What the world looked like the last time Texas A&M beat Texas

It’s hard to imagine Texas A&M fans asking for more from their season through the first 11 games.

An undefeated record that earned them pole position for the SEC Championship Game and a first appearance in the College Football Playoff, in addition to a No. 3 national ranking. Exciting wins, from a last-second road victory against Notre Dame to a dramatic second-half comeback against South Carolina. But there’s one missing piece that matters more than any other element of a truly perfect season in College Station: beating Texas.

The rivalry between the Lone Star State’s two biggest college football brands runs as deep as any in the sport. They played for 97 consecutive years, from 1915 to 2011, with many memorable moments along the way. Then, when the Aggies joined the SEC in 2012 and both programs doesn’t After playing for 13 years, the feud may have become even more intense.

Between the 13 years without a game and two Longhorns wins either side of that hiatus, it’s been a decade and a half since Texas A&M last won the Lone Star Showdown. With a berth in the SEC Championship Game and an undefeated regular season on the line, beating Texas this year in particular would be even sweeter for Aggies fans.

This is what the world looked like in 2010, the last time Texas State was Maroon at the end of rivalry weekend.

Future pros make their mark at A&M

It’s no real surprise that Texas A&M’s nine-win campaign in 2010 was one of its best seasons in years, as two future NFL veterans provided the team’s offensive and defensive cornerstones.

Headlining it was senior defensive lineman Von Miller, who filled the stat sheet against the Longhorns with seven total tackles, including three for loss and two sacks with interceptions. Miller was selected with the second pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos and earned eight Pro Bowl appearances and a pair of Super Bowl rings during his professional career.

Texas A&M’s signal caller was first-year starter Ryan Tannehill, who became a full-fledged first-round draft pick in 2012 and threw for nearly 35,000 career yards over 11 NFL seasons.

Newton returns to college football

The 2010 college football season belonged to Auburn quarterback Cam Newton.

Newton only started one season in college, but that was all he needed to make his mark on the sport. Auburn entered the season ranked 22nd in the preseason polls, but it didn’t take long for the Tigers to climb the rankings. Newton had five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) and 357 yards of offense (186 through the air, 171 on the ground) as Auburn crushed Western Kentucky in Week 1. This proved to be a sign of great things to come.

It was the first of 14 straight victories that season for the Tigers, who ultimately defeated Oregon in the national championship game. Newton set an SEC record by amassing 4,327 total yards on offense and was awarded the Heisman Trophy.

Elsewhere in the world of sport…

Sports fans weren’t short of dramatic endings and meaningful storylines in 2010.

It all started in February, when Canada dominated the gold medal count at the Winter Olympics in front of a home crowd and Tracy Porter’s game-clinching late pick sealed the New Orleans Saints’ first Super Bowl victory in franchise history.

In June, an NBA Finals showdown between two of the league’s most storied franchises – the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics – produced a seven-game home-and-home series. A month later, Andres Iniesta’s heroics in the final match helped Spain win the World Cup – the first ever by an African nation – in extra time.

Rihanna dominates the charts

Rihanna had a big year on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2010; the superstar singer was at the top of the charts at several points on the calendar.

First, it was “Rude Boy,” which spent five weeks at number one from late March to April. Rihanna was also featured on Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie”, which topped the Hot 100 from late July to early September. She also spent two weeks at number one later in the year with “What’s My Name” featuring Drake and “Only Girl (In the World)”.

However, on the Monday following Rivalry Week of the 2010 college football season, a different song and artist enjoyed a brief run atop the US Hot 100: Far East Movement’s “Like a G6” featuring The Cataracs and Dev returned to No. 1 for a week after a two-week tenure earlier in the fall.

Harry Potter continues to thrive on the big screen

Six days before the Aggies and Longhorns met on the field, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” was released in theaters across the United States. The seventh film in the Harry Potter franchise was a smash hit, grossing $280,230,127 domestically. The rating was good enough to make it the seventh best domestic film of 2010 behind “Avatar” (released in late 2009) and “Iron Man 2.”