Historical Information Made Available

Recently, the Official Twitter account for the UT Arlington Mavericks volleyball team post the following tweet:

Fun news for UTA volleyball history fans. 😀

Now on our website:
➡️ Complete match results (1973-present)
➡️ Box scores (1987-present)
➡️ Season stats (1984-present)
➡️ Media guides (1977-2015)
➡️ Rosters (1973-present)

Check it out ➡️ https://t.co/wswbwwAMTD#BuckEm 🐎 pic.twitter.com/RF377fK3JS

— UTA Volleyball (@UTAMavsVB) June 27, 2023

Well let's just say, for a guy like me, this is Christmas. I've received media guides from the 1970's and '80's as yuletide gifts. I was not disappointed. What they've added has been a treasure trove of historical information. It has shattered some beliefs I thought I knew about the program. 

First Time Champs

 While not an official entry into This Day in UTA Basketball History, I want to touch base with one of the most historic teams in UT Arlington Men's Basketball history. The 2003/04 men's team made waves on campus as they played their way into the record books.

First, I have been collecting old media guides for UTA's sports teams. I saw an entry for the 2003/04 team. Seeing as how that was my final year at UTA, I knew I had that guide at one point. However, when I went through my old books, I didn't have it anymore. So, I grabbed it, since it had a more personal touch than a standard guide I have been acquiring did.

I forgot how loaded that team was at the top. I knew every player and could recall them by memory, but as time passed, I forgot they played together as team leaders. Donnie Beacham, Roy Johnson, Keith Howell, and Derrick Obasohan were seniors on that team. We'll look back at their accomplishments in a bit.

UTA had been a member of the Southland Conference for nearly 40 years when this season started. Despite the amount of time spent in the conference, the men's basketball team was the only team to not have won a conference championship of some kind on the men's side. Ironically enough, the women's basketball team was the only women's sport to not claim a conference championship either.

UTA FB Vol. 4 Gm. 12 - The End of an Era

As soon as I knew that 1983 would be included in this years edition of This Day in UTA Football History, I also knew this game would be covered. Fans of the UT Arlington Mavericks football team from this era or people who have a general knowledge of UTA's history know why. After roaming the sidelines of UTA football for a decade, today was the last game for Harold "Bud" Elliott to coach a UTA team.

It was a whirlwind week for the UTA football program leading up to this one. After starting the year 1-3, coach Elliott said his team may not lose another game. The Movin' Mavs beat Wichita State, then Lamar 21-0, New Mexico State, 28-7 and Arkansas State, 28-19 to move their record to 5-3.

After that, the squad dropped a 20-16 road game to McNeese State and a 24-17 home contest to Louisiana Tech, moving their record to 5-5, and maybe more importantly, dropping their conference record to 2-3. With that, a season that started with so much hype and promise, would turn out to be one of the worst conference records and finishes in a long time. Coupled with 1982's 1-4 tie for fourth, Coach Elliott had gone 3-7 in SLC play in two years to this point after winning the conference title in 1981.

With the perceived talent at his disposal and more resources given with the opening of Maverick Stadium and re-classification to Division I-AA, the Athletic Council thought this was unacceptable. On the Thursday prior to this week's game, UTA elected not to renew the contract of dean of the Southland Conference, effectively firing the ten-year coach.

UTA FB Vol. 4 Gm. 11 - The First Championship

My last entry made reference to the early success the Arlington State College Rebels had when they jumped from junior college status to the four-year ranks. The team went 4-3 in year one and 9-2 in year two and 7-3 in '61. But in 1962, the school faced its first losing season in 1962 at 4-6.

The following spring, the Southland Conference was formed with UTA playing a key point in its founding in Dallas. While most other sports started play in the fall of 1963, the football schools didn't start until 1964, due to scheduling issues. It worked out for ASC, as they faced their worst season at 1-8.

The start of SLC play didn't reverse the Rebel fortunes at 3-6-1, including an 0-3-1 mark in loop play. Finally, after getting little respect in the pre-season - of the eight players the conference trumped for All-American consideration, none were from Arlington - ASC finished 6-3. More importantly, they won their last two SLC games, including against eventual champion Lamar, to win the tiebreaker for second place.

