Normally when I write these game articles, I leave the suspense for the article that follows. Using last week as an example, the Mavericks won a conference title, but I set the article up about how they got there and what was at stake. Today's significance is a bit different. The last game of the 1983 season would be the last game head coach Harold "Bud" Elliott lead the Mavericks. His contract wasn't renewed before today's game.
After the last entry of this season, where UTA beat New Mexico State, they upped their record to 4-3 on the year. They traveled on the road to Jonesboro the following week and beat Arkansas State, 28-19. Scotty Caldwell scored two touchdowns in a 128-yard rushing effort. The best backfield in the Southland Conference was on display as Randy Johnson ran for 95 more yards and another score. Quarterback Danny Jackson threw a 37-yard pass to tight end Jon Dyer for the other score. The defense came up big late in the game to seal the fourth straight win.
After the SMU loss earlier in the season, head coach Bud Elliott, the dean of Southland Conference coaches in 1983, said the team may not lose another game. That would equate to seven games. They just passed the halfway point with another road contest on the horizon against McNeese. After defeating Arkansas State, UTA was tied with Northeast Louisiana (Louisiana-Monroe today) and North Texas on top of the SLC. UTA had previously lost to NLU and had a date with NTSU to end the regular season.
UTA tied the Cowboys 10-10 halfway through the fourth quarter after trailing 10-0. They got to a tie on a one-yard plunge from Johnson and a Scott Tennison field goal. McNeese then scored another ten unanswered before a 10-yard Jackson pass to receiver Andre Gray capped the scoring.
In something I mentioned in the season opener, Jackson came in and engineered the Mavericks to all their scoring after starting QB Kraig Hopkins couldn't do anything. It's all speculation, but I do think Elliott may have survived had they won two more games this season. I think Jackson would have done that.
The Mavericks returned to Arlington with a 5-4 overall record and 2-2 in conference. Louisiana Tech, suffering through a disappointing season of the own, was on deck. The Bulldogs were 3-6, but a paltry 1-4 in the Southland.
Jackson started the game, but proved ineffective in the first quarter before Hopkins came in the second. Hopkins wasn't any better, so Jackson came back after halftime with UTA trailing 14-0. Tech scored early, then converted a long return on a blocked field goal for another score.
Jackson got UTA on track late as the Mavs got a Tennison field goal in the third. Caldwell, who only rushed for 84 yards on 16 carries, got 39 in one chunk for their first TD. UTA's defense followed that immediately with a fumble recovery. Jackson connected to receiver Reggie Brooks on a 16-yard TD to tie it.
The Mavs got the ball back just past the midway mark of the fourth, but Tech sacked Jackson for a large loss, which prompted a fumble that Tech recovered. They ran the clock to a minute and a half remaining before getting the go-ahead TD. A great kickoff return set up Jackson, who converted several passes and drove to the LTU nine. After three incompletions, receiver James White caught a pass in the end zone, but two yards out of bounds and UTA was upset 24-17. A once promising season crashed down pretty quick.
That set-up today's season-ending game against North Texas State. Unlike the Mavericks, the Eagles were having a successful season. The season was so successful that NTSU needed to beat UTA to claim a conference title and automatic berth into the Division I-AA playoffs. The opponents were 7-3, 4-1 coming into the game. On top of that, the Eagles figured they were deserving of a first-round bye and were playing for a lot. UTA was not, except for their pride.
But the major headline for the Arlington football team was what happened on Thursday prior to the game. Elliott had officially been dismissed. Likely the reason it was known before the season's conclusion was - it wasn't a surprise. To quote future NFL starter and Super Bowl winner Bruce Collie, "We've been prepared for this. It didn't sneak up on us. If we were 10-1 and heard the announcement, I might've dropped dead."
Going into today's game, Elliot was 46-63 in 9.9 seasons. From where they came from in the early 1970's, he made the Mavericks competitive. They were a game away from the Independence Bowl three times. He missed out on a conference championship twice before finally connecting in 1981. But a 3-8 1982 and 5-5 disappointment in 1983 was too much to bear. Two winning seasons in the previous nine weren't helpful.
In the end, they lost more than they won, and when they lost, often they made plays to hurt themselves. Shiny, new Maverick Stadium had raised expectations. Other than a 6-5, conference championship season, those expectations weren't met.
He owns program records for wins, losses and seasons coached at the University level. But the one that gets him most is he is fourth out of five in winning percentage. If you discount his 1-10 inaugural season, nothing changes.
Perhaps nothing defines his coaching era more than 5-6. I've mentioned many times -in this entry and many other posts - how sloppy play, turnovers and special team errors led to losses that should not have been losses. Good teams that make those errors end up with a 5-6 season, something Elliot accomplished four times.
UTA offered only 68 scholarships much of Elliott's tenure, while most conference rivals were in the 70-80 range and the NCAA allowed 95. They played in a high school stadium for three of his years and a baseball venue for three others. There were other challenges that suppressed his record. But that doesn't overcome the mental errors. And it didn't save his job. For better or worse, much of what is remembered about Maverick football today involves Coach Elliott.
On this day in UTA football history, UTA plays rival North Texas State in Coach Harold "Bud" Elliott's final game on the sidelines.
Taken from the Dallas Morning News, Nov. 20, 1983.
5-6 is a really good summary of the BE era. He had his disadvantages, but the repeated failures to cash in on opportunities did him in. Also, not mentioned here, I seem to recall that he had some kind of personal problem (divorce?) that weakened his standing in Arlington. Again, great article!
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