The Longhorns were 40-4-1 in 1968,69,70, AND 72

President Johnson said of DKR, “I am not a football fan, but I am a fan of people, and I am a Darrell Royal fan because he is the rarest of human beings.”

In Tessa Nichols’s thesis titled ORGANIZATIONAL VALUES AND WOMEN’S SPORTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 1918-1992, Donna Lopiano is quoted as saying, “I would rather work with Darrell than any other men’s athletic director around….Darrell Royal is a humanist… What impressed me the most was his concern over the welfare of students.”

R.C. Slocum, the Aggie head coach, said about DKR, “He’s been around Presidents, but he has lived part of his life with the common man, and he never lost touch with the guy on the street. That has impressed me about him more than anything else.”

Royal’s coaching style was firm. For example, he once told one of his star quarterbacks that “if he ever waived off a play” sent in by me, “he had better score with it.”

 Press the Kicking game.

Coach Royal’s Obsession With The Execution Of The Kicking Game occurs after TCU Returns Two Punts For Long Yards. From that moment on, he gave The “Kicking” game” Speech Before Each Game. The Speech Starts With “Press The Kicking Game For It Is Here The Breaks Are Made.”

Royal reasons that “if we can kick the ball from our 30 to their 10, that’s six first downs in one play.

In the book “Darrell Royal Dance With Who Brung Ya” by Mike Jones and edited by Dan Jenkins, DKR is quoted as saying about poor punt coverage, “You would have thought we’d be on it like a hen on a June bug.” Unfortunately, punt returns can kill you faster than a minnow can swim a dipper.”

From 1967 through 1970, three African Americans walked on at Texas: E.A. Curry, Robinson Parsons, and Talmadge Blewitt. Leon O’Neal became the Longhorns’ first scholarship black player, but he left after his freshman year. Julius Whittier was the first African American to make the Longhorn varsity team.

A link to the Briscoe Center site concerning DKR is below

http://www.cah.utexas.edu/news/press_release.php?press=press_royal_memoriam

Emory Bellard played for the Texas team in 1945 before breaking his leg. In 1967, he returned to Texas. From his mind, an option offense named the Wishbone was formed.

Before the Wishbone offense took center stage, the opposing defense’s job was to react and neutralize the offensive play. Emory Bellard changed the defensive strategy with the option offense by devising the first successful offensive college running scheme dictated by defensive decisions.

Neither offensive nor defensive players knew who would get the ball when the ball was snapped. As the play unfolded, the defensive decision was to choose the ball carrier. It was magic, a James Street/Eddie Phillips/and Donnie Wigginton wishbone hat trick that led the Horns to national prominence.

Coach Royal understands the option offense because he was the OU quarterback for an option offense in the 1950s.  OU called their offense the “OU Split.” Like the wishbone, it required the quarterback to “read” the tackle on an option play.

1968 9-1-1

The Facebook link below shows how DKR developed the Wishbone name- a spoof.

Video | Facebook

Three 6-4 seasons led to the Purge of 1968

James Street’s team, with Bill Bradley’s spirit, led to the 1968 victories and a number 3 ranking.

The recruiting of Jim Bertelsen

Coach Pat Patterson claimed that Jim Bertelsen was just as good as, if not better than, Steve Worster. He cited Jim’s speed and track abilities in low hurdles and broad jumping. In high school, Jim averaged 9.3 yards per carry over 16 games. Dr. Fred Coleman, a dentist from Texas, mentioned that Jim’s Aunt, who worked for him, informed him that Jim was interested in playing for the Longhorns. The Texas coaches decided to look at Jim’s high school football films, and it was love at first sight.

Coach Royal knew his job was in jeopardy after three, 6,—4 seasons. So, in the Spring of 1968, he developed a “conditioning” program that would determine who was on “his” team, and he tightened up the off-field restrictions to refocus priorities.

In the book Texas Caesar, author J. Brent Clark shares a vital moment that captures the essence of Coach Royal’s future coaching style. One evening after practice, Sooner coach Bud Wilkinson noticed that O.U starter Darrell Royal was still working out. So the coach told him to go home. Royal responded, “But coach, I want to find out what I can do when I am tired.”

In 1968, Coach Royal wanted to know how his players would react when they were tired. The book Echoes of Texas Football says that Royal wanted Spring training in 1968 to be a living hell. He was determined to “get rid of the those who could not take it; those who didn’t want it bad enough would be gone, one way or the other.”

Royal decided that if he was going down, he was taking his toughest players with him. Scott Henderson said he was not surprised at the hard workouts, but he was “surprised that so many guys quit.” Henderson did not participate in the Spring purge of 1968 due to knee surgery.

The year of the Wishbone began with the coaching staff’s reign of terror, which author J. Brent Clark said led to “30 players quitting and 30 injuries.” Then, Cotton Speyrer says, “Royal made it clear that the spring of ’68 would be a living hell. The rigor, the regimen, the contact, and the competition would push players to the limits.”

So many players were quitting that the media wire services hinted at dissension on the team. Worster fans the flame, saying the team “was not unified.” Worster retracted his statement, but the harm was done.

Royal said, “Most of the kids who quit were 6-4 season players who had been beaten out. But Deryl Comer was the only one who shocked him. Royal says, “Deryl came in one day and said, ‘Coach, I’m just tired of football. I don’t like to play it anymore. I’ve been playing all my life because other people wanted me to.’ So Comer left. I was sick,”. Jones Ramsey, the UT publicity man, said to Deryl Comer, “In four different positions, he’d be the best we have.” Royal continues, “Deryl was one of our best. But a day later, he was back. He just came back and said he couldn’t understand why he left, and he’s been great. His catches helped us beat Oklahoma.”

As a player for Royal, I can assure you that I had no choice but to learn what I could do when tired. Fortunately, I had played for Odessa Permian, and the workout regimen was more difficult at Permian than the purge at Texas in 1968. Still, climbing the small hill from the stadium to Moore Hill Hall required a hands-and-knees rest after practice. In the Fall of 1968, during two-a-day practice, nine more players quit.

He used the survivors of the 1968 purge to form the nucleus of a team that won 30 games in a row and two national championships.

Horns break five team and conference offensive records during the 1968 football season.

Royal said about the Worster Bunch their sophomore year, “Some of them are so green you could hide ’em on top of a lettuce leaf.”

 Quarterback Monty Johnson leaves the Longhorns and joins the OU Sooners. A new NCAA rule requires the clock to be stopped on first down.

Royal delegates authority to the assistant coaches. Tear-away jerseys are reinstated for the backs. The loss to Texas Tech resulted from two long punt returns and poor execution. But, excluding those negatives, the Texas Tech loss helped build the bridge and reveal the winning formula that would last for 30 straight games.

After the Texas Tech game, the following changes were made:

• James Street wins the starting position. Royal says about James in the Texas Tech game, “James was jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”

• From Rat to Slick

• (After almost drowning at Lake Austin, his teammates nicknamed him “Rat,” as in a drowned rat; later, he was also assigned the moniker “slick” because he called people he met. “Hey slick, how are you doing?”)

