Arkansas -7 over North Texas *****
Have to come back to explain this game....skip this post because I would be remiss not telling this story...so if its boring come back tomorrow and will break down this game in another post..
It is Sept 1969....I am a freshman at North Texas St Univ...Mean Joe Green just graduated and was the 3rd or 4th pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers.. I need some electives to take and enroll in" Coaching Football" taught by Coach Rod Rust"...Coach Rust shows up on the 1st day...[think he showed up on the last day of classes} Coach Fred McCain off coordinator will be our instructor.....talks about the 1968 Mean Green team...No 1 in the nation in passing with NCAA record breaker Steve Ramsey...No 1 wr in the country Ron Shanklin{ also a Pitt Steeler the following year}..Ramsey set to break 7 NCAA passing records,etc,etc...
On the 1st day of class both Rust and McCain set up the 16 mm film...He tells us he wants us to see how North Texas got robbed in Little Rock vs Arkansas last year.
He sets the 16 mmm black and white film...we watch North Texas and Mean Joe shut their offense down..then I think in the early 4th qrt Ramsey throws a touchdown pass to Shanklin with Ark leading 17-15...it was a low pass but Shanklin catches it..the ref right on the ball calls for a TD...NT up 22-17....but hold it...another ref behind the play is waving it off saying Shanklin trapped it..incomplete pass...can't remember if the refs confer but no touchdown...now Coach Rust runs that play again to the class...and again..Shanklin made a clean catch..it was low but the ball never touched the ground.. Hogs end up 6th in the country,10-1 and win the Southwest conf title..
North texas got robbed...think we ended up 8-3 or something like that...but we really did win in Little Rock that day..
Coach McCain said with that southern drawl "you can never trust anyone from Arkansas or Oklahoma" he would become my all time favorite teacher and over the years McCain became Ath Dir...he is the coach who told stories that you just loved... my roommate from NY and I loved hearing story after story...we told coach we were NY Giant fans...he coached Spider Lockhart of the Giants..he would tell us Carl thought "he could cover Jesus Christ on a down and out..."... then he told us how Carl outscored the No 1 wr in the nation in Howard Twilly...from Tulsa....I didn't get many A's in my 4 yrs at North Texas but he gave me and Danny one....
Coach passed away about 10-15 years ago....but think he might be on the sidelines Saturday in Arkansas in spirt...I'm sure no one on the NT coaches staff knows this story...wish someone would tell them...
Back tomorrow capping the game
on a sad note Steve Ramsey who played for the Broncos and Giants died awhile back and Ronnie Shankin who played in a few Superbowls for Pittsbugh also passed away....but I got to see Ramsey break all 7 of the passing records...
Have to come back to explain this game....skip this post because I would be remiss not telling this story...so if its boring come back tomorrow and will break down this game in another post..
It is Sept 1969....I am a freshman at North Texas St Univ...Mean Joe Green just graduated and was the 3rd or 4th pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers.. I need some electives to take and enroll in" Coaching Football" taught by Coach Rod Rust"...Coach Rust shows up on the 1st day...[think he showed up on the last day of classes} Coach Fred McCain off coordinator will be our instructor.....talks about the 1968 Mean Green team...No 1 in the nation in passing with NCAA record breaker Steve Ramsey...No 1 wr in the country Ron Shanklin{ also a Pitt Steeler the following year}..Ramsey set to break 7 NCAA passing records,etc,etc...
On the 1st day of class both Rust and McCain set up the 16 mm film...He tells us he wants us to see how North Texas got robbed in Little Rock vs Arkansas last year.
He sets the 16 mmm black and white film...we watch North Texas and Mean Joe shut their offense down..then I think in the early 4th qrt Ramsey throws a touchdown pass to Shanklin with Ark leading 17-15...it was a low pass but Shanklin catches it..the ref right on the ball calls for a TD...NT up 22-17....but hold it...another ref behind the play is waving it off saying Shanklin trapped it..incomplete pass...can't remember if the refs confer but no touchdown...now Coach Rust runs that play again to the class...and again..Shanklin made a clean catch..it was low but the ball never touched the ground.. Hogs end up 6th in the country,10-1 and win the Southwest conf title..
North texas got robbed...think we ended up 8-3 or something like that...but we really did win in Little Rock that day..
Coach McCain said with that southern drawl "you can never trust anyone from Arkansas or Oklahoma" he would become my all time favorite teacher and over the years McCain became Ath Dir...he is the coach who told stories that you just loved... my roommate from NY and I loved hearing story after story...we told coach we were NY Giant fans...he coached Spider Lockhart of the Giants..he would tell us Carl thought "he could cover Jesus Christ on a down and out..."... then he told us how Carl outscored the No 1 wr in the nation in Howard Twilly...from Tulsa....I didn't get many A's in my 4 yrs at North Texas but he gave me and Danny one....
Coach passed away about 10-15 years ago....but think he might be on the sidelines Saturday in Arkansas in spirt...I'm sure no one on the NT coaches staff knows this story...wish someone would tell them...
Back tomorrow capping the game
on a sad note Steve Ramsey who played for the Broncos and Giants died awhile back and Ronnie Shankin who played in a few Superbowls for Pittsbugh also passed away....but I got to see Ramsey break all 7 of the passing records...
