UTA FB History Vol. 6 Gm. 9 - Uneven Affair

 Going into the North Texas State game, the 1977 UT Arlington Mavericks football sported a 3-2 record and had optimism for the rest season. A defense that made big plays when needed and a proven offense led by Derrick Jensen proved a worthy opponent. But the 15-6 loss to a nationally-ranked North Texas team evened their record to 3-3. More importantly, it seemed to take a little wind out of their sails. 

The Mavericks went back to Cravens Field and hosted a New Mexico State squad that on paper should have seen the Mavericks favored. NMSU was 3-3, but didn't really have any marquee wins, but did have a few lopsided losses. Yet five missed field goals and a Roy Dewalt fumble from a blindside hit that led to the only NMSU score cost the Mavericks dearly in a 7-6 loss. 

With that, the Mavericks had a two-game losing streak on their hands. Making it even worse, a road trip to Ruston, Louisiana to face perpetual thorn Louisiana Tech was next up for the '77 team. UTA beat the Bulldogs the prior year to snap a seven-game losing streak dating back to 1961. It was also the first win against LT since they joined the Southland Conference.

UTA FB History - Vol. 6 Gm. 8 - A Nice Winning Streak

After getting their first win of the season in their first appearance of this volume, the 1983 UTA Mavericks "traveled" to 13th ranked SMU, at Texas Stadium. It wasn't a close affair, but a 34-0 score had some bright spots. Danny Jackson did not start, Kraig Hopkins did. But Jackson went 9-17 for 159 yards in relief, compared to Hopkins' 1-7 for eight yards and an interception. I said it in the first entry, I think had Coach Harold "Bud" Elliott stuck with Jackson all year, UTA may have had a better season. It's all conjecture, but it may have saved his job and maybe the program, but there's no way to know for sure. The stats were in favor of SMU, but not by a 34-0 score. UTA had a couple of golden opportunities to score, but SMU's defense did what good, ranked teams do and made plays when they needed.

After the game, Coach Elliott noted the difference between this game and the 1981 48-0 game. There, UTA didn't move the ball and couldn't stop the Mustang offense. He would later say that "I think you will be surprised to see what our football team will do from here on out. We may not lose another game." Considering they were 1-3, he didn't get a lot of credit for his prediction.

But they did win the next one. A 34-24 win against Wichita State at home in a thriller. UTA lead 14-10 at halftime, the Shockers squeaked out a lead to open the final quarter. Twice, UTA came from behind in the fourth. Trailing 17-14, Jackson threw a 63-yard pass to under-rated receiver Andre Gray to regain the lead. Wichita State immediately answered on a 13-play, 82-yard drive for their final touchdown. Once again, Jackson found his team trailing as he re-took the field. After Jarvis McKyer (brother of UTA teammate and former NFL great Tim McKyer) returned the kickoff 36 yards, Jackson found tight end Jon Dyer for 21 yards and Scotty Caldwell for 27, though Caldwell made moves to get that amount. Randy Johnson went the final five yards get UTA the lead for good. The defense finally held and Johnson tacked on another TD as time expired for the final score.

At the Halfway Mark

The UT Arlington Mavericks volleyball team, the only team sport in the fall for the University, is having a better-than-expected year as it sits 12-7 on the year and 4-3 in the Western Athletic Conference. In the preseason poll, UTA was selected eighth. They now sit in a tie for fourth with Grand Canyon. 

In first is UTRGV (picked 7th in preseason), with a 6-0 WAC record, 17-4 overall. Utah Valley (2), fresh off a 3-1 win over UTA and SFA in Utah, is second at 5-1, 11-7. The loss drops SFA (5) to third at 6-2, 18-3. UTA and GCU (3) are the last teams with a winning record in the standings, with GCU at 10-8 overall. 

UTA picked up a few surprising wins in the first half, with a 3-2 win over GCU on the road. They picked up two more road wins at Abilene Christian and Tarleton. ACU is 12th overall at 2-5 while Tarleton is 11th at 3-5. Those wins also carried a winning streak that started in non-conference play to a total of nine.

The loss that disappointed me most was at College Park Center to California Baptist 3-1. It was such a wacky match. UTA and CBU went toe-to-toe in set one, ending in a UTA loss 29-27. UTA dominated in set two, 25-13, evening it up. CBU then flipped the scrip, with a 25-18 set three win. It looked like another close one to start the fourth but ended in an identical 25-18 match loss, ending the longest winning streak since the early aughts.

