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.

UTA FB History: Vol. 10 Gm. 4 - Righting the Ship

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. 

UTA FB History: Vol. 10 Gm. 3 - A Different Era

For the third week in a row, 1981 gets featured in This Week in UTA Football History. As a reminder, it's not something I like to do. But I touched 1964 and 1970 in the 2015 volume and 1959 hasn't played their first game yet. With a bit of limited options, I wanted to touch a greater theme that touches all of college football today.

Looking at today's opponent, one can see the drastic changes over the decades. It also is a bit of a milestone. I'll touch on both.

In Arlington State College's, turned UT Arlington, quest to move to the highest level of college football, and athletics as a whole, they needed to play higher competition. To move from the College Division to the University Division, half the schedule had to be against University Division schools to join said University Division. Since the Southland Conference schools were in the lower level, the Rebels, then later Maverick, made a point to play University Division schools in the non-conference to achieve that goal.

Included in that University Division pool were the teams close to UTA. I've made a lot about the North Texas State University/UT Arlington rivalry, and deservedly so. With minor exceptions here and there, the NTSU/UTA games are some of the highest attended games in UTA history, home or away.

UTA FB History: Vol. 10 Gm. 2 - Administrative Folly

As This Day ion UTA Football History progresses since the founding of the blog through the years and duplicate seasons occur, I start to have to diverge from some of my rules. In this case, covering the same season in consecutive weeks. As there was one all-time game on September 5, 1981, it was the only option for last week. As such, we'll stay with the 1981 season today.

I mentioned in 2015 how the '81 season is one of my favorites. Those who know the outcome know why. But the outcome was the result of this team. 1985 is also one of my favorite seasons. That was a 4-6-1 year that was ultimately a tie for fifth out of seven teams. But that team had heart and talent, just not luck. 1981 had all three.

But I want to explore a theme from 1981 that really exhibits what UT Arlington football really was about as volume 10 progresses. While the team finished well as a whole, the consistent themes of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, ultimately fatal four full seasons later, are present.

But first, a little background.

UTA FB History: Vol. 10 Gm. 1 - 1981 Rerun

Today is the first iteration of This Day in UTA Football History for the 2026 season. Unfortunately, there is only one game that has occurred on this date and that was covered 11 years ago today in 2015. For those that know, they know why 1981 was an important season. However, it both exemplifies and shows what could have been with Maverick Football. 

On this Day in UTA football history, UTA opens the 1981 season.

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

UTA FB History: Vol. 9 Gm. 12 - End with a High Note

I flip through dozens of games on Saturday afternoon nights during the college football season. I don't remember which broadcaster, but one last week or one prior said they couldn't believe how fast the season had progressed. I echo that as today is the final entry of the 2025 This Day in UTA Football History.

The Maverick Rambler ends with the 1980 season. It's been well established that '80 was a season of promise that came up very short. Maverick Stadium opened and UTA got its first win in their new home last week, a 36-14 win over Arkansas State. With that win, UTA was 1-5 at home for the 1980 season.

Certainly a mark that low was not on anyone's hopes or dreams to start the year. Losses of 17, ten, 12, 20 and 17 didn't give UTA fans much excitement either. The Mavs beat themselves, just as much as the opponent did.

UTA FB History: Vol. 9 Gm. 11 - Bowl Conception

This is not something I do very often, but in this week's edition of This Day in UTA Football History, I want to highlight a specific opponent. It is a noteworthy one that has left a lasting impact to even this day for one primary reason.

At last check in with the 1975 team in this year's edition, the Mavericks lost their third Southland Conference game in three tries to the Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, 35-32. The following week, the team won their first conference game against Lamar, 37-24. That win snapped a two-game losing streak to the Cardinals and was the first of 11 straight wins in the series. The win also snapped a season-high four-game losing streak for the year, a losing streak that derailed an optimistic 2-2 start.

Sitting at 3-6 overall and 1-3 in the Southland, the Mavericks were an improving bunch, but still a few pieces short. With just one win the prior year, the first of an eventual ten season for head coach Harold "Bud" Elliott, it was clear 1975 was a better year.

The bad news? Longtime conference foe Arkansas State was on the schedule today. After going 3-0-1 to start their series as SLC rivals, the Rebels/Mavs had won once in seven tries versus the then Indians, now Red Wolves, since that start prior to 1975. Starting with the slugfest of 1968, UTA had lost four straight. A one-point win in 1972 temporarily stopped the slide before two more losses were added in the subsequent two seasons. The average score was 24 to 10 in favor of the Indians. And that average includes the one-point win in '72 and the one-point loss in '68. And it still was that lopsided.

