Notable Number: The Texas QBs to play Oklahoma after Peter Gardere - and the number 16

Each week in our Thursday newsletter, we will bring you a notable number that is related to the football season at Texas. This week, that number is 16.

That jersey number is worn at Texas by quarterback Arch Manning and safety Michael Taaffe. Senior tight end Gunnar Helm has already caught a career-high 16 passes this season. Darrell Royal led UT to 16 bowl games during his 20 years as the program's head coach.

That number also represents the number of quarterbacks who have started for Texas in the Red River Rivalry since Peter Gardere went 4-0 against the Sooners .

A four-year letterman, Gardere led Texas to 28-24, 14-13, 10-7 and 34-24 wins over Oklahoma from 1989-92. He is the only Texas quarterback to start in four wins over Oklahoma.

Since Gardere's last appearance at the Cotton Bowl in 1992, Texas has started 16 quarterbacks in the Red River Rivalry game. How close have any of them gotten to Gardere's feat?

• Shea Morenz (1993): 0-1
• James Brown (1994-97): 2-1-1
• Major Applewhite (1998-00): 2-1
• Chris Simms (2001-02): 0-2
• Chance Mock (2003): 0-1
• Vince Young (2004-05): 1-1
• Colt McCoy (2006-09): 3-1
• Garrett Gilbert (2010): 0-1
• Case McCoy (2011, 2013): 1-1
• David Ash (2012): 0-1
• Tyrone Swoopes (2014): 0-1
• Jerrod Heard (2015): 1-0
• Shane Buechele (2016): 0-1
• Sam Ehlinger (2017-20): 1-4
• Casey Thompson (2021): 0-1
• Quinn Ewers (2022-23): 1-1

So Colt McCoy, who helped UT beat Oklahoma three times and just lost a 28-21 game to the Sooners in 2007, has been the closest that Texas has gotten to having another Gardere over the past 31 years. James Brown also started four times in the Red River Rivalry, and Sam Ehlinger started five times during his four years on campus since UT and OU met in the 2018 Big 12 championship game.

This weekend, Quinn Ewers will likely start at quarterback for No. 1 Texas (5-0, 1-0) against No. 16 Oklahoma (4-1, 1-1). Ewers is 1-1 against the Sooners.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Notable Number: The Texas QBs to play Oklahoma after Peter Gardere - and the number 16