 "Photo: Katrina Perry")
Tiki torches lit the dark sky as a burnt orange army marched down The Drag on Wednesday night with one message: "OU sucks."
The OU Torchlight Parade and Rally attracted at least 14 student organizations, the UT Longhorn Band and UT fans, who walked with tall torches in hand from the intersection of 25th and Whitis streets down Guadalupe Street, culminating into a group of at least 500 on the Main Mall.
The parade is held every year to show support for the UT football team as it travels to Dallas to play in the Red River Rivalry game against the University of Oklahoma.
"We make sure the football team, Mack Brown and a lot of spirit organizations show up to the rally to get the crowed pumped," said Rachel Krebs, a supply chain management and chemistry senior. Krebs is also a director of the Texas Exes Student Chapter Special Events and Rally Committee, the organization sponsoring the parade.
Krebs and other members of Texas Exes Student Chapter experienced some malfunctions while lighting the 80 torches being passed to student organization representatives.
Members spent 10 minutes trying to light wicks that were deemed "too short."
With a sudden slam of drums, the UT band began chanting "Beat the hell out of OU."
The torchlight parade was first held before the 1916 UT vs. Texas A&M football game when a crowd gathered with a few torches in hand to celebrate the Longhorns' anticipated victory, said Jim Nicar, director of the Texas Exes Heritage Society.
The tradition faded soon after that year, but was reinstalled before the 1987 UT vs. OU game.
"It brought back a sense of community to the campus," Nicar said.
Longhorns of all ages were standing along The Drag Wednesday night, chanting and cheering along with the parade participants.
Alyssa Walker enthusiastically lifted her arms in the sky as she jumped up back and forth from the sidewalk to the street.
When asked if she had tickets to Saturday's game, Walker, 6, looked confused and asked her mother if they were attending.
"Next year we'll get tickets," Walker's mother said.
"See, I told you, I'm going to the game," Walker said, unaffected by her mother's news.
Peter Gonzalez, an economics sophomore, has high hopes for Saturday's game.
"I didn't get to go to last year's game, so this year I made sure to get good seats. We both lost last week, so this should be a great game," Gonzalez said, as he watched the parade.
Meredith Melton, a chemistry freshman, will not be going to the game but said she used the parade as a way to show her school spirit.
"I'm living out the experience here," said Melton, who is also a Texas Sweetheart. "I'm excited because I don't know what's going on, so I'm just going along with it."
The parade was led by UT cheerleaders, Bevo, the UT band and the Texas Pom Squad. The squad has spent two weeks practicing a routine created for the parade, said co-captain Lauren Williams, a theatre and dance junior.
"I'm anxious and eager to show our audience what we've prepared for them," Williams said.
The squad will also preform its routine in a rally on Friday where they will meet the OU pom squad.
Saturday will mark the 102nd time the Texas Longhorns have played the Oklahoma Sooners.
"I hope we win because I really don't want to drop out of the rankings," Melton said. "I'd like to see us play in a nice little bowl game."
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