The 1960's were unquestionably the best time to be an Arlington State College / UT Arlington football fan. The team was riding momentum from a highly successful decade as a junior college program, flirted with a bowl within two years of moving up, went to and won a bowl game, had a winning percentage of .575, a home winning percentage of two-thirds, formation of the Southland Conference, attendance that led the SLC, sent players to the National Football League, etc.
I looked up attendance for a post last week and the top five highest average attended seasons were from this decade and 13 of the top 14 attended games were from this time period. That is due to so many reasons listed above, but it is just jarring to see attendance records hold 50 plus years later. Considering what occurred in the 1970's and ultimately the disbandment of the program, obviously it is understandable, but the duality of the University in the 1960's into the 1970's is evident in the football program too.
When we last checked in with the 1968 squad, they picked up their first win of the season against Northeast Louisiana. After notching a 1-1 record, they hit the road again and traveled to the University Division's New Mexico State.
The Rebel underdogs, playing on the road, managed a 20-14 lead in the fourth quarter. The Aggies scored the go-ahead on a breakdown in coverage, but the defense ended up with a fumble near midfield late in the game. Quarterback Ronnie Faulkner, who I can only imagine was in for some reason for Mike Baylor, the normal QB and career record holder, threw an interception at the opponent 20 with less than a minute left. It was a killer, as the line of scrimmage was in range of Skipper Butler, a potential 46-yard field goal. The end result of a 21-20 loss was a 1-2 record.
To reiterate, it was a very deceptive 1-2 record. San Diego State was the defending national champions and the Rebs had them close on the road. The Aztecs would finish first in the coaches poll and second in the AP poll for the 1968 season.
The NMSU loss was a little bit of a head scratcher, but not a bad loss. The Aggs finished '68 with a 5-5 record. They beat ASC, then later beat Lamar Tech in Beaumont, 16-14, won 27-13 at Northern Illinois, while sustaining a loss at Louisiana Tech 42-24, all College Division. They were 2-4 against University Division that year. Not a pushover, but not a world beater. Had the game been in Arlington, maybe that would have made the difference in the outcome.
Then, an opponent that I've covered many times, and about as good a rivalry as ASC/UTA had in the decade. The then known as East Texas State, the Lions came to Arlington and in front of a standing room only crowd at Memorial Stadium, the Rebels rallied from a second half deficit to log a 41-30 win.
Butler logged the longest field goal in program history with a 60-yarder, one of four field goals in the game. Both were records at the time and the longest still holds today. Receiver Jimmy Thomas caught his 18th touchdown pass, setting a career record. He'd get two more by the end of the year for a still-standing record of 20. He also snagged another still-standing record of 219 yards receiving in the game. His QB, Mike Baylor set several records at the time for one game, but none are still at the top. The crowd size is tied for the highest in Memorial Stadium.
Today's opponent would become a fixture on the schedule in a few years. While not a conference opponent in 1968, they'd join UT Arlington in half a decade and still reside in the Southland Conference today.
McNeese State was a member of the Gulf States Conference in '68. The Cowboys won the football title in that conference the year prior. The GSC consisted entirely of Louisiana schools in its latter years, all of which joined the SLC at some point in the ensuing decades, with several still calling it home. While the Cowboys won the conference, UTA tripped up MSU in Lake Charles by a point in 1967, 17-16.
They always had a consistently tough program. The Cowboys were the only conference rivals to trip up Louisiana Tech consistently in the 1970's. The Bulldogs had six titles in nine tries in that decade. McNeese State was second with two, and the only other school to earn an Independence Bowl berth. While Arkansas State also had two titles, one was in a Tech-less Southland.
Sadly, while UTA maintains an overall winning record against MSU, 11-7-1, the Mavs lost to McNeese in 1979. The loss was during their best University / Division I season and cost the Mavs a conference title and an appearance in the Independence Bowl themselves.
With the 19 games played, McNeese appeared on the schedule more times than all but two schools: Arkansas State and Lamar. West Texas State, now West Texas A&M, is tied with the Cowboys, which is very interesting as they never shared a conference home. ASU and LU were charter members of the SLC. McNeese, however, appeared in the football standings in the ninth year of the SLC's existence, meaning the two teams were well acquainted prior to MSU joining. Like WTSU and NMSU, who is one game back in most games played, McNeese appeared frequently on the non-conference schedule in the 1960's, likely helping the decision to join the conference.
But all that would be a distant fantasy in 1968, as UTA was looking to move to 3-2 on the year. On this day in UTA football history, the UT Arlington Mavericks hosted the McNeese State Cowboys.
Taken from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 13, 1968.
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