It was about to get worse.

UTA FB History: Vol. 9 Gm. 10 - The OG's

It's been two weeks since the 1969 UT Arlington Rebels were featured in This Day in UTA Football History. The team picked up a conference opening road win, 34-7 win over the Trinity Tigers. Oddly enough, Trinity would finish with the same Southland Conference record as UTA, despite the lopsided score. The 1969 Rebels were very good on the road, winning four of five.

The week after, the Rebs hosted a higher division school in West Texas State. The Rebels were a member of the College Division, the equivalent of Division II today while the Buffaloes were in the University Division. The result was something that is considered fairly standard in those kinds of games if it were played today, a 41-7 loss. It dropped UTA to 4-3 on the year, all three losses at home. Starting when the team was Arlington State College, the team had a 15-game home winning streak that was snapped in the last game of 1968. Counting that loss, the home winning streak transitioned into four games entering today.

Rebel fans were hoping today would go in a different direction. UTA could go to 2-0 in the conference with a win and it was homecoming. Spoiler alert, the largest crowd of the year would fill Memorial Stadium today, filling the on-campus venue past capacity.

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for today opponent, known then as the Abilene Christian College Wildcats. I grew up in West Texas, a couple of hours west of Abilene and knew of Abilene Christian University as it is known now. I have played a high school football game in their former home stadium, Shotwell Stadium, owned by the Abilene Independent School District. Unknown to me at the time, my future Alma Mater, sans football when I enrolled, had also played there.

UTA FB History: Vol. 9 Gm. 9 - Close but Still Optimistic

I rail on the 1970's a lot here on the Maverick Rambler. And it certainly is earned. So many avoidable errors led to the demise of the football program. But 1975 has a soft spot in my heart. It was the second time since 1972 that the fans felt like the team could compete at the highest level. 

The points scored differential was within 70, with only the 1972 season able to say that halfway through the decade. Two of the seven losses were within a touchdown. Another two were within two touchdowns. Every win but one was by ten or more points. There was only one blowout, a 54-7 loss to undefeated Arkansas State. There was a borderline blowout in a 37-8 loss to Louisiana Tech that was on the edge, but the combined score of 121-29 in the previous three games against the Bulldogs showed the gap was narrowing to one of the Southland Conference's best programs.

Halfway through the decade and it was only the second time in the frame that UT Arlington fans felt maybe next year actually meant something.

When this year's edition of This Day in UTA Football History last peaked in on the '75 Mavericks, the Mavs had just got a .500 record for the second time in the decade, but turnovers, penalties erasing touchdowns, special teams' miscues, etc. were costly in a 28-24 loss. 

UTA FB History: Vol. 9 Gm. 8 - Starting Conference

The last time the 1969 UT Arlington Rebels made an appearance on this series, they lost to New Mexico State in the home opener and second game of the year. The theme of that entry was the solid attendance the team attracted in the decade that followed and the struggles for UTA's home stadiums in coming years.

After a 15-game home winning streak ended in the last game of the 1968 season, it turned into a home losing streak in the link game. Previously, the longest home losing streak was four, set in 1963. The first home game of 1964 was a tie, making it a five-game streak with no wins. It would be five true loses at the fourth home game of the year.

After the NMSU game, UTA went on the road again, though it was one of the shorter road trips in program history to Commerce, Texas where they beat the East Texas State Lions, 38-28. One more road game followed a week later in Lake Charles, Louisiana, a 13-7 Rebel victory. It was the last game of six against the McNeese State as non-conference opponents.

UTA FB History: Vol. 9 Gm. 7 - Common Rivals

Back to the 1980 season for today's edition of This Day in UTA Football History. Two weeks ago, we saw the Mavericks had lost to Drake 30-20 in the second game in Maverick Stadium's history. Last week, 45 years ago, long time non-conference opponent West Texas State, now West Texas A&M, came to the Mav and the Buffaloes topped the UT Arlington Mavericks, 38-26.

As discussed in the link, UTA really should have been better than 0-5. They could have easily been 2-2 entering the WTS game. The Mavericks were driving in the fourth quarter. With the ball on the Buffs 15-yard line, UTA's quarterback was hit on a secondary blitz, causing a fumble. The West Texas drove 2/3rds down the field and scored, giving a more lopsided score.

