No Bevo: Texas mascot will miss Thanksgiving week game due to Kansas rule

Texas will be without more than 1,500 pounds of strength, power and spirit when it goes for a spot in the Big 12 championship game Friday night against Kansas.

The Longhorns’ steer mascot Bevo XV will not be on the sidelines due to a Kansas rule that prohibits live mascots in the stadium. It is only the second time in the last 73 years Bevo won’t take the field for a Thanksgiving week game.

Bevo XV is in his third season with the team. Texas (8-3) will play Kansas (3-8) with a berth in the Big 12 title game on the line. Texas would play either Oklahoma or West Virginia, with Bevo back on the sidelines.

The Longhorns have not won a Big 12 title since 2009, when it was the great Bevo XIV who met players behind the end zone.

Thanksgiving a meaningful week for Bevo

Bevo, the original, made his first appearance at a football game on Thanksgiving day 1916 in Austin for a 21-7 victory over Texas A&M. Ben Dyer, the campus magazine editor, gave him the name though it’s not certain why. It’s believed it’s for a non-alcoholic beverage named Bevo or since the plural of beef is beeves.

As detailed by USA Today, the steers who became Texas mascots, all of whom take on the name Bevo, have gone through a lot over the years.

• Bevo III escaped and was roaming around campus for two days.

• Bevo XIII was present for four championships: Southwestern Conference in 1990, 1994, 1995 and Big 12 in 1996.

• Bevo XIV attended Texas native George W. Bush’s second presidential inauguration in January 2015.

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