Another Case for Football

 I generally save the kinds of posts about nothing specific about a current sport or newsworthy event for the summer. However, given the fact that it is the fall, where we have three sports going on, and it is related to football, which is timely for this time of year, I am going to make an exception.

I was out with the family watching yet another football game on a television screen this past weekend. Something that obviously happens all the time across this country during the fall season. The game itself was Utah State versus Colorado State. Again, nothing that would grab the headlines. But this game was different as I looked at the screen for a minute and made the passing internal comment of another of UTA's former peers on TV.

The wheels kept turning until I made another connection that without football, UTA is on an island in the middle of a freeway watching all of our former peers pass us by. I'm afraid without the sport, our athletic program will never elevate to the top of the NCAA.

Consider the following history lesson:

UTA FB History - Vol. 6 Gm. 7 - Mid-season Showcase

 It took a month and a half, but the 1977 season makes its second appearance in this year's collection. As I noted in the opening entry, UT Arlington lost their first game by four to Northwestern State in their stadium debut. The Mavericks followed that with a road win against Western Michigan, 17-10, to even their record to 1-1. UTA great Derrick Jensen had a 73-yard touchdown run erasing a 7-3 halftime deficit. 

In week three, UTA again hit the road, going to Lafayette, Louisiana for the Southland Conference opener. The script flipped from the second week as three second half fumbles cost the Mavericks their 20-10 halftime lead, and they fell 30-20.

For the fourth time in four games, UTA was again on the road as they traveled to Canyon, Texas for an all-too-familiar non-conference foe in West Texas State. The defense made several big plays throughout the game and quarterback Roy Dewalt's one-yard touchdown plunge in the third quarter was the go-ahead score in a 17-13 win. Defensive lineman Dwight Carey recovered a fumble late in the fourth quarter when the Buffaloes were threatening for a game-winning TD to seal the win.

UTA FB History - Vol. 6 Gm. 6 - Bump in the Road

 It's been a while since this volume documented a 1960 game, the season-opening road win against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks to be exact. Arlington State College stayed on the road the next week when they traveled to Memphis State and were shut out by the Tigers 35-0. The offense struggled all night, but aside from a 21-0 second quarter, the defense performed decently.

The home opener in Arlington at Memorial Stadium came against future conference rival Northeastern Louisiana, now Louisiana-Monroe. The then-Indians were one of the better Southland teams in the 1980's, but the 1960 Arlington State team exercised some frustrations in a 16-0 shutout win. Two touchdowns in the second half backed up a stellar defensive performance.  The win avenged the prior year's 26-21 loss in Monroe, Louisiana.

In the fourth game of the season, UTA made its third road trip going to Cleveland, Mississippi for a game against Delta State. I wish I could see this game because it was an awkward win for the Rebels, 19-8. ASC scored first on a Ronnie Southerland interception. Ole' reliable Charlie Key picked up a blocked field goal and ran into the end zone for the second TD. UTA's only conventional TD was a six-yard pass from Doug Wilson to John Niederauer. All Rebel scoring was in the first half, but it was again the defense the repelled the Statesmen all game long, giving up a total of 106 yards.

UTA FB History - Vol. 6 Gm. 5 - Getting on Track

When we last left the 1966 Arlington State College Rebels, they had lost their season opener to the West Texas State Buffaloes. It was the sixth-straight season opening loss for ASC something ASC/UT Arlington never did very well).

They followed that up with their second road trip, this time to Las Cruces, New Mexico. New Mexico State sits second behind West Texas State in highest number of games for a non-conference foe. They played all but two seasons between 1964 and 1983. During this time, NMSU was a University Division school, while ASC was in the lower College Division. Despite UTA coming in undefeated in road trips requiring a flight, the Rebels squandered a 10-7 first quarter lead in a 23-10 loss.

In week three, ASC would stay home and host East Texas State in Arlington. It would be the first non-University Division school on the schedule.

ETSU is about an hour and a half from the Arlington campus. It was a natural rivalry in the 1960's and went by the wayside when UTA went to the University Division. ETSU stayed in the NAIA and the teams never played again. Despite being so popular and attracting a high number of fans, the teams never scheduled a game again after 1969.