UTA FB History: Vol. 10 Gm. 9 - Tide is Turning

In this 1981-heavy volume of This Day in UTA Football History, we return to the 1981 season. Remember, the theme of the 1970's for UT Arlington was lose early in the year, play competitive football in the Southland Conference, but ultimately lose a game or two in the conference slate and finish in third place, occasionally second. Many times that lost SLC game came in the fiont third of the SLC race.

Well today, that formula fits to this point in the year as that last piece of what was a very predictable puzzle of UTA football was put in place. Fans had seen this song and dance before.

When we last looked at the '81 Movin' Mavs, they had done something that was somewhat of a rarity. They beat Louisiana Tech, 31-14. That win saw their SLC mark go to 1-0. That had happened only three times since 1970. Given the past struggles against Louisiana Tech combined with the poor start, the 5,138 would be the lowest of the year. 

Following the LTU win, UTA was off for a week before taking on North Texas in the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair of Texas. In the eventual 7-6 win, 15,797 witnessed the game. As far as crowds go, that would be the fourth-largest showing amongst the seven games in the series to that point. Fair, but roughly 4,000 shy from the largest crowd. It was a down year for North Texas State to that point and UTA sported a 2-4 record going into the rivalry game.

Now sitting with a 3-4 record, 1-0 in conference, 1981 introduced the final puzzle piece from the previous decade that gave the same-ole, same-ole feeling.

UTA FB History: Vol. 10 Gm. 8 - Plodding Along

As a general rule, the 1960's were a very successful decade for Arlington State College, turned UT Arlington, on the gridiron. Lumping in the inaugural 1959 season, only three seasons in the 1960's resulted in a losing season. A 4-6 mark in 1962, a 1-8 tally in '63 and this season's final record. Three seasons in a row is the definition of a rebuilding project. This season was certainly an improvement over the prior year, but that hole was pretty deep and improvement from a one-win season was expected.

When we last looked at 1964, ASC had beaten Arizona State College, 10-9. It was the first time UTA had won a game in a while, breaking a six-game streak dating back to the prior year. That six-game streak was the longest losing streak in program history at the time, broken in 1970, continued to 1971 at 13 games. Had 1970/71 not broken it, a separate six-game streak in '71 would have. So would another in 1972 and 1980. There was also a nine-game losing stretch that started in the last game of 1973 and carried over to 1974. For as successful as the '60's were, the 1970's were the opposite.

After the ASC game, ASC (I'm sure that game wasn't confusing with both teams having the same acronym) carried a 1-1 record. The Rebels, as they were known then, followed that up with a small road trip to the Cotton Bowl to play Southern Methodist University. The Mustangs were not a power in 1964, but the 1-9 Mustangs did beat the lower Division Rebels 14-0. Of the first 11 four-year ASC/UTA teams, they would likely beat SMU at least six times, and probably more. It was just a bad draw and bad timing.

But they couldn't ride the momentum of playing a Southwest Conference team tough into the next few games.

UTA FB History: Vol. 10 Gm. 7 - Start of a Bad Trend

There is a pretty consistent theme with the tenth volume of This Day in UTA Football History. Today's entry will be when the bulk of the bad administrative ideas were put into practice. The plans started before 1970, well before in some cases, but the majority of the changes started in 1970.

Of the 27 four-year seasons, 16 ended with a losing record. Now I always counter that five of those 16 ended with a 5-6 record. It doesn't make a grand difference, but it does add a little perspective that some of those "losing" teams were still quite competitive. Every single 5-6 season had at least one loss that was by less than a touchdown. Four of them were multiple. So a couple of better breaks and UTA could have had more winning seasons than losing ones.

The counter to the five 5-6 teams is that there was only one winless season. That would come in the 1970 season, and we look at that season for the first time today.

I normally don't wait this long to introduce a season, but 1981 has taken a lot of attention to this point. However, for a winless squad, there actual is a lot to talk about with the 1970 squad.

UTA FB History: Vol. 10 Gm. 6 - Unexpected Rebound

At the halfway mark of the football season, I return to UT Arlington's 1981 season. It will be the fourth time in six games to peak into the season, though the first one was a repeat with no other option. For those that know the outcome of the season, the idea may be I like to cover it for that reason. 

But the reality is this season both exposed the stereotypical nature of UTA football for the previous decade plus and also showed what Maverick, or as they were known then, Movin' Mavs, football could have been. Its demise was not inevitable. The eventual disbandment was just as much due to mismanagement by the program and Athletic Department as it was due to changing student demographics. Maybe even more.

1980's UTA had roughly the same amount of student housing as 1960's Arlington State College/UTA did. In UTA's heyday of the late 1960's, the Dallas Cowboys were just as much of a draw as they were in the 1980's. The Texas Rangers didn't exist in the 1960's and the Dallas Mavericks had started roughly a decade later. I still say hogwash to the idea that if you wanted to go to an NBA game in January, you forego a college football game in October.

WBB Schedule for 2026/27

It's been a little bit since the UT Arlington women's basketball team released the upcoming schedule, but I still wanted to touch on it. The schedule detective likes to see a job through until the end. As usual, I'll list the released schedule, then give a little commentary on it afterwards.

UTA FB History: Vol. 10 Gm. 5 - The Alpha Loss

Checking in with the 1959 Arlington State College Rebels as we enter October on This Day in UTA Football History. In 2015, I covered the first game the team played as a four-year university, a 28-0 win over Southeastern Oklahoma University.

ASC was 1-0 and undefeated as a four-year university. They were still riding high from their 1950's run of success at the Junior College level and it looked like it would continue. 63-20-6 was the combined record of the 1950's JuCo Rebels. Included in that tally is an 0-6-2 record in 1950 and 3-4-1 mark the year following. That is a heck of a run of success.

Head Coach Claude “Cheena” Gilstrap was the architect of that run. He came on a short time after those losing seasons and immediately became a winner. In addition, he was a very humorous speaker capturing the attention of local media. Later he was an instrumental part of the formation of the Southland Conference. He deservedly is in the Hall of Honor for both organizations.

ASC was going to pit itself against a much longer tenured university for its second game. Sam Houston State University played as a four-year school since their first game played in 1912. Joining the Lone Star Conference in 1934, the Bearkats would call it home until 1983. They, along other future Southland Conference rivals Southwest Texas State and Stephen F. Austin, left the LSC and formed the Gulf Star Conference. Future Louisiana and SLC schools Nicholls State, Northwestern State and Southeastern Louisiana completed that six-team league.

In the Middle

It's been a bit since I mentioned the UT Arlington Maverick's volleyball's 2026 journey. It was after the first weekend of the year where they went 2-1 after the University of Arkansas' tournament. A lot of volleyball has been played since then.

UTA hosted the UTA Tournament, going 1-2 with a five-set win over Kent State and losses to Army in three sets and Sam Houston in five. UTA scored over 20 in all three sets to Army while the Mavericks were up 2-1 against the Bearkats but lost by ten in set four and four in set five.

Then, they moved to the Texas Challenge in Nacogdoches, Texas. In the opening match of a tournament, UTA went 3-0 with a four-set win against North Texas. The Mean Green are 8-5 currently with a 1-1 conference mark. It was a quality win in a field of quality teams.

The momentum couldn't be carried on however as Texas State won in five and the hosts Stephen F. Austin swept the Mavs. With those scores, you'd think SFA ran away with it, but Texas State beat the Ladyjacks while UNT beat everyone but UTA. Overall, I really liked this tournament and haven't been this excited for a volleyball non-conference weekend in a long time.