Back to the 1980 season for today's edition of This Day in UTA Football History. Two weeks ago, we saw the Mavericks had lost to Drake 30-20 in the second game in Maverick Stadium's history. Last week, 45 years ago, long time non-conference opponent West Texas State, now West Texas A&M, came to the Mav and the Buffaloes topped the UT Arlington Mavericks, 38-26.
As discussed in the link, UTA really should have been better than 0-5. They could have easily been 2-2 entering the WTS game. The Mavericks were driving in the fourth quarter. With the ball on the Buffs 15-yard line, UTA's quarterback was hit on a secondary blitz, causing a fumble. The West Texas drove 2/3rds down the field and scored, giving a more lopsided score.
Instead of a record just above or just below .500, the Mavs were winless in the debut of their new home. I don't know what would have happened in the scenario of a near-.500 team, but attendance should have been higher at this point in the season. One or two wins out of three total games in the new place would have encouraged fans to come later in the season. As the 2015 edition chronicled, when the team had something to play for later in the season, attendance did increase.