After the newly-named UT Arlington football program beat McNeese State in 1967, the Rebels kept cruising along. The following game against Tarleton State was an easy Reb win, 37-7. The following game was the Southland Conference opener against Trinity University, a 31-16 win. The win upped the season mark to 6-0, and just as importantly, 1-0 in SLC play.
The final game of October was a bit brutal as the Rebels never led on the road in Canyon, Texas and the 37-27 final score loss to University Division West Texas State was the first blemish on the season. UTA set several offensive records along the way, but the defense had a hard time stopping the Buffalo rushing attack, including a future NFL star in Eugene "Mercury" Morris.
With the first loss of the season in the books, the Rebels were looking to avoid the first losing streak of the season as they entered today's game.
The second game of SLC play was due up in the form of Abilene Christian College. Last week, I lamented how little Trinity University had appeared in these pages, only twice prior to this year. ACC, despite having such an integral part in the formation of the SLC along with Arlington State College and Trinity, has never appeared.
There are a few reasons for that. From 1965 through '70, ACC was the second of four conference opponents on the schedule. The first SLC game could have significance, setting the tone for the remaining games. The third game did on occasion. Twice UTA earned a conference title due to the results on the last game among the original five and had a chance another occasion, but obviously failed.
Despite the 13-game series between the two teams, only four of those ended in a score within one touchdown of each other. All the other games were multi-possession victories by one side or the other. The overall series, however, was as even as an odd-game series can be, six wins for ASC/UTA and seven for ACC.
This Wildcats were kind of a bellwether game for the Arlington squad. Of the six Rebel/Maverick wins, four occurred in a winning season for ASC/UTA. One of the wins occurred in a 5-6 year where the Mavs finished second in conference, but were 1-5 in non-conference. In the seven losses, they finished with a losing season four times. A fifth loss came in a 5-5 year.
ACU didn't have much success in the Southland during their first run through. They had twice tied for second place with a 2-2 record. In 1970 they were 3-1, 9-2 overall for their best finish. That year, Arkansas State was 11-0 and crowned College Division national champs in both polls that tracked that. The Wildcats finished 14th that year, so they were right there.
Heading into today's game in 1967, ACC was a respectable 3-3 overall, but 0-2 in conference play. Both teams had wins against East Texas State, now Texas A&M-Commerce. The Wildcats 24-16 win sure looked better than UTA's 7-6 tally.
Fresh off a loss and resuming Southland Conference play, on this day in UTA football history, the UT Arlington Rebels host the Abilene Christian College Wildcats.
Taken from the Dallas Morning News, November 5, 1967.
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