Days of Our World Turns

 It has been a soap opera trying to follow the NCAA and the courts last week. Lawsuits from several states targeting the National Collegiate Athletic Association's transfer policy of players looking to transfer to another school a second or more time have made things much different in the course of a week. 

On Wednesday, a temporary restraining order was put on the policy, allowing players who were multiple-time transfers to play. That TRO was set for only 14 days. Then, the NCAA said those that did play may lose a year of eligibility if they play and the courts later decide the NCAA's policy should stay as written. Then, a short time later, the NCAA and the States involved in the lawsuit reached an agreement that any player that plays will be granted eligibility through the end of the spring semester. 

And with that, UT Arlington faithful got to see Phillip Russell this weekend against Air Force. I heard many good things about he's abilities, style of play and game smarts. Looking at his stat sheet from the last couple of seasons shows he had the talent as a freshman and sophomore.

UTA FB History: Vol. 7 Gm. 14 - Bowl Season

 I really wish I could have experienced the Arlington State College, later the UT Arlington, Rebels in the 1960's. Not just in football, though obviously they believed that sport was the cornerstone. Men's basketball was a combined 82-163 overall and 14-34 in Southland Conference play from their four-year jump in 1959 to the end 1968/69 season. Their best finish was a tie for second in the SLC in 66/67, where they finished 14-12 and 4-4, both were bests in the decade for the Rebels. I can't help but wonder how much of the current MBB culture stems from this era, especially in the student support side.

Baseball had one season in the decade, a 6-18, 0-8 conference mark. Cross Country finished last in four years and second to last in the other conference meet. Golf had the second-best performance of all he sports, getting second in the conference meet twice and third out of five a separate four times. Tennis was near golf with two runner-up finishes, two third places and one fourth. The track team had one top half finish, a third in 1964. There were three second to last place finishes and two lasts. The women's teams were still years from their first competition.

But the football team was competitive, and in some cases dominant, throughout the decade. Their record was 61-42-1 during the decade. They won a conference title twice, while finishing second twice and last once. The optimism surrounding Athletics at UTA was pretty high during the decade.

When we last checked in with the 1967 UTA Rebels, they were fresh off a 16-14 win over Arkansas State to go to 8-1 on the year. As covered in 2017 in this series, the final game was a convincing 16-10 home win against the defending co-champs in Lamar. It was the first undefeated champs in conference history. All that was next was the waiting.

The team was a strong candidate for a berth in the Pecan Bowl. It was the second real flirt with a bowl, as the 9-2 1960 squad was in the mix for the at-large berth in the Tangerine Bowl before The Citadel Bulldogs got the nod. Later, they had an outside shot in 1968, but Arkansas State won their meeting, the conference and the Pecan Bowl berth.

A couple of days after the Lamar game, it became official. 

From the Dallas Morning News, November 20, 1967

In a twist that I didn't remember, I did not cover this game in 2017. How it slipped my mind then, I don't remember. They were close to several bowl bids in their University history, but this was the only one. It may be the biggest game in the program's history.

Other close misses include 1976, where they lost to Arkansas State, 14-13 at home. Had they won that one, they would have gone to the Independence Bowl. They still had a chance when they beat Lamar to end the season, but didn't get a Southwestern Louisiana win over McNeese State. In 1977, had they beaten Louisiana Tech, they would have been SLC champs and Independence Bowl participants. In 1979, the only home and conference loss of the year was to McNeese State, 14-13. The Cowboys would run the SLC undefeated on their way to a second Indy Bowl. In 1981, the last year UTA won a conference title, the Indy Bowl no longer took the SLC champs.

I can't understate how rare bowl appearances were during UTA's time as a football-sponsoring institution. The 1981 season was UTA's last at the I-A, now Football Bowl Subdivision, level. There were 137 teams in 1-A in 1981 to go with 16 bowls. Less than a quarter of all team made a bowl. Now, there are 133 FBS teams, but a whopping 42 bowls. Almost two-thirds of all teams make a bowl. 

The pinnacle of the decade, and probably the entire program, came in today's entry, the only postseason appearance for UTA football as a four-year school. I even ranked this the fifth best moment in the history of the Athletic Department.

As mentioned in the article above, today's opponent was North Dakota State. They are just one of those programs that have success in whatever classification they are in at the time. They have won or claimed three national titles at the College Division, five in Division II and nine at the Football Championship Subdivision level. They have an all-time winning percentage of two-thirds.

They have played in six bowl games total, all between 1964 and 1970. They went 5-1 in those games. They were heavy favorites coming in, receiving a polling position of second in both the Coaches and the AP polls. UTA, meanwhile, was third in the Coaches, but sixth in the AP.

Both teams had nine wins, while the Bison had zero losses. The Rebels lone loss was to the University Division's West Texas State. 

Pretty impressive to think UTA's company during this time was North Dakota State and San Diego State, who would win the national title in 1967.

In addition to the daunting opponent, weather forecasts leading up to the game proved dire, freezing temperatures with precipitation. A southern underdog team playing a northern squad in freezing, icy weather? Just another typical script confronted by the 1967 UTA Rebels.

On this day in UTA football history, the Rebels play in the postseason for the first time at the four-year level as the North Dakota State Bison await the Rebs in the Pecan Bowl.

Taken from the Dallas Morning News, December 17, 1967.