• After the Oklahoma State game, all the Wishbone back stances were moved 2 feet backward. This allowed the quarterback, offensive line, and fullback more time to read the defensive tackles and decide on a fullback handoff, quarterback keep, or a pitch-out to the halfback.

• Royal learned that leaving the band at home was a mistake, saying, “I kind of like to hear ‘Texas Fight’ when we’ve got a rally going.” Never again did the Horn Band miss a football game.

• Royal reinstated the “foot-stomping, rip-snorting pep rally like we used to have” on Friday nights.

• Coach Zapalac said that the changes made created one of the best blocking offensive lines in Longhorn sports history.

The 1968 Texas-OU game still holds the record with 800 fan arrests by 700 uniformed police.

TOPPING THE CHARTS

Final Ranking 3rd Nationally  

Top of the Charts Mustang Sally

The 1968 team holds the Texas single-game record for most first downs (38) against Baylor.

1968 Is The Start Of a 42-game Home win Streak That Is The 7th 7th-longest in NCAA Football History.

Even though Texas lost one game and tied another, the NCAA still recognized Texas as a National Champion. 

Against OU, Lloyd Wainscot downed a punt on the 1-yard line, tackled the quarterback in the end zone, stripped the ball from the quarterback, and accumulated 18 tackles.

Wainscott was named to the All-American team, and Gilbert was the leading rusher in SWC history.

1968 Bill Bradley and 1941 Noble Doss record the most intercepted passes in a game- 4.

Texas decimates Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl. Each team receives a record $340,150.60 to split with their conference.

Coach Campbell says that Corby Robertson plays with total disregard for his body.

Coach Mike Campbell says about Chris Gilbert’s fumbling in 1967. “His problem is momentum,” says Campbell. “When he makes a move, it’s so fast the ball doesn’t always get the message.”

Gilbert and Wainscott make the All-American team. In addition, Gilbert won the Most Valuable Player award at Texas for the 3rd time, and the Texas Sports Writers Association picked him as amateur athlete of the year.

Comer, Abbott, Halsell, and Worster made the All-SWC team.

Mike Perrin received the Earl Blaik fellowship awarded by the National Football Foundation, and Corby Robertson received a $1000 National Collegiate Athletic Association scholarship.

1969 11-0 James Street’s team

The picture of the football player as a privileged student is not a caricature. The gifted athlete’s special benefits included free room and board, paid-up college tuition fees and books, and exceptional academic tutors. In 1969, the cost of providing free food to the athletes was $165,000, and their rent-free rooms cost the school approximately $82,000.

In 1970, the budget for athletes was $400,000; recruiting costs were $75,000, the department payroll was $500,000 a year, and the total athletic budget was $1,500,000. This was a substantial budget for its time.

1969- Texas opened the season ranked 4th behind Ohio State, Arkansas, and Penn State.

The video of the 1969 Longhorn football season is in the link below. 

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fm.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DGdZ_PBehNXs&data=05%7C02%7C%7C79a5dcb8eb6c4eb6dbb808de49af9e39%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C639029215774976150%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ipSoworPhLcoamY8LhoiWRd3pvXqbxvm5JAuf27sMwg%3D&reserved=0

In 1969, feeding the athletes cost $165,340, and dorm rooms cost $82,000. Each scholarship was worth $1,250 a year, for a total cost of $400,000. The recruiting budget was $75,000, and the athletic department payroll was about $1.5 million.

All the football coaches got raises for the 1969 season. 

Deryl Comer’s surgery post-operative rehabilitation on his knee was not complete, and he was red-shirted. Randy Peschel and Tommy Woodward replaced him in the lineup. 

The astroturf and an all-weather Tartan track were completed at $575,000 at Memorial Stadium. The first game on the turf was a 49-7 win over Texas Tech.

Bertelsen tied a school record with four touchdowns against SMU. 

Six hundred seventy-six yards in total offense against SMU was the most yards in a game since 1915 when Texas beat Daniel Baker with 709 yards of total offense. 

After the game with Texas, Gene Stallings, the Texas A & M coach, said, ”They’re as great as I’ve ever seen. I know they’re the best I’ve ever played against.”

The first game on AstroTurf: Texas 49, Texas Tech 7 (9/27/1969) Attendance: 65,200

The link to the 1969 season is below

http://www.texasarchive.org/library/index.php/2010_01600

There are no black players on the Longhorn team, while the Sooners have 7. The Longhorns are winning easily, and before the OU game, Royal is concerned that the Horns are not in shape and tough enough to play the Sooners. He said his horns might not be ready for a “jaw-to-jaw knucks-down gut check .” … “Like when you shot marbles as a kid, and then you started playing “‘keeps,” and everybody got knucks down, and you hoped the other guy’s hand would quiver, and if it didn’t, you knew you were all covered up with trouble. For the first time as a head coach, he put the Horns through a 45-minute scrimmage on a SUNDAY.

The Longhorn Field Surface Is Converted To Astro Turf.

Vietnam, Walking On The Moon, Protest, Racial Issues, Drugs, And “Flower” Children Are The Backdrop For The 1969 Team.

It Is The 100th Year of College Football, and the Longhorn team is on fire

DKR says about playing Arkansas, “They’re gonna come after us with their eyes pulled up like BBs.”  Even with four fumbles and two interceptions, Texas still beat Arkansas. Royal states in Jimmy Banks’s book The Darrell Royal Story that he felt the Longhorns had misplayed and that he personally had failed to prepare them properly.

Fan Skip Tackett writes a poem about Arkansas

Their mountains are a holy place and strangers dare not stray there.

For only fools and longhorn steers would flirt with disaster.

Oh, you will go with banners waiving and a crown upon your head,

But, stop and think. Only fools rush in where strangers fear to tread.

Texas is the National Champion in the 100th year of College Football.

After the game, Royal says, “We had one great play and a gutsy call, but the rest (of the game) stunk.”

Getting off the plane in Austin after returning from the Big Shoot-out. Fans surrounded the plane. Royal said, “I don’t think I’ll ever see the time when I had to remain aboard the airplane simply because I was afraid to get off.” Security finally got Royal, a squad car that got clearance from the airport to use the runway to exit on the other side of the airport.

After the game, the streets around the university were wildly joyous, packed with cars that were not moving and thousands of students hollering and hugging each other. Not everyone was happy with the events that disrupted Austin that night.

“The police, outmanned, mostly watched. A student wrote the “Texan” that he asked a cop when the police action would start. The cop asked him what he was talking about, and he protested. “But officer, they’re disrupting the orderly flow of traffic, they’re disturbing the peace, they’re drinking in the streets, they’re drinking while driving, they’re breaking beer bottles all over the Drag, they’re defacing public and private property.” The officer responded, “Beat it, kid, we don’t want any troublemakers around here. “

Two years after the above photo, Lester (car accident) and Steinmark (cancer) had passed away

Freddie Steinmark can’t understand why Penn State did not want to settle #1 in the Cotton Bowl. Freddie says, “We could never figure out why they didn’t choose to settle it on the grass in Dallas, rather than from a soapbox in Pennsylvania.

