The following week, the home opener against Sam Houston State, was a close, high-scoring affair where the Rebs had the lead in the third quarter before losing it, regained it in the fourth before losing it and eventually ended the game with a potential game-winning pass broken up at the goal line. In the end it was a 34-28 Bearkat win. Sam Houston would go on to have a winning season at 4-3-1. Proving odds and Vegas lines mean little, it was an interesting dynamic as the Rebels were actually favored in that game.
ASC also set a record they didn't want at the time, but would be broken in 1970 as this was the fourth straight loss for the program, dating back to the prior year. It would be broken later this year and eventually shattered in 1970 to '71.
At 0-3, it was looking bleak. On October 12, Arlington State went to Hammond, Louisiana. A Doug Wilson scoring toss to halfback Kenneth Vaughn at the end of the first half and a 68-yard Jimmy Campbell punt return after the Lions started the second half with the ball accounted for all the scoring in a 14-13 road win. SELa made it close, scoring the last 13 points, but with four minutes left, the Rebels stopped a two-point conversion attempt to seal the win. Vaughn earned player of the game by intercepting two passes in the end zone in addition to his TD catch.
With the win, the Rebels moved to 1-3 on the year. That sets the stage for this week's game. There's not much to be said for today's opponent, the McMurray State Indians, now known as the Warhawks. The Indians were a common fixture on the schedule from 1960-1965. ASC ran their record to 4-2 all-time, but like much of the 1959 to mid-'60's schedule, there were a lot of teams that wouldn't appear again.
The University wanted to increase the schedule difficulty in an attempt to move to the University Division. NCAA rules then required half the schedule be against the University Division to be in the category. Looking back, there are clearly issues with the way it was done Association wide, as UTA's basketball team was College Division the year the football team played in the University Division in 1971.
Not something many people say about the NCAA, but rules that actually made sense would come around later in the 1970's. When the three-Division format came around, it applied to all sports programs. Later, certain sports could be exempted, seen with the Dallas Baptist baseball program today, and other sports with much smaller participation, such as gymnastics, have no Divisions at all.
As it was then, McMurray was a good, regional game. It allowed fans to travel if they wanted to do so. It was a game easily made by the fans. The teams were decently matched. Excluding a 41-6 drubbing in 1965, the total scores were 102 for Arlington State and 93 for McMurray.
I've often wondered what would have been the fortunes of the ASC/UTA program if they had slowed their roll in the march to the highest level. North Dakota State was a Division II powerhouse for decades before moving to the Football Championship Subdivision of DI, where they continue to dominate. Louisiana Tech won several College Division/Division II national championships before moving up. UTA won a bowl, had a solid season, then a .500 one, then a winless one. While much of the 1950's were powerhouse, that was done at the Junior College level. As a University, the program had a solid run in the '60's, but certainly not a dominate run.
UTA's last season at the lower level was an 0-10 season mark. The on-field performance couldn't be worse. The cumulative score that were was 266 to 69. While they were only shut out twice, they had seven games were they scored on more than one possession, In a ten-game season....ouch.
While there were other factors that contributed to the decline in support: mascot change, moving off campus, changing student body, budget etc., winning cures all ills. Would regularly-scheduled games versus McMurray keep the team competitive or the games versus Southern Mississippi, where they were 0-10 all-time? Would that have been enough to keep interest and inevitably keep the program? Like all things UTA football, it's an academic argument and all we have is history and memories.
On this day in UTA football history, the Arlington State Rebels travelled to Abilene for a date with McMurray University.
Taken from the Dallas Morning News, October 20, 1963.
With McMurry (Methodist), ACC (Church of Christ), and Hardin Simmons (Baptist), Abilene is blessed with three church schools and a plethora of junior colleges.
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