When the UT Arlington Mavericks, or Arlington State College Rebels as they were known then, started play in 1959, there were no seniors. The school was transitioning from a junior college to a university. Legendary coach Claude "Chena" Gilstrap even joked they won the three-year national championship after a 4-3 season. 1960 was the first year ASC would have seniors on the field.
Information about UTA's football program from its ascendance to four-year status to the latter-half of the 1960's is scarce. I've acquired every media guide from the 1980's, most from the '70's, but only two in the 1960's. I am able to gather the yearly leaders from later media guides, but that's basically the extent of it.
Newspaper articles are sparse, as you'll see at the conclusion of this entry. In some cases, the best I could find was a couple of paragraphs. DFW wasn't as big then, so maybe the media coverage hadn't grown to what we know it to be today.
For UTA, that's all sad, as this was the most successful decade in its history, with sellout crowds in an on-campus stadium. The lone bowl appearance and win was this decade as well. As far as records go, two of the three best seasons were in the 1960's, including this one, 1960.
The rosters and stats for me are a bit light for this entry, but I can tell you, there's no football player more suited for the title of Mr. UTA than Charlie Key, a junior on the 1960 team. He retired from ASC as the all-time scoring leader with 155 points, and is still __ on the list of the defunct program. He was a fullback, kicker and punter. He became an assistant coach and worked his way up to both defensive and offensive coordinator until the program was ceased at the conclusion of the 1985 season. There's a high likelihood that if Coach Chuck Curtis had continued the rise in competitiveness of the program and retired within a couple of years, Key would have been a serious contender for the head coach position.
UTA had somewhat of a quarterback controversy between junior Amos North and freshman Doug Wilson. Amos North is still in the top 15 in several career passing records, despite only three years at a four-year school. Wilson is right up there, but usually in the top ten.
Senior Maurice Peterson joined Key in the backfield. He led the 1959 team in scoring, punt return yardage as well as kickoffs. He'd repeat the return yardage again this season. Had he played more than 1.6 seasons at UTA, he'd likely be higher up the list in career records.
The then-Rebels began the season on the road against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. The two teams did not play the prior year. In fact, they only met four times from '59-'85. There was no great rivalry with the teams like other sports would attain in later years. The games were either close or blowouts, as two were within a touchdown and the other two were three TD's or more. The close games were over two decades apart, hardly anything to build a rivalry or tradition. They were set to meet a fifth time in 1986, but obviously that did not happen.
On this date in UTA Football History, UTA starts one of its most successful seasons on the road against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks.
Taken from the Dallas Morning News, 9-11-1960.
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