Peter’s oral Longhorn sports history is below in the black rectangle.

PETER THE GREAT

by Larry Carlson ( lc13@txstate.edu )

There's a word in the American lexicon that is more overused, abused -- and certainly more misused -- than even iconic, awesome, and incredible.

Sorry, but there are no degrees. Nobody is more unique than anyone else. No barbecue joint is the most unique. That diving catch was not pretty unique.

Individuals are unique. So are snowflakes. Tacos, not so much. Same for movies.

This is probably a futile, down-the-rabbit hole chase into English usage. Forgive me. I guess I've overstayed my time in the classroom. Thirty-five years of trying. Dang. Down the drain, as young Mr. Blutarski confessed in Dean Wormer's office. (See Faber College: Knowledge Is Good)

Given all that, Peter Gardere does, indeed, hold a unique spot in the Texas-OU record books.

Those who bleed burnt orange know this.

He's the lone star to go 4-0 as a starting quarterback for the Longhorns and Sooners in their longstanding football feud.

That's right. Nobody else has done it.

The incomparable Bobby Layne was 3-0 against the Okies in the '40s, and was on the squad but also on duty with the Merchant Marines another year when Texas bested OU.

Mike Cotten (1959-61) piloted Texas to a 3-0 mark in the Texas-OU series. Unbeaten (20-0 career) James Street went 2-0 against the Indian Territory. But All-America wishbone QB Marty Akins was 0-fer-3 against boorish Barry Switzer's troops. Colt McCoy was 3-1 as UT's starter against the crimson & cream. Vince Young and Sam Ehlinger got one victory apiece.

Several OU quarterbacks have won a few and gone unbeaten against the Horns. One, Charles Thompson -- also known as Casey's dad -- was 2-0 versus Texas his junior and senior seasons, just before Gardere started showing up in a Longhorn uniform.

Gardere, a gifted athlete out of Houston's Lee High, came to Texas with strong credentials as a quarterback and punter. In baseball, he had been drafted as a catcher in '88 by the Chicago Cubs. He received football offers from the likes of Notre Dame, Michigan and Texas A&M among others. But Peter, whose father and grandfather had played football at Texas, elected to prioritize football and attend college at UT.

Gardere set plenty of passing records in his playing days of 1989-92. But it was his fate to toil for Longhorn squads that were mostly average in talent levels and in the wins/losses category.

I once asked a standout member of the '88 O-line if he recalled seeing a spark, a hint at future stardom, in the handsome six-foot freshman who redshirted that season. "I really didn't," he candidly replied.

But Gardere, in spite of presiding over 5-6 seasons in '89 and '91, and having to deal with his third QB coach and second head coach, the prickly John Mackovic, for a 6-5 campaign as a senior, was icy cool when Longhorn squads gave him a chance at heroics.

The legendary '90 team, unbeaten in SWC play, earned UT's first Cotton Bowl bid since '83.

Gardere, always unflappable after touchdowns or interceptions, kept emotions in check and just unbuckled his chinstrap and jogged to the sidelines, regardless of the cheers or hisses. As a soph, his team beat OU for the first time since '83, also beat A&M for the first time since '83 and whipped Penn State in Happy Valley. Perhaps the highlight of the season -- and the Gardere era -- came in Austin before a primetime national TV audience on a beautiful November evening. Houston, 8-0, and winners over Texas by 51 and 38 points in the two most recent UT-UH matchups, came into Memorial Stadium ranked number three, with QB David Klingler leading the nation in passing.

Gardere responded, as he so often did when facing highly-ranked foes, by excelling in the clutch. The Horns led 45-10 before the Cougars could add two late garbage touchdowns to salve the beatdown. Longhorn fans uncharacteristically rushed the field, swarmed Gardere and his teammates and almost tore the goal posts down.

Throughout his burnt orange days, Gardere was not always as close to perfect as he was in the memorable win against Houston. He threw his share of picks and shouldered plenty of blame when UT's offense didn't click. But Gardere, who would later be a strong contributor on UT's 1993 Colleg World Series team and then earned pro football paychecks as a standout punter in the Canadian Football League, always stood as tall as Big Tex when the Longhorns hit Dallas for the State Fair and the fistfight with OU.

