Most every year of This Day in UTA Football History contains 12 games. As today is the halfway point, it seems odd that one year of only a three-season rotation hasn't been introduced. That was done by design. I've pointed out dozens of times over the years how poorly run the UTA football program was in the 1970's.
While there were ancillary, outside factors that also played a part, such as the Rebel to Maverick mascot controversy, changing demographics of the campus to a more commuter campus and suppressed interest from the outside community, the UT Arlington Athletic Department surely did as much or more to shoot themselves in the foot.
I contend that interest still would have been higher had the team stayed at Memorial Stadium, currently on the site of the Maverick Activities Center. The site is visible to the entirety of campus, unlike Maverick Stadium today, and was easily accessible via Cooper Street, also unlike Maverick Stadium which is tucked off Mitchell Street.
In 1965, UTA averaged 85 percent capacity of 10,022-seat Memorial Stadium. In 1966, it was 87 percent, '67 rose to 92 percent, same in '68 and a small drop to 84 percent in its final year hosting a UTA football team.
But even on pure numbers, no season in Turnpike, later Arlington Stadium, reached the same highs.
Memorial was expanded to its final capacity in 1962. Every Memorial season had a higher per game attendance average than every other Turnpike/Arlington Stadium season save one. The inaugural 1959 season averaged 4,150 fans, more than a thousand lower than the next season on the list, 5,220 in 1961. That '59 season also would not have been the worst off-campus average year. Finally, that'59 season also was 75 percent capacity of the stadium.
Why are attendance and capacity important? The worst stretch of football in program history was the Turnpike/Arlington Stadium era. 0-10 in 1970, 2-9 in 1971, 5-6 and a second place Southland Conference finish in 1972, 4-6 in '73, 1-10 in '74, 4-7 in '75 and a 5-6 mark the final year for 1976. To break it down further, 21-54 overall, 11-18 in Turnpike/Arlington Stadium, 12-22 within conference play and 4-3 in homecoming games. They weren't a good football team in that general stretch and attendance SHOULD be down, right?
Yes, to a degree. But consider the middle 1960's were a rough time for the football team too. 4-6 in 1962, 1-8 in '63 and 3-6-1 in '64. Yet each one of those averaged 7,640, 6,875 and 5,375 respectfully, and would have been the best of any Arlington Stadium year. And that is for a combined 40 winning percentage. They weren't playing in an oversized venue either.
Capacity was 20,000 in the first two years and it expanded to roughly 36,000 the remaining time it was the Mavericks home. The best percentage capacity year in Turnpike was 25 percent in 1971. Post expansion, it fell to 15 percent in 1973. The worst year was eight percent in 1974.
So now there's a poor following, poor atmosphere in an empty venue and, the point of this year's post, no early season games. Today marks the home opener for the 1975 team. Yes, the second Saturday in October is the home opener. I for the life of me can't fathom how this was considered an upgrade. I read many times that the Department considered Memorial old, outdated and unable to host big name opponents. But most of the teams they hosted already played at Memorial prior to the move or were conference mates. New Mexico State, West Texas State and Southern Mississippi played in both Maverick homes. UT El Paso and a couple of Mid American Conference teams are the only ones that played in the off-campus home. Hard for me to consider those big-time and worth demoing the on-campus stadium that you own for a stadium owned by someone else miles away.
All told, UTA played twice in seven years at Turnpike/Arlington Stadium in September. UTA was scheduled for a third but had to play Louisiana Tech at the Cotton Bowl in a last-minute change in 1974 to accommodate the Texas Rangers contract. In 1976, the short notice was avoided and an October 2 home game was played at Cravens Field on Lamar High School's campus. The good news was that the stadium was, and still is, a nice high school stadium. That said, it still wasn't a good solution.
The damage done in the 1970's needed far more time to mend than the short six years that Maverick Stadium had to do so. As evidenced by today's entry, much of that era turned a loyal fanbase into a cynical one.
I won't go in as much detail as I have in the past, but UTA was the first SLC school to move to the University Division. Back then, the requirement was half your schedule had to contain games against the higher division. UTA stacked their non-conference slate with those tougher teams. Those tougher games are usually played in September and early October. They were also played on the road, a harder environment to win. By October, the team would finally play a home game, with no or few wins. The second place 1972 team, for example, went 1-5 outside of conference.
This year was actually the only year of the seven played in the multi-purpose venue where UTA opened the home slate with a .500 record. After dropping the season opener against North Texas 27-14, the Mavs beat TCU in Fort Worth the following week 24-7. That win alone should have temporarily boosted attendance for this game. No way of knowing if it actually did.
UTA tried to get above .500 multiple games into the season for the first time since 1969, but a road match to the perennial conference favorites from this era in Louisiana Tech wasn't kind, a 37-8 loss. But the following week, the Mavs rebounded with a second road win, 39-7.
On this day in UTA football history, the UTA Mavericks play at Arlington Stadium for the first time in 1975.
Taken from the Dallas Morning News, October 12, 1975.
I think the seventh Maverick Stadium year would have went a long way towards that mending process I mentioned. After last week's bye in the schedule, the Mavs would have started today likely 3-1 or better. They would be playing at home for the second time against a school that would become very familiar in the coming years.
UTA had scheduled another home-and-home series with the Southwest Texas State Bobcats. After dropping the Southwest several decades later, the Texas State team we know today isn't what it was then. After winning a couple of Division II national championships at the turn of the decade, they were starting a down trend that would last for quite a while.
As competitive as SWT became in all sports, football had a hard time getting in on it. They'd make spurts here or there, but overall, they were not the tough draw Maverick fans tend to think of them today based on their other sports. The Bobcats played 25 seasons in the Southland Conference. They won championships in 2005 and 2008 only.
UTA won 48-13 at home in 1984 and 19-16 on the road in '85. As this was roughly the same UTA team but with more experience, playing in a friendlier environment and with their potent offense likely would have been too much for the kitties.
SWT went 4-7 overall and 2-2 in the now-defunct Gulf Star Conference. They had losses to North Texas, Abilene Christian, Northeast Louisiana, Lamar, Nicholls State and Sam Houston (though only by a point). There was a surprising win over Rice, who had four wins overall and two in the Southwest Conference.
Running back Roy Jackson would set a single-season Bobcat rushing record in 1986 when he gained 1,187 yards in 11 games. Since then, he has moved to number six, though career rushing leader Claude Mathis has three of the five seasons above Jackson. Showing that Jackson was consistent, he is not in the top ten in rushes per game for a season nor most yards gained in a single-game. He would have been a handful for the UTA defense. There's a real chance this could have eclipsed 50-60 points total on a conservative estimate.
To replace UTA on the schedule, SWT played Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. In that game, the Bobcats lost to the Lumberjacks 39-0. NAU was a respectable 7-4 that year, but certainly not a 39-0 dominant squad.
Playing at Maverick Stadium, which drew over 9,000 for the game between the two in 1984, coming off a bye week and barring any unforeseen injuries, I suspect UTA would have won at a minimum their fourth non-conference game.
But, either way, it wasn't meant to be as UTA did not play Southwest Texas State in 1986 on this day in UTA football history.
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