Texas Longhorns and Minor Bowls: Pride and Piss Poor Efforts

1980 Bluebonnet – Unranked Texas 7, No. 13 North Carolina 16 – A Texas team that was undefeated and ranked second as late as Oct. 25 lost four of its last six. The Heels were 10-1 but had lost their only meeting with a ranked team, Oklahoma, by a convincing 41-7 score. Texas had beaten those same Sooners 20-13. Future pros Amos Lawrence and Kelvin Bryant combined for nearly 200 yards rushing to control the game.

There was another future all-pro on that North Carolina team that had an even bigger effect on the outcome.

Lawrence Taylor — baddest defensive dude I have ever seen in college. That North Carolina team was more talented than Texas.

1982 Sun – #8 Texas 10, Unranked North Carolina 26 – Although ranked much higher thanks to routs of Texas A&M (53-16) and Arkansas (33-7), Texas’ attention span only lasted three quarters. UNC outscored Texas 23-0 in the fourth quarter for a come-from-behind win.

Robert Brewer was “The Straw That Stirs The Drink” on that 1982 team — and he broke his hand in bowl practices. That meant a freshman Todd Dodge had to play QB. That was a very young team that was obviously going on to great things in 1983. But the 1982 team had Brewer who was the only QB I can think of that Fred Akers totally trusted with the offense, enough to give him great latitude in running it. They were lost when he went down.

I firmly believe that if Brewer had ever redshirted then that 1983 team would have been considered the best Texas team ever — at least until 2005.

Oh and It also snowed that day in the Sun Bowl, which was really weird.

1984 Freedom – #19 Texas 17, Unranked Iowa 55 – Once again, Texas was higher rated. This time, the Horns couldn’t wait for the fourth quarter to fall apart. Iowa outscored the Horns 34-0 in the third quarter before calling off the dogs. The collapse in the game mirrored what happened during the season, which had begun with probably the two most impressive non-conference wins Texas has ever claimed in a single September. Texas followed a 35-27 win over Auburn and Bo Jackson with a 28-3 whipping of Penn State. However, Texas lost three of its last four before the Freedom fall.

That team is a classic example of what happens when one team doesn’t want to be there. The players were so disgusted with the end of the season they didn’t want to go to a bowl, and they played like it.

1985 Bluebonnet – Unranked Texas 16, #11 Air Force 24 – Much like the 1980 Bluebonnet, Texas’ opponent had lost the only game it played against a ranked opponent, Brigham Young, 28-21. Texas (8-3), meanwhile, was battle-tested, having gone 2-2 against ranked teams, including wins over No. 4 Arkansas (15-13) and No. 15 Baylor (17-10). Despite outgaining Air Force 302 to 197 in total yards, the Horns suffered the only two turnovers of the game and were penalized 8 times.

Air Force was a good team that ran an offense that Texas (and just about everyone else) rarely saw anymore. It was also again an example of a team that really didn’t want to be there.

Nice post Cirque.

I would only add that there were dynamics working in the latter half of the Fred Akers Era off the field that were in play, much more than was publicly evident. The program was divided and burning down, really almost from the day Akers was hired.

He was able to survive by bringing an outstanding staff (young, enthusiastic blended with great teachers) that really recruited nationwide and was the first Texas staff to utilize the Longhorn name outside of Texas. The talent that poured in to Texas from 1977-81 was amazing.

But when he began to lose that original staff, the replacements were not of the same caliber. Then the internal cuts that were present from the mess of Royal’s departure became infected and spread like wildfire. Combine that with the free wheeling cheating going on in the SWC and the talent pool drained faster than Lake Travis during a summer drought.

That’s a long way of saying that there were a lot of factors at play in those “minor” bowls that are not easy to pigeon hole into a general theory.

Cool post! One thought I have is that people always question how “big name” programs with money and tradition (like Notre Dame, Michigan, Texas, or just a few years ago, Alabama) could ever go through a down period. The fact is that it happens to everyone. (Even Nebraska after, like 58 straight bowls!). In fact, because these are the most popular programs, they probably have gotten a fair share of invitations to play in bowls that they really didn’t belong in from an on-field standpoint. I think that has a lot to do with ND’s minor bowl performance.

I think the corollary question is how come schools with just as much money, fans, facilities, etc. never seem to get over the hump. I’m thinking of programs like UCLA, Texas A&M, Georgia, both schools in South Carolina, both schools in Arizona, Michigan State, and maybe Wisconsin.

Good stuff from both of you, Cirque and SRR.