As a freshman and soph, Gardere engineered late fourth-quarter drives climaxed by touchdown passes that beat highly-touted Sooner teams. He guided the Horns to a third straight series win in '91 when the Horns relied on defense for a 10-7 win. Then, as a senior in '92, Gardere earned the only breather he ever got at the Cotton Bowl. Paced by two TD passes and 274 yards of "Gard-air," the Longhorns cruised to a 34-10 fourth-quarter lead. Gardere was able to take off his helmet on the sidelines and actually hear frustrated OU fans -- ranked, favored and beaten four consecutive times by unranked UT squads led by Gardere -- chant "Grad-u-ate, grad-u-ate, grad-u-ate."

The following day, the Austin American Statesman trumpeted the latest victory with a classic headline: Gardere Graduates 4-0

So as another "Red River Rivalry"/Dr Pepper Showdown/Texas-OU game approaches, UT fans think back wistfully about Gardere-led Longhorn teams that knew how to beat Oklahoma, regardless of the rankings or Vegas odds.

One quarterback, number ten in burnt orange and white, is 4-0. OU never beat his Longhorn teams. And never will.

Call him Peter. Peter the Great. Some teammates called him Pete.

Or just call him "Unique."

A little Longhorn Sports History about Peter, his grandfather, and Dad. By Billy Dale

 Strong-armed Peter Gardere at Houston Lee high school passed for 5,754 yards as a three-year starter (1985-87). He made the All-State team and finished his high years in 1988 participating in the Texas High School Coaches Association's All-Star Game. 

Peter The Great was never pushed by his family to play football. He says, “They just let me play all sports and enjoy what I could… playing baseball, running track, or some team soccer.”   Peter continues “Of course, my father would have loved for me to carry on the (Longhorn) tradition… He wanted me to make the decision and not based on something he did or my grandfather did.”  “ Of course it was in the back of my mind and was kind of a neat tradition from the standpoint that you are the third person in line to play at the University of Texas, which is a great honor; always has been and always will be….. knew from my grandfather and father what it meant to be a Longhorn.” Peter finally chose Texas because of His Longhorn genes and Coach McWilliams recruiting skills. Peter says “my  Coach was David McWilliams ….….  He was such a great guy, who was a lot of fun, and we enjoyed playing for him.” 

Peter comes from a family with great athletic royalty genes.  Peter is the grandson of George, the First, Gardere, a 143-pound quarterback who led his team to victories against Alabama and Rice in 1922 before suffering a career-ending jaw injury against Southwestern. 29 years later, Peter the Great’s dad, George, the Second, Gardere, a defensive back at Texas in 1951 suffered a grotesque season-ending broken neck on the first play of the first game in 1953. George Gardere's football career was one play and 8 seconds against Kentucky. Frank Medina was the first one to reach Peter after the injury. George, The first, Gardere looked at the injury to his son on the x-ray and fainted. George’s neck was broken in half.

After the successful surgery, Coach Price told Gardere’s parents that George was given another year’s eligibility. George’s mother was shocked that Coach Price would extend such an offer under the circumstances and declined the offer as only mothers can do with a resounding “NO”.

Gardere was recruited by Texas, Notre Dame, Penn State, and other great universities, but Peter finally chose Texas because of His Longhorn genes and Coach McWilliams recruiting skills. Peter says “my  Coach was David McWilliams ….….  He was such a great guy, who was a lot of fun, and we enjoyed playing for him.” 

Peter set many records in his 4 years at Texas,

·  UT - Passing yards by a freshman, season (1,511), surpassed by Shea Morenz in 1993 ·       UT - Passing yards, season (2364), surpassed by James Brown in 1995

·  UT - Passing yards, career (7,396), surpassed by Brown in 1997

·  UT - Highest Completion Percentage (min 100 attempts) (57.52%), season, surpassed by Major Applewhite in 1999

·  UT - Total offense, career (7,409), surpassed by Brown in 1997

·  UT - Fastest to 1,000 yards in a single season (5 games), tied Bret Stafford, tied by Morenz, surpassed by Brown in 1995

·  UT - Fastest to 2,000 yards in a single season (9 games), tied by Brown, surpassed by Applewhite in 1999

· UT - Starts, career (41), surpassed by Colt McCoy in 2009

· UT - Games by a quarterback, career (44), surpassed by Applewhite in 2001

· UT - Attempts, season (298), surpassed by Applewhite in 1999

·  UT - Attempts, career (1025), surpassed by Applewhite in 2001

·  UT - Completions, game (24), tied by Morenz in 1993, surpassed by Brown in 1996

·  UT - Completions, season (166), surpassed by Morenz in 1993

·  UT - Completions, career (561), surpassed by Applewhite in 2001

·  UT - lowest percentage of passes intercepted (minimum 300 passes), career (4.5%), surpassed by Brown in 1997

·  UT - Interceptions, career (45), tied by McCoy 2009

·  UT - Touchdown passes, game (4), tied Rick McIvor, Randy McEachern, Clyde Littlefield; surpassed by Brown in 1994

·  UT - Touchdown passes, career (37), surpassed by Brown in 1997

 Peter Gardere, Coach Cherry, Longhorn Fans, and O.U.