Entering the 1966 season, that was tied for the best SLC finish for any ASC team...in any sport. The cross country team finished last every year. Their track counterparts had one third and two fourth place finishes. The tennis team and a last place finish to go with two third place spots. The second sport in the pecking order, basketball, had two fourths and a last place end. The golf team finished third their first two years and had the departments best showing with a second place finish in 1966.

Three of the four SLC teams, Abilene Christian, Lamar and Trinity, won SLC championships the first year. Arkansas State tied for basketball to pick up their first title (men's basketball) in year two. At the end of the third year, Arlington State was still trophy-less.

With a win in today's entry, Arlington State would at least clinch a share of that elusive-first title.

UTA FB. Vol. 4, Gm. 10 - The Building Blocks

The 1960 Arlington State College team is somewhat of an awkward season for me to discuss. On the surface, you'd think there would be a lot about this team that would appeal to me or many other fans. They tied for the second best winning percentage in program history, truly played as a team with no one player dominating the stat lines and were hard-nosed players with many playing both ways. But it's just hard to find the excitement for a few reasons.

For starters, there aren't many teams on their schedule we identify with today. They joined the four-year ranks at the bottom of the totem pole. Given its size, academic aspirations and location, ASC was destined to rise in the ranks. The downside to that from a historical perspective is that many of the opponents for UTA in 1959 and early 1960's are in their same spot in the pecking order. UT Arlington today and ASC in the mid-1960's, just didn't and don't have anything in common with Delta State, Trinity, McMurray and Southwestern Oklahoma State, for example.

There also wasn't anything to play for. They didn't join a conference until 1964. That can actually piggie back on the point above. UTA knows Arkansas State, Lamar, McNeese State, etc. due to conference affiliation. But it also means there is something else to play for, a championship. For example, the 1968 UTA-Arkansas St. game was made much better since it was essentially a championship game.

UTA FB. Vol. 4 Gm. 9 - The Brick Wall of Tech

While I've talked about the situations surrounding the 1977 UT Arlington Mavericks and their previous two games that have made this series (moving to Cravens Field and the North Texas rivalry), what I haven't really done is mention the team itself. For that, I reserved today's entry when I scheduled this year's series.

The 1977 squad, like virtually every other UTA team, had talent on the program. UTA had 30 NFL draft picks during its time in the Southland Conference football era. Arkansas State is the only school with more at 31. In all, 42 made it to NFL rosters. The talent didn't result in much more than 5-6 seasons though, but the reasons are for another post (or have even been discussed in past posts), but the point is there were real talented players, including on this team.

The headliner is Derrick Jensen. Maverick faithful from back in the day immediately know who Jensen is. He was one heck of a fullback, gaining 3,346 yards from 1974 to 1977. In 1976 and 1977, he was named to the All-American team as a third-team selection, UTA's first and only player to make an All-American team at the highest level. 15 others have been named as honorable mentions, but only Jensen landed on one of the three teams. Six players were named to an All-American team at the College Division.

Jensen also ranks first on UTA's all-time record for carries (676), fourth for touchdowns (16) as well as yards per carry (4.9). He was a capable receiver as well, catching 18 passes for 165 yards and 1 TD (I don't have complete stats for the 1976 season when he was a sophomore and the receiving numbers are without his sophomore year). Number 31 is top on UTA's list for 100-yard rushing games with 17.

UTA FB Vol. 4, Gm. 8 - Late Conference Start

College football in 1966 is not like we know it today, in so many ways. Conferences are much, much bigger today than just about anything back in the mid-1960's. Therefore it's not uncommon to see conference games early in the season, and in many instances, it can be the first game up. The common thinking back then was to use the non-conference schedule to prepare for conference play.

As the Arlington State Rebels moved to the later stages of October, they had not played their first Southland Conference team. But, seeing as how the SLC only had four other competitors to fill a 10-game schedule, that wasn't surprising, but rather the norm.

