17-15. War Memorial Stadium 10.26.1968

[Eagle71]

50 years ago. 17-15.  Looking back I guess I've forgotten more final scores of NT games than I remember.  But there is one that I have never forgotten and that's the final score of our game against the Razorbacks in 1968.  The "oh, so close" game. The "almost" game.  The "if only" game.  Our chance to make all of them sit up and take notice game. What a team we had and I've waited for 50 years for us to go back to Arkansas and get revenge!!!! Watching the guys on the SEC channel play down UNT,  I hope this great group of young men who make up our 2018 team will dig down for something deeper inside themselves and bring home a victory for those guys on the '68 team, those of us who have waited so long, and for the glory of North Texas. GoMeanGreen. Fly Like An Eagle!

From the 1968-69 Yucca:

“Eagles put Razorbacks on the ropes; Scare Pigs before bowing out by two

 

It was a perfect night for football at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Ark.  The Eagles poured onto the field and looked at the crowd of 45,000, the biggest they had ever seen.  They looked across the field at the Arkansas Razorbacks as they warmed up.  They must have wondered if they were in the right place; a stadium full of screaming fans, a nationally ranked, big-name team facing them.  This indeed was the Big Time.  However, when it was all over the fans were silent and somehow the men of the Ozarks didn’t look quite so big.  NT had met the Hogs and had stunned them before bowing out on the short end of a 17-15 score.

 

The Mean Green held on through three quarters by keeping Arkansas from making the big plays and trailed by a 17-3 score.  Then havoc broke loose as NT squelched the Razorback offense and exploded for two touchdowns.  A third, game-winning score was called back by a pass trapping call.

 

Quarterback Steve Ramsey had one of his finer nights as he completed his first nine passes and went on to hit 21 of 35 for 240 yards.  Sophomore Leo Taylor bulled his way upfield for 111 yards and one touchdown.  Barry Moore gathered in 10 passes for 155 yards and a TD.

 

But the total feeling was one of frustration for NT as they missed scoring opportunities twice on the one-yard line.

 

All in all, it wasn’t a bad showing for the Eagles, as the game billed as a breather for the Razorbacks, left the Hogs themselves breathing hardest.”

[97and03]

How was the game stolen by the refs? The denied touchdown?

wow, that team had some serious stars. 

[Marty]

Awesome! Thanks for posting.

[Withers940]

where did you find this old program @Eagle71? This is great!

[drex]

Shanklin did catch the td pass, but it was not allowed by the SWC refs....I was there.

[greenjoe]

Has anyone got a video (film) of that game or especially the denied TD catch ?

Make it stick Saturday.

GO MEAN GREEN

 

[PlummMeanGreen]

AN EXTRA WRINKLE TO THIS STORY...

When Ron Shanklin was an assistant coach for Corky Nelson he recruited the Fort Worth area.  I invited  Ron to drop by my office any time if in the west FW area & we’d go to Dos Gringos (then off 7’th St). Shanklin loved his Mexican food (as most we Texans do). 

Well, one particular day Ron dropped by my office with a friend from Dallas—the great ex North Texas All American Abner Haynes so the 3 of us load up & take off for my favorite Mexican eatery in the Cultural District of Cowtown. 

I had heard forever from folks like drex, Dallas Green, GrayEagle (and more recent) Deep Green about that game which I believe all of the aforementioned had attended.  

So while at the restaurant I go to the very one who could give his own account of “the Catch” (which became “the Non-Catch). 

Of course, Ron concurred with all who saw him catch that football for what would have been a huge win (our biggest) over the school that would play Darrell Royal’s Texas Longhorns the next Fall for the 1969  NCAA College Football National Championship.         • Our favorite school was playing that high quality of college football, folks. (I was still in High School when that North Texas vs Arkansas game was played).  

Anyhow, the 3 of us talked about that game as we chowed down on fajitas & then our friend the late, great Ron Shanklin added this nugget:

❇️ ”You know, fellas, a few years after that game one of the Razorback stars of that Arkansas football team called me & said... “Ron, we know you guys won that football game.”     To quote Paul Harvey: “And now you know the rest of the story.”  

Many of us on this board knew & loved Ron Shanklin & on the 29’th of this month when Joe Greene’s statue is unveiled I think some way/somehow “Shank’ will be there with us in spirit in an important historical day to honor our school’s greatest ambassador—his friend Mean Joe Greene. 

GMG!

 

 

Edited September 13, 2018 by PlummMeanGreen
Spelling

[Hogfan14]

At least you don’t have to play in War Memorial this time

[greenminer]

This is inspirational!  An opportunity for revenge 50 years in the making!

