University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Long Hau continued The next week the Longhorns gained a bid to the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl by defeating the TCU Horned Frogs 51-26. More than 20,000 fans gathered at Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth to watch the Longhorns put forth their best offensive effort of the season. The Texas offense piled up 579 yards against the Horned Frogs as runningback Darryl Clark and quarterback Donnie Little each gained more than 100 yards against the SWC ' s worst defense. Showing some offense for one of the first times in the second season, Little completed 12 consecutive passes, rushed for a career high I 19 yards on 16 carries and scored three touchdowns. By the time TCU had thrown the last 39 passes, the Horns had scored their most points since beating Texas A M 57-28 in 1977. The Frogs, in losing their 13th straight to the Horns, were only in the game as long as Texas allowed, rushing for one first down and minus 43 yards. Much of those losses came on 10 quarterback sacks by the Horns for minus 94 yards as Texas ' front line bottled up TCU quarter- back Steve Stamp all day. Never having clearly shown where it was headed in this rollercoaster of a sea- Texas found itself at 7-2 and 4-2 in son conference play as the game against the Baylor Bears began. The unity of offense and defense which UT had found for one brief moment against TCU suddenly dis- appeared. Plagued by errors and incon- sistency, Texas was dealt its third loss a shutout, 16-0. A fan looks off in disgust as Texas fouls again] It feels real good to do what we set out to do go undefeated in conference play. Baylors ' All-American linebacker Mike Singletary said. Texas lost to Baylor I M

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On a third and 27 for Texas, Donnie Little ' s pass is intercepted by Ted Whatts and returned 37 yards for a Texas Tech score. Texas lost to Tech 20-24. Scratch and claw became Texas ' offensive strategy as they struggled throughout the game to overcome Hous- ton ' s defense. Unable to make the final plunge into the endzone, the Horns had to settle for two John Goodson field goals. Set up for the first by a Mclvor drive to the Houston 26, the second fol- lowed shortly thereafter when Ken McKune and Bruce Scholtz forced a Houston fumble. Kenneth Sims recovered on the 27-yard line and Good- son kicked to extend the lead to 6-0. But at the end of the first quarter, it looked as if Houston would surge ahead. Quarterback Brent Chmn, on an 8 I -yard pass which was almost half of the Cou- gars ' total passing yardage, hit Eric Her- ring to put Houston within one yard of their goal. For two downs the Texas defense held, watching for their chance, and on third and one they found it. Sims and McKune hit Eddie Wright, causing a fumble to end Houston ' s only offensive drive in the first half. It was one of the most memorable stands I can recall, Akers said. If that ' s not a team effort, I ' ve never been around one. After Chinn fumbled the snap at his own 33-yard line, Donnie Little began to engineer Texas ' first touchdown. March- ing to the 2-yard line, he handed off to freshman John Walker who lept for the score. The extra point missed, but the Horns were ahead 12-0. With the Horns still in front (15-7) in the fourth quarter and five minutes left to play, Houston coach Bill Yeoman substituted relief spe- cialist Terry Elston for Chinn. Although Elston had had wrist surgery early in the season, he hit Lonell Phea on a 17-yard pass and then connected with tightend Mark Ford giving Houston a first-and-ten at the Texas I I -yard line. Having gained two yards on the ground, Elston went to the air for three yards to Phea who tipped the ball and made the catch on the ground touch- down Houston. The Cougars elected to go for a two-point conversion to tie the game at 15. But even though Elston found Clark wide open in the endzone, Clark drop- ped the ball and Texas remained in the lead. They had their share of mistakes and so did we, Akers said. All those things really evened out. That game could have been won by either team . . . We were the best today. -continued A dejected Me endures a little c chine Houston 1 23

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As the Texas defense swarms Baylor ' s Walter Abercrombie, Bobby Johnson desperately grabs his face mask. The Bears ' first touchdown of the game came with 5:14 left in the half on a 64-yard, one-play drive. Baylor received the ball on its own 36-yard line after a 38-yard John Goodson punt. Jeffrey pitched out to Dennis Gentry who ran to the right side and, after a block by Mike Lively, went in for the score. The Longhorns had two chances to get deep into Bear territory in the first quar- ter. Once, quarterback Donnie Little was intercepted at the Baylor 20-yard line by linebacker Lester Ward, and later, Texas ' Steve Massey recovered a fumble by Gentry, but the Horns could not capital- ize on either too many errors. Then, with eight seconds remaining in the third period, Rick Mclvor came in for Little to engineer what looked like a Terry Elston come-from-behind-special. Mclvor hit Les Koenning with a 25-yard pass on first-and-IO, then John Walker ran for two yards to the Baylor 44-yard line to the end quarter. Two plays later, Maurice McCloney took Mclvor ' s 36-yard pass down to the Bear six-yard line. On second and five, Mclvor rolled right and tried to pass to a wide open Lawrence Sampleton, but the ball was deflected by Doak Field and intercepted on the goal line by Cedric Mack, dashing all hopes. Appearing far from prepared to end the season on a winning note, the Horns once again hurt themselves with penal- ties in the Texas A M game. Receiving eight for 97 yards, the I960 team became the most penalized squad in Texas history with a season total of 1 ,023. A controversial pass interference call on Mike Hatchett which set up the first Aggie touchdown prompted Hatchett to offer the overall feeling of the UT squad. I didn ' t think I interfered with the receiver. I felt like it was a bad call. Maybe the official was an Aggie. Even though Akers attributed the loss to a young team, it did not matter to the 15 graduating seniors. You think a lot about this being your last game here, Les Koenning said. But going out this way God, I couldn ' t be lower than I am today. Now we have one game left and I think, being a senior, that we should take this one home for us. The lost will- ingness and interest had returned at least to the seniors but was it too late to salvage their pride? As intense preparations for the clash against I3th-ranked North Carolina in the 22nd Bluebonnet Bowl began, it became obvious that the Texas Long- horns were smiling through clinched teeth. While a 7-4 record in the rugged Southwest Conference and a bowl invita- tion would be considered a successful season for many programs, to UT fans it was apparently a yawner. Without the quickness of Donnie Little and A. J. Jam Jones, the Longhorns seemed so much beefsteak for the hun- gry Tar Heels. Reduced to playing catch, North Caroline took aim at Texas quar- terback Rick Mclvor in the second half and completely stiffled any offensive effort by the Horns. The result was a 1 6-7 loss for UT which could have been worse except for a gritty, determined defense. When the offense was not clicking, which was nearly the entire second half of the sea- son, the young defense had to stay on the field longer than it should have, mak- ing the Texas defense subject to fatigue. continued Texas A M 125