Even though Coach Cherry in the late 1940s produced two top 5 teams and won the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl and finished his career with a 32-10-1 record his 1-3 record against O.U. cost him his job. No question that  Cherry was a great coach, but losses to the Sooners during Longhorn's great football seasons resulted in funeral wreaths on his doorstep and surreal hangings of Cherry in effigy. In addition, Cherry received worrisome letters. One Texas-ex stated, "Boy, you're on the spot. If you don't win, you'd better not come home." Comments like this and calls all hours of the day convinced him to quit.  

On the other hand, Peter’s career record was  25-16, but he was 4-0 against O.U. and in 2021 was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor. The fact that Peter’s Longhorn teams as underdogs beat the Sooners 4 times in a row was not lost on the Longhorn Nation.

PETER - 1989 RECORD 5-6 TIED FOR 5TH WITH BAYLOR

1989  - Gardere started his redshirt freshman season as the backup to Mark Murdock, but was elevated to starter against Rice during the 4th game of the year against Rice. The Horns of ‘89 are picked 4th in the conference, but after beating #15 OU and #7 Arkansas the team is promoted to #22. After those victories, the Longhorns start dreaming of pickin’ Cotton, but unfortunately, “Bowl”  weevils ate that dream. Three losses over the next four games, including an extremely embarrassing 50-7 loss to Baylor, a team Texas had not lost to in Austin since 1951, ruined Texas' season.  The ailing Gardere was replaced in the TCU game by Donovan Forbes a multi-sport high school star from Houston. Donovan then started the Texas A & M game again replacing an injured Gardere losing the game 21-10.

 PETER - 1990 RECORD 10-1

By the 1990 season, the stars aligned, and Peter leads the Horns to a victory over Houston. The Cougars are undefeated and ranked #3. Houston has Heisman Trophy candidate David Klingler and has beaten Texas three years in a row. However, this game will be different. Houston offense loses to a UT defense that finishes the season #1 in the nation in pass defense. On offense, the Horns produced 626 yards of total offense. Klinger has four passes intercepted while Peter Gardere passed for 322 yards and Butch Hadnot rushed for 134 yards. This game catapults Texas into the 1990 Cotton Bowl. 

Gardere led the Longhorns to the Southwest Conference title, a #3 ranking. The Longhorns pulled off upsets against then #21 Penn State, #4 Oklahoma, and #3 Houston.

Peter says “we had some great players with great senior leadership. I think we had seven or nine guys go to the NFL Draft.” In the Cotton Bowl, the Horns were routed 46-3. Peter says, “I’d rather forget that game (a 46-3 blowout). I just remember the good and the bad. We had fun.” “I don’t miss the hits and everything else, but being around the players and really appreciating David McWilliams for recruiting players that cared about the University that were actually good people.” 

Gardere led the Longhorns to the Southwest Conference title, a #3 ranking. The Longhorns pulled off upsets against then #21 Penn State, #4 Oklahoma, and #3 Houston. Peter says “we had some great players with great senior leadership. I think we had seven or nine guys go to the NFL Draft.” In the Cotton Bowl, the Horns were routed 46-3. Peter says, “I’d rather forget that game (a 46-3 blowout). I just remember the good and the bad. We had fun.” “I don’t miss the hits and everything else, but being around the players and really appreciating David McWilliams for recruiting players that cared about the University that were actually good people.”

PETER- 1991  RECORD 5-6

The only highlight this year was a 10-7 upset of #6 Oklahoma.

 PETER AND MACKOVIC- 1992 RECORD 6-5

In 1992, under new head coach John Mackovic, the team upset #16 Oklahoma 34-24 but lost for the first time in 24 years to TCU.

 Many think that this was Peter’s best year under center. Mackovic became a Gardere disciple telling all who would listen how important his contribution to the team was in 1992.  Mackovic says about Peter, "I don't know anybody who earned as much respect from his teammates and coaches this year as he did."

