1988: UNT @ UT

[UNTLifer]

I remember it clearly and always wondered how close our guys were to punching that POS ref in the endzone. Hate UT.

[keith]

Was there as well and why I dislike UT to this day. Once a cheater, always a cheater.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Was there as well and why I dislike UT to this day. Once a cheater, always a cheater.

.

I don't know that I would claim that ..... BUT ..... this has to be one of... if not the worst called games in the history of the NCAA.. Those guys should have never been allowed to ref another game ever. Call after call was terrible .... so many that it looked as if the UT coaches were the refs... in fact they might have been more fair. Most of those crazy calls were not even questionable ... they were absolutely wrong.

I am not so sure I would claim UT was cheating but the refs sure appeared to be cheating for them. Even the UT announcers seem to disagree ( or just shocked ) with many of the calls.

TxTech had a problem with refs at UT a few years ago also ( but not that bad ) .... apparently a couple of the refs actually lived in Austin so you know if there was any doubt they would favor UT or risk revenge against their house... That should never happen.. hometown refs should never be assigned to a game. ..

Edited September 12, 2013 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[Cowtown]

I was there.

It sucked but it was also the best game I have ever seen. Back then we didnt realize we were small time. It was a great time to be at NT.

[GrandGreen]

Should be interesting next year at Texas. They are not that good and we might just be good. Will we get the home hose job if we are very competitive? Time will tell. The 1988 team was not too shabby...beat Tech, beat Rice and beat Texas and then off to the national 1-AA playoffs. Scott Davis and Marcus Camper were on fire in Austin that year.

Like your optimism, but NT with 14 seniors starting this year is not likely to be better.

I was at that game, and there were a lot of very questionable calls not just the out of bounds catch at the end. Texas was not a good team that year, but NT did win. It is interesting that this game is so remembered and other like the equally questionable Arkansas stolen victory over NT in the Greene, Ramsey era is not.

The reason is that there were so many NT fans at that UT game. At least back them, the visitors had good seats, right below the student section. One thing I do remember is getting showered with thrown drinks and debris after the game. You would have thought UT had just won the Cotton Bowl.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Like your optimism, but NT with 14 seniors starting this year is not likely to be better.

I was at that game, and there were a lot of very questionable calls not just the out of bounds catch at the end. Texas was not a good team that year, but NT did win. It is interesting that this game is so remembered and other like the equally questionable Arkansas stolen victory over NT in the Greene, Ramsey era is not.

The reason is that there were so many NT fans at that UT game. At least back them, the visitors had good seats, right below the student section. One thing I do remember is getting showered with thrown drinks and debris after the game. You would have thought UT had just won the Cotton Bowl.

.

The difference .... There was an insane number of bad calls in UT game... not just a questionable one or two or one blown call. I doubt the UT coaches as refs would have any more unfair. .

Edited September 12, 2013 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[keith]

Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.

[untjim1995]

http://youtu.be/fPcZN6adx7U

How many of you alumni remember this game? My best friend's dad is a UNT alum, and he was at the game (supporting the Longhorns), and even though he's a UT fan, he swears that North Texas should have won this game. I wan't even alive at the time, but I often wonder what would have been had the officals ruled that pass incomplete...

You can change this from Longhorns to Sooners, Aggies, Red Raiders, Horned Frogs, Ponies, Bears, etc...but it doesn't change the fact that so many generations of fans were lost to North Texas because we didn't even like athletics for so long and allowing our program to fall off into purgatory by dropping down to 1-aa for 12 years. Guys like this UNT alum are a dime a dozen, but what just kills North Texas to this day is that this guy, who is representative of such a huge majority of UNT alumni, don't give a dime to our program because they literally don't give a damn about UNT Athletics. Even worse, they still live here in the area, mostly, but they are always reminded when they read their papers or listen to their favorite sports media show about how little UNT even matters to any of those media outlets, so they get even more convinced that they made the right choice to abandon their alma mater.

Certainly, things are better today in Denton when it comes to interest and funding of the program than at any time in the university's history. But to be 30 years late to the casino party with about half of what the others at the party either have currently in their hands or even started the party with and now sit with 100x that much just makes the odds of us ever being taken serious by any of the other party-goers (old SWC/Texas schools that played back then) rather low in today's world, unless one of the others has been blackballed, too...(see Rice and UTEP).

Being a long-term Mean Green Fan is harder than being a fan of any other FBS school--and its not even close. No one can match the apathy or the general ignorance of their program like we do everyday. Not any Texas AQ school, not any CUSA school, not even any current SBC school...no one has endured more pain as a fan than the UNT fan over the past 35 years. From being blocked from bowls and from SWC admittance in the late 70s to losing Hayden Fry and replacing his legacy with bad fits, bad guys, HS coaches, and coaches who could've been ok if we even tried to fund the program, to the ultimate nut-kick of 1-aa, all the losing while sitting in a toilet of a stadium, then the recent downturn of the last decade of playing in a conference with teams that no one cares about while they drop-kicked us like we were a JV team. If you have stayed with this thing for any decent length of time, over 5 years, I am absolutely amazed that we have taken this all for so long, with almost no payback. Sorry, but that highlighted part in his post just really hit a nerve...

[forevereagle]

I feel like our fanbase is a bunch of cutters. We just love to engage in a little (lot) of self abuse.