On the bus ride by the team on the day of the Arkansas game, Royal reads a sign that says “Darrell Royal, Cast not thy Steers before swine,” Royal replied, “I had hoped God would be neutral.”

TEXAS-NOTRE DAME

The estimated income for the Cotton Bowl for Texas was $125,000. $12,500 of that amount was allocated for awards to the athletes, 8% extra pay for the coaching staff, and $18,500 compensation for other Texas Athletic groups.

Notre Dame Plays In Their First Bowl Game.

Topping the Charts 1969

James Street in voted MVP for the Horns.

The first two images below are compliments of Harris Argo

Street, Worster, Speyrer, Wuensch, Halsell , Atessis , and Brooks made the consensus All SWC team. Street was selected as MVP of the team. , won “amateur athlete of the year by the Texas Sports Writers Association. Royal was coach of the year and “Southwesterner of the year.”

OU and Texas series 55-31-2 in favor of the Longhorns. Wuensch, Speyrer, and Worster each made an All-American team.

Bill Little Commentary: Being James Street

The happy-go-lucky competitor we knew in college never really left – but he learned a lot since those days when winning was everything.

Bill Little, Texas Media Relations

“Let me live in a house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by-
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner’s seat
Nor hurl the cynic’s ban-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.”

Rocks in life are funny things. You can throw them, try to budge them, climb them, sit on them, lean on them, and the truth is you come to depend on them.

James Street was a rock.

Phone calls in the early morning hours are never good. They are either a misdial or bad news. This one was the worst of the worst.

James Street was gone. Way too soon. Way too sudden. In the flick of an instant, an icon of Longhorns football had passed away without warning.

If you define a person by the people he knew and the things he did, James Street’s was a life well lived by the time he was in his mid-20s. In an era where college football was the nation’s dominant sport, he became perhaps its most famous player.

“He stood out from everybody else because he made clutch plays, and he never quit. He was likable and fun, but most of all, he won. He remains my favorite Texas quarterback of all-time,” said famed author Dan Jenkins, who covered James and the Longhorns team in 1968 and 1969.

“I remember standing with the late Jones Ramsey in the press box as the fourth quarter began in the “Big Shootout” in Arkansas in 1969. Texas was behind, 14-0, and Street scrambled 42 yards for a touchdown.

“I remember Jones saying, ‘I had given up…I’m sure glad Street hadn’t,'” Jenkins recalls. History, of course, chronicles the rest of the quarter, where Street led Texas to a 15-14 win and a national championship. Millions had watched as the Horns pulled off the comeback in the season finale of the 100th year of college football.

With that, James Street became a “rock star” years before anybody ever came up with the phrase. He was at home in Vegas or New York. He knew Elvis Presley and President Johnson and hung out with pro football players such as Bobby Layne and Joe Namath.

In that space and in that time, “Being James Street” was a pretty cool deal.

As a player, James was the ultimate competitor, and it didn’t matter what the game was; he was in it to win. But as the shock of the morning gave way to the sadness of the day, we got to talk about the man, not the game.

“Being James Street” has meant a lot of things to a lot of people. As a football and baseball player at Texas, it meant a guy who was there to compete and to win. And win was what he did. As a quarterback at Texas, he started 20 football games, and the team won them all. Twenty and “0”. National champions. As a pitcher in baseball, he was just about as successful.

With a wicked curveball that made him a second-team All-American, he was part of teams that went to the College World Series every year he played and finished in the top four each of his last two seasons.

He was named the Most Valuable Player on the 1969 National Championship football team, and all three years that he played baseball.

Throughout his college career, “Being James Street” had meant leadership, and as a star pitcher and a quarterback, he often led by example.

In June of 1970, with his football career behind him and the College World Series over, James Street’s athletic career ended. Now, it was time for something else. “Being James Street” meant that it was time to figure out what he was going to do with the rest of his life, and to do that, he had to first figure out who James Street really was.

I remember a message the Baptist preacher in Winters, Texas, once brought to my elementary school. He was telling us something that would impact my life, and I know James got a similar message along the way.

“You have to ask yourself these questions,” he said. “They are the same questions your parents will ask you when you go out at night. ‘Where are you going?  Who are you going with?  And what are you going to do when you get there?'”

What do you do with your life when the shouting and tumult dies?

As a kid, I once put together a book of poems, and one of them was a little rhyme called “Sometimes.”  “Across the Fields of Yesterday,” it went, “he sometimes comes to me…the little lad just back from play, the lad I used to be. And yet, he smiles so wistfully, once he has crept within, I wonder if he hopes to find The Man I Might Have Been.”

He had taken charge of a Texas offense in football, he had taken charge when he walked to the mound as a pitcher in baseball.

James Street, star player, had a decision to make. The early years following his college career hadn’t been seasons in the sun. Not unlike many of us children of the 60s, there was a space where the moments were good, and not-so-good. And some were just flat lousy. It had been a spell since “Being James Street” was really fun. Now, he had to take charge of his life.

Do you spend your life living with what was, and wondering what might have been?

Where are you going?  Who are you going with?  What are you going to do when you get there?

What James Street did was become perhaps the best structured settlement financial advisor in the country. He helped people who had been touched by tragedy find a way to secure their assets so they could live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

“I didn’t know James in the dark time,” a leading Austin attorney told me. “But what I appreciate about him is that he started a company in a business that he really didn’t know a lot about and he learned.

“He learned the business, and he never used his days as a player as a crutch. He used it as an inspiration. It became about his humility, rather than some kind of diseased conceit. He was the best in the business at what he did, and he was a great guy.”

Some parts of “Being James Street” never changed.

The James Street we knew in later years was not only a successful businessman, he was a caring, devoted husband, father and grandfather. The parenting part came naturally. Throughout his career at Texas and beyond, James had no greater fan and supporter than his mother.

Despite an incredible schedule, he always had time for people. His self-deprecating humor fostered his larger-than-life image. He had a way of making it seem, in the moment, that he always had time for you, and talking with you was the most important thing he had to do in his life.

That was true whether you were somebody like a great friend such as Mack Brown, or a struggling fellow traveler who was trying to whip the disease of alcoholism – just as James had done. And he never appeared condescending. Once, at a dinner at in New York, a waiter was taking drink orders. Martinis, cold beer, wine. Finally the waiter came to James, who politely said, “No thanks, I’ve had enough.”  He just didn’t say when. James took his last drink more than 30 years ago.

We will remember his friendship, his honesty, his smile, his little bit of a song, his infectious humor and his uncanny homespun wisdom.

The happy-go-lucky competitor we knew in college never really left — he was still a kid at heart — but he learned a lot since those days when winning was everything.

When his son, Huston, was playing for Westlake High School and they had lost to Midland Lee in the football state championship game, James talked to him after the game.

“Were you as prepared as you could possibly be?” he asked. Huston said yes. “Did you give your best effort on every play?” Again the answer was yes.

“Then,” James said, “you have done everything you could  to win, and the other team was better that day. Go over there and shake hands and give them the credit.”

