It is one of the more exciting times of year for me on this blog as the first Saturday in September kicks off This Day in UTA Football History. For long-time readers, you know that we are in a period of time where prior years covered the same seasons as the current edition.
The rules are simple, in the University era, UT Arlington rarely played on any other day but a Saturday. I can think of only one exception. Every junior college game I have found is the same, but I don't have them all, so I can't definitively say for the entire program. As such, the entries are posted on Saturday. The 2014 entries will be this year's sister season. For the next 12 weeks, we will look at games from the 1969, 1975 and 1980 seasons. But there will be twist this year.
Between my interview with UTA Athletic Director and this, I've been saying excited a lot. But it is genuinely true. I'm excited to announce this twist. Football schedules are made years in advance. Some colleges and universities today schedule games almost a decade out. Contracts are signed, penalties are enforced and conference games planned around these non-conference games. This was true decades ago. It is one reason why the Arlington State College Rebels played only seven games in its first season as a four-year school. There were not enough openings by opponents in a short time to schedule a full season.
No one knew as 1985 progressed that the final game of the program was nearing until the Monday following the last game against North Texas. UTA had already published schedules for 1986 and 1987. Had the program not been disbanded, 1986 would have qualified for this year's entries. I personally have wondered, like many, how the team would have fared. Now, every so often, a game that was scheduled was postponed or rescheduled, so nothing in 1986 was 100 percent guaranteed.
