1969 Texas vs. Arkansas football game

NCAAFootballSingleGameHeader
Name=The "Game of the Century" (1969 version)
Date=December 6, 1969
Year=1969
Type=c
Visitor School=University of Texas
Visitor Name Short=Texas
Visitor Nickname=Longhorns
Visitor Record=9-0
Visitor

Visitor Coaches=1
Visitor BCS=
Visitor Coach=Darrell Royal
Visitor1=0
Visitor2=0
Visitor3=0
Visitor4=15
Visitor5=
Visitor6=
Visitor7=
Visitor Total=15
Home School=University of Arkansas
Home Name Short=Arkansas
Home Nickname=Razorbacks
Home Record=9-0
Home

Home Coaches=2
Home BCS=
Home Coach=Frank Broyles
Home1=7
Home2=0
Home3=7
Home4=0
Home5=
Home6=
Home7=
Home Total=14
Type=SWC Regular Season Game
Stadium=Razorback Stadium
City=Fayetteville, ArkansasThe 1969 Texas vs. Arkansas football game, sometimes referred to as the "Game of The Century", was a legendary college football game on December 6, 1969 in which the top-ranked Texas Longhorns visited the second-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Longhorns came back from a 14-0 deficit after three quarters to win 15-14. They would go on to win the Cotton Bowl and be selected National Champions.

Buildup

The relative parity which had existed within the Southwest Conference ended with the arrival of Darrell Royal and Frank Broyles at their respective schools, with either Texas or Arkansas winning or sharing the SWC crown 8 out of the 10 years leading up to the game. [http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/big12/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/historical-standings-prior.pdf] Both Texas and Arkansas had won one national championship in the 1960s, and the schools developed a bit of a rivalry after Arkansas defeated in consecutive years top-ranked Texas teams in 1964 and 1965. In 1968 Texas handed Arkansas their only loss of the year.

The 1969 season marked the 100th anniversary of college football. This game would decide the Southwest Conference Championship, as well as its berth in the Cotton Bowl, and ABC television executive Beano Cook arranged for Texas and Arkansas to play the final game of the regular season, moving their usual October date to the first weekend in December. The deal ABC Sports executive Roone Arledge persuaded Arkansas coach Frank Broyles to move the game was a promise that President Richard Nixon would attend and that ABC would televise Arkansas the next season's opener. Broyles even talked Arkansas officials into installing AstroTurf, then still a novelty, at Razorback Stadium.

For a long while, it looked as though the game would be a meeting of also-rans. Ohio State was dominating the Big Ten and the chances of the game being anything other than just the last game of the season were pretty remote. However, as the Longhorns took a Saturday off to prepare for their upcoming game on Thanksgiving Day with Texas A&M, Michigan and its upstart coach Bo Schembechler upset the Buckeyes. Texas vaulted to No. 1 in the polls and Arkansas claimed the No. 2 spot. Ultimately, due to good fortune, it worked as the move made the game the focus of the entire sporting world doing a television rating of a 50 share, meaning half the TV sets in the country were tuned to this game.

That set the stage. Even the day took on an eerie feeling. Billy Graham attended to give the pregame prayer. The night before, a steady, cold rain fell in Fayetteville and an icy fog hovered over the stadium as the crowd awaited the arrival of President Nixon, who would award a plaque symbolic of the National Championship to the winner. Due to the lack of a suitable airport in northwest Arkansas (Fayetteville's Drake Field was far too small, and Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport would not open for another 30 years), Marine One landed on the practice fields just east of Razorback Stadium as the game was starting.

The Game

In the 100th year of college football, it truly was the "Game of the Century." In a game between unbeatens played at Arkansas' Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, the Texas Longhorns were ranked Number 1 in the country, having won 18 straight games. The Arkansas Razorbacks were ranked Number 2, having won 15 straight. The Texas wishbone attack, then still a novelty, was an offensive juggernaut that averaged over 44 points per game coming into the contest. Arkansas led the nation in scoring defense, yielding only 6.8 points per game. In addition, both the Razorback offense and Texas defense were ranked in the top ten nationally.

The Longhorns got off to a sloppy start, losing a fumble on the second play from scrimmage and turning the ball over a total of six times. A 1-yard leap into the endzone by Bill Burnett in the first quarter and a 29-yard touchdown reception by Chuck Dicus in the third quarter put the Hogs up 14-0 with 15:00 to play.

James Street scrambled for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. Longhorns coach Darrell Royal had decided before the game to go for a two-point conversion after the Longhorn's first touchdown to avoid a tie, and Street dove into the endzone to make it 14-8.

