Governor's Cup (Texas)
The Texas Governor's Cup (also known as the Cowboys–Texans rivalry, Battle of Texas, formerly the Cowboys–Oilers rivalry) is the trophy awarded to the winner of the football game between the two National Football League (NFL) teams in Texas, currently the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans. Prior to the Texans' inaugural season in 2002 the Cowboys' opponent was the Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans). In 1991, after 13 straight games at the Cowboys' Texas Stadium, the Cowboys and Oilers went to a home-and-away format for the preseason and this format more or less continues to this day for the games between the Cowboys and Texans.[1][2]
Dallas Cowboys
Houston Texans
| |
| First meeting | 1965 |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | August 24, 2019 Cowboys 34, Texans 0 |
| Next meeting | TBD |
| Statistics | |
| All-time series |
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| Largest victory |
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| Current win streak |
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Since the first meeting between the Cowboys and Texans in 2002, the two teams have met in the regular season every fourth year and meet relatively often (by NFL standards) in the preseason; from 2002 until 2008 and again since 2013, the Cowboys and Texans have been scheduled to play each other in the preseason whenever they are not scheduled to meet in the regular season. In 2010, the teams played both a pre-season and regular season game while in 2009, 2011 and 2012 they did not meet at all. The 2017 preseason game, scheduled to be played in Houston, was cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey. In 2018, the teams played both a pre-season and regular season game once again, marking the first time that this instance of two games in one year had happened since 2010.
History
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The two cities of Houston and Dallas have a rivalry that goes way back before the team's founding. Both became the two largest cities in Texas, with Dallas being known for having wealthy elites of the Texas oil and gas industry in the early 20th century, while Houston was known for being a working-class city with the lower-tier workers working in making oil pipelines during the Texas boom.
In 1960, the NFL established the Dallas Cowboys, mainly as an effort to cut off the American Football League (AFL)'s Dallas Texans. (The cutoff effort was only a partial success, as the Texans were forced to move to become the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963, but the AFL itself would thrive and eventually merge into the NFL in 1970.) The AFL would be the first league to place a professional team in Houston, and though the Houston Oilers and the Texans were in opposite divisions, they quickly became rivals. Their rivalry culminated in a double-overtime 1962 American Football League Championship Game that the Texans, in their last game in that identity, won, preventing an Oilers threepeat.
In 1965, the AFL's Houston Oilers and NFL's Dallas Cowboys both drafted Oklahoma tackle Ralph Neely. The Oilers sued the Cowboys over Neely's services. In the settlement of the case, the Oilers received three Cowboys draft picks in addition to a cash settlement. The Cowboys also agreed to play five preseason games, three in Houston, against the Oilers. Thus began the Governor's Cup series, a Texas tradition created by franchise free agency.[3]
In 1992 the Cowboys and Oilers met twice in the preseason. The first game took place in Tokyo as part of the NFL's American Bowl series, and the second meeting in Dallas for the Governor's Cup.
The 1994 Governor's Cup was not actually played in Texas but in Mexico City at Estadio Azteca as part of the American Bowl series. As a result of Estadio Azteca's unusually large seating capacity, a league record 112,246 fans watched the Oilers shut out the Cowboys, 6–0 on August 13, 1994.[4]
From 1997 to 2001 there were no Governor's Cup games played. This was because the Oilers moved to Tennessee after the 1996 season and the Texans did not enter the NFL as an expansion team until 2002, leaving the Cowboys as the lone team in Texas for five straight seasons.
The only other professional football league to feature teams from Dallas and Houston at the same time is the 2020 incarnation of the XFL, which established the Dallas Renegades and Houston Roughnecks.
Governor's Cup win/loss to 1996
Up to the 1996 season, the Dallas Cowboys had won 18 of 31 Governor's Cup meetings leaving the Houston Oilers with 13 Governor's Cup wins.[5]
Governor's Cup results since 2002
The Texans joined the NFL as an expansion team for the 2002 season. Since then, the Texans lead in the series overall at 8–7 as of the start of the 2018 season. The Texans lead the pre-season series at 6–5 and the Dallas Cowboys lead the regular season series 3–2.