“Credit” was something James never took for himself. In his time at Texas, it would be about his teammates. As a businessman, it was about the people in his company, The James Street Group — one of the largest structured settlement firms in America. When it came to raising kids, it was about his wife, Janie. He was one of the most giving people — of his time, his talent, and his money — I have ever met.

Sunday James and Janie had returned from a trip to San Francisco to see Huston’s team — the San Diego Padres — play the final game of their season. He was proud of Huston’s sports career, but equally proud of his oldest son Ryan (a successful Austin architect), and the younger brothers — the twins Juston and Jordan — and the youngest, Hanson. Daughters-in-law and grandchildren also arrived to make a huge impact in his life.

In the summer of 2002, when Huston was a freshman, the Longhorns won the College World Series, and by chance the Street family joined us at an Omaha restaurant called “Mr. C’s” after the game. We put the NCAA championship trophy at one end of the table as the food arrived, and each youngster waited patiently for all to be served. Then, they held hands and said a prayer, giving thanks for the food, and the day.

And that is the image we are left with. In a very real sense, he was larger than life. But for those who knew him and whose lives he touched, “Being James Street” meant a friend who could lift your day.

That is why that poem at the beginning of this commentary seemed to matter so much.

1970 10-1 Eddie Phillips team

Video below is the 1971  Cotton Bowl. 

W.H. Lanigan, a 1903 sports writer for St. Louis Star, said that Sports programs of the South West colleges would “never amount to much.” He reasoned:

• The schools are financially weak;

• Athletes prefer the cooler climates of the Northeast to the sweltering heat of the south;

• The population of the Southwest is sparse with few athletes to choose from, and many of the great athletes of this region prefer to play for Northern Institutions and

• Teams in the South—like Texas—lack tradition, both among the students and faculty, which is needed to start great programs like those in the North.

  I think he was wrong.

By 1970, everything at UT had grown significantly. Student enrollment was at an all-time high of 35,678 and growing. The Texas Athletic Department budget was $1,628,000.

The upper deck construction budget on the Westside was $12.8 million, but only $5 million came from the athletic budget. The rest was funded by creative financing.

The link to Eddie’s interview is below

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1548924877826

Asked by a reporter about the team to follow the national champion team of 1969, Coach Royal said, “There would be a drop-off, but we wouldn’t be stillborn.” Frank Broyles disputes that assessment. This year after the Arkansas game, he says, “It was the most inspired Texas team we’ve met,” Broyles sighed. “And you’d have to say the best.”

Coach Royal says about Eddie Phillips,” it takes some athlete to run our team the way Eddie does. Royal had been insisting that his new quarterback, junior Eddie Phillips, was, if anything, a better athlete than Street and just as talented at making the Texas offense work.” It takes an athlete to read the option, make the handoff, keep and run as well as he does, or make the pitch and then throw a block. You take the guys with the stats. I want Eddie.” “He’s good on the option, almost instinctive with it.”

Eddie Phillips was at least as good as James, if not better. Eddie was a great passer, runner, and option quarterback. Do you need proof? Here it is.

Eddie’s team in 1970 as of 2019 still holds most of the rushing records at Texas, setting a new school record in scoring efficiency with 62 points on 132 possessions. The 1970 Team Holds The Texas Record For Most Rushing Yards Per Game (374.5 Yards); Most Rushes In A Game- 90 Against Arkansas; Most First Downs In A Season By Rushing- 200; Most Rushing Attempts In A Season- 715; Most Net Yards Gained Rushing In A Season ( 3,745) 

In the Oklahoma game, Speyrer is lost for the season with a broken arm. Royal confided before the game that he thought Texas had a chance to be as good as last year, particularly on offense, but losing Speyrer gave him second thoughts.

#30 reigns—some for good reasons and the other for bad reasons. #30 was the All-American Steve Worster. #30 also represented the 1967 recruiting class called the “Worster Bunch,” which was composed of 32 seniors who played in all 30 games of the winning streak but lost to Notre Dame. As the Cactus says, “It was a season of high pressure, excitement, and, in the end, heartbreak.”

http://www.texasarchive.org/library/index.php?title=2011_00326

Texas vs. Arkansas

Before last year’s game the Texas coach, staff, and team were amazed that a send-off pep rally in Austin’s Memorial Stadium had drawn 25,000. This year 37,000 turned out on Friday evening to whoop and holler and hear Royal and team members. The high point of the rally came when Texas’ All-America tackle, Bobby Wuensch, got up to speak in a surprisingly high-pitched voice. There were light giggles. Wuensch bristled at the microphone and said, “You can laugh, but we’re gonna whup ’em good.” Sports Illustrated says, “It’s hard to imagine a team readier than Texas this year. Or madder. It looked as if some carpenters would have to be called to un-nail the Texas blockers from the Arkansas defense from the very start. Texas owned the scrimmage line on the game’s first play, when Bertelsen went 13 yards, and never stopped owning it until Royal’s Wishbone I had cut up Arkansas for 464 yards rushing”.

Final ranking- co-national champions

National Championship teams require good recruiting, a competent coaching staff, players with faith in the system, trust and respect for teammates, combined with talent, team chemistry, a strong work ethic, and a little luck.

1970 TEXAS-UCLA

UT Longhorns 1970 Championship Season (texasarchive.org)

Go to the 51:13 mark on the video below to see Cotton’s touchdown.

The 1970 recruiting class definitely has some luck on their side. In 1970 Texas is outplayed by UCLA, but manages to win on the last play of the game.

1970 highlights of UCLA game – no sound Cotton Speyrer’s touchdown reception from Eddie Phillips  to beat UCLA is at minute “2:26” in film below

Memories Of The Catch: Texas Vs UCLA 1970

http://www.barkingcarnival.com/2010/09/21/memories-of-the-catch-texas-vs-ucla-1970

Stephen Ross  Sept 22, 2010 writing for Barking Carnival says:

I on the other hand would prefer to re-live the thrilling Ying of the Bruins first trip here.

It was 1970, and Austin was a still a small college town……………….

I was a sophomore at UT, working at KHFI-TV (now KXAN) as the floor manager for the nightly newscasts. Back then there were only two TV stations in town and it was easy to get hands-on experience in the business. I spent most of my time trying to talk the sports director, Mel Pennington, into letting me go to games as a photographer, but that job went to more senior members of the news room, so I was able to take part in the student draw.

I was working on a great string of draws for student tickets — until the UCLA game. I got tickets on the south goal line, 5 rows up.

Still it was the best of times for UT football. Texas was the defending National Champion. Work had begun on the stadium expansion, which would add an upper West Side deck and connect Belmont Hall to the stadium.

When work began on the west-side expansion of Memorial Stadium in 1970, the stadium’s capacity was 65,500.

The press box was torn down, and a temporary wooden structure was used for the 1970 season. Some upgrades were already installed, such as new aluminum benches and seats throughout the stadium.

Texas would enter the game #2 in both the AP and UPI polls, behind Ohio State, while UCLA would come into town ranked #13. Tommy Prothro was the Bruins coach, and he was considered to be among the best in the business. Before moving to UCLA, he had taken perennial loser Oregon State to two Rose Bowls, and he was 35-13-3 at UCLA.