The Trinity Tigers were the first opponent on UTA's schedule. Trinity is an interesting note in the SLC's history. They were the first University to leave the union. Most schools in the SLC had designs of becoming higher in the NCAA food chain. Trinity, however, did not. As the SLC schools made a push to go to the University Division, later Division I, Trinity would actually drop to Division III, or non-scholarship.

UTA FB Vol. 4 Gm. 7 - The Truest of True Rivals

In this week's entry into the UTA football history series, I may not give as much backstory as I usually do. Simply, I just don't need to with this one.

When I introduce East Texas State, or Texas A&M-Commerce as they are known now, the average fan, the younger fan, and even people my age or older may not know why or even that there was a rivalry. The schools are in different NCAA divisions, don't play anymore and just don't really have anything in common now like they did then.

All that's needed for today's entry is to fill in small gaps and set the stage because today's opponent is just as much a rival then as now; the University of North Texas, or North Texas State University as they were known in 1977.

UTA FB Vol. 4 Gm. 6 - Looking in the Mirror

When we last left the 1983 season, one with gigantic expectations as a huge amount of talent was returning (more on that later in the series), they had just dropped their season opener to Western Michigan, the eighth time in ten openers for a Coach Harold "Bud" Elliott team at UT Arlington. Things weren't looking good for UTA.

The Mavericks dropped their next game to Northeast Louisiana (now Louisiana-Monroe) at Maverick Stadium, 16-10. It was a game where the UTA offense was just outmatched by the Indians' (now Warhawks) defense.

The first win of the year came on the road against the West Texas State (now A&M) Buffaloes, 31-13. That was followed with a 34-0 drubbing at the hands of the SMU Mustangs, ranked 13th at the time. After that game, Coach Elliott said the Mavericks may not lose another game the rest of the season.

Looking at Coach Elliott's performance, one of the things that stick out is just how bad his teams performed at Maverick Stadium. Coach Elliott was at the helm when Maverick Stadium opened and he went 1-5 the first year. Prior to this game, he was 7-11 overall at home. He'd finish his career 10-12 at Maverick Stadium. I think that played a large part in his dismissal from the team. Lack of community support was a primary reason for Elliott's dismissal. Hard to get that support when you can't win in front of them.

UTA FB Vol. 4 Gm. 5 - Talent and Youth

Today's entry in the UTA football history series has way more meaning than just with opponent, site, outcome, etc., though it has a lot of that. So today, we'll look back at the 1966 season and go to Memorial Stadium as Arlington State College plays their home opener.

Today's opponent is East Texas State University, the first genuine rival ASC had since leaving the junior college ranks. The schools are roughly an hour's drive apart and the game's were relatively close. UTA dropped the first two games of the series, 9-14 and 8-17 but rebounded in 1965 for a 20-6 win.

I've mentioned before about how this was one of the higher attended games of the year for the host team. Of the six games that have hit five figures  or more on UTA's campus, two came from East Texas State. And that's out of three total games in Arlington.

1966 was really an interesting year, but not for some of the reasons initially thought. Sophomore quarterback Carl Williams led the team in passing as a freshman with 902 yards. There were many who thought he had the making to be an all-time great. But for reasons I have never been able to find, he quit the team mid-season. That left the door open for Mike Baylor, who would become that all-time great, holding most career passing records and a few single-season ones that still stand.

Biggest Win Ever?

If you haven't heard about UT Arlington's win over Ohio State Friday night, you either aren't a Maverick fan, have been living in a cave with no wifi or you depend on this blog for all your UTA news, and none of those options are good things.

I experienced some elation with the win just like everyone else, but I feel like there is a lot of over-reaction to this win. Don't get me wrong, it is a big one, certainly a milestone win for the program and head coach Scott Cross. Any win over any P5 team is great, especially the hoity-toity Big 10, as all P5 school's athletic budgets should make them better than UTA. But let me point out a few things that make me tap the brakes.

1) We don't really know how good this Ohio State team is. They lost five seniors and an All-American from a team that won a game in the NCAA tournament. The last time the Buckeyes lost to a Sun Belt team on their home floor, they went 6-22 for year, the worst in their history. Not saying that is going to be the case here, but this wasn't exactly a ranked team.