EDIT: so many story lines.   A 50 year revenge factor.  A Chad Morris revenge factor.  Cole Hedlund's return...

This is gold.

Edited September 13, 2018 by greenminer

[DeepGreen]

Lordy.  Who dug up that old program?  Looking at the players faces and names brings back so many good memories of NTSU and good football.  Seriously, Chuck Mills looks like a fine young man back them.  Great players...all of them!

That Arkansas game was one of the best I’ve ever attended.  Great road game.

Here’s to avenging that loss this Saturday!

[southsideguy]

that was a great cover picture for football program, love the beetle. At least they could have done what LSU did and put a picture of a cheerleader on the football guide.

 

Edited September 13, 2018 by southsideguy

[Graddean]

Thanks for the program.  As a TA, I had Tony Reese in a class.  

 

[UNTLifer]

11 hours ago, southsideguy said:

that was a great cover picture for football program, love the beetle. At least they could have done what LSU did and put a picture of a cheerleader on the football guide.

 

Approved by:

[Harry]

I received this message from a fan who was having issues logging in.  He asked me to post it for him:

It is Sept 1969....I am a freshman at North Texas St Univ...Mean Joe Green just graduated and was the 3rd or 4th pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers.. I need some electives to take and enroll in" Coaching Football" taught by Coach Rod Rust"...Coach Rust shows up on the 1st day...[think he showed up on the last day of classes} Coach Fred McCain off coordinator will be our instructor.....talks about the 1968 Mean Green team...No 1 in the nation in passing with NCAA record breaker Steve Ramsey...No 1 wr in the country Ron Shanklin{ also a Pitt Steeler the following year}..Ramsey set to break 7 NCAA passing records,etc,etc...

On the 1st day of class both Rust and McCain set up the 16 mm film...He tells us he wants us to see how North Texas got robbed in Little Rock vs Arkansas last year. 
He sets the 16 mmm black and white film...we watch North Texas and Mean Joe shut their offense down..then I think in the early 4th qrt Ramsey throws a touchdown pass to Shanklin with Ark leading 17-15...it was a low pass but Shanklin catches it..the ref right on the ball calls for a TD...NT up 22-17....but hold it...another ref behind the play is waving it off saying Shanklin trapped it..incomplete pass...can't remember if the refs confer but no touchdown...now Coach Rust runs that play again to the class...and again..Shanklin made a clean catch..it was low but the ball never touched the ground.. Hogs end up 6th in the country,10-1 and win the Southwest conf title..
North texas got robbed...think we ended up 8-3 or something like that...but we really did win in Little Rock that day..
Coach McCain said with that southern drawl "you can never trust anyone from Arkansas or Oklahoma" he would become my all time favorite teacher and over the years McCain became Ath Dir...he is the coach who told stories that you just loved... my roommate from NY and I loved hearing story after story...we told coach we were NY Giant fans...he coached Spider Lockhart of the Giants..he would tell us Carl thought "he could cover Jesus Christ on a down and out..."... then he told us how Carl outscored the No 1 wr in the nation in Howard Twilly...from Tulsa....I didn't get many A's in my 4 yrs at North Texas but he gave me and Danny one....

Coach passed away about 10-15 years ago....but think he might be on the sidelines Saturday in Arkansas in spirt...I'm sure no one on the NT coaches staff knows this story...wish someone would tell them...

Back tomorrow capping the game
on a sad note Steve Ramsey who played for the Broncos and Giants died awhile back and Ronnie Shankin who played in a few Superbowls for Pittsbugh also passed away....but I got to see Ramsey break all 7 of the passing records and many to "Shank the flank"

[UNT78]

I have not posted in a few years, happen to see this subject about the 68 game. Interesting story and true, about 10 years ago went duck hunting with a group in Arkansas, some from Texas and others from Arkansas, after the hunt, went back to the hunting lodge for lunch and fellowship (governor of Arkansas was there) anyway, a fellow hunter whom I just met ask where I went to school and I told him UNT in Denton. By his surprise, he said, "man, do I have a story for you, he continued to tell me he played for the 1968 team for Arkansas and  said, I sure as hell remember North Texas, he asked me if I remember the 1968 game they played, I said no, didn't know they ever played. He said, he played safety, said he'd never seen such fast receivers including any previous opponent, and for that matter, he never play against any black guys...He said, coach came up garbed his face mask and said, what the hell are you doing out there, your getting beat on every play, his response,  I can't keep up with the guy, he's fucking too fast!  Needless to say, the Arkansas team had great respect for that UNT '68 team. He said, that was one of the best teams they played all year...