That didn’t matter to Longhorn fans — or the oddmakers, who had installed Texas as a 22-point favorite for the October 3 game. After all, Texas had a 22-game win streak built around the new offensive attack that no one had figured out how to slow down, much less stop.

When UCLA came to town, Darrell Royal’s Longhorns had won 22 games in a row by an average score of 39-13.

But it didn’t take long for the players and fans to realize this Saturday would be different. On the second play of the game, Texas halfback Billy Dale was blasted by a UCLA linebacker just as QB Eddie Phillips pitched him the ball on the option. UCLA recovered the fumble and the fight was on.

Prothro was the first coach to attack the Wishbone with a “mirror” defense, essentially playing man-to-man on every member of the offensive backfield. He would disguise where the man was coming from and Royal admitted after the game that he and his staff were caught completely offguard by the manuever. It caused the creation of a classic Royalism.

Of UCLA and Prothro, DKR said, “UCLA brought some good people into town and they came in a bad humor. Tommy Prothro didn’t come in on a load of wood either.”

Neither team managed much offense early in the fourth quarter, but Texas finally started a long march towards the south goal. But on 4th and 4, right in front of where I was seated, Jim Bertelsen slipped trying to get to the outside, and UCLA took over on downs with a little over two minutes to go.

The air went out of the stadium, and there were only 52 seconds left when Texas got the ball back, with no timeouts. There was a break in the action after the UCLA punt, and the PA announcer, sensing that the game was slipping away, made an announcement about the Longhorn’s 22-game winning streak. He, in essence, was asking for applause for what the team had accomplished.

Then a wondrous thing happened. The entire student section on the east side stood on the new aluminum benches and began to stomp and cheer.

It quickly spread throughout the stadium — even to the west side. Over 65,000 people were standing and stomping, making more noise than I had ever heard in Memorial Stadium. A friend who was in the press box working for the Daily Texas said that suddenly, the wooden structure began to wobble as if there was an earthquake. The noise continued as Texas broke the huddle.

After making one first down, Eddie Phillips was chased out of the pocket, and as he was going down for a 9-yard loss, he fumbled the ball out of bounds. Good thing since it stopped the clock.

Facing 3rd and 19, Royal called “86 passes, Ted crossing, Sam post.”

Jim Bertelsen broke the ‘bone and ran a short hook to help clear the middle. Tight End Tommy Woodard (Ted) ran a deep middle route while Cotton Speyrer (Sam) ran the post. The ball barely went over Woodard’s head (he was double covered), and as it reached Speyrer, the UCLA defender in the preventive tried for the interception while another UCLA defender nearby was caught leaning the wrong way.

With just 12 seconds to go in the game, I suddenly had the best seat in the house.

The noise factor doubled, and those still in the press box began to fear for their lives. That structure began to shake like a bowl of jello. I don’t remember a whole helluva lot of what I did that night, but I do remember that I was in no shape for class on Monday, and it took all the energy I had just to drag my ass to work that afternoon.

The win gave Texas the new SWC record for consecutive victories at 23. But the post-game atmosphere was strikingly reminiscent of that in Lubbock last week. Royal was bombarded with questions about the offensive troubles until he finally said,

“There are some people around here who think all we have to do is put on an orange uniform, crawl out there in the Wishbone and say, ‘Bang, you’re dead’.”

TEXAS-NOTRE DAME 1971 COTTON bOWL

In 1970, the National Champion was still in the crown before the Bowl season began, so Texas’s Cotton Bowl loss to Notre Dame did not cost it the National Championship. This Also Occurred In 1964, when Alabama was Crown the National Champion Even Though Texas beat them in the Orange Bowl.

Coach Royal Says Of The Longhorn Fans After Notre Dame Broke Texas 30 Game Win Streak. ” We’re Beginning To Develop Some Difficult Fans. They Don’t Understand There’s No Such Person As King Kong And That When You Start Thinking There Is, You Can Get Ready To Wipe Your Bloody Nose.”

While Luck Is Needed To Win Some Games, Talent Wins Most of the Games. Arkansas And Oklahoma Witness The Talent Of The 1970 Texas Team. Texas Defense Dismantles OU’s Wishbone, And The Texas-Arkansas Shootout In Austin Is A Mismatch. Arkansas, a Team Ranked In The Top 10, Is Decimated 42-7. The OU And Arkansas Games Are The Finest Performances Of The 1970 Team. After The Arkansas Win, Coach Bear Bryant Said That The 1970 Team Is The Finest Team He Has Ever Seen.

Thirty-five years After The 1970 National Championship Season, Eddie Phillips Says In 2005, During His Induction Into The Hall of Honor, “I Am Ready To Give Up The Reins As The Last National Championship Quarterback To Vince Young.”

Eddie’s Comments Capture The Collective Thoughts Of The 1970 Team, And On January 4th, 2006, The Spirit Of The 1970 Team Ceded The National Championship Crown To The 2005 Longhorns.

Worster, Bertelsen, Wuensch , Mitchell, Atessis and Henderson were All-SWC. Zapalac won two post-graduate scholarships, and he and Henderson made the All-Academic American team.

1968- 1996- Coach Cliff Gustafson

Darrell Royal, then the athletic director at Texas, gets credit for hiring Cliff in 1968. Royal was asked in 1994 if he ever dreamed Gustafson would be so successful. He responded, “Hell, no, If I’d known that, I’d have gone down there in my car to hire him instead of calling him on the phone.”

When Bibb Falk retired following the 1967 season, Texas hired an alum, Cliff Gustafson. It’s one of the most significant coaching hires in college athletics, and he had no NCAA coaching experience. Coach Gus took the Horns to the College World Series in his first year as head coach for the Horns, where the team went 1-2. 

It is called Gusball, and Cliff Gustafson takes great pride in that moniker and the great athletes who played for him. As of 1994, 35 of his players made it to the majors, including Boston’s Roger Clemens and Houston’s Greg Swindell, but he “I’m just as proud of coaching three orthopedic surgeons.”

• 22 Conference titles

• 11 SWC Tournament Championships

• 2 National Championship -( 1975 and 1983)

• NCAA record 17 appearances to the College World Series

• Won-lost record of 1466-377-2 record

• Member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame

• 1994 inductee into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame

• 1998 received the James Keller Sportsmanship Award

• Coach makes decisions during his coaching years by statistics and percentages.

I tried to get coach Gus to use a computer for calculating batting averages in scrimmages. He explained to me that while he was calculating the averages by hand it helped him derive different lineups for different game time scenarios – pretty interesting.

One reason the Southwest conference and baseball became more competitive is that the NCAA reduced the number of scholarships from 21 under Bibbs to 13 under Cliff.

1968- 23-11  Coach Cliff Gustafson SWC Champs- district 6 and National tournament

4th Straight SWC in a row and 43rd since 1915

This year is the first time in Texas baseball history that the Longhorns lose their first three SWC games, but the Horns recovered and won the SWC. The youth -Tommy Harmon, Randy Peschel, James Street, and Larry Hardy – lead the team. Texas Tech joins the SWC in baseball competition. Captains are Bob Snoddy, Pat Brown, and George Nauert.

