When I look back at wasted opportunities for the UT Arlington football program, there are a lot to choose from, starting in the 1970's and going all the way to the unplayed 1986 season. There were three seasons that one more UTA win would have resulted in an Independence Bowl berth. Their last conference title team came in UTA's last year in Division I-A, or today's Football Bowl Championship Subdivision. But, that was the first year the Indy Bowl didn't team with the Southland Conference and the conference champ did not play in the postseason. Would a bowl team increased enthusiasm in the program? Maybe. Especially considering a bowl berth was much more difficult in that time period.
Mistakes of some kind or another usually resulted in the losses. While an opponent can force a fumble or goad their foes into untimely penalties, more often it is undisciplined play by the fumblers or by the penalty committers that are the likely culprit. That was a defining trait of Head Coach Harold "Bud" Elliott's tenure.
There was, of course, the mascot controversy when the University transitioned from the Rebels to the Mavericks. Playing off campus didn't help either. Going from Memorial Stadium, on the site of the Maverick Activities Center, to a baseball stadium that could accommodate football, which in turn transitioned to being at the mercy of a Major League Baseball team, which then transitioned to a high school stadium in Cravens Field at Arlington Lamar High School was a black eye.
While his teams played sloppy, Coach Elliott did field competitive teams in the late 1970's. Three 5-6 teams preceded 1979's 9-2 season. They lost the Southland Conference title by one-point to McNeese State 14-13 at home. McNeese would make the Indy Bowl later.
But 1980 certainly could be in the running for events that would collectively crater the program. And today's game would set the stage for further decline. UTA rode the high of a brand new stadium to open the year. While the outcome wasn't what UTA faithful wanted, a 31-14 loss to rival North Texas State, a campus-record 18,000 plus crammed the stadium to see it. General thought at the time was UTA was one step behind UNT, but closing the gap. The loss then wasn't seen as debilitating.
Today's game, however, could reinforce the crowds for the remainder of the year. I'm sure there's a valid reason, but it would have been smart for UTA to try and get back-to-back games at Maverick Stadium. Instead, the team traveled to Northwestern State, then known as Northwestern Louisiana, to face the Demons.
There was no doubt NLU was a good team, at the helm was future NFL quarterback Bobby Herbert. The Demons finished the year 8-3 and ranked eighth in Division I-AA, today's Football Championship Subdivision. Only four teams made the I-AA playoffs in 1980, so the Demons sat on the sidelines in December. While the gap between I-A and I-AA isn't as wide as it is today, UTA still was in the higher subdivision.
You'll see the game article shortly, but the outcome may have differed with a home game in Arlington. However, this would be the last time the Mavs would play NLU, so the contract had to be completed on the road.
This was especially poignant as the legendary Pony Express of Southern Methodist University was looming next week. Two of the first three games on the road in the debut of a new stadium? Not the recipe for success. Had UTA stacked the first two or three home games out of a total of six to start the season, the crowds may have been larger to complete the season.
A different outcome in today's game could have given the Mav faithful a bit of excitement.
But as it was, today's game was a sterotypical representation of UTA football fortunes as a whole.
On this day in UTA Football Hostory, the UT Arlington Mavericks travel across State lines to Natchitoches for a road affair with Northwestern Louisiana.
Taken from the Fort Worth Star Telegram, September 14, 1980.
In 1986, UTA scheduled a road date with the Weber State Wildcats. After last week's road contest with a tough Nichols State squad, Weber State likely wouldn't have put up the same fight. The Wildcats finished the year with a 3-8 record. In the tough Big Sky, they would finish tied for sixth out of eight with a 2-5 record.
A cursory glance at Weber State's resources and no one on the roster stands out. It is especially telling that one of the three wins the Wildcats notched came on this day. Adams State, a sub-Division I school, was a last-minute addition to the schedule to make up for the loss of UTA. If the Mavericks were as good as billed, this would certainly have seen the Mavs as the favorites. In a worst case scenario, UTA would be 1-1 after two road games. But, alas, it was not meant to be as on this date in UTA football history UTA did not get a chance to play Weber State for the first time in 1986.
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