I covered many of those Texas teams, and bowls, and reality is that we weren’t a top tier team most of the time. There was terrific talent in some areas, major holes in others. Akers’ teams almost always struggled offensively — especially at QB and WR, and at RB after Earl Campbell — and the over-taxed defense couldn’t carry the load.

I always felt, too, that Akers and his staff were unable to handle the mental side as well as Mack Brown has. Akers’ teams almost always expected to be competing for a national championship. As long as they were, they played hard and played to the level of their talent. But once the No. 1 bubble was burst, the players let down badly.

Unlike Brown, whose teams have an admirable record in the week after a defeat (until 2010-2011), Akers’ teams were almost a sure bet to follow that first loss with several more. The ’79 team, for example was badly split between defense and offense. The loss to A&M cost Texas a trip to the Sugar Bowl — which never happened in that era when the SWC champion was a Cotton Bowl host. The Sun Bowl performance mirrored that.

By ’84, the talent drain and staff issues SRR refers to had the program in a downward spiral. That team blew the SWC title late, notably in a loss to a struggling A&M. Akers was gone two years later. Most of the teams that McWilliams and Mackovic took to bowls were flawed in several areas. The result was dreadful meltdowns, notably in losses to Miami in the late ’80s and to Virginia Tech a few years after that.

man, that brings back some really bad memories. you have to wonder what the future would have held had akers won either, or both, of the national title games he coached. Sigh…

Only twice under Mack Brown have I seen the team show up for a bowl game looking unmotivated:

-Cottom Bowl vs. Arkansas , in which 2 significant starters were suspended just days before the game; and
-Holiday Bowl vs. Washington, which was right after the Big 12 champtionship game fiasco, and in which the team rallied from a huge deficit to win.

Overall that 9-4 bowl record is pretty impressive. And the major bowl winning % of 75% is very good as well, especially considering it could be one injury away from 100%. The criticism of course is the low number of major bowl games.

Old people are wise and good to have around, even if they do smell kinda weird.

Thanks for the great historical perspective, srr50.

Srr50 –

Great stuff and salient points all. However, for the sake of conversation, I’ll throw a few counterpoints weakly back over the net.

1980 - One could argue Lawrence Taylor is the most transcendent player in NFL history. Certainly, Michael Lewis makes that case in “The Blind Side.” However, shrewd offensive coordinators can limit the impact of great players with strategy. Tommie Harris rarely had big tackle totals at Oklahoma yet the NFL recognized his value. Great DBs rarely have big interception totals because the action doesn’t come their way. And who can forget the wizardry of Greg Davis vs. North Carolina in 2001 where Julius Peppers had zero tackles or sacks. This is not to imply anybody else compares to Taylor, only that his impact can be limited by other factors.

But you are correct in vouching for quality of the Heels’ roster. Besides Taylor, UNC DT Donnell Thompson was the 18th pick of the next draft and had an 11 year career with the Colts. Taylor and Thompson were among 12 future NFL draftees sprinkled among the Heel’s sophomore, junior and senior classes.

1981 Lawrence Taylor (1st round) New York Giants
1981 Donnell Thompson (1st) Baltimore Colts
1981 Rick Donnalley (3rd) Pittsburgh Steelers
1981 Amos Lawrence (4th) San Diego Chargers
1981 Ron Wooten (6th) New England Patriots
1981 Harry Stanback (6th) Atlanta Falcons
1982 Calvin Daniels (2nd) Kansas City Chiefs
1982 Darrell Nicholson (6th) New York Giants
1982 Bill Jackson (8th) Cleveland Browns
1983 Mike Wilcher (2nd) Los Angeles Rams
1983 Dave Drechsler (2nd) Green Bay Packers
1983 Kelvin Bryant (7th) Washington Redskins

But Texas had a pile of talent, too. Its senior-most three classes had 17 future draftees. And, in the case of Kenneth Sims, he was a much better collegian (Lombardi Trophy) than as a washout in the NFL.