Game summaries
| Date | Score | Stadium, City | Attendance | Regular season/ Preseason | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowboys-Oilers Rivalry | |||||
| September 2, 1967 | Dallas Cowboys 30 Houston Oilers 17 | Rice Stadium Houston, Texas | 53,125 | Preseason | |
| August 31, 1968 | Dallas Cowboys 33 Houston Oilers 19 | Astrodome Houston, Texas | 52,289 | Preseason | |
| August 28, 1969 | Dallas Cowboys 14 Houston Oilers 11 | Astrodome Houston, Texas | 55,310 | Preseason | |
| August 29, 1970 | Houston Oilers 37 Dallas Cowboys 21 | Astrodome Houston, Texas | 46,548 | Preseason | |
| December 20, 1970 | Dallas Cowboys 52 Houston Oilers 10 | Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas | 50,504 | Regular season | |
| August 26, 1971 | Dallas Cowboys 28 Houston Oilers 20 | Astrodome Houston, Texas | 49,078 | Preseason | |
| August 5, 1972 | Dallas Cowboys 26 Houston Oilers 24 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 65,405 | Preseason | |
| August 23, 1973 | Houston Oilers 27 Dallas Cowboys 24 | Astrodome Houston, Texas | 46,942 | Preseason | |
| August 17, 1974 | Dallas Cowboys 19 Houston Oilers 13 (overtime) | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 53,148 | Preseason | |
| November 24, 1974 | Dallas Cowboys 10 Houston Oilers 0 | Astrodome Houston, Texas | 49,775 | Regular season | |
| August 30, 1975 | Dallas Cowboys 17 Houston Oilers 14 | Astrodome Houston, Texas | 46,951 | Preseason | |
| September 4, 1976 | Dallas Cowboys 26 Houston Oilers 20 (overtime) | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 58,844 | Preseason | |
| September 3, 1977 | Houston Oilers 23 Dallas Cowboys 14 | Astrodome Houston, Texas | 49,777 | Preseason | |
| August 19, 1978 | Houston Oilers 27 Dallas Cowboys 13 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 62,242 | Preseason | |
| August 18, 1979 | Dallas Cowboys 16 Houston Oilers 13 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 62,803 | Preseason | |
| November 22, 1979 | Houston Oilers 30 Dallas Cowboys 24 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 63,897 | Regular season | |
| August 23, 1980 | Dallas Cowboys 20 Houston Oilers 13 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 63,658 | Preseason | |
| August 29, 1981 | Dallas Cowboys 28 Houston Oilers 20 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 63,799 | Preseason | |
| September 4, 1982 | Dallas Cowboys 20 Houston Oilers 14 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 60,150 | Preseason | |
| December 13, 1982 | Dallas Cowboys 37 Houston Oilers 7 | Astrodome Houston, Texas | 51,808 | Regular season | |
| August 27, 1983 | Dallas Cowboys 34 Houston Oilers 31 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 54,363 | Preseason | |
| August 25, 1984 | Dallas Cowboys 31 Houston Oilers 24 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 53,877 | Preseason | |
| August 31, 1985 | Dallas Cowboys 20 Houston Oilers 10 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 53,812 | Preseason | |
| September 29, 1985 | Dallas Cowboys 17 Houston Oilers 10 | Astrodome Houston, Texas | 49,686 | Regular season | |
| August 30, 1986 | Houston Oilers 17 Dallas Cowboys 14 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 62,239 | Preseason | |
| September 5, 1987 | Houston Oilers 18 Dallas Cowboys 13 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 47,043 | Preseason | |
| August 27, 1988 | Houston Oilers 54 Dallas Cowboys 10 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 48,400 | Preseason | |
| November 24, 1988 | Houston Oilers 25 Dallas Cowboys 17 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 50,845 | Regular season | |
| September 2, 1989 | Dallas Cowboys 30 Houston Oilers 28 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 63,582 | Preseason | |
| September 1, 1990 | Houston Oilers 27 Dallas Cowboys 6 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 55,499 | Preseason | |
| August 18, 1991 | Houston Oilers 30 Dallas Cowboys 20 | Astrodome Houston, Texas | 53,314 | Preseason | |
| November 10, 1991 | Houston Oilers 26 Dallas Cowboys 23 (overtime) | Astrodome Houston, Texas | 63,001 | Regular season | |