“After beating Oklahoma the fourth time, Oklahoma fans broke out in to cheers pleading for Peter to ”Graduate! Graduate!”. He was named the team’s MVP for the year.

— Quote Source

 A REFLECTION OF PETER’S YEARS AT TEXAS

 It sounds like a cinderella story with Gardere the perfect fit for the quarterback shoes, but Peter’s story is not so romantic.  At some periods in Peter’s years at Texas the media, many fans, the coaches, and even the “Cactus” depicted Peter more like one of Cindrella’’s sisters.

1. Peter was the quarterback for the Horn teams that struggled to restore Texas football to prominence. A few times Peter’s teams accomplished that goal, but 3 of 4 years they did not.

•  TLSN asked All-Pro Bill Bradley How hard was it dealing with the pressure as the Texas quarterback during a dark period of Longhorn football in the mid-1960s. BILL Bradley says: "The pressure was no problem, The quarterback gets all the credit and all the blame."

• So like Bill, Peter received credit for wins and blame for the losses.

      2. The "Cactus" wrote an article titled "The Rise and Fall of 'Peter The Great."' A ridiculous and mean-spirited title for a great quarterback. As mentioned before, losing and winning in football is based on a team working with one heartbeat. No individual caused a collapse of the football program.

     3. Offensive coordinator Coach Amedee under McWilliams says that "Peter needs to excel as a plugger because he does not have a great gun." Lynn Amedee verbally attacks Gardere all year long, but Peter hangs tough. Peter's father says a constructive message helps Peter excel at quarterback underneath all the screaming and hollering. 

     4. The Horns rolled through the 1990 season and were ranked high nationally until the devastating loss to Miami in the Cotton Bowl shocked the Longhorn Nation.

     5. 1992- John Mackovic was not familiar with all the Longhorn traditions and tried to change things. Peter says, "It was my third offense in four years” . “That was a lot of plays to learn!” Peter Gardere said, "John was a brilliant coach, but he lacked the personal skills, as far as being a player's coach." "He told me when we first met that he picked his quarterback on how he performed in practice. He told me that he didn't care that I started for three years, that I was going to earn it.”  Peter continues, "it was difficult to transition from McWilliams's "even-keeled" coaching style to Mackovic's suffocating intensity." Peter says that Mackovic's style added a level of pressure that made him "tight" every practice. He was stressed but kept his starting job. 

     6. Peter finally earned Mackovic's respect. Mackovic says about Peter, "I don't know anybody who earned as much respect from his teammates and coaches this year as he did." But many Longhorn fans didn't agree. Instead, bitter fans held Gardere responsible for the losing seasons. Instead of being celebrated for all the passing records he set, Gardere was even booed as he broke the records of the revered Bobby Layne. Even his parents were hounded so badly they changed their phone numbers. 

Eyes on Texas: Peter Gardere’s 4-0 mark against Oklahoma makes him a Hall of Honor shoo-in

Gardere has been longtime friends with Sooner great Charles Thompson, but there’s nothing friendly about this week

Brian Davis Hookem

Crimson-colored alarms went off in Oklahoma earlier this week when Charles Thompson revealed he was friendly with Texas ex Peter Gardere.

Well, they’re more than friends, it turns out. Thompson, the one-time Oklahoma star quarterback, was the officiant of Peter the Great’s wedding in 2017, for heaven’s sake. 

Did anyone bother telling Linda, Gardere's wife and a former diving standout at Iowa State, how she was plunging headfirst into the Texas-OU rivalry?

“He was very poised,” Gardere said this week. “I was more nervous. I told him just make it quick. No longer than 15 minutes — that’s one quarter.”

Does this Cyclone take this Longhorn, who just happened to go 4-0 against the Sooners from 1989-92, to be your lawfully wedded husband? Speak now, or forever hold your peace.

“Peter Gardere and I are best buds,” Thompson told me this week. “I said, Peter, you’re lucky I got in trouble and made a stupid bonehead decision in my life or that 4-0 would’ve been 2-2.”

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Thompson was, shall we say, preoccupied with, um, legal matters when 1989 started. But as of now, he plans on being in Austin next weekend when Gardere gets inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor.

The Hall of Honor ceremony normally brings out all sorts of Longhorn glitterati. This year will be a power-packed presentation as the classes of 2020 and 2021 will be honored together. The pandemic forced last year’s postponement.