1981 Robin Sendlein (2nd) Minnesota Vikings
1981 Les Studdard (10th) Kansas City Chiefs
1981 Ken McCune (10th) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1982 Kenneth Sims (1st) New England Patriots
1982 Bruce Scholtz (2nd) Seattle Seahawks
1982 Terry Tausch (2nd) Minnesota Vikings
1982 Lawrence Sampleton (2nd) Philadelphia Eagles
1982 Rodney Tate (4th) Cincinnati Bengals
1982 Mike Babb (5th) Cleveland Browns
1982 Vance Bedford (5th) St. Louis Cardinals
1982 William Graham (5th) Detroit Lions
1982 Joe Shearin (7th) Los Angeles Rams
1982 A.J. “Jam” Jones (8th) Los Angeles Rams
1982 John Goodson (8th) Pittsburgh Steelers
1982 Mike Hatchett (9th) Chicago Bears
1983 Kiki DeAyala (6th) Cincinnati Bengals
1983 Herkie Walls (7th) Houston Oilers

And this doesn’t include the 17 Texas players who were freshmen that would be drafted after the 1983 season. Without specific knowledge, I would suspect some of those players made an impact on special teams. Overall, I would still contend Texas was not outmanned but will admit there’s a compelling argument for those seeing it differently.

1982 - Brewer’s QB draw the year before in the Cotton Bowl win over Alabama is probably the third or fourth greatest run by at Texas QB. Vince’s game-winner against USC and Street’s scramble in the Big Shootout are Nos. 1 and 2. And you could argue Alan Lowry’s sideline saunter against Alabama in the 73 Cotton Bowl rivals Brewer’s run. So I will agree that Texas lost at lot with him out. On the flip side, Dick Crum the UNC coach was a great game planner but horrible recruiter. Bill Dooley (brother of Georgia’s Vince Dooley) left him a roster stocked with talent in 1978 and it took Crum about five years to deplete it to the sorry state Mack Brown inherited in 1988. By 1982, UNC’s depth was much less than in 80.

1984 – You are right. That game was all about "want to." And the difference between 9-3 and 8-4 wasn’t enough for the team to have an emotional investment. After the high in September, a 38-point loss in a minor bowl was a kick in the gut.

1985 – While the Air Force attack was unique and befuddling, it’s hard to say the Texas defense struggled as the Falcons only had 9 first downs and 197 total yards. Although Air Force had a slight edge in time of possession (30:45 to 29:15), Texas ran 13 more plays and had 108 more yards. The difference was that the Falcons were more opportunistic. Texas had no special teams play for a score or to flip the field, no stripping the ball from a running back, and, with eight penalties, no sustained composure to keep drives alive. The Texas team that beat A&M and Cal this year scratched and clawed. I don’t remember seeing much emotion from he 85 team.

But that circles back to your final point about the losing streak being the confluence of many factors, rather than just a blanket condition of "Texas doesn’t give a crap."

If that was the case then, where outcomes reflected the health of the program, then it would be nice if we could read more into the win over Cal for the same reason. The big difference is that you can’t compare a trend line with a single data point, which the Cal game is. However, I will go scavenging through my garage for my sunshine pump just to be ready.

Cirque: I am walking out the door so I can’t give your response the time it deserves, so I will leave it with this one anecdote.

That 1980 team had a Herkie Walls at WR — some may remember he was a QB at Garland who had Olympic Sprinter’s speed. He was 5-8 and 150 pounds soaking wet, but he could fly.

The WR end around had been deadly all year for the offense. Early in the contest Texas ran it to perfection. Herkie comes flying around the corner down the sidelines.

 Suddenly this blur in Carolina Blue — with a bad angle — runs him down and blasts him into the first row of seats.

Everyone on the Texas sideline looked at each other and you could tell it was gonna be a long night. Seeing that kind of speed and skill on tape is one thing, seeing it in person is another, Taylor was the first of his kind at LB so there weren’t too many OC’s back then who were ready to limit him through schemes.

Hoju -

I would add Missouri to your list. Located between KC and St. Louis, Mizzou does a weak job of keeping out-of-state predators from pilfering in-state talent. (And hopefully that will continue with DGB).

edsp - By the time Akers came around, I was already working out of state but did cover a handful of games as a scribe. From afar, those teams did seem mentally fragile . . . once a season’s bubble burst, it popped loudly.

 Noonan - For Akers, the big “what if” is the botched Curry punt return. But if you look at Mack, there are a couple of what if’s that could just as easily ruined the 2005 title. What if the Ohio State end doesn’t do a volleyball set before Cedric Griffin gets there? Texas would’ve needed two scores. And what if Darnell Bing picks off Vince Young in the fourth quarter instead of letting the ball hit the ground? Crazy game.

Horncasting - Those were indeed depressing games to watch, especially the Arkansas game. Everything that happened after the bonfire in 99 was a downer.

srr50:

Thx again for the historical references. At that time I was not old enough to understand the dysfunctional dynamics at work in the program. All I knew is they kept losing bowls and big games, and could not understand why.

