The Longhorns were making their second of three consecutive Cotton Bowl appearances after winning the Southwest Conference again. They were unbeaten, with a tie at Rice.
The Tigers, who finished third in the Southeastern Conference, lost to Ole Miss and also tied Rice. LSU had won the Orange Bowl the previous season. They were making their first Cotton Bowl appearance since 1947, a scoreless tie (against Arkansas). This was head coach Charlie McClendon's first year at LSU, where he stayed through 1979.
Game summary
LSU quarterback Lynn Amedee's 23-yard field goal gave the Tigers a 3–0 halftime lead. Earlier, Texas' shoeless Tony Crosby had missed from 42 yards, which led to the scoring drive. This was the first field goal in the Cotton Bowl in 21 years.
Amedee recovered a Longhorn fumble at the 37 early in the third quarter and reserve quarterback Jimmy Field scored five plays later on a 22-yard touchdown run. Buddy Hamic recovered a Texas fumble to set up another Amedee field goal thirteen plays later, and the Tigers kept the Longhorns off the scoreboard.[4][5][7]
There was a Cotton Bowl Classic in January and December in 1966, 2015, 2017, 2023, 2025.
The 2015 (December), 2018, 2021, and 2025 (January) editions were College Football Playoff semifinals.