SWC allows freshmen to play varsity baseball. 

Professional baseball agrees not to sign college players until they are 21 or have finished three years of college. 

Longhorns come from behind in 6 of the 12 SWC victories.

Larry James says, “The SWC championship is 5 miles south of town and moving in.” Rains canceled the A & M game, and Texas wins the SWC. 

Pan American in Edinburg, Texas pushes Texas for dominance in college baseball for the next eight years. 

It takes a hit by Gene Salmon in the final district playoff game against Pan American for Texas to win the game. 

College World Series appearance- finish 5th at the CWS. 

Bobby Snoddy (1967) and Pat Brown (1968) are the only duo in Texas baseball history to win the batting average back to back who also played baseball together in high school (Odessa Permian). They were both also captains of the team.

.

1969- 40-6 There are Rule changes Coach Cliff Gustafson SWC Champs- District 6 champs and national tournament

The Southwest Conference is more competitive because the NCAA reduces the number of scholarships from 21 to 13. Requiring 8 players who wanted to be a Longhorn each year to choose another college.

Captains are Pat Brown, and Pat Amos

A rule change allows double-headers with non-conference opponents. Therefore the number of games allowed to prepare for SWC play increased from 30 to 42 games.  

Coach Gustafson hones his recruiting skills and convinces high school kids to enjoy the college experience before signing with a professional team. The tactic works, and Burt Hooton, David Chalk, and many other players postpone their professional careers for at least three years of college.

David Hall hits .396 and leads the team in hits, doubles, total bases, and RBI’s.

On paper, this team is one of the best in Texas. Even Bibb Falk said, “I’ve seen some good ones, and I have seen some bad ones, and this may well be the best of all.

Pitchers Hooton and Street are SWC players of the Year. Six players make the All SWC team.

Pat Brown is the only graduating starter on the team. Pat Brown breaks the school career record for hits. 

Street’s 12-2 pitching record ties a school record. Hooton was 12-0

The team is ranked number 1 

James Street pitches a no-hitter against SMU. 

Texas loses to Tulsa at the World Series and then to NYU on the worse umpire call in the history of the CWS. Ten thousand fans saw the NYU first baseman drop the ball before making a tag on Miller to end the game, but the umpire calls Miller out. Coach Gustafson protest the call, and the refs huddle to discuss the play, but none saw the loose ball, and the games committee would not over-rule the wrong call. Texas loses.

1970- 45-8 Coach Cliff Gustafson 45th SWC Championship in 55 years- district six playoffs and national tournament 

A great team, but critical injuries hurt performance. James Street pulled groin muscle, Hooton battled tendinitis, and Chalk missed crucial playing time with tonsillitis.

Captains are Tom Harmon and Pat Amos 

The pitching staff on this team holds the lowest ERA (1.88) record during The Modern Era. 

David Chalk leads the team in batting average (.354), One of the greatest natural hitters in Longhorn Baseball history. He was an All American in 1971 and 1972 and All SWC for three straight years.

                                                                                                Tommy Harmon 1970 HOH

Hooton makes first-team All-American, Tommy Harmon second team, and David Chalk third team. Langerhans, Bagwell, Chalk, Hall, Miller, Hooton, and Street make the All-SWC team. 

Chalk led the team in hitting with a .337 average.

David Chalk was a two-time captain for the Longhorns and a rare four-year player for someone of his ability. He sits sixth all-time in career batting average for Texas, hitting .362 during his time in burnt orange. Chalk hit three homers in a game once and led the Longhorns in stolen bases in 1971 with 12. He was a first-team All-American in 1971 and 1972 and won All-Southwest Conference first-team honors all four years of his college career.

Chalk was elected to the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002. His daughter, Brittany was a softball player for the Longhorns and wore number three just like her dad did.

Ten players on this team played professional baseball with Hooton pitching for the World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers.

A HARD TAG GETS STREET AND HARMON IN TROUBLE WITH SWC.

Tommy Harmon uses a “hard” tag on a Baylor player, and an angry Baylor coach runs toward home plate to protest the tag. James Street sees the coach running at Harmon and reacts instinctively and accidentally hits the Baylor coach in the stomach. The play makes national news. Street apologizes to the Baylor Coach, but the coach refuses his apology. Harmon and Street are cleared of willful misconduct by an SWC committee, but both received probation. David Chalk is an All American in 1971 and 1972.

Lou Bagwell is an Academic All American, All American, and receives an NCAA Post Graduate Scholarship Award.

 SWC champion Texas beats Pan American in the District playoff. 

After winning their first three games of the 1970 CWS against Delaware, Ohio, and Florida State, Texas lost to eventual champion USC in 14 innings, 8-7, and lost 11-2 to Florida State.

Ten players sign professional contracts.

1971- 33-11 Coach Cliff Gustafson SWC Champs- district 6 Champs and National tournament play. 

1971 was a roller coaster year that ended with a deep dip. The team started the year losing 3 out of 4 games to Pan American. After three weeks of baseball, the team was 8-6.

Captains are D. Chalk and J. Langerhans. 

This is one of the best hitting teams in Texas baseball history, except for Hooton, the organization lacked experience at pitching. Hooton suffered his first SWC defeat. Alan Lowry helps shore up the outfield. Burt Hooton pitches two seven-inning no-hitters. The team wins 25 of the last 28 games and sets a conference record of .333. Walt Rothe won the conference batting championship with a .485 average and 33 base hits. Coach Gustafson says the pitching duel between Texas Tech’s Reuben Garcia and Texas’s Burt Hooten is the most magnificent performance he has ever witnessed. Texas wins the SWC but loses to Pan American in the district playoffs. Pan America managed two shut-outs against the best hitting team in Longhorn history.

The man nicknamed “Happy” by Tommy Lasorda because he rarely smiled is one of the best Longhorn pitchers of all time. Hooton had a win-loss record of 35-3 in his three seasons at Texas. He holds the lowest career earned run average in Longhorn history, with a 1.14 ERA. He once struck out 19 batters in a game, which is tied for Texas’s best, and Hooton’s opponents only batted .158 against him in his career, which is also the best all-time for a Texas pitcher. Hooton’s 13 career shutouts are one shy of the NCAA record (held by Greg Swindell, also a Longhorn).

Hooton was taken second overall by the Cubs in the 1971 MLB draft, which is still tied for the best pick a Longhorn has ever been.

Burt Hooton is the first pitcher in college baseball history to be named All-American three years in a row. Texas has retired Hooton’s number 20, and he was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

It is Gustafson’s baseball team’s first absence from the CWS in 5 years.

Arizona State’s head coach says Hooton is the “best college pitcher we’ve ever faced—or seen.”

Walt Rothe sets a conference record with 33 hits.

