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

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Long Hau continued comeback came with 12:08 to play. Rick Mclvor drove the Horns 71 yards to the SMU 3-yard line. On third and inches Texas ran a slow-developing, off-tackle play on which Darryl Clark was hit in the backfields and thrown for a six-yard loss. An incompleted pass on fourth down clenched the victory for SMU. The Longhorns ' dreams of the national championship practically vanished after the disappointing loss to SMU. However the Southwest Conference championship and visions of the Cotton Bowl were still in focus until the stunning confrontation between the Longhorns and the Red Rid- ers of Texas Tech. The Raiders, with the help of a powerful defense, presented Texas their second loss of the season. Again, as in past games, turnovers and penalties hurt Texas. Tech scored seven- teen of twenty points on Texas fumbles and interceptions. Coach Akers com- mended the Horns ' ' good physical effort, but blamed the loss on mental mistakes and 141 yards of penalties. The Longhorns were forced to play catch- up football after the Red Raiders took a twenty-four point lead by the second quarter. In the second quarter Rick Mclvor led an 80-yard drive which put the Horns on the Scoreboard. A 24-yard punt return by Herkie Walls opened the next series. Mclvor hit tight end Lawrence Sample- ton on a 56-yard pass into the end zone. Capitalizing on a Tech fumble, John Goodson added a 42-yard field goal cut- ting Tech s lead to seven. By halftime Texas had pulled within four points of Tech. However, the halftime score of 24- 20 stood as neither team was able to score in the second half. Texas strong safety Bobby Johnson summed up the ' Horns feelings after their two consecu- tive losses. It hurts. It dampens things, but these two games are gone. We just have to try to win all the rest of them. The following weekend, the hurt threatened to become a persistent pain as, ten minutes into the Houston game, runningback A. J. Jones was lost. Side- lined with a dislocated collarbone, Jones was replaced by Carl Robinson, a third game starter who rushed for I 14 yards on 25 carries. Robinson just had a big play day, said Coach Akers. He just kept scratch- ing and clawing the whole way. The defense was the key. said UT s Doug Shankle. t will remember this one all my life. So will OU. 122 Texas Tech

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Long Hau continued forward to its nationally televised game. Led by Donnie Little and his late-game heroics, the third ranked Texas team dropped Oklahoma its third loss in four years - dropped being the operative word. Marred by fourteen turnovers eight by OU and six by Texas the annual classic in the Cotton Bowl had OU quarterback J. C. Watts claiming that the best team doesn ' t always win. I don ' t mind if a team goes out there and beats our butt when we give it our best shot, but when you just flat beat yourself, you feel lower than grass. I can ' t put into words how frustrating it is. I don ' t think there are appropriate words to say how an athlete feels when he works his tail off and then comes up short. The Sooners did indeed come up short as Watts, who had a hand in seven of eight OU turnovers, fumbled in the first quarter at the Sooner five-yard line. Texas ' Ken McCune recovered, and Rod- ney Tate scored his first of two touch- downs, making the score 7-0. In the second quarter, Texas turned another Watts ' fumble into three points which, capped by John Goodson ' s eight- een-yard field goal, gave UT a 10-0 lead at halftime. OU retaliated after the half, using a Lo nghorn fumble at their own 29-yard line to set up a 43-yard field goal and close the gap to 10-3. A 36-yard touch- down scamper by OU fullback Stanley Wilson tied the game early in the fourth quarter. The Texas defense was solid, stopping the Sooners at the four-yard line on key plays by defense tackle Steve Massey, defensive end Dewey Turner and itrong safety Bobby Johnson. The Sooners were forced to settle for a three- point lead. Our drive after that was beautiful, said Coach Akers, but it was also neces- sary, which makes it that much more beautiful. It was a great comeback and might be one of the greatest comebacks the University of Texas has ever had. But I think our defense won the football game. Texas ' defense assured the Horns of a 5-0 record by forcing eight OU turn- overs on the Sooners ' 16 possessions. Four of them were on interceptions of J. C. Watts ' passes, including two by free safety William Graham, who picked off the second one with 1 :29 remaining. The Texas offense responded with ten points late in the fourth quarter to put Texas ahead for the rest of the game. Donnie Little, leading rusher for the day, accounted for all but two yards of the fourth-quarter go-ahead drive. Little rushed for 26 yards and passed for 48 more. Maurice McCloney caught a 23- yard pass to set the Horns up with a first and goal at the Oklahoma 2-yard line, and Rodney Tate scored the game win- ner on fourth down. Fourteen days after the Golden Hat trophy had returned to the trophy case in Bellmont Hall, the SMU Mustangs recorded their first win over the Long- horns in 14 years and handed Texas its John Goodson attempts a field goal during the Texas first loss of the season. The Mustangs completed the day without a single turn- over, while the Longhorns had four. We just couldn ' t get nothing to go right, said tight end Lawrence Sample- ton. Everything we did seemed to go against us. The Mustangs ran at the heart of the Texas defense up the middle. Our ability to run on Texas was probably the overriding factor, SMU coach Ron Meyer said. The Mustangs gained 283 yards rushing. The absence of Texas ' leading rusher, A. J. Jones and three other offensive starters also aided the Mustangs in their 20-6 victory over the Horns. The only chance UT had at making a continued Oklahoma match-up in the Cotton Bowl. SMU 121

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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