Instead of a record just above or just below .500, the Mavs were winless in the debut of their new home. I don't know what would have happened in the scenario of a near-.500 team, but attendance should have been higher at this point in the season. One or two wins out of three total games in the new place would have encouraged fans to come later in the season. As the 2015 edition chronicled, when the team had something to play for later in the season, attendance did increase.

UTA FB History: Vol. 9 Gm. 6 - No Better Example

Most every year of This Day in UTA Football History contains 12 games. As today is the halfway point, it seems odd that one year of only a three-season rotation hasn't been introduced. That was done by design. I've pointed out dozens of times over the years how poorly run the UTA football program was in the 1970's.

While there were ancillary, outside factors that also played a part, such as the Rebel to Maverick mascot controversy, changing demographics of the campus to a more commuter campus and suppressed interest from the outside community, the UT Arlington Athletic Department surely did as much or more to shoot themselves in the foot. 

I contend that interest still would have been higher had the team stayed at Memorial Stadium, currently on the site of the Maverick Activities Center. The site is visible to the entirety of campus, unlike Maverick Stadium today, and was easily accessible via Cooper Street, also unlike Maverick Stadium which is tucked off Mitchell Street.

In 1965, UTA averaged 85 percent capacity of 10,022-seat Memorial Stadium. In 1966, it was 87 percent, '67 rose to 92 percent, same in '68 and a small drop to 84 percent in its final year hosting a UTA football team.

But even on pure numbers, no season in Turnpike, later Arlington Stadium, reached the same highs. 

UTA FB History: Vol. 9 Gm. 5 - Returning Home

The last time we checked into the 1980 UT Arlington football team, they started the season 0-2 after a loss to Northwestern State with a date looming against national powerhouse Southern Methodist University.

Resetting the stage. 1980 was the first year Maverick Stadium opened. The year prior, the Mavs were 9-2 and one point away from an Independence Bowl bid and a Southland Conference title. Momentum was high and if the cards were played right, this really could have set the program up for long-term success.

Instead, after a thumping to debut the stadium, they went on the road for two games and had a bye week, mirroring the problems with how the program was run in the 1970's. A month into the season and UTA was 0-3 with only one home game, a loss at that.

UTA FB History: Vol. 9 Gm. 4 - Home Sweet Home?

As September comes to a close, this day in UTA football history looks at the 1969 team for the first time, sort of. Last week's entry was a link to the 2014 counterpart that opened the season, a 17-3 win. Back in the 1960's, the football season often started after the halfway mark of this month. 

I'll let last week's version set the stage for the year, but I do want to add some refreshers. The 1960's were the most successful decade in UTA football history, and it isn't close. In this decade, the Mavericks were 57-42-1, a winning percentage of .575. And that's with one win in 1963 and three wins in '64.

To compare, in the 1970's, UTA had a winning percentage of .370 while the shortened decade of the 1980's was .432. No doubt that number would have been better after 1986, as we'll discuss in a moment. 

UTA FB History: Vol. 9 Gm. 3 - Repeat

For those who follow the Maverick Rambler's This Day in UTA Football History, you know I try to follow a few general rules. Unfortunately, one of those will be broken today. Specifically, I try to avoid multiple games in a row from the same season. I just have no other choice.

There are two things working against me in this week. First, to refresh, there are only three season to choose from. That in and of itself makes that guideline difficult. But, as for today specifically, it is one of only two dates I can recall between the second week in September and the second to last week in November to have only one game. It is uncommon to have a bye week in September. However, 1975 and 1980 both had a bye week today.

Ironically, the first season to qualify, 1969, is the only game that was every played by an Arlington State / UT Arlington football team on September 20.

UTA FB History: Vol. 9 Gm. 2 - Stereotypical

When I look back at wasted opportunities for the UT Arlington football program, there are a lot to choose from, starting in the 1970's and going all the way to the unplayed 1986 season. There were three seasons that one more UTA win would have resulted in an Independence Bowl berth. Their last conference title team came in UTA's last year in Division I-A, or today's Football Bowl Championship Subdivision. But, that was the first year the Indy Bowl didn't team with the Southland Conference and the conference champ did not play in the postseason. Would a bowl team increased enthusiasm in the program? Maybe. Especially considering a bowl berth was much more difficult in that time period.