1972- 50-9 Coach Cliff Gustafson Co-SWC Champs- district 6 playoff and national tournament

This is the first team in Longhorn sports history to win 50 games. Luck was part of the equation this year in reaching the CWS. Texas was Co-SWC champs because SMU in the bottom of the 9th beat the league-leading TCU Horned Frogs. It was the Longhorns 47th championship in 57 years. Pitching is inconsistent, but batting is not. 4 Longhorns are in the top 10 race for the SWC batting championship- Chalk, Berryhill, Markl, and Pyka. This team starts the season 17-1 but fades in the middle of the season due to pitcher injuries.

Captains are D. Chalk and M. Markl.

Charlie Crenshaw V is the brother of the great golfer Ben Crenshaw. Charlie played CF and RF for the Longhorn baseball team from ’70 to ‘73. During a game with Baylor, their fans starting screaming at Charlie, “Hey!!! How come you’re not caddying for your brother Ben?!?!?!” Charlie responded by hitting a home run and “saluting” the Bear fans with a profound universal gesture as he ran the bases.

Coach Gus had severe discipline problems with this team and threatened the team with canceling the trip to Omaha if they did not adhere to his rules. 

Berryhill leads the team in hitting with a .366 and is honored as a 3rd team All-American.

Gus always had the strictest of policies and a hair code. Long sideburns were out. Mutton chops were forbidden. BerryHill’s hair length bothered Coach Gus. One morning, Berryhill arrived at the ballpark and noticed that his uniform wasn’t in his locker. He approached trainer Spanky Stephens, who told him to take it up with Coach.

“I don’t see the relationship between my ability to hit a baseball and the length of my hair,” Berryhill told Gus defiantly.

Responded Gus, “Well, in your case, we’re not going to find out.”

David Chalk left Texas with a school-record career batting average of .362 and as a first-team All-American.

Markl, Berryhill, Pyka, Pape, and Rznovsky made the All-SWC team.

The team wins SWC barely beats their baseball nemesis Pan Am and then loses to Connecticut and USC in the CWS. Texas went 2-2 in Omaha almost eliminating USC in 10 innings. Texas loses 4-3.

1973- 50-7 Coach Cliff Gustafson SWC Champs-

1973 – Aluminum bats officially allowed

Texas won the SWC 48 out of 58 years.

The Horns started this season with two losses to Sam Houston State followed by 20 straight wins.

This year Ron Roznovsky throws a no-hitter and ties some other great pitchers with the most victories in a season.

Houston joins the SWC.

Jim Gideon shares his story at the link below.

https://www.texaslsn.org/1974-jim-gideon-baseball

The team sets a modern school record with 20 consecutive victories. This was the winningest team in school history at 45-5 going into the playoffs.

Team Captain is Steve Clancy.

The 1973 recruiting class was one of the best in Longhorn baseball history. After the National Championship game in 1975, all but three members of this class signed professional contracts.

This team equals the W-L record of the great 1972 with a different cast of players.

Captain Ron Roznovsky sets a school pitching record with 13 wins and throws a no-hitter.

Freshman Keith Moreland and Ron Roznovsky are All-Americans.

Keith set school records for a season with 209 at-bats and 73 hits with a .405 batting average. Ron set a school record with a 14-0 record and one no-hitter.

 Texas once again has to overcome Pan American to make the CWS. Texas wins the Pan American game in 13 innings, 14-12. For the third time in three trips, Texas fell to USC; Texas went 2-2 in the tournament. It is Texas 16th visit to the College World Series. They lose to USC and Arizona State but tie for 3rd in the series.

1974 – 54-8 SwC Champions- district 6 playoff and national tournament

1974-  The designated hitter rule was implemented and a limited substitution rule was authorized.

This team starts slowly, and Terry Pyka says, “The key is unity. There have been many great individuals in the past, and this year’s team is no exception. After our losses to Tech and Arkansas, we realized we had to come together to win the conference. We just had to get it together, and we did.”

Top of the charts 1974

Pitcher Jim Gideon only allows 1.94 walks a game. https://www.texaslsn.org/1974-jim-gideon-baseball

The use of Aluminum bats is approved, and eight individual seasonal hitting records are broken, and 17 seasonal team records fall, including 629 hits, 128 doubles, 66 home runs, a best batting average of .319, and a best slugging percentage of .508.

Texas beats A & M to win the SWC championship in the last SWC game at Clark Field. The Horns dominate the Aggies 60-22-4 at Clark Field. 

During Clark Field’s 47-year history, Texas has won the SWC 37 times in 46. Twenty-two of those Texas teams participated in the NCAA playoffs and won 2 National Championships.

Jim Gideon ties an NCAA record with 19 victories for the season.

The fans go nuts after the final game at Clark Field and start taking souvenirs from Billy Goat Hill. 

Rick Bradley leads the Horns in hitting with a 414 average. In pitching, the Horns led the SWC in the fewest runs and fewest walks.

Texas beats Pan America and Louisiana Tech in district play on the road to the CWS tournament. Once again, Texas faced USC in an elimination game, and once again, the Trojans won a thriller, 5-3, en route to its fifth straight title. Texas lost to USC to open the tournament 9-2 but battled back with blowout wins over Seton Hall and Oklahoma to get to a rematch.

Texas finishes 4th at CWS. 

https://www.texaslsn.org/tom-ball-baseball

https://www.texaslsn.org/tom-ball-baseball-interview

Keith Moreland (1973-1975)

The outfielder and occasional third baseman led his team in batting average in every year he played in Austin and improved his already stellar hitting with every season. His continued success culminated with a .410 average in 1975, the fourth-best all-time for a Texas player. His .388 career batting average ranks third for all Texas players, only behind Brian Cisarik (.389), and Dustin Majewski (.395). The Longhorns won the national championship in 1975 thanks to Moreland’s stellar play, and Moreland was an All-American in all three of his seasons at Texas.

. A College Baseball Hall of Fame member, Moreland’s number three jersey was retired by Texas in 2010.

Keith Moreland is an All-American who set 5 individual season records and seven career batting records. He was inducted into the Omaha College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. His jersey number 3 was retired in 2010.

David Reeves is an All-American

1974-1975-  59-6 National champs Coach Gus is SWC Coach of the Year.

It was the first national championship for Texas in 25 years.

Mark Griffin

In the 1975 NCAA College World Series, Mark Griffin played a pivotal role in securing victory for the Texas Longhorns. His clutch performances were crucial in their championship run:

• Championship Game Against South Carolina:

  • With the game on the line, Mark Griffin delivered not one but two important hits that swung the momentum in favor of the Longhorns.

  • These hits were critical in crucial situations, driving in runs and keeping the Longhorns’ offense alive.

  • Griffin’s contributions were instrumental in securing the College World Series title for Texas.

• Bill LITTLE SAYS

“But there was one other guy who made a difference” in the CWS.

In the Longhorns’ win over South Carolina that led to an eventual championship game, a power-hitting outfielder was struggling at the plate. Gustafson called time out, and with a count of 0-2 on the batter, called on Mark Griffin, a little guy whose limited career had produced only a .263 batting average. And he sent him to the plate. With only one strike left, he laced a single that plated a run, and ignited a six-run rally. 