2) UTAMavs.com lead paragraph called this the biggest win in program history. Really? The biggest? Honestly, what did this win accomplish? I'd call the win over Northwestern State in the 2008 Southland Conference Tournament the biggest win in UTA's history. That actually put UTA in the big one for the first time. It gave us something. The win against Sam Houston State in the 2004 regular season finale, which clinched their first regular season title I could argue was bigger. In the end, if we lose every game from here on out, we gain nothing. If we win every game from here on out, we still would almost guaranteedly have to win the Sun Belt Tournament to advance and play in the NCAA's. A CIT or CBA invite is possible cause of it, but doesn't guarantee anything and we'd certainly have to win more games. Those wins I mentioned before did.

UTA Football Vol. 3, Game 12: The Championship Game at The Mav

Today is my absolute favorite entry this year. It is a scenario not often seen in UTA's history. Win and the Southland Conference championship resides in Arlington. Lose and the trophy goes somewhere else.

In the early days of the SLC, UTA played a few of these games. However, the 1970's just weren't kind. UTA finished 2nd a few times, but the title was lost early in the conference season. Those early losses meant some teams would have to lose for UTA to get the crown, and oftentimes a bowl berth, and those breaks never happened. It hit Coach Harold "Bud" Elliott harder than any other coach, as he finished one win out of first in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979. Most of those years would have included an Independence Bowl berth had he gotten that extra win.

When we last left the 1981 squad, they had just bounced back from a loss to Arkansas State by beating the Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns. They still trailed McNeese State (2-0-1) and Arkansas State (2-1) in the standings and the likelihood of both losing was remote. But the second to last week of the season was one of the best for UTA as the Mavericks were playing the league leaders in the MSU Cowboys. The Cowboys had beaten Arkansas State a week prior to the Indians (now Red Wolves) win against UTA and controlled their own destiny. A tie to Lamar was MSU's only blemish.

In a very un-Maverick twist, one of the best kickers in Southland Conference history, Don Stump, had the tying extra point blocked in the fourth quarter after the Cowboys drove for the score down seven by UTA's Brent Hargrove. Then, MSU drove down to ten yard line and with 17 seconds left and Stump missed the game-winner. For a top SLC guy to miss not one, but two kicks just never happened to UTA. They rarely got those kind of breaks, it was usually the other way around.

School Spirit

Nothing much to this one, but I'm going to use my blogger to express my Maverick pride. I usually save this space for objective analysis of the Maverick teams. But after seeing the turnout yesterday for the women's season opener in Waco on Friday, the atmosphere at College Park Center for the homecoming game against Fordham on Saturday and volleyball setting a season attendance record this year, I just feel the Mavericks sports programs are no longer the best kept secret on campus.

Baylor women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey noticed the UTA students in the season opener.

"Compliment your students. I was so impressed. There had to be three-to-five hundred students up there and you outnumbered Baylor students. It sends a message to Baylor students. You have the number five team in the country and UTA students outnumber you."

Impressive indeed.

Great turnout for the men's game against Fordham. 3,868 reported for the season opening 77-72 win. Electric atmosphere's like that really propel a team to victory. Victories propel a following and attendance.

Now I get that those are all surrounding homecoming and may not be representative of the overall state of support. I respond in two ways. One, it never was like that when I was a student around homecoming and, two, it's not just homecoming. There seems to be an increasing following and it has been increasing this year.

UTA had over 2,000 to see a volleyball match this year. They are 628 fans away in Sunday's match from hitting 10,000 total attendance this year. That would set a record and they are doing it with 13 total matches. Last year saw 17 at College Park Center.

Just gotta say, feels good to be a Maverick right now.

Another UTA Football History Lesson

Got into a discussion with someone recently who thought I portrayed former Coach Harold "Bud" Elliott a little unfairly in some of my This Day in UTA Football entries. It was a good discussion and I asked if he'd be opposed to me bringing the topic here and he said he'd look forward to reading it.

First, a little background. Coach Elliott was the fourth head coach to roam the UT-Arlington sidelines since the school went to four year status. He was hired in 1974 (you can read about his first game here) and coached ten seasons. He began the fourth year after UTA had transitioned to the highest level of college football. His career record was 48-64.