[SilverEagle]

Interesting to see the 68 roster. Which included a guy I went to school with..... back up QB, Billy Anderson. In Decatur he was always called (Texas style) by his first and middle name....."Billy Mike". His role in the Arkansas game was as the team punter. Besides being a talented passer, he was also a very talented punter. He didn't believe in extremely long distance punting, but rather, long hang time punting. As a result, very few teams ever got any sort of punt returns on North Texas.

In 1968 North Texas went 8-2, including a very questionable loss to Arkansas......a 10-1 team.

However, our other loss was to a 6-4 Memphis team, 30-12. Here is their schedule from 1968.

1968-Memphis (MVC)
9/21	vs.	Mississippi (7-3-1)	L	7	21
9/28	@	Tennessee (8-2-1)	L	17	24
10/5	@	*North Texas (8-2)	W	30	12
10/12	vs.	West Texas A&M (8-2)	W	42	21
10/19	@	Florida State (8-3)	L	10	20
10/26	vs.	Southern Mississippi (4-6)	W	29	7
11/2	@	*Tulsa (3-7)	W	32	6
11/9	vs.	Houston (6-2-2)	L	7	27
11/16	vs.	*Wichita State (0-10)	W	40	18
11/30	@	*Louisville (5-5)	W	44	14
		6-4-0		258	170

I was once told that until our win over Memphis in 1977, it was our first win over them in 20 years. Actually it was 17 years. We never beat them during the Joe Greene/Steve Ramsey years.

[rws69]

Cedric Hardman wore #42 in yearbook picture, but played defensive end that year - not FB-HB as shown in that program. 

[FirefightnRick]

The stories above are examples why it is so damn important that those type of events are remembered and taught and rehashed over and over again.

We have generations of alumni that have never experienced or learned of our history, our accomplishments and our relevance.  Thus they leave here with little reason to have that special sense of pride to give and donate back.   A direct result of our recent history of low funding for U of NTacross the board.

Of course the usuals here who.......role their eyes every time the 1988 tU game is rehashed, or the Blakey and Fry eras are rehashed.....simply don’t get it although they should.

We have a good history, a great history, with great traditions.  And though small in numbers, we have a lot of incredible, successful alumni who are as loyal and fanatic as any fan base in the nation.  It’s just that we’ve allowed past opportunities to build on and reel in the rest of our alumni get lost and fade away by poor hiring.  

Hopefully those days are in the past and every accomplishment we experience from now on is taken advantage of for the future.

 

Rick

Edited September 14, 2018 by FirefightnRick

[Eagleisland]

I was at that game with two other North Texas fans. At one point we were worrying how we were going to get out of Arkansas if we upset them.

[PlummMeanGreen]

22 hours ago, UNT78 said:

I have not posted in a few years, happen to see this subject about the 68 game. Interesting story and true, about 10 years ago went duck hunting with a group in Arkansas, some from Texas and others from Arkansas, after the hunt, went back to the hunting lodge for lunch and fellowship (governor of Arkansas was there) anyway, a fellow hunter whom I just met ask where I went to school and I told him UNT in Denton. By his surprise, he said, "man, do I have a story for you, he continued to tell me he played for the 1968 team for Arkansas and  said, I sure as hell remember North Texas, he asked me if I remember the 1968 game they played, I said no, didn't know they ever played. He said, he played safety, said he'd never seen such fast receivers including any previous opponent, and for that matter, he never play against any black guys...He said, coach came up garbed his face mask and said, what the hell are you doing out there, your getting beat on every play, his response,  I can't keep up with the guy, he's fucking too fast!  Needless to say, the Arkansas team had great respect for that UNT '68 team. He said, that was one of the best teams they played all year...

Easy to say that the 1968 North Texas football team would have competed for the Southwest Conference championship—very easy to say.

North Texas had integrated with Abner Haynes & Dr. Leon King about 15 years before UT beat Arkansas the next Fall & won the 1969 NCAA Football National Championship  with the last all white team to do so.    

Again, North Texas had integrated 15 years earlier & lost some scheduled games with other (then) SWC schools because of it, but...at least Arkansas did not drop us on theirs & for that—a belated posthumous thanks to AD & Coach Frank Broyles & the UA administration of that era.

GMG!

 

Edited September 14, 2018 by PlummMeanGreen

[DeepGreen]

16 hours ago, rws69 said:

Cedric Hardman wore #42 in yearbook picture, but played defensive end that year - not FB-HB as shown in that program. 

I remember seeing Hardman practicing as a Freshman.  At the running back position.  Big and had some wheels.  I'm not sure exactly when they moved Cedric to the defense.