beat Notre Dame", and that on September 2, 1945, the pen was discovered in the hands of one of the Japanese envoys on the U.S.S. Missouri; and that the inscription was changed to read, "To Jack Chevigny, a Notre Dame boy who gave his life for his country in the spirit of old Notre Dame." Chevigny was the only head coach in Texas football history with a losing record of 13–14–2 until Charlie Strong was fired in 2016.