I have said before I consider his body of work at UTA a prime example of mediocrity. Four years of 5-6, only two winning seasons (9-2 and a barely winning 6-5), one conference championship and no postseason appearances.

UTA Football Vol. 3, Game 9: The First Hello of Old Friends

For the final time this year, we look back to the 1964 season. Remember, this was the inaugural year of the Southland Conference, and Arlington State College started it with neither a win, nor a loss. Since that time, the Rebels had done okay, but not outstanding, losing to Louisiana Tech in Ruston and beating McMurray at home. The second game of the first Southland Conference season would pit 2-3-1 ASC against 3-2 Lamar Tech in Beaumont.

I've always liked Lamar, partly because of the history between the schools. As founding members of the conference, they have played against each other...a lot...and in multiple sports. Lamar basically has two SLC eras. Once UTA dropped the sport, Lamar joined several schools and left the SLC. They would rejoin a decade and a half later.

Plain fact of the matter is that Lamar was superior to UTA in just about every sport during their first go around. UTA would finish with an 11-game winning streak in football, but Lamar would win two out of every three games in baseball and basketball, while having better Olympic sports like golf and track. Also like UTA, they dropped their football program in the '80's (unlike UTA, they have since brought it back).

UTA Football Vol. 3 Game 7: Losing

For today's installment of This Day in UTA Football History, we revisit the 1970 season, thankfully for the last time. 1970 is, without a doubt, the worst year on record and easily the worst team UTA fielded as a University. The 1974 squad won one game, but their schedule was tougher.

The 1970 offense would set records for least points scored in both total season (69) and per game average (6.9). They were futile to say the least. They actually could move the ball okay, but turnovers and penalties kept them off the scoreboard and on the sidelines. The defense wasn't much better, sitting in fifth for most points allowed per game (26.6). Still, if UTA had the offensive output they had seen the previous four years, they may have been a .500 team.

There would only be one first team All-Southland Conference selection, cornerback Earnest Baptist. The sophomore was one of the best at that position in UTA's history, going on to win two more and would join only five other Mavericks on the three-time first team list. There'd be a future multi-season NFLer in tackle Don Morrison. The senior would earn an honorable mention in the conference, as the SLC didn't have a second team this year. Morrison was drafted in the fourth round (third highest at that time in Maverick history) by the New Orleans Saints following this season and would play until 1979. Defensive end Sid Bailey would get drafted several rounds later, but didn't earn any conference selection and wouldn't have a long NFL career.

UTA Football Vol. 3 Game 6: Tradition Begins

2015/16 is the fourth athletic season since the UT Arlington Mavericks left the Southland Conference. Despite the amount of time, it is hard for me to separate the two. UTA was a founding member, and despite the men's team getting expelled from the conference in 1986 for not fielding a football team, the women's teams from UTA played in the SLC during that time, making UTA the longest tenured program to play in the SLC, participating for almost 50 years. McNeese State will equal UTA's streak if they stay in the SLC for four more years.

The conference morphed quite a bit from their Division 1-A heyday. In the mid-1970's to very early '80's, the SLC was one of the better mid-major conferences overall. Football was the equivalent of the Sun Belt or Mid-American Conferences today, basketball and baseball were right below the power conferences and certainly would have had more teams in those tournaments with the expanded fields of today. On the women's side, it was the same thing. volleyball, basketball and softball were as competitive as just about anyone in the NCAA. But several things would transpire to change that.

One of the big ones, with unforeseen consequences, was the conference dropping from 1-A football to 1-AA (FBS to FCS using today's terms). On paper and principle, it looked like a good idea, but for a variety of reasons, it was a big drop in stature, money and prestige and the quality of the on-field product suffered. There's a reason most of the teams in the SLC in the early 1980's are now are back at the FBS level (Louisiana-Lafayette never left, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech and North Texas joined at various times). Once Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech and Lamar left after the 1986season, all sports dropped in competitiveness. The SLC replaced members with a focus on whether they fielded a football team, other sports competitiveness holding very little in the overall decision.