December Quick Hits

There are a few of topics to cover, but none are exactly a full posts length. Time to dust of the quick hits segment.

-The volleyball team finished its season at 21-11 with a second-round loss to UT El Paso in the National Invitational Volleyball Tournament. The Miners beat the Mavs in 4, 18-25, 25-23, 13-25 and 21-25. The score variation encapsulated what the Mavericks program has been of late. Scoring as little as 13, but winning a set, versus the UTEP's variation of two, winning three and losing one by 23. UTA had a lead in every set but the third, trailed 15-17 in the first and had a 15-14 lead in the fourth. Mav Nation has seen a lot of that type of inconsistency the last two decades or so.

It also contrasted with the three sets to none win in the first-round. Florida Atlantic's 18, 22 and 20 scores meant the Mavs defense was pretty consistent. I'd say it was the best all-around match of the year. 

Volleyball Mavs in the Postseason

 Selection for the NCAA volleyball tournament occurred this weekend and the Western Athletic Conference's tournament champions, Grand Canyon, knew they were in while Stephen F. Austin, the regular season champs, were a solid bubble team. Both teams were announced in the field, giving the WAC two teams in the tourney for the first time since 2010.

Both teams will be playing on the road as SFA goes to Fayetteville to play third seed Arkansas while GCU travels to Pullman with a date against the fourth seed Cougars of Washington State.

While I will occasionally go in the topic of the WAC, this blog is mainly a focus on the goings on of a campus in Arlington (not to be confused with the conference office now in Arlington). Nice for the conference to land those two are in the big dance, but the UT Arlington volleyball squad received an invite to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, or NIVC.

Early Returns

I intentionally wanted to wait a few games after the UT Arlington mem's basketball match-up with Oral Roberts as I was very excited after the UTA Mavericks defeated the Golden Eagles 75-71. There was an excitement around this team that I haven't felt in a half decade. Of course, much of it had to do with the hiring of K.T. Turner as the head man, but many of the folks I've talked to have said the head man assembled a very talented team.

I also fully expected a home loss to ORU, as they have been one of the top mid-major basketball teams the last few years. They have a sweet sixteen appearance three years ago and won the Summit League with a perfect conference record en route to 30 wins last year. The conference expected them to repeat the championship this year.

The Mavs went toe-to-toe with the Golden Eagles in the first half before a late spurt gave ORU a five-point lead. In recent years, Mav fans would have been happy with a moral victory of hanging tough with a quality opponent. But that's not what the team was thinking this time. 

After a rough start to the second half, where Oral Roberts extended their lead to 11, UTA began chipping away before permanently getting the lead with five minutes remaining. Every opponent run was answered quickly and I haven't seen UTA trade blows like this in quite a while.

UTA FB History: Vol. 7 Gm. 13 - Ending on a Redundant High

 Like the start of this year's edition, the end of the 2023 edition of This Day in UTA Football History will end with a game that has already been covered. The 1972 Mavericks started the year 0-5, all five were blowouts with an average losing score of 34 to less than 15. Southern Mississippi, Oklahoma State, Toledo, TCU and Louisiana Tech were the victors.

In week six, the Mavericks traveled to Las Cruces and lost to New Mexico State 17-12. That close loss sparked a change in the rest of the season. Wins soon followed against Southwestern Louisiana, now Louisiana or Louisiana-Lafayette (7-0), at Abilene Christian (36-22), West Texas A&M (20-7) and at Lamar (10-3). A home date against Arkansas State remained and a win would earn the Mavericks second place in the conference.

All that was discussed more in detail in 2017. What wasn't discussed much was Maverick running back Dexter Bussey. He ultimately became one of the best Maverick running backs of all-time. Consider this: Bussey is fifth all-time in yards rushing (1,908) and carries (436), is fourth in touchdowns (16) and third in 100-yard games (9). He holds the single-game rushing record at 225, set against Abilene Christian. And he essentially did it at just two seasons of work.

UTA FB History: Vol. 7 Gm. 12 - Case of the Fumbles

It has been a while since this year's series of This Day in UTA Football History has looked at the 1978 squad, ten weeks to be precise. These repeat seasons were tougher to cover than the first time around and I try to avoid that. But obviously there are a limited number of games. Additionally, the 1978 team is one of the most fascinating to me. But that's the way it goes when trying to coordinate several seasons, so here's the season recap. 

UT Arlington started the season with a preseason ranking of third of six in the Southland Conference. Louisiana Tech and Arkansas State were picked ahead. When the 1978 squad last appeared, they were fresh off a one touchdown loss to West Texas State to drop to 0-2 for the young season.

The annual North Texas game at Texas Stadium came in week three. North Texas raced to a 28-10 lead. Quarterback Roy Dewalt began the attempted comeback with less than six minutes left in the game as he led two quick TD drives with a combined 75 yards passing and one TD to tight end Jerry Woodard. Bill McClesky added another TD on the ground. The Mavs got an on-sides recovery, an extra point, but missed a two-point attempt, and also a quick defensive stop led to a punt to get the score to 23-28. However, when the Mavs were trying their last drive to take a lead, Dewalt threw an interception, his third of the night, to seal their fate. The Mavs lowered their fumbles lost to two (compared to four in both games prior) but couldn't overcome five total turnovers.