I've said it before when referencing the 1985 UT Arlington football squad that I have a morbid fascination with this team. The overall record of 4-6-1 is misleading. There's a real chance this is the best team that won only four games in UTA history. With maybe the exception of the 1978 team, 1985 could be the best six loss team. Of course, as most of us know, this was also the last year of the program. I think it was that misleading record that contributed to the ultimate doom of the program, at least when looking at the micro scale of a singular season.
The beginning of October was the last time the 2024 edition of This Day in UTA football checked in with the 1985 squad. They had just beaten Wichita State. That win upped the record to 2-2 on the year. The 31-3 win would be the biggest margin of victory on the year.
The following week, six turnovers cost the squad as a 10-7 fourth quarter lead turned into a 21-10 loss at Drake. There were just some teams that had UTA's number. Drake was one of them. At 0-3 all-time, the Mavs never figured out their number. The Bulldogs were never really a consistent winner, UTA could never just get past them. Had the Mavs who beat Wichita State showed up against Drake, it would have been another UTA win.
Lamar came to Arlington for homecoming the following week. As I'll go into greater detail next week, Lamar was a team that was opposite of Drake. UTA just had their number. The 37-17 win improved UTA to 3-3, and just as importantly, 1-0 in Southland Conference play.
That conference record would jump to 2-0 to end October. Northeast Louisiana, or Louisiana-Monroe today, came to Arlington and for the second year in a row, the Mavs knocked them off, 27-13. For the first time on the season, UTA sported more wins than losses at 4-3. They were in the driver's seat in SLC play at 2-0.
Then the wheels fell off.
A visit to Arkansas State against one of the SLC's favorites in Arkansas State saw a 13-12 loss. Kicker Scott Roper, who would end up playing for Arkansas State in 1986, kicked four field goals, but a fifth, a potential game winner, was ruled wide right. Roper and Head Coach Chuck Curtis both were on record saying they believed the field goal was good. The record slipped to 4-4, 2-1 in the SLC.
I went into more detail in 2013, but it is hard to understate the importance of this game. Nowadays, replay would provide a definitive answer. Back then, televised games, even basic or local broadcast, were rare. I've seen game film from a few games, but nothing from this one. On the Sun Belt message boards, Arkansas State fans who witnessed that game admit it was close. If it was a blown call, that may have contributed largely to the end of the program.
The UTA football formula, as I have established repeatedly, was lose early in the season, including a conference game to fall out of conference contention, and watch the crowds dwindle. In 1981, the last year of a conference title, the formula looked the same until out of the blue, the last game was for the title. All of a sudden, the largest crowd of the year showed up and the finale was above the season average. Had the missed 29-yard field goal been good, or if the call was corrected as Coach Curtis contends, UTA would have had a 3-0 in the conference. More than likely, the crowds for the upcoming game would have been larger due to it.
UTA visited Lake Charles a week ago in 1985 and the Movin' Mavs played the Cowboys to a 10-10 tie. A fumble in the end zone and a McNeese defensive stop on downs as UTA drove to the 'Pokes 13 killed the Mavs in the fourth quarter. Along with two missed fields, a UT Arlington football theme played out in the final score, UTA did just as much as the opponent to stop a potential Maverick win. So in what could have been, and some say should have been, a 6-3 record and 4-0 conference mark was in reality a 4-4-1, 2-1-1 tally.
To true Mav fans, it was same ole, same ole leading to today's home finale against Louisiana Tech.
As far as UTA is concerned, the Bulldogs fall in the Drake category. Maybe canines were just UTA's Achilles heel. The Mavericks just struggled against them. Had UTA beaten La Tech in 1972, '77 and '84, UTA is the conference champion that year, all else being equal. Now none of those three years saw close games between the two teams, which shows the roadblock the Ruston, Louisiana school was. The '84 campaign would have put UTA in the I-AA playoffs, that year too. The lone team that beat La Tech was a UTA victim, but the head-to-head saw UTA fall 34-0.
In Southland play, UTA was 4-10 all-time versus Louisiana Tech. Wins in 1976, '79, '80 and '81 account for the four, with the latter being UTA's final conference title. If UTA could have exorcised some LTU demons, maybe things would have ended differently.
The other notable aspect of this date is the final game in Maverick Stadium played by their namesake occurred today.
After several glaring problems in the 1970's when UTA moved off campus, Maverick Stadium was seen as the savior of the program. After 18,000+ saw the first game, many thought that would be the case. However, it'd be the only game to see five figures in the ensuing years. After a disastrous 1-5 home record in 1980, UTA rebounded, going 4-1, 2-3, 3-3, 4-2 and 3-2 in the following years.
17-16 is the overall home record for UTA at The Mav. While better than the previous decade, the .515 winning percentage wasn't what was envisioned, especially when they dropped from Division I-A to I-AA. I personally take solace in the .593 winning percentage from 1981 on but realize changing the date is just semantics. It also much better than one of their previous homes, a .379 winning percentage in Turnpike/Arlington Stadium.
While overall attendance was better in Maverick Stadium years than in the 1970's, the gate numbers were spotty at best. The even years of the Mav saw the average above 7,400 while the odd years were below 6,600. The 5,600 average for 1985 is thrown out often as a major reason for the football program's demise.
But here's a weird fact. Out of 27 four-year seasons at UTA, 1985's total attendance AND average attendance were 14th overall, exactly half with 13 seasons drawing better and 13 drawing worse in both categories.
1980, '82 and '84 were all top ten for both average and total attendance. These numbers are despite a cumulative record of 28-37-1 when The Mav opened. What would more consistent winning seasons brought as far as attendance is concerned?
Every season in the 1970's save for 1978 and '79 are behind every year in the 1980's. 1978 saw better total attendance than 1985 and better average attendance than 1983 and '85. 1979 saw only better average attendance over 1981, '83 and '85. That's it. If attendance was such a major factor, President Wendell Nedderman had greater examples to pull the plug in the prior decade based on attendance than in the 1980's after they invested in their own stadium.
Now, the enrollment had grown by 10- to 15,000 in that time. He was quoted that the football deficits would have been worth the price if students were showing up. It just depended on the record and sadly for the program and its supporters, one out of every three to five years saw a winning record.
1981 showed what a winner can do for UTA. It was the first season since 1966 where the final two games had a higher recorded attendance than the prior game. 1984 was the fourth best total attended and ninth best average attended seasons. They went 7-4 that year while also having the allure of a new coach.
To bring it back to the top, I find 1985 so fascinating because there are many factors that singularly could be a contributing factor to the demise of the program: the loss in the opener to a Division II school, the loss to Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech fatigue and the same formula of a losing record later in the season. Most of the would be on display in Maverick Stadium's last UTA game.
On this day in UTA football history, the 1985 Mavericks play in Maverick Stadium for the last time.
Taken from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, November 17, 1985.
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