The Longhorns won their next two games against SMU and Texas Tech. Ranked number one in the country, they were determined to prove to everyone that they were the team to beat. Earl, too, was not about to let anything stand in his way…not even the flu! The night before their next match-up against the Houston Cougars, Earl complained of a stomach ache and a fever. With a 104-degree fever, Earl was put to bed, where he spent the night shivering and sweating. The next morning, although his fever had lowered to 101, the team doctor insisted that he not play in the afternoon game. But Earl had come so far in his life and beaten the odds before. He had overcome poverty at a young age, hatred and racism in his schools, the heartache of losing his father when he was only eleven and, of course, his hamstring injury the previous year. He wasn't about to let a little flu bug stop him from playing in this game. Earl ran for 173 yards on 24 carries that day, scoring three touchdowns in the process. On his second touchdown run, as many longtime UT fans will remember, Earl barreled through the back of the end zone, knocking a standing Longhorn named Bevo, the team mascot, completely off his feet. His performance in the Houston game prompted Akers to say, "Earl Campbell is the greatest football player I have ever seen, and Ann Campbell is the best coach there ever was!"

With the next two games, wins over TCU and Baylor, under their belts, it was now time to turn focus to the annual Thanksgiving Day battle between A&M and Texas. With the game being televised nationally, Earl knew he had to have a solid game against the Aggies vicious defense if he wanted to have a shot at winning the Heisman. Akers pulled him over before the game and said, "You get out there and get me anything over 150 yards rushing…if you do this, I feel certain that the award will be yours." Akers, of course, could not guarantee his promise, but Earl respected the coach and did not want to disappoint him. And so Earl rushed for over 220 yards that day and led his Horns in defeating their most hated rivals, the Aggies, 57-28.

Earl Campbell and the University of Texas had made promises to each other four years prior to this win. Earl had promised to give Texas his heart, soul and best athletic and academic efforts while in Austin. And that he did. He brought the University of Texas back to the level of athletic dominance it had acquired for so many years, and in a time when cheating and dishonesty were running rampant in the collegiate ranks, Earl represented the type of integrity that Texas had worked so hard to achieve. Texas had also made promises to Earl, and they, too, had come through on their word. Royal, Coach Ken Dabbs, the man who had recruited Earl so vivaciously during his senior year, his long-time friend Murillo, Akers and many others had promised Earl and his mother, Ann, that they would take care of him and look out for his well-being. They had done that successfully. Earl had grown from a young, naïve boy who had never ventured beyond the outskirts of East Texas into a well-respected man who had traveled across the country, learned to relate to many different types of people and most importantly, he was now in a position to further his football career in the National Football League. He had also become part of a new family…the Texas Longhorn Football family.

But with all that Earl had accomplished personally and athletically in the past four years, there was still one major goal that had eluded him…winning the Heisman Trophy.

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