UTA Football Vol. 3 Game 5: Road away from Home

Last week, I mentioned the 1959 opener was one of the games I was looking forward to the most in this years version of This Day in UTA Football History. Now let me introduce you to one of the games I am looking forward to least.

It is hard to get excited about a winless season, but that's what the 1970 season was. It was Coach Burly Bearden's last at the UT-Arlington, as well as the last UTA would play at the College level of the NCAA. It would be the first of nine consecutive losing seasons. I picked this game for two reasons, both of which are representative of UTA's flawed approach to moving up to the highest level.

Today was the first home game at Turnpike Stadium. Since moving up from the Junior College ranks, UTA played the games at Memorial Stadium, an on-campus venue located where the current Maverick Activities Center is now. What a great location for a stadium. I can only imagine what the football fortunes at UTA would have been had they never left. Think of Maverick Stadium, accessible AND visible to the core of the University, not relegated to the periphery. Today, the Mav is much more connected to the U with the construction of hundreds of apartments, but between 1980 and 1986, there wasn't much between Nedderman Drive and the Stadium.

The last four years at Memorial Stadium, UTA averaged around 9,000 in attendance, near capacity for the venue. They would never get even close to that again. They would get in the mid 7,000's three times at Maverick Stadium, but that wasn't even close to capacity like at Memorial. I will grant the late 60's produced winning teams, while the 80's only produced two winning teams in 6 tries, but I just can't believe location didn't play a factor in the average, to some degree or another.

UTA Football Vol. 3 Game 3: The First of Many

For today's installment of This Day in UTA Football History, we visit the 1964 season for the first time. There's nothing remarkable about this year from a star or results standpoint. After having winning seasons the first three years as a University, the then-Rebels went 4-6 in 1962 and 1-8 in 1963. The record would improve, but that's not hard after a one-win season.

The big event was going to happen regardless of what happened on the field. Coach Chena Gilstrap had been instrumental in the birth of the Southland Conference (he is in the SLC Hall of Honor for his efforts). The school-soon-to-be-known-as UTA met with four other schools that were floating in independent purgatory. It was March 15, 1963 when Arlington State College, Arkansas State, Lamar Tech, Trinity and Abilene Christian came together and decided to form their own NCAA conference. Some around Arlington attributed the independence to the stagnation of the program and believed playing for a conference crown would raise the talent level.

In fact, that is the most remarkable thing about this year. UTA played in a conference for the first time as a University program and the Southland Conference began play for the first time as an NCAA conference.

UTA Football Vol. 3, Game 1: End of an Era

First, let me apologize for the late start. The last two editions of This Day in UTA Football started in the second week of the current NCAA football season. Got an alert from a reader asking why I didn't have one up and was told my reasoning was flawed and UTA had played games on September 5. When I looked, sure enough. So hopefully this is the last late entry.

There are a few good milestone seasons for this year's edition. Later on, we'll see UTA's first season as the then-Rebels transitioned to the four-year ranks from the Junior College level. We'll see UTA's last season as the equivalent of a Division II school. But the one we'll visit first is the last UTA spent as a Division 1-A school, 1981. I'll save the meaning of this season til the last game (that should be a hint right there), but we'll open up with the season opener.

UTA "traveled" to play SMU in the '81 opener. The Mustangs were coming off an eight-win season, their first winning season in six years. They were a talented team, several members of this team would play at the professional level. Once the game story starts, I have no doubt you'll recognize several names, so I'll hold off giving details of the team. If you need a refresher, the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, Pony Excess, is a great view. There's also clips of this very UTA game in it.

UTA played SMU the prior year, and it wasn't pretty. Some of it was due to SMU's talent, but the 3-8 Mavericks weren't hardy competition for much of anyone that year, getting outscored 341-248. When the highlight of your year is a stadium debut, there are real issues. Coach Harold "Bud" Elliott's squad was hoping for better results. He was on the hot seat as well. There was a lot of talent on the 1981 team, names that received all-conference honors in the current and future years. No one really knew it at the time, as the 1981 UTA Mavericks were a very young team.