Reliving this period helps keep me grounded in today’s environment. Would I prefer more NCs and CCs? Of course. Does Mack drive me up the wall sometimes, especially with recent entitlement shortfalls and outright mistakes on his part? Yes.

Playing Moses in the desert for the most part of the past 30 years, I have patience with the program.

Horncasting,

I would offer the 2003 Holiday Bowl in which Texas looked absolutely unprepared and got beat 28-20 by Wazzu. Featured possibly Vince’s worst stat line ever as a Horn and a team that look totally disinterested in being there.

Texas roster included 16 future NFL players in Ced, VY, Roy, Dave Thomas, Bo Scaife, Justin Blaylock, Jonathan Scott, Tim Crowder, Nathan Vasher, Micheal Griffin, Rod Wright, Marcus Tubbs, Micheal Huff, Aaron Ross, and Derrick Johnson.

srr50 -

I typically yield to someone who had boots on the ground and your anecdote about the Taylor-Wells collision is quite convincing. But here’s what perplexes me about the 1980 UNC team with Lawrence Taylor.

Oklahoma put up 41 points on them. Of course, as this year’s Texas-OU game showed, your offense and special teams can have a big hand in coughing up points. But a look at the box score shows this:

- OU had 495 yards . . . and it was ALL on the ground. J.C. Watts was 0-for-2 passing.
- Turnovers were almost even . . . UNC had 4, OU had 3
— The Sooners had 83 return yards and none of OU’s TDs came on a returns

Perhaps Taylor was hurt although I couldn’t find a record of it. Sometimes weird things just happen. This is probably one of them. However, when a defense gives up that many yards and points to a one-dimensional attack, it makes me wonder. Texas held these same Sooners to 13 points.

All that said, my whole argument is based on comparing how three teams played against each other. There can be no weaker argument. (See Texas -Texas Tech-OU in 2008.) I’ll just shut up.

cirque,

How many teams in the ACC were running the wishbone at that time?

Texas was very, very familiar to defending the option and if there is one offense that can basically reduce the impact of an individual defender anywhere, but between the guards it is an option based offense.

The Horns were strong enough at defensive tackle and mlb to control the dive, were familiar enough with the option to properly play the quarterback which would kills teams unfamiliar with it, and had enough speed in the secondary to support on the pitch man.

ssr50 beat me to the punch on most of anecdotes (the LT - Herkie Walls thing, the El Paso snow storm). I will say that the Air Force game featured one or two pooch kickoffs that completely flummoxed Texas, one of which may have been caught in the air in stride by an Air Force player. I think it was after this game that DE James McKinney uttered what was to become an all too familiar refrain: “you can’t just expect to roll your helmet out on the field and beat people because it has a Longhorn on it” or something like that.

1984 is still the gold standard for disinterested bowl participation, but 2003 was close (that game also had the virtue of featuring a horrific game plan, in which a 5’8" DB from Wazzu completely throttled Greg Davis’ imagination).

DOB - Sound observation. Matchups can explain a lot of things.

“Fire Fred” circling Rice Stadium for the 85 Bluebonnet bowl was not to additive to the team. Plenty to talk about in the stands….

I was way up in the stands for the 80 Bluebonnet bowl. Couldn’t believe the guys in light blue were so fast and didn’t miss tackles. It was a great place to see the arm strength McIvor had in warm ups - that didn’t quite lead to the O productivity you’d think.

Good analysis. Thanks.

I was at the ‘82 Sun Bowl.
The snow was unexpected, but we were a ground-oriented team (which Fred teams weren’t) and that it would take some pressure off Todd. But the weather gods also inserted a brutal, howling wind. We were both unwilling and unable to throw the ball much at all and Fred went from ultra conservative to conservative on steriods and, the few times we did throw, the ball fluttered like a dying quail.

Still, we win that game with Brewer. I’ve only been that cold at a football game on a couple of occasions—-both of them attending my sons’ Austin Westlake playoff games. It was just numbingingly cold with the wind chill factor. That team was and still is one of my favorite Longhorn teams because of what they got out of the talent on hand, along with the ’72 squad that beat Bama in the CB with Alan Lowry playing QB. Don;t get me wrong, each one had some damned good players, but they played almost every game down to the wire and refused to even consider quitting.

Good post about not so good memories. Good also to be reminded that our guys didn’t pack it in in San Diego. That was far from a great team that we beat, and we should have beaten them. But attitude is a big deal in all sports. We’ll see what happens with everything else, but I think that component has being repaired

Davey, I agree with your addition of the 2003 Holiday Bowl. Washington State has exactly the kind of defense designed to make sure a disinterested team stayed that way - aggressive, mean, blitz-oriented.

