In last week's installment of This Day in UTA Football History, the 1972 UT Arlington Mavericks started the season 0-6 before claiming their first win. 1978 is about as twin as twin could get. There are so many parallels between the to that it is hard to keep straight. Both seasons featured similar starts, ends, records and game dates. Opponents were similar and exactly the same in some games. Two of the non-conference opponents were the same and four of the five SLC games were the same. They lost a non-conference game against an opponent on the road that I'm convinced would have been a home win (see the season opener here). The offenses were run first and starred a running back with All-America potential and NFL-staying power.
And all my gripes from last week apply here as well, mostly.
For the first time since 1967, UTA played more than one September home game. Sadly, the September curse didn't lift and the Mavs lost an 18-10 affair to West Texas State and met the eventual conference champions to open the conference season, a 28-21 setback to Louisiana Tech.
What did lift was the fan count. Bolstered by those two games, UTA saw its highest average attended season, as well as total attendance, since 1969. Both those games were above the average. Without either one of them, the attendance average likely would have been similar to previous years.
This was the second year away from one of the worst University-level football stadiums in the NCAA. Out of seven seasons playing in the baseball-shaped stadium, UTA won more games than they lost on the field once.
Cravens Field, a high school stadium, was actually a much better situation overall. The stadium was designed for the sport, rather than a shoe-horn into the outfield. The seats were much friendlier tot he fans, rather than sitting in the outfield 20-feet up. The capacity was smaller, which made the crowds look less empty. When UTA would average in the mid-4,000's, that comprised less than 15% of total capacity. This year's capacity average was two-thirds, a much better overall experience for players and fans.
Of course, Cravens Field was never the true home. They got kicked out of Arlington Stadium essentially and had bigger plans for campus. Maverick Stadium was proceeding through the design and approval process. The University of Texas system had just approved the bidding process at its meeting a couple of weeks prior. At the end of this month, bids for construction were awarded. The UTA Athletic Department was optimistic that the stadium could be ready for the 1979 season. I personally would have loved to see it, since that was the best Division I team UTA fielded. But the reality is the bureaucratic process was too long for that too happen.
When we last checked in with the Mavericks, they had just ended an 0-5 start to the season with a win over New Mexico State. That was followed with a convincing home win over Southwestern Louisiana, 24-3 and 37-17 road win over Lamar. All of a sudden, UTA was 3-5, but a respectable 2-1 in the Southland.
It created an interesting scenario in the Southland Conference Championship race. The next opponent was Arkansas State, who was 2-0. Louisiana Tech lost to Southwestern Louisiana, and was 2-1 themselves. UTA had a good shot at claiming a share of the Southland Conference title with a homecoming win. But it wasn't meant to be a s a sloppy second half sealed a 27-7 loss.
That brought up a non-conference tilt against Northwestern State, an independent team UTA had lost to on the road the year prior.
On this day in UTA football history, the Mavericks look for win number four of the 1978 campaign.
Taken from the Fort Worth Star Telegram, 11-5-78.
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