Mistakes of some kind or another usually resulted in the losses. While an opponent can force a fumble or goad their foes into untimely penalties, more often it is undisciplined play by the fumblers or by the penalty committers that are the likely culprit. That was a defining trait of Head Coach Harold "Bud" Elliott's tenure.

There was, of course, the mascot controversy when the University transitioned from the Rebels to the Mavericks. Playing off campus didn't help either. Going from Memorial Stadium, on the site of the Maverick Activities Center, to a baseball stadium that could accommodate football, which in turn transitioned to being at the mercy of a Major League Baseball team, which then transitioned to a high school stadium in Cravens Field at Arlington Lamar High School was a black eye.

UTA FB History: Vol. 9 Gm. 1 - What Could Have Been

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.

UTA FB History: Vol. 8 Gm. 12 - It Ends Here

The final entry of This Day in UTA Football History is fairly straightforward when all qualifying seasons are on the table. In 2013, the final game of 1985, and therefore the program, occurred on this day in that season, as it was in the inaugural year of this blog. 

However, since it was covered in 2013, there were some interesting options on the table this year, though none were just outwardly striking. In 1963, the Arlington State Rebels lost to the Trinity Tigers 12-7 in San Antonio. That wrapped up a 1-8 season. In 1968, the UT Arlington Rebels beat the Lamar Tech Cardinals 37-20 to wrap up a 6-4, 3-1 mark in the Southland Conference. The prior game knocked the Rebs out of contention of the outright SLC championship race and dropped them out of the national polls. I still contend, looking at the stats, rosters and schedule results, the 1968 Rebels were one of the best all-time teams that ran into a couple of bad luck scenarios. 

But the game I will feature today is the finale of the 1974 Mavericks, though at the time, what would make this game distinct had yet to show itself.

UTA FB History: Vol. 8 Gm. 11 - Last One Out, Get the Lights

I've said it before when referencing the 1985 UT Arlington football squad that I have a morbid fascination with this team. The overall record of 4-6-1 is misleading. There's a real chance this is the best team that won only four games in UTA history. With maybe the exception of the 1978 team, 1985 could be the best six loss team. Of course, as most of us know, this was also the last year of the program. I think it was that misleading record that contributed to the ultimate doom of the program, at least when looking at the micro scale of a singular season.

The beginning of October was the last time the 2024 edition of This Day in UTA football checked in with the 1985 squad. They had just beaten Wichita State. That win upped the record to 2-2 on the year. The 31-3 win would be the biggest margin of victory on the year.

The following week, six turnovers cost the squad as a 10-7 fourth quarter lead turned into a 21-10 loss at Drake. There were just some teams that had UTA's number. Drake was one of them. At 0-3 all-time, the Mavs never figured out their number. The Bulldogs were never really a consistent winner, UTA could never just get past them. Had the Mavs who beat Wichita State showed up against Drake, it would have been another UTA win.

Lamar came to Arlington for homecoming the following week. As I'll go into greater detail next week, Lamar was a team that was opposite of Drake. UTA just had their number. The 37-17 win improved UTA to 3-3, and just as importantly, 1-0 in Southland Conference play.

That conference record would jump to 2-0 to end October. Northeast Louisiana, or Louisiana-Monroe today, came to Arlington and for the second year in a row, the Mavs knocked them off, 27-13. For the first time on the season, UTA sported more wins than losses at 4-3. They were in the driver's seat in SLC play at 2-0.

Then the wheels fell off. 

UTA FB History: Vol. 8 Gm. 10 - Divergent Paths

The 1968 UT Arlington Rebels make their third and final appearance today in the 2024 edition of This Day in UTA Football History. This is the second time 1968 has appeared in the series, with the first coming in 2013. In that year, I mentioned this was one of my favorite seasons ever. One of my favorite games of all time comes next week, but I'll link it here. It was a classic for the ages. 

The last look at the 1968 Rebels this year was a game against McNeese State. The win against the Cowboys moved their season record to 3-2. After the win, the Coaches poll had UTA at number 14 whereas the AP poll had the Rebs at 12th.

The next week was UTA's second game against a higher Division opponent, a 41-0 loss to West Texas State. The Buffaloes were one of the better University Division teams during 1968 and the loss didn't drop UTA's ranking much, 20th in coaches and 19th in the AP. 

While the 3-3 record on the surface was disappointing, the fact that two were to a higher division opponent and a third was a narrow loss to the defending national champions gave comfort to UTA fans.