Playing against a different team/defense - as in the Washington game horncasting mentioned - would have perhaps allowed us to eventually give a shit.

Who could have known that that was going to be our low point for a long time, and that it would be Wazzu’s high point for even longer?

Davey/Crazy Joe - I thought about the Wazzoo game, but IMO that type of start and inconsistency was not uncommon VY’s freshman year. Plus UT scored first in that game and lead at halftime. What I remember was that the UT offense had finally found something that was working in the second quarter, and then Davis went completely away from it. I didn’t think the team was necessarily unmotived, as much as a poor game plan and an inexperienced QB.

A bowl nobody’s brought up in which Texas went through the motions . . . if you’re not older than dirt, like I am, you won’t remember it.

1971 Cotton Bowl. Notre Dame 24, Texas 11

That one scissored our 30-game win streak and allowed Nebraska to win its first MNC. We fumbled nine (9) (N I N E) times, lost five. Outgained the Irish by 67 yards. No scoring in the second half; we were down 21-3 and got a TD and 2-pointer two minutes before halftime — but never mounted an offense after halftime.

Notre Dame simplified defense of the wishbone by totally taking away the outside pitch (just nine of our 55 rushes were by halfbacks) and forcing the QB to keep the ball. They also fired two players at the fullback, Steve Worster, on every play. That resulted in most of the fumbles, either because the exchange was still happening or because Worster hadn’t secured the ball.

Stories I got later were that after beating Arkansas 42-7 to end the the regular season, Coach Royal simply couldn’t get the players focused on ND.

“"Fire Fred" circling Rice Stadium for the 85 Bluebonnet bowl was not to additive to the team. Plenty to talk about in the stands….”

Papa Nordberg was the brainchild behind that one. He and a few friends split the costs. I was nine years old and remember it vividly. Good times.

Remember the 71 ND game. Yes I am older than dirt. Watched my forst football game in 1951, hence the tag; prehist51.

One of the Horns starters in that game, his father and I were work colleagues. His father told me that several of the Texas players were severely hung over at game time. Seems like some of the key players partied a little too much.

The ’03 Holiday Bowl against Wazzu was a total embarrassment. Even the announcers seemed embarrassed, and commented that it, was the worst-coached team they had ever seen, speaking of UT.

Was Eddie Phillips hurt in the ’ 71 Cotton Bowl?

I dont remember his name, but the Washington TB in the 14-7 game was from Texas and the subject of heated recruitng. And I think Ethan Horton was on one of those UNC teams.

Prehist51: Yes, I remember hearing about that (hungover). The starting FB was one of the offenders, I believe. But Notre Dame had been burned by Worster and our halfbacks in the Cotton Bowl the previous year (Texas 21, ND 17), and changed defensive tactics.

Juice: Eddie Phillips had a great game rushing in the ’71 Cotton Bowl, and Texas stayed away from the pass until the last 8-10 minutes. Donnie Wiginton did play some, so Phillips may have been injured late. But Phillips had 20 carries before going out. He got hurt early in the ’71 season and missed most of the year. Wiginton filled in, we won 5 or 6 straight after losing to the Hogs, and won the SWC title outright when Arkansas lost to either SMU or A&M, and tied Rice.

Juice: The Washington player from Texas in the 1979 Sun Bowl was Willis Ray Mackey from, I believe, Luling. I knew one of his HS coaches (truly, older than dirt are I). Mackey was a tailback, and a good one, scored a touchdown against us IIRC. And there was, um, some Bear Bryant-Jackie Sherrill type shenanigans involved — if you believed the smoke signals of the time.

prehist51 said: January 11th, 2012 at 2:08 pm

“Remember the 71 ND game. Yes I am older than dirt. Watched my forst football game in 1951, hence the tag; prehist51.

One of the Horns starters in that game, his father and I were work colleagues. His father told me that several of the Texas players were severely hung over at game time. Seems like some of the key players partied a little too much."

It’s been since written that Worster had been up all night partying. I think Steve learned to appreciate weed at some point during his career, given his subsequent rookie issues in the CFL for possession of some that “belonged to his roomate”. I can tell you that from 1969-1973 if you stopped for 5 minutes walking across the main mall or down the Drag and breathed deeply, you got an inexpensive buzz.

