starting quarterback on either side of the Red River Rivalry, in the 100-year history of the series, to have won 4 consecutive games against the other team. In each of those games Oklahoma was ranked and Texas was not. Gardere started his redshirt freshman season as the backup to Mark Murdock, but he became the starter in the 4th game of the year against Rice. In that game he rallied the Longhorns to a 14-point 2nd half comeback, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 4 minutes left. Gardere followed that with back-to-back wins over #15 Oklahoma in the annual Red River Shootout and over #7 Arkansas in Fayetteville, leading the team to a #22 ranking. Gardere performed well in these games, combining to go 31–43 passing with two passing touchdowns against one interception. But three losses over the next four games, including a 50-7 loss to Baylor, their first win in Austin since 1951, ruined Texas' season. Donovan Forbes, also a multi-sport star from a Houston area high school, Baytown Sterling, and making his only start for Texas, replaced an injured Gardere for the final game of the year, a 21-10 loss to Texas A&M. Gardere had a 4-3 record on the year, and threw 5 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The team finished 5-6 with a 4-4 record in the Southwest Conference, tied for fifth with Baylor. In 1990 Gardere led the Longhorns to the Southwest Conference title, a #3 ranking and the 1991 Cotton Bowl, where the Longhorns lost to Miami 46–3. The Longhorns pulled off upsets against then #21 Penn State, #4 Oklahoma and #3 Houston. Going into the season, many expected it to be his last as starter and that redshirt freshman Steve Clements would usurp him in the following year. But Clements transferred to BYU and Gardere started every game for the Longhorns for the next two seasons. In 1991 the team went 5-6, in a season for which the only highlight was a 10-7 upset of #6 Oklahoma. In 1992, under new head coach John Mackovic, the team went 6-5 upset #16 Oklahoma, but also lost to TCU, breaking a 24-game win streak—the 13th longest in college football history. After beating Oklahoma the fourth time, Oklahoma fans broke out in to cheers of "Graduate! Graduate!". He was named the team's MVP for the year. He finished his career with a record of 25-16 as a starter.