It seems like roughly one out of three entries into this series feature a Harold "Bud" Elliot coached team. Half of this year's entries will. He coached ten of the 27 years UTA played as a four-year school, three more than second place Claude "Chena" Gilstrap (though Coach Gilstrap did coach an additional six years when UTA was a junior college). A lot of what UTA football is remembered for today happened due to his results. Unfortunately, that equated to mediocrity many times, some in his control, some not.
The 1983 season was the start of his tenth (hint to the significance of this season) season on the Maverick sideline. UTA finished 3-8 the year prior, the second time in three years the Mavericks attained that mark. Injuries were much to blame, but there certainly were bright spots, which I'll detail momentarily. Those bright spots had the coaches pick UTA third in the preseason poll, just a smidge behind Arkansas State (UTA got more first place votes than the then-Indians did) and second in the SID poll, again attaining the second most first-place votes. Louisiana-Monroe (known as Northeast Louisiana until much later) was number one in both (and would finish in a tie for first. Expectations were at their highest level since 1979.
And for good reason. Despite eight losses the year prior, with only two losses within a touchdown, Scotty Caldwell ran all over the field in 1982. The junior running back gained 1,216 yards and twelve touchdowns on the ground, while catching 26 passes for 336 yards and another score. He led the Southland Conference in rushing, all-purpose yards and scoring. Had he played on a team that was better than 1-4 in conference, he would have been player of the year. He'd end up UTA's all-time second leading rusher, first in rushing and total TD's and second in overall scoring behind kicker Skip Bulter.
But he wasn't the only returner who contributed mightily in years prior.
One of the reasons Caldwell had the opportunity in 1982 was Randy Johnson's injury. In 1981, the year of their last conference championship, Johnson had 710 yards on 163 carries and eight touchdowns. Were it not for his performance, the team may not have had the success they did, ultimately winning it all. He had a motorcycle crash in summer of '82, but still saw limited action during the season. He played fullback late and he rushed for over 100 yards in the season finale, as did Caldwell. The idea of those two in a one-two punch running attack salivated coaches and fans.
Making the running attack possible was junior tackle Bruce Collie and senior center Mark Cannon, both future draft picks and multiple-year NFL players. Collie earned first team all-Southland in 1982 as sophomore and would win a grand total of three before he departed for the pros. Cannon was a second-team selection in '82 and would end the year as the top Southland center.
The big question mark was quarterback. Danny Jackson split action often in his playing career. In 1982, he clearly was the best at that position statistically speaking, going 96 of 209 for 1,468 yards, 10 TD's and 12 interceptions. He smoked number two. Yet somehow, Jackson was listed third on the depth chart at the start of the year. I'm not certain of the behind-the-scenes dynamic, but there definitely was conflict between him and Elliott. But here's a hot take: there's a large chance UTA would have had a successful season had he been the starter through and through, and Elliott would have lasted longer than ten years. He inexplicably started Craig Hopkins several times, almost all losses, and benched Jackson. When Jackson started, UTA won more often than they didn't. When he didn't start, they lost every game but one.
Defense was severely lacking in 1982, as the Mavs finished last in the Southland in total defense, rushing defense and scoring defense. The lone bright spot came in a third out of six finish in passing defense. Only five defensive starters were returning from the year prior. Among them were senior safety Stacy Rayfield, who tied for fifth in the SLC with four interceptions in 1982. Joining his at the other safety position was Willie Wiggins, who won freshman of the year honors in 1981. The pair were one of the main reasons for the passing defense to be much better than the rushing.
While not a big contributor in '82, cornerback Tim McKyer would start this year as a sophomore. He played all 11 games though, garnering 1 tackle per game. He did deflect four passes. There's no question UTA's secondary was going to be a strength at the start of the year.
The rest of the defense was solid, though not stellar. Linebackers Noel Spraggins and David Patterson were returning. They did their job most games, but weren't the shut-down linebacking corps of the late 1970's.
The same can be said for tackle Donald White and end Rich Enocksen. They held their own, but weren't guys who could be counted on making plays when needed. They were the type that if you had ten other players, you'd have a solid unit.
Kicker Scott Tennison and punter Andy McCarter were a solid pairing in the kicking game, but both were young and would have better performances years later.
UTA started the 1983 season at home against Western Michigan. Danny Jackson didn't start and UTA struggled. Jackson gets inserted in the game, the team has success, but ran out of time in a 21-14 loss at Maverick Stadium. Shawn Faulkner set a stadium record for most rushing carries in that game that still holds for an NCAA record.
Hopkins against started in week two, though he'd again not finish as an injury forced him out as UTA lost 16-10 to Northeast Louisiana. The battle of the two preseason favs, ended poorly for UTA, again at Maverick Stadium. Despite Jackson's wealth of in-game experience, Elliott went with Ned Fredrickson at first before finally going to Jackson. The opponent's defense was good, but the wasted time certainly cost UTA another victory.
Entering today's game, UTA was 0-2, 0-1 in conference. What hurt most was both games were at home and would hit the attendance number hard for the remainder of the season.
The third game of the 1983 season was a trip to Canyon, Texas to face the all-too-familiar West Texas State Buffaloes. I went into detail about the series in the last entry, but UTA faced the Buffaloes 19 times total, good for a tie of third as UTA's most-faced opponent. They are number one when factoring out conference games.
The Buffs were struggling in their own right to start the year, staring down an 0-3 record, with losses against North Texas (32-2), Abilene Christian (28-3) and McNeese St. (17-0). Not the most intriguing of match-ups, but either 0-2 UTA or 0-3 West Texas State would earn their first win of the season.
On this date in UTA football history, UTA meets West Texas State for the 18th time in the panhandle.
No comments:
Post a Comment