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

Page 147 text:

preseason unrated Brigham Young cruise to a 12-0 season and claim the national championship after a victory in the Holi- day Bowl- But to the Longhorns, season-ending letdowns were old hat. In 1977, ' 79 and ' 83, the Horns rose into one of the two top spots, as in 1984, only to stumble to lesser opponents. Ironically, the 1980 season paralleled the Horns ' 1984 cam- paign almost game for game. In 1980, A. J. Jam Jones led Texas past Arkansas, Utah State, Oregon State, Rice and Oklahoma to a -5-0 record and the No. 2 ranking. Riding the pinnacle of their season, similar to the ' 84 at 3-0, Texas then lost to a host of unranked SWC foes: Southern Methodist, Texas Tech, Baylor and Texas A M, dropping five of their last seven games. The 1980 Longhorns finally closed their split-season in the Bluebonnet Bowl in the Astrodome, falling to No. 13 North Carolina, 7-16, and out of the national rankings. For Texas, it was just another one of those years. This was a season not unlike 1984. Sprinting for the end zone, Longhorn quarterback Todd Dodge runs around the last Auburn defenseman on a ten-yard bootleg for the game ' s first score. The touchdown put Texas up 7-0 in the first quarter as the Horns went on to win 35-27. Dodge, would later throw 11 completions of his first 14 passes and finished the night 15 for 24 for 215 yards. Todd had a spectacular start and game, said Texas coach Fred Akers. We expected him to go out there and play and play well and he did. Photo by Beu Cotton A. U D U XvJN For the second year in a row Auburn brought out the best in us, Texas coach Fred Akers aaid in the wake of the Longhorns 35-27 victory over the veiling Tigers, Sept. 15, in Memorial Stadium. I don ' t think we ' ve 7-4-1 Auburn W . . . . Penn State W . . Rice W . . 35-27 28- 3 38-13 Oklahoma T . ' .16-16 Arkansas W 24-18 Southern Methodist W 13-7 Texas Tech W 13-10 Houston L 15-29 Texas Christian W 44-23 Baylor L 10-24 Texas A M L 12-37 Freedom Bowl Iowa L 17-55 ever had a beter opening game. The game between the preseason No. 1 Tigers and the third-ranked Longhorns was indeed a barn-burner as the highly touted Auburn wishbone and the Texas Air Akers offense combined for 62 points and 777 total yards, with 441 of those through the air. Quite unlike the 1983 match-up in Auburn, Ala. in which the Horns devastated the Tigers, 20-7, the game went down to With hand over heart, defensive back Ray Hutchinson stands quietly with other members of the Longhorn squad during the national anthem before the season opener with Auburn. Photo by Bev Cotton Stretching for extra yards, converted tailback Rob Moerschell, who started 11 games in 1983 at quarterback, gains short yardage against Penn State at the Meadowlands. A week before the No. 2 Longhorns were to play the No. 4 Nittany Lions an unknowing reporter asked Lion coach Joe Pater- no if the Texas wishbone presented any significant problems. Texas doesn ' t play the wishbone, he shot back to the provincial sportowriter. They use an I formation and they throw the ball 24 times. The game, planned in 1977, was to be a showcase for the Horns in the East Photo by Ken Riddick Football 139

Page 146 text:

A flash of brilliance Split-season Horns soar, then plummet to 7-4-1 FOOTBALL VARSITY ATHLETICS Stories by TOMMY KNIGHT and STEPHEN WEED Nineteen Eighty-Four simply failed the Longhorns. From the Jan. 2 Cotton Bowl loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, 9- 10, to the 23-55 humiliation at the inaugural Freedom Bowl against the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Horns ' 7-4-1 season turned dreams of the national championship into cold nightmares. The season, however, saw many of the traditional college football institutions rise in the polls, then stumble into lackluster years. The universities of Michigan (6-6), Penn State (6-5), Alabama (5-6) and Notre Dame (7-4) were all highly regarded in the nation ' s preseason polls. Michigan climbed to No. 2 and Penn State to No. 4 before falling com- pletely out of the rankings. Alabama ' s record reflected the first losing season in Tuscaloosa in 27 years, while 18-year coaching veteran Bo Schembechler at Michigan and 16-year veteran Joe Paterno at Penn State each suffered the worst seasons of their coaching careers. But it was also the year that saw unheralded TCU and en- thusiastic helmsman Jim Wacker surge to an 8-1 record, and Auburn tailback Bo Jackson reaches for first quarter yardage as Longhorns Blake Brawner and Tony Degrate bring him to a halt. The Horn defense forced three turnovers, two that led to touchdowns and a third that all but clinched the victory as free safety Jerry Gray pulled down an intercep- tion with a little over two minutes remaining in the game. I thought they were a little tentative at first, but I don ' t blame them, Texas coach Fred Akers said. Photo by Bev Cotton 138 Football

Page 148 text:

FOOTBALL VARSITY ATHLETICS the final two minutes before Texas defender Jerry Gray pull- ed down an interception to seal the Longhorn triumph. It was the tremendous offensive output, coupled with a resilient defensive effort, however, that won the game for the Horns. I ' ve never seen more evidence of a complete team do- ing what it takes to win, Coach Akers said after the game. I ' ve never been more proud of a group. From the opening series, starting quarterback Todd Dodge led the previously questioned Horn offense by completing 11 of his first 14 passes en route to a 14-0 Texas advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers diminished the Horns ' lead to 14-13 at the half, and then to 21-19 midway through the third quarter, but could come no closer. In the fourth quarter Texas converted two Auburn turn- overs into touchdowns as tailback Jerome Johnson ran for 10 In the grasp of Texas left end James McKinney, Penn State quarterback Doug Strang finds little room to run as the Horn defense shut down the Lion offense all day long, allowing Strang only 119 yards on 9 completions of 26 at- tempts. The Lions ' running game was equally ineffective, gaining only 82 yards to the Longhoms ' 219 rushing yards. Photo by Ken Riddick yards for the first, and then galloped 14 yards on a reverse direction run for the second. The Horn offense finished with 341 yards for the game, as Dodge threw for 215. It was free safety Jerry Gray, however, that may have single-handedly saved the game for the Longhoms. With a lit- tle over 12 minutes remaining in the game, and Texas hanging on to a slight 21-19 lead, Auburn ' s vaunted wishbone tailback Bo Jackson, the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite, burst through the Texas line, cut right, and streaked down the sideline toward the undefended Longhorn goal-line with only Gray in pursuit. I was scared to death he was going to get in the end zone, Gray said. His 40 time (reportedly 4.15) might be faster than mine, but my adrenaline was flowing, and I knew that if I didn ' t get him, nobody would. The 53- yard footrace for the end zone between the two ' 83 All- Americans ended abruptly as Gray brought Jackson down in mid-stride, 23 yards from the Texas goal. The Horn defense went on to hold the Tigers at the 23, forcing Auburn to attempt a field goal that strayed wide to the left. More importantly, however, Jackson separated his shoulder on the tackle, and after two or three more rushes on the evening, retired quietly for the evening. As soon as I hit the ground I knew right off that I had hurt myself bad, but I didn ' t tell anyone because I wanted to play, he said. When they examined me, they could feel the bone. We knew it was a bad injury. 140 Football