Some of these 24 names are eye-popping. Football fans will notice Gardere, David Thomas, Jamaal Charles and Jordan Shipley. Mike Adams, too. D.J. Augustin and P.J. Tucker will be inducted along with former men’s basketball coach Tom Penders. 

“I’m hoping he has some really cool burnt orange Nikes that are over the top,” Gardere said of Tucker.

Courtney Okolo is sprinting straight into the Hall along with dead-eye shooter Heather Schreiber-Stark and volleyball standouts Bailey Webster and Nikki Busch Zigler — a Southwest Conference champion in her own right, same as Gardere.

The ceremony is Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. inside the LBJ Auditorium and Conference Center. Tickets are $25. 

Eyes on Texas:Remembering Bobby Lackey, the Longhorns' first Sports Illustrated cover boy

Gardere was on my call sheet for next week, but who are we kidding? It’s Texas-OU week. The commercial real estate specialist set aside zoning regulations and square footage requirements to talk about Johnny Walker, the Cash brothers, Lovell Pinkney, Adams and those four upset victories.

Even at 52, Gardere still has instant recall of the Cotton Bowl atmosphere.

Somewhere, Bubba Jacques probably still wishes he’d have thrown the ball into the stands after that scoop-and-score in 1991. It’d have been a penalty but legendary.

“Any time you hear that Oklahoma’s on or its OU week, the Fair and everything else, of course it brings back so many good memories,” Gardere said. “It’s just a lot of fun, going to the game, the Fair, it’s just a great experience.”

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The Cotton Bowl in the late ’80s or early ’90s was totally different than it is now. Start with the tunnel. Today’s players are spoiled. Used to be, Texas players ran through the south end zone portal with Oklahoma fans able to yell, throw, spit or pour just about anything on the Horns’ heads. 

Now, stadium operators raise tarps so players can’t even see the fans until they run onto the field. It’s a far cry from … “how bad we had it?” Gardere said with a laugh.

“It’s such a good feeling coming out of that tunnel,” he said. “When you have the tarp, I guess that’s protection from ice, beer and whatever else you get thrown at you. But to come out and see both sides, it’s just incredible. You get hurt, you go in tents now.”

Can we dispense with the idea this is “just another game,” as the current Horns want us to believe?

Eyes on Texas:Luke Brockermeyer’s story of football survival is a lesson for all recruits

“No, it’s not. It’s a big deal,” Gardere said. “Now, it’s a bigger game. Usually the one who wins this moves on to the Big 12 championship.”

So who’s got any advantage this week? No. 23 Texas (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) has regrouped after losing to Arkansas four weeks ago. No. 5 Oklahoma (5-0, 2-0) is undefeated, but it hasn’t been easy. Sooners fans have even been booing quarterback Spencer Rattler.

“There’s definitely more pressure on OU right now than Texas at this point,” Gardere said. “The rankings, as a player you don’t want that to come into play, but you don’t stop thinking about it.”

Gardere and Thompson became friends while playing in the Canadian Football League. “Just stayed real close,” he said. 

Eyes on Texas:Film study sounds boring, but it’s laying winning foundation for Longhorns

Gardere heard all about Thompson’s son Kendal following in dad’s footsteps to play quarterback at Oklahoma. And Gardere has known Texas' Casey Thompson practically his entire life. 

“I like what I’ve seen,” Gardere said. “They’re starting to jell. Having some injuries on the offensive line, that’ll hurt. Obviously, I was rooting for Casey.” Gardere said he couldn’t really understand why Thompson didn’t start the season opener against Louisiana, even though “of course you’re going to play two quarterbacks.”

“Why not just start Casey and see what happens?” Gardere said. “I was disappointed to see that, but I think it’s worked out well for Casey. It’s good to see they didn’t play their best last week (against TCU) but hung in there and got a win, and that’s all that counts.”

Gardere got four consecutive victories against the Sooners. There was a window where somebody could’ve broken that record, with Texas and OU both possibly getting to a Big 12 title game. But the Horns and Sooners won’t meet in future SEC championship games when they move into that league.

So Gardere’s record is safe for eternity, it would seem. “Every record is meant to be broken,” he said.

Once Gardere goes into the Hall of Honor next week, his Texas legacy will be protected forever, too.

Contact Brian Davis by phone or text at 512-445-3957. Email bdavis@statesman.com or @BDavisAAS.

Saturday's game

23-Texas vs. 5-Oklahoma, 11 a.m., ABC, 104.9