[Green Dozer]

You can change this from Longhorns to Sooners, Aggies, Red Raiders, Horned Frogs, Ponies, Bears, etc...but it doesn't change the fact that so many generations of fans were lost to North Texas because we didn't even like athletics for so long and allowing our program to fall off into purgatory by dropping down to 1-aa for 12 years. Guys like this UNT alum are a dime a dozen, but what just kills North Texas to this day is that this guy, who is representative of such a huge majority of UNT alumni, don't give a dime to our program because they literally don't give a damn about UNT Athletics. Even worse, they still live here in the area, mostly, but they are always reminded when they read their papers or listen to their favorite sports media show about how little UNT even matters to any of those media outlets, so they get even more convinced that they made the right choice to abandon their alma mater.

Certainly, things are better today in Denton when it comes to interest and funding of the program than at any time in the university's history. But to be 30 years late to the casino party with about half of what the others at the party either have currently in their hands or even started the party with and now sit with 100x that much just makes the odds of us ever being taken serious by any of the other party-goers (old SWC/Texas schools that played back then) rather low in today's world, unless one of the others has been blackballed, too...(see Rice and UTEP).

Being a long-term Mean Green Fan is harder than being a fan of any other FBS school--and its not even close. No one can match the apathy or the general ignorance of their program like we do everyday. Not any Texas AQ school, not any CUSA school, not even any current SBC school...no one has endured more pain as a fan than the UNT fan over the past 35 years. From being blocked from bowls and from SWC admittance in the late 70s to losing Hayden Fry and replacing his legacy with bad fits, bad guys, HS coaches, and coaches who could've been ok if we even tried to fund the program, to the ultimate nut-kick of 1-aa, all the losing while sitting in a toilet of a stadium, then the recent downturn of the last decade of playing in a conference with teams that no one cares about while they drop-kicked us like we were a JV team. If you have stayed with this thing for any decent length of time, over 5 years, I am absolutely amazed that we have taken this all for so long, with almost no payback. Sorry, but that highlighted part in his post just really hit a nerve...

It would be nice to have some Cliff Notes with your posts. : )

[Aigle Vert]

I was there. We were robbed. I seem to recall a strange penalty after the phantom "touchdown."

When you have the legislature in your back pocket, the refs shouldn't be too difficult to manage.

Edited September 12, 2013 by Aigle Vert

[vpackrats]

I was at that game & I can't believe this is the 25th year anniversary of that game (geez, I'm old now). Anyway, there was a big caravan of cars heading back to Denton on I-35 after the game & one of our fellow students' cars said it best with some shoe polish on the window: "North Texas 24 Texas 13 Referees 14". Such a con job ... no way they could get away with it now though (thanks instant replay!).

[GrandGreen]

.

The difference .... There was an insane number of bad calls in UT game... not just a questionable one or two or one blown call. I doubt the UT coaches as refs would have any more unfair. .

Were you at the Arkansas game, I was not so I will take you word for it if you went to both?

I think the Arkansas game was a much bigger thief because they were a much better team than the 1988 horns. Beating UT would have been nice, but beating Arkansas that year would be a much bigger achievement.

[GrayEagle]

Should be interesting next year at Texas. They are not that good and we might just be good. Will we get the home hose job if we are very competitive? Time will tell. The 1988 team was not too shabby...beat Tech, beat Rice and beat Texas and then off to the national 1-AA playoffs. Scott Davis and Marcus Camper were on fire in Austin that year.

We might win only if we can bring our own officials. UT isn't about to let us win in Austin as the previous posts indicate.

[MeanGreenD]

Sounds like these refs are the men Alfred warned me about...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Some men just want to watch the world burnt orange <a href="http://t.co/fZFeTstEZF">pic.twitter.com/fZFeTstEZF</a></p>&mdash; #MeanGreenMan (@MeanGreenMan23) <a href="https://twitter.com/MeanGreenMan23/statuses/488821418058993664">July 14, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[IslandEagle]

We might win only if we can bring our own officials. UT isn't about to let us win in Austin as the previous posts indicate.

I was at the game and have it recorded (on VCR), where you can see replays of the official "miss calls"..

Still burns me. A good friend (now deceased) who was a big UT supporter and alum, but a very fair person told me that after the game, one of the refs admitted to UT officials that they had given the play to UT. Since Jim was honest to a fault and a UT alum and a friend, I tend to believe the story.

[MeanGreenD]

Sorry for the loss of your friend, may he rest in peace. My best man is what you would call a T-shirt UT fan, but hardcore his whole life. I've been telling him all year that we're coming and he just laughs. UT fans have came at me on Twitter, which I try to keep classy, and a woman said "enough from the clown". Ended up having a lovely conversation with her in spite of that comment. I hope they don't throw any drinks at any of our fans, that would be disgraceful. In the event it does happen, please find security or find MeanGreenMan and I'll find security.

#Avenge88 is the motto created by @FillApogee and I believe this is the time we make our stand. How many times have y'all heard the phrase "9/10 times this team beats that team"? I believe this year's team will be THAT team.

RIP Jim

[UNT90]

I was at this game and the UT fans were embarrassed walking out of the stadium. No smack talk from them, just head hung, eyes averted embarrassment.

It would be nice to see that again. Especially from my longhorn friend that will be sitting next to me at the game.