| August 2, 1992 | Houston Oilers 34 Dallas Cowboys 23 | Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan | 51,058 | Preseason | |
| August 15, 1992 | Houston Oilers 17 Dallas Cowboys 16 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 61,334 | Preseason | |
| August 21, 1993 | Houston Oilers 23 Dallas Cowboys 20 | Alamodome San Antonio, Texas | 63,285 | Preseason | |
| August 15, 1994 | Houston Oilers 6 Dallas Cowboys 0 | Estadio Azteca Mexico City, Mexico | 112,376 | Preseason | |
| September 11, 1994 | Dallas Cowboys 20 Houston Oilers 17 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 64,402 | Regular season | |
| August 26, 1995 | Dallas Cowboys 10 Houston Oilers 0 | Alamodome San Antonio, Texas | 52,512 | Preseason | |
| August 24, 1996 | Dallas Cowboys 24 Houston Oilers 19 | Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida | 44,296 | Preseason | |
| Cowboys-Texans Rivalry | |||||
| September 8, 2002 | Houston Texans 19 Dallas Cowboys 10 | Reliant Stadium Houston, Texas | 69,604 | Regular season | |
| August 15, 2003 | Dallas Cowboys 34 Houston Texans 6 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 60,058 | Preseason | |
| August 14, 2004 | Houston Texans 18 Dallas Cowboys 0 | Reliant Stadium Houston, Texas | 70,431 | Preseason | |
| August 27, 2005 | Dallas Cowboys 21 Houston Texans 9 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 54,288 | Preseason | |
| October 15, 2006 | Dallas Cowboys 34 Houston Texans 6 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 63,186 | Regular season | |
| August 25, 2007 | Houston Texans 28 Dallas Cowboys 16 | Reliant Stadium Houston, Texas | 70,512 | Preseason | |
| August 22, 2008 | Dallas Cowboys 23 Houston Texans 22 | Texas Stadium Irving, Texas | 60,795 | Preseason | |
| August 28, 2010 | Houston Texans 23 Dallas Cowboys 7 | Reliant Stadium Houston, Texas | 70,725 | Preseason | |
| September 26, 2010 | Dallas Cowboys 27 Houston Texans 13 | Reliant Stadium Houston, Texas | 71,456 | Regular season | |
| August 29, 2013 | Houston Texans 24 Dallas Cowboys 6 | AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas | 76,856 | Preseason | |
| October 5, 2014 | Dallas Cowboys 20 Houston Texans 17 (overtime) | AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas | 91,159 | Regular season | |
| September 3, 2015 | Dallas Cowboys 21 Houston Texans 14 | AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas | 85,067 | Preseason | |
| September 1, 2016 | Houston Texans 28 Dallas Cowboys 17 | AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas | 81,016 | Preseason | |
| August 31, 2017 | Cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey[upper-alpha 1] | Preseason | |||
| August 30, 2018 | Houston Texans 14 Dallas Cowboys 6 | NRG Stadium Houston, Texas | 71,438 | Preseason | |
| October 7, 2018 | Houston Texans 19 Dallas Cowboys 16 (overtime) | NRG Stadium Houston, Texas | 72,008 | Regular season | |
| August 24, 2019 | Dallas Cowboys 34 Houston Texans 0 | AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas | 85,636 | Preseason | |
Notes
- The game was to be moved from its original venue, NRG Stadium, to the Cowboys' AT&T Stadium, due to public safety concerns regarding flooding in the Houston area from the remnants of Hurricane Harvey.[6] The game was later cancelled to allow the Texans players to return to Houston after the storm.[7]
References
- "NFL ANNOUNCES 2002–2009 SCHEDULE ROTATION". footballinjuries.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-20.
- Wangrin, Mark (August 3, 1990). "Governor's Cup game moved; Cowboys-Oilers exhibition series switches to Astrodome in '91". Austin American-Statesman. p. D7.
- Texas Sports News Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
- The Worlds Biggests
- "Express-News Archives : MySA.com".
- "Cowboys-Texans game relocated to AT&T Stadium". NFL.com. August 28, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- Epstein, Jori (August 30, 2017). "Cowboys-Texans game canceled to give Houston players chance to go home after Harvey". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on August 31, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.