UTA FB Vol. 5 Gm. 11 - Ending the Season

Since we last looked at the 1961 season, the Arlington State College Rebels had just lost to McMurray. That started a mini-slide where they would lose two of three. The following week, they rebounded to a 19-14 road win at Trinity, but lost at home to Abilene Christian, 17-15 the week later.

Those last two teams would be a staple of the Rebel schedule. Both the Tigers and Wildcats first played ASC in 1960, and would do so til the early 1970's. All three were founding members of the Southland Conference.

That always made me wonder if there were other teams invited who declined to join the SLC. Louisiana Tech appeared frequently on the Reb schedule. Northeastern Louisiana, now Louisiana-Monroe did too. We they invited and declined? I don't know that we'll ever know.  I have never been able to find any definitive answers. Those things are hard to find, even today.

UTA FB Vol. 5 Gm. 10 - Too Little...

In last week's installment of This Day in UTA Football History, the 1972 UT Arlington Mavericks started the season 0-6 before claiming their first win. 1978 is about as twin as twin could get. There are so many parallels between the to that it is hard to keep straight. Both seasons featured similar starts, ends, records and game dates. Opponents were similar and exactly the same in some games. Two of the non-conference opponents were the same and four of the five SLC games were the same. They lost a non-conference game against an opponent on the road that I'm convinced would have been a home win (see the season opener here). The offenses were run first and starred a running back with All-America potential and NFL-staying power.

And all my gripes from last week apply here as well, mostly.

For the first time since 1967, UTA played more than one September home game. Sadly, the September curse didn't lift and the Mavs lost an 18-10 affair to West Texas State and met the eventual conference champions to open the conference season, a 28-21 setback to Louisiana Tech.

UTA FB Vol. 5 Gm. 9 - Starting a 180

I've been fairly vocal in how the UT Arlington athletic department really screwed up the jump to the highest level of college football. In an effort to conserve space and not rehash old arguments, I just want to let the 1972 season to this point speak for itself.

Coming into this installment, UTA was 0-6. They started the first four games on the road, at Southern Mississippi (38-17), Oklahoma State (21-3), Toledo (38-24) and TCU (38-14). No September home games.

Then the first home game was against the pre-season conference favorites Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs showed why they were pegged number one with a 35-14 win in front of 7,300 at Arlington Stadium. While that was a number that was really good for the team during the tenure at the stadium, it would look quite empty in a baseball-shaped facility for 35,000. It would also be the highest attended game of the year (Note the attendance of today's game).

The final opponent prior to today's game was New Mexico State. It was a road loss 17-12, and was more akin to what they Mavericks were capable of doing. Had they played more even opponents, and played more in Arlington, there would have been far greater success in the 1970's.

UTA FB Vol. 5 Gm. 8 - Looking for a Streak

I'm gonna be real honest with this post. I have a hard time developing interest in the 1961 season. I'm not sure exactly why, as they were one of only five teams in the 27-year history as a University football team to record a .700 winning percentage. In reality though, the Arlington State College Rebels weren't playing for much other than pride. There were no conference championships on the line, as they were fresh up from the junior college ranks.

Perhaps it was the success of this year and the prior (9-2) that prompted the search for schools to form a new conference, but as it was, there wasn't anything in 1961. There were no bowls, postseason teams, or pride points other than the individual games.

There also was a lack of star power. You'll be hard pressed to find Allen Anz (QB), Freddie Arnold (RB) or Wayne Crowley (E) in many references to the UTA football program, but they were yearly leaders in their respective categories for this season.

UTA FB Vol. 5 Gm. 7 - Renewing an Old Rivalry

Anyone that follows the history lessons I give in This Day in UTA Football History knows that I really enjoy the rivalry games. Not that I am in a minority there, since it is a common sports saying that rivalries build sports drama. In fact, that's what I felt was a huge hit to the UTA football program, lack of rivalries.

But that wasn't the case in the later days of Arlington State College as a junior college on until the late 1960's, and both are illustrated in today's game.

UTA FB Vol. 5 Gm. 6 - Perseverance

1978 may have been the most deceptive season for the UT Arlington football program. The Mavericks entered this week 0-5, with losses to Drake, West Texas State, North Texas, Louisiana Tech and East Carolina. But, the Movin' Mavs were either one play away or had one play go wrong that contributed in every game. Every loss was by a touchdown or less. On top of it, only one loss was to Southland Conference foe, meaning every hope for an Independence Bowl bid was alive.

The year was also a very big microcosm of the the program in the 1970's save for a very big one. The team always played above its head, or at least at its level or higher. It came from an outdated philosophy from the late 1960's and early 1970's. UTA had to play harder teams to move to the higher level as the way to move up back then was to play half  the schedule against the higher level. When UTA was the first Southland Conference school to move up, the out of conference schedule had to be tougher. But by the mid-1970's, the entire SLC was playing at the highest level, so that philosophy was no longer needed.

The major difference in 1978 was that UTA played two home games in September. That accounted for 40 percent of the true home games played in the entire decade of the 1970's. It also the big reason 1978 was the best attended season in both total attendance and average in the decade. The higher attended games are always earlier in the year. In UTA's case, it also meant that by the time they played in front of the home crowd, they were out of contention or at least playing with a losing record.

Egg on my Face

So in a huge bout of user error, I have failed to post one of my favorite annual features. Today is the fifth installment of This Day in UTA Football History. Unfortunately, the first four installments didn't make it. Rather than skip them, today will be a quintuple doubleheader.

To ease confusion, I put in parenthesis the day the late installments were supposed to be posted.

Apologies to all.