Arkansas quarterback Bill Montgomery next led the Razorbacks on a 73-yard drive down to the Texas 7. On third down, Montgomery was intercepted in the endzone by Danny Lester, Arkansas' first turnover of the game. A field goal would have likely put the game out of reach for Texas.

Still down 14-8, Texas began a desperate drive for the endzone that appeared to stall with 4:47 remaining when Royal opted for yet another gamble on fourth-and-3 from their own 43-yard line. During a timeout that Texas took before the fateful play, Royal shouted at Street, "Right 53 Veer pass." The play was a deep pattern throw to the tight end. The play wasn't in the Texas game plan package. "Are you sure that's the call you want?" Street said. "Damn right I'm sure!" Royal snapped. Street had noticed Arkansas defenders looking into the Texas huddle, so he fixed his gaze on split end Cotton Speyrer while explaining the play to Randy Peschel, saying "Randy, I'm looking and pointing at Cotton, but I'm talking to you." Street then hit Peschel on the dramatic play, with Peschel making a difficult catch over his shoulder in double coverage. It not only converted on fourth down, but also gained 44 yards, putting the Longhorns on the Razorbacks 13.

[http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/sports/atoz/article_911194.php] Two plays later Jim Bertelsen ran in for the game-tying touchdown. Donnie Wigginton, the third-string quarterback who was the holder, made a big save on a high snap and Happy Feller booted the extra point for the winning score with 3:58 remaining.

Arkansas made a push into Texas territory, hoping for a field goal from All-American kicker Bill McClard. Arkansas was down to the Texas 40 when Tom Campell intercepted Montgomery on the Texas 21-yard line with less than a minute left.

Controversy

President Richard Nixon attended the game along with several members of his staff and U.S. Representatives George H.W. Bush of Texas and John Paul Hammerschmidt of Arkansas, having announced that he would give a plaque to the winner, proclaiming it to be the National Champion — to the chagrin of observers who thought it premature to do so before the New Year's Day bowl games, and of fans of Penn State, which would also end the season undefeated. Arkansas took a 14-0 lead, and held it into the fourth quarter, but Texas came from behind to win, 15-14, and accepted Nixon's plaque.

Texas beat Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl, and removed any doubt as to whether it deserved consideration as National Champion, although Penn State fans still insist that their team, also undefeated and winner of the Orange Bowl, was better. However, it is worth noting that the Cotton Bowl first invited Penn State to play the Southwest Conference champions. The Nittany Lions declined the invitation, preferring to spend New Year's Day in warm Miami, where they defeated Big 8 champion Missouri. The 1969 Texas-Penn State conflict, never settled on the field, has been one of the major arguments in favor of a Division I-A playoff. Arkansas lost the Sugar Bowl to Archie Manning-led Ole Miss (ironically, Arkansas ended up joining the SEC in 1992). The entire Texas-Penn State debate and Nixon's involvement led to a quote from Penn State coach Joe Paterno, a conservative Republican, during a commencement speech at Penn State in 1974 about Nixon, "How could Nixon know so much about college football in 1969 and so little about Watergate in 1973?"

This game has been nicknamed "Dixie's Last Stand," since it was the last major American sporting event played between two all-white teams, although two schools in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), LSU and Ole Miss, did not integrate their varsity football squads until 1972.

With the Vietnam War still raging and Nixon in attendance, protestors came to the game, and one of them got into a tree overlooking the stadium and held up an antiwar sign. An urban legend grew up around this game, claiming that this protestor was Arkansas native and future President Bill Clinton. Clinton, however, was not at the game, as he was then a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford in England, and was listening to the game on a shortwave radio with some American friends.

The two coaches in this game, Darrell Royal of Texas and Frank Broyles of Arkansas, both retired after the 1976 season. Both became athletic directors at their respective schools, Royal for the entire Texas athletic program and Broyles solely for the Arkansas men's program, as Arkansas had a completely separate women's athletic department from 1971 through 2007. Royal retired from his AD job in 1980, but Broyles continued on through 2007, with the men's and women's athletic programs merging immediately after his retirement. Broyles spearheaded Arkansas' move from the SWC to the SEC in 1991, and was later instrumental in the Razorbacks and Longhorns playing a two-year series in 2003 (at Austin) and 2004 (at Fayetteville).

See also

*2006 Rose Bowl - the next national championship for Texas

ources and references

*The details of the political climate in the leadup to this game in terms of racial tensions and anti-Vietnam war sentiments are documented in the book "Horns, Hogs and Nixon Coming" by Terry Frei (ISBN 0743224477).
* [http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/sports/atoz/article_911194.php Millions watched Texas beat Arkansas]

External links

* [http://www.hogwired.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=6100&KEY=&SPID=2419&SPSID=30726 The official website of Arkansas Razorbacks football]
* [http://www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com The official website of Texas Longhorns football]