Texas to wear all-white throwbacks against Baylor

During a team meeting on Tuesday, the Texas Longhorns revealed all-white throwback uniforms that the Horns will wear on Saturday against the Baylor Bears as part of the celebration honoring the 50th anniversary of the 1970 national championship team.

The game will mark the first time since Sept. 30, 1950 against Purdue that Texas has worn all-white jerseys at home. The jerseys feature burnt orange trim, but remove the Texas lettering over the numbers on the front of the jersey, the Longhorns logo on the neck, and the Big 12 logo on the right breast. Additionally, the jersey also removes the numbers on the shoulders.

Throughout the week, the school will unveil other promotions and special items to celebrate the 1970 team.

Here’s the summary of that team from the school:

Texas entered the 1970 season riding a 20-game winning streak and as the defending national champions. But despite their startling credentials, the Longhorns began ranked No. 2 behind Ohio State in the polls. After a rash of preseason injuries, Texas stormed into the heart of the season with a pair of decisive victories over California (56-15) and Texas Tech (35-13). The win over the Golden Bears launched UT into the No. 1 spot in the UPI poll and narrowed the gap on Ohio State for the top spot in the Associated Press poll.

With UT’s winning streak standing at 22 games, it appeared the string of success with the unstoppable “Wishbone” had finally run out. In the season’s third week, No. 13 UCLA conceived a unique defense which stymied the Longhorns. The Bruins appeared ready to end the streak with a 17-13 lead, 25 seconds remaining and Texas 45 yards away from the end zone. It was then that UT quarterback Eddie Phillips hit Cotton Speyrer in stride at the 25-yard line. Speyrer shook a UCLA defender and crossed the goal line with only 12 seconds left as UT came away with a 20-17 victory.

After the come-from-behind home victory against UCLA, the Longhorns posted back-to-back wins against Oklahoma (41-9) and at Rice (45-21). Those wins vaulted the Longhorns ahead of Ohio State into the nation’s top spot, and a 42-15 win against SMU helped them maintain it. In its second week at No. 1, UT was forced to hold off a stubborn Baylor team in Waco (21-14) to remain at No. 1.

The Longhorns continued to hold the top spot with decisive victories at TCU (58-0) and against arch-rival Texas A&M (52-14) to set up a battle with No. 4 Arkansas. For the second consecutive year, the meeting with the Razorbacks would decide the Southwest Conference crown. After a 42-7 win against Arkansas, the Longhorns were awarded the UPI National Championship.

UT entered its Cotton Bowl rematch with No. 6 Notre Dame as the nation’s top team in both The AP and UPI polls. The Fighting Irish prevailed, 24-11, which snapped UT’s 30-game winning streak, but the Longhorns remained UPI’s National Champion. The 30-game winning streak currently stands as the 12th-longest in NCAA history.

Defensive end Bill Atessis, fullback Steve Worster and offensive tackle Bobby Wuensch earned consensus All-America and All-SWC honors, while linebacker Scott Henderson and Speyrer earned All-America and All-SWC recognition. Running back Jim Bertelsen and offensive guard Bobby Mitchell also earned All-SWC accolades. Henderson, Worster, Wuensch and Zapalac were the captains for the 10-1 (7-0, SWC Champion) Longhorns.

Correction: The school issued a release on Tuesday evening correcting its earlier release — the team will honor the 1970 team later in the season, but on Saturday will wear all whites to recognize the 110th meeting with Baylor.