At the conclusion of this entry, the 2026 version of This Day in UTA Football History will be one-third complete. Ironically, this year has solely been focused on the 1981 season prior to this point. Of the four seasons that qualify for this year, it just has been difficult to spread it around. The 1959 season opener was today, for example, covered in 2015.
Last week was the opener to the 1964 season, a loss to New Mexico State, 3-0. Going back to the prior season, it was the sixth straight loss, a then program record that would be broken in the 1970 season. That record still holds at 13 games, ended in the 1971 season when the newly-renamed Mavericks beat West Texas State.
It may be weird for those who only hear how poor the support was when the program was disbanded. Former Arlington State College used to be a leader in the Southland Conference in football attendance. They used to have a following locally. They used to be winners.
Following the momentum of the 1950's, where they were Junior College National Champions in 1956 and '57, Arlington State College became a four-year institution in 1959. Even in the first year as a university, playing largely with a JuCo roster, the then-Rebels won four games in seven attempts. With no seniors, Head Coach Claude "Chena" Gilstrap joked they were the three-year national champs.
Proving how talented the roster was moving up, in 1960, the team went 9-2, losing to a higher division team in Memphis State, 35-0 and a College Division team in McNeese State. 7-0. The team was so talented, the total score for the season was 196 for ASC, 96 for their opponents. More than one-third of those points scored by a University Division team. They were even in the mix for a Tangerine Bowl berth in just their second year.
I don't have anything conclusive pointing to when the school's desire to play at the highest level occurred, but I suspect the success of the 1950's built the excitement and the success of the early 1960's fueled the belief ASC belonged in the University Division.
As the roster turned over when the first group of seniors graduated and the scheduled started getting tougher, the win percentage dipped slightly as they went 7-3 in 1962. Still, a combined 20-8 record in their first three years as a four-year school is an incredible accomplishment.
In 1962, ASC played three University Division opponents. Southern Mississippi was in their last year at the College Division level and was a 9-1 team. They were ready for the next level and would have been a tough out for any University Division school. ASC went 1-3 against the three higher-level teams and Southern Miss. A combined score of 133-14 showed the Rebels had work to do before they were ready to join them in the higher echelons. They were 3-3 against other College Division teams with a combined score of 114-103.
Then came 1963. The lone win, 14-13 at Southeastern Louisiana, came against eight losses. It was the worst season since a 0-6-2 mark in 1950. Since ties count as half a win, you'd have to go back to 1949's 1-9 mark for a worse winning percentage. Coach Gilstrap took over in 1953, and clearly that was the worst season in his tenure at UTA, which lasted until 1965.
That set the stage for 1964. Would this be a rebound year? Was Coach Gilstrap out of his element as a four-year coach? Were there any recruits that could take up the slack?
The long essay to answer those questions would start to be written today as UTA traveled to Flagstaff, Arizona to take on Arizona State College. Not to be confused with today's Arizona State University, The Lumberjacks changed their name to the current Northern Arizona in 1966.
At 5-3-1 the previous year, this would be a good test. The Lumberjacks would finish 6-3 in 1964, which showed this wasn't a pushover opponent.
On this day in UTA football history, UTA takes their 0-1 record to play Northern Arizona.
Taken from the Dallas Morning News, September 27, 1964.
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