Oct 12, 1980

[shutter]

One for the ages: Longtime Tulsa fans probably still remember their favorite team's Oct. 12, 1980 win over North Texas.

Visiting North Texas held a 27-21 lead with 11 seconds left. The Hurricane had the ball on the UNT 20-yard line before quarterback Kenny Jackson rifled a touchdown pass to flanker Paul Johns, capping a 92-yard drive and giving TU a 28-27 victory.

"I'm speechless," then-TU coach John Cooper said after the game. "This was the greatest comeback that I've been involved in in a long time. Our guys never gave up."

Tulsa's 1980 squad finished 8-3 in Cooper's fourth season.

I was a photographer for the NT Daily and had driven hours with a sports reporter who listed to non other that JOHN DENVER all the way there. This was the worst feeling after a loss that I can remember. Even worse that last year.

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[SilverEagle]

November 20th, 1982. I was at that game. It was one my proudest moments as a Mean Green fan.

Tulsa was coming in looking to finish the year 10-1 (which it did), and it looked as if a win over North Texas was going to be an automatic. Corky Nelson had other ideas. We eventually lost 38-20, but we certainly made them sweat a lot.

Going into the game we basically had nothing on offense. Our QB Rusty Hill was about as mobile as Matt Phillips, and our running game was pretty ineffective. Corky just let it all hang out that game.

Rusty Hill came out throwing (61 passes/ 41 completions, still a NT record) and Marvin Walker was his "go-to" guy that day (22 catches, still a record). The amazing thing about Marvin Walkers record receiving day, was that yardage-wise he didn't make the top ten in single game receiving yardage.

That was the day that I knew that our coach's attitude was.....

I DIDN'T COME HERE TO LOSE!

[class84]

November 20th, 1982. I was at that game. It was one my proudest moments as a Mean Green fan.

Tulsa was coming in looking to finish the year 10-1 (which it did), and it looked as if a win over North Texas was going to be an automatic.  Corky Nelson had other ideas. We eventually lost 38-20, but we certainly made them sweat a lot.

Going into the game we basically had nothing on offense. Our QB Rusty Hill was about as mobile as Matt Phillips, and our running game was pretty ineffective. Corky just let it all hang out that game.

Rusty Hill came out throwing (61 passes/ 41 completions, still a NT record) and Marvin Walker was his "go-to" guy that day (22 catches, still a record). The amazing thing about Marvin Walkers record receiving day, was that yardage-wise he didn't make the top ten in single game receiving yardage.

That was the day that I knew that our coach's attitude was.....

I DIDN'T COME HERE TO LOSE!

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That one is in my top 5 UNT/NTSU games. It was such a wheels-off game plan that it took them a while to catch on. It was the run-and-shoot years before UH started to run it.

I thought Hill threw closer to 80 passes, though. It seemed that way.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

I was at the very first North Texas/Tulsa game on October 25, 1958. I tell you this simply because it had a different outcome.

It was a defensive struggle. Tulsa took a 7-0 lead just before the half and it stayed that way until the closing minutes of the game. North Texas finally put on a drive and scored. The 2-point rule was in its infancy and we decided to go for it. We split two blockers out near the right sideline (they were actually on the line of scrimmage) and Abner Haynes was two or three yards behind them. Vernon Cole threw a quick pass to Abner who followed the two blockers in the end zone. North Texas won 8-7!

[fruitdog]

That was almost 50 years ago. How do you remember that stuff so well? I can't remember who scored in games last year much less 50 years ago.

[IslandEagle]

That was almost 50 years ago.  How do you remember that stuff so well?  I can't  remember who scored in games last year much less 50 years ago.

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My two favorite Tulsa games were the 54-12 beating we gave them in 1967 as Rod Rust took the squad to a 7-1-1 record and the Missouri Valley Conference title and the 1968 game (which was on regional TV at a time when it was rare for any team to be on TV). We beat Tulsa 20-17 in Tulsa. I watched it on TV. The only thing I can remember from the game is Ramsey hitting Shanklin for a 63 yard TD pass to put North Texas out in front 7-0.

[NT80]

My very first NT and college game was against Tulsa at Fouts in I believe 1973. I was a freshman in high school and we had just moved to Denton. I think it was also televised locally. I remember thinking it was strange Tulsa's nickname was the "hurricanes" because they were inland so far. They had like 4-wheelers going around the track with hurricane-warning flags on them. I still don't get the nickname!

[GreenBat]

History Of Golden Hurricane

A Hurricane In Tulsa?

The origination of The University of Tulsa nickname - Golden Hurricane - came in 1922. A new football coach, Howard Acher, came to town and inherited a slew of nicknames dating back to 1895.

Past Tulsa teams were referred to as Kendallites, Presbyterians, Tigers, Orange and Black, and Tulsans. In the fall of 1922, the team nickname was "Yellow Jackets," which was apparently due to the fact that the team was wearing new black and yellow uniforms instead of the traditional orange and black.

The team opened the season and it was apparent that Tulsa was going to have a great year, and trying to seize some publicity for his team, Acher wanted to find a new nickname quickly.

After a remark was made in practice one day about "roaring through opponents," and because of their new jersey colors, he thought of Golden Tornadoes. However, he quickly found out that the name had been taken by Georgia Tech a few years earlier. From the tornado, he evolved meteorologically to the hurricane. A few days before the team left for a game against Texas A&M, Archer asked the squad to vote on the name, and thus "Golden Hurricane" was born