A couple of years after the 1971 Cotton Bowl, Royal mentioned that several of the players had a
“severe case of the All-Americans” before and during the contest.

A couple of things I remember about the 71 Cotton Bow . . .

- Their WR Gatewood was just a step or two quicker than the Horns’ DBs.
- Texas went screaming down the field on its first possession so quickly that I thought the Horns were going to pick up where they left off in their previous game, the 42-7 rout of Arkansas.

Horns have lost four straight to the Irish . . . I look forward to the renewal of the series in a few years.

I’ll always remember a dude working for the Texan writing McIvor threw like he was skipping rocks….funny and accurate

Interesting article on Willis Mackey if anyone is interested. He originally signed with us back when we did the 2 separate signings. I never got the point of having a SWC signing day and then a national signing day a week later.
I always wondered what happened to Mackey and his last game was against us in the Sun Bowl.

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20021227&slug=sun27

This has been a great, great thread.

Thanks guys! I love the history lessons! ssr, would love to see something history-related as a regular feature. Even if was just some quick thoughts on a past meeting with a particular foe. Then the great comments from all these other guys with incredible memories would round things out nicely. I can’t remember half the games I have seen and all but a few details of the most memorable ones, but some of you guys can recall things in such vivid detail…I am envious!

A couple of thoughts.

1. It’s interesting to see a #8 and #11 ranked Texas team playing in the Sun bowl which is the, I believe, basically an Alamo bowl level game. The current BCS system would most likely have those teams in top tier bowls.

2. For as conservative as Akers was on offense, there sure were a hell of a lot of turnovers. Looking at box scores show 3,4, or 5 turnover games fairly routinely. Throwing 5 INTs on 50 passes is one thing throwing 4 on 20 passes is another.

Horncasting,

Davis was alternating Mock and VY so the offense really struggled for much of the first half except for one long drive and even that was a struggle.

They did have the lead, but that drive was basically one long run and settled for a field goal.

Wazzu made adjustments at half by bringing pressure on almost every play.

Even with Greg Davis trying to force a offense that didn’t fit the personnel that defense had 7 guys on it who either played in the NFL or are still in the NFL and Wazzu should not have been able to move the ball the way they did that game against Texas. If I am not mistaken Reese shortly resigned after that game.

Sandwiched between Simms and Vince Young, Chance Mock had a rough time getting and staying on the field. Too bad he didn’t have any eligibility left this year.

Best ND banner at the ‘71 Cotton Bowl: What’s a Woo-Woo? Referring to the Woooooo that came from the Texas crowd that season whenever Worster had a carry.

One good thing came out of the 2003 Wazzu game - the 610 Mack Brown on a Mobile segment, in which Mack expressed his mistaken belief that there would be no blitzes, and then a guy called in afterwards castigating the fake Mack. One of the funniest things I’ve ever heard.

Juice,

No doubt one of the funniest things I have ever heard on the radio and most likely the high point for Lance and John.

Bowl games have evolved over the years. The older guys can remember when there were very few bowl games played outside the big 4 on New’s Year Day. (Rose, Cotton, Sugar, Orange). The other long time bowls are the Gator and the Sun Bowl. The Sun Bowl featured the champion of the old Border Conference against an at large team, usually from the Missouri Valley conference. Some other minor bowls were the Tangerine, now the Capital One Bowl, the Jr. Rose Bowl. In the late 50s, I think around 1959, the Liberty and the Bluebonnet bowls came into being. The 1960’s saw several bowl games added.
Back then teams needed to win their conference to get a bowl invitation or be very highly rated to get an invite to the Gator bowl. There was none of this win 6 games and go to a bowl back then. You really needed to be a very good team to get an invite.

I miss those good old days, remember the days of one platoon football where you could only substitute 2 players on the change of possession. I believe 1964 was the year they switched back to free substitution in college ball.

The 1965 season showed a mental weakness in Longhorn football which has repeated itself several times since. I saw that Arkansas game in Fayetteville, and Tommy Nobis pulled a “Gideon” on the last and winning Arkansas drive with time running out. I know everyone says you don’t loose a game on one play, but it is OK to say you win a game on one play. Right? Nobis lost us that game just as much as Gideon did IMHO, and in the long term the team couldn’t get over it. Next week Rice took down a lifeless Longhorn team, and then the slide continued. The only reason Texas won the Aggie game was because it was the Aggies, and the Lonhorns were a very good team still, physically at least. For what ever the reason, Texas can’t seem to shrug off the mental effects of such as the “Gideon” drop and the McCoy hit. I still can’t either.