 Jim Gideon is the SWC Player of the Year. Keith Moreland, Ricky Bradley, Garry Pyka, Mickey Reichenbach, and Martin Flores were all SWC.

The team moves to The Disch-Falk Field, and the Horn skill-set changes with the new stadium. The “Cactus” annual states that more emphasis is put on “speed, defense, and pitching” and controlled hitting than Clark Field. Horns are 23-1 in SWC play. Six members of this team are selected to the All SWC team. Gustafson’s record after this season is 342-65. Jim Gideon is 12-0, and Wortham is 10-0.

First at Disch-Falk Field 

The first victory against St. Mary’s on Feb. 17, 1975; Blair Stouffer got the first hit and first home run; pitcher Jim Gideon the first victory. 

During SWC play, Texas’s batting average was sub-par going into the Baylor game. Coach Gustafson speculates that one reason is that—like wood bats—aluminum bats have a limited useful life. He instructs the managers to take only new aluminum bats to Waco. Texas beat Baylor in all three games, scoring 44 runs on 50 hits with 11 home runs.

This team holds the Longhorn record for most triples ( 51), highest batting average (.325), and most shutouts (16)

Texas wins the SWC and again beats Pan American in the South Central Regionals. 

 The CWS starts with an inauspicious beginning with undefeated Wortham losing in the second game to Arizona State, followed by a sloppy win 12-11 over Seton Hall. This year mirrors the failures of the other great Longhorn teams that collapsed at the CWS.

Coach Gus could feel the stress building up on the team and recognized he needed to loosen everyone up. Coach Gus said to his team, “ if I were a drinking man, I’d go out and get drunk tonight.” Many players did as instructed, and the rest is college baseball history. Texas defeats South Carolina 17-6, wins the flip and the Bye based on Spanky Stephens lucky feeling, and defeats South Carolina again 5-1.

Texas takes a .328 batting average, and an earned run average of 1.74 to Omaha. The Longhorns went 4-1 in Omaha, the only loss coming to Arizona State, 5-2. Texas won a 12-10 game over Seton Hall to reach the championship round against South Carolina.

Mickey Reichenbach was named Most Outstanding Player for Texas, who also boasted a roster that included Keith Moreland, Jim Gideon, Don Kainer and Rich Wortham. Texas finished the season 59-6 overall.

Richard Wortham suffered a leg injury in a fall when an elevator broke while he is working at Gregory Gym. At one point, the doctors questioned if he would ever walk again. He did more than walk again, finishing the season with a 14-1 record, and he pitches a four-hitter to win the national championship for the Longhorns. Keith Moreland sets five individual seasons and seven career batting records, including a .388 career batting average.

Reichenbach’s home run is at 1:40

Jim Gideon ties an NCAA record with 19 victories in 1974. He was an Academic All-American in 1974 and 1975.

1976- 48-16 -Victory Lane and Defeat Avenue- 51st Swc championship- Southwest regional playoffs.

The team starts at 16-2, but injuries to Keith Moreland, Blair Stouffer, Rick Bradley, and Jim Gideon put the team in a significant slump. OU beats the Horns for the first time in 4 years, and for the first time since 1960, there is no Texas school in the CWS.

Wendell Hibbett ties an SWC record with 3 home runs in one game. The Horns tie a school record with 25 hits in one game.

 For most baseball teams, a 48-16 record would be excellent, but it was his worse year to date for Gustafson. Over a 23 game stretch, the Horns were 13-10.

Captain Richard Wortham is an All-American. He was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010. He holds the career record of most innings pitched (456.2) and most career victories (50).

A four-year starting pitcher from 1973-1976, Wortham appeared in 75 games for the Longhorns and played an integral part in the 1975 national championship.

Captain Doug Duncan is an Academic All-American in 1975 and 1976.

Proske, Pyka, and Reichenback make the All SWC team.

This Longhorn team sets a school record for 25 hits in one game.

Texas is the SWC champion, but the Longhorns lose to OU in the Regionals.

1977- 53-10- The wild bunch (fans, not the team)

1977-  Once told, “you can’t’ win them all.” Cliff replied “you can if you are good enough,” and he’s been out to prove the theory ever since.

 He took his Longhorns to the 17 College World Series. When he retired in 1996, he had won more games than Billy Disch, and Bibb Falk combined with a record of 1466 wins, 377 losses, and two ties.

In the early 1950s, three men participating in the same game, sharing a moment that would touch Texas baseball for 80 years. 

10,000 fans show up to watch the Texas Rangers play the Longhorns. The rangers win 9-4. It is a costly game for the Horns losing pitcher Bob Heuck with a torn tendon in his throwing arm that ended his baseball career.

NCAA reduces the number of Scholarships in baseball from 20 to 13. 

Texas breaks the NCAA record by winning 34 games in a row, but for the first time since 1964, Texas does not win the SWC or make the playoffs. 

The wild bunch was a group of fans that’s existence will live in infamy. This group hated the Aggies and mocked them and the Aggie traditions during the games. These Horns were poor sports, and ironically this year, with a record of 53-10, the Horns lost the SWC to the Aggies.

With a 39-1 record, Sports Illustrated once again was a jinx to a great season. Sportswriter Doug Looney joined the Longhorn team for the Texas A & M baseball series. A & M won 2 of 3 games, and the Sports Illustrated story was not written. In truth, the assistant sports director who handled baseball for Texas said this team was not really that good, but they did not know it. To paraphrase Dick Siebert, the Minnesota baseball coach -records like this happen in sports with everything breaking your way. Many times, the momentum changes, and everything starts to go against you.

This is the first year for the SWC post-season tournament. Texas places 2nd in the tournament.

Rocky Thompson sets a record by not striking out the entire season.

Captain Wendell Hibbett and Don Kainer make the All SWC team. C.Proske is the other Captain of the team.

Mickey Reichenbach sets a career school record for runs batted in. Jones leads the team in hitting with a .353 average. Dan Kainer and Tony Brizzolara each led the team in pitching, winning 15 games and losing 2.

1978- 36-17  A season of frustration with a foot fault to end the season

Captains of the team are Mark Chelette and Chris Raper.

Horns finish in 5th place in the SWC.  The baseball team did not have one sweep of an SWC team this year.  The batting average is  .211 for 7th place in the SWC.

Ronnie Gardenhire is injured three times- nose, wrist, and thumb, but manages to set an SWC record by driving in 10 runs in a win over Arkansas.

Pitcher Ricky Wright tore up a knee, and his older brother Kem had arm trouble.

At one point, this team was 4-8 in the SWC.

Gustafson receives a lot of criticism from the fans this year,  but the players support him and take most of the blame for a poor year. 

Andre Robertson is Texas’ first black baseball player to receive a scholarship to Texas. HOH inductee 

Though Robertson never eclipsed a .300 average in burnt orange, he was a more promising professional prospect then many on the Longhorn team. Professionally he did well suffering a broken neck in a car crash that ended his career. He was also the first black player to receive a full scholarship for baseball at Texas,

 History says that Gralyn Wyatt was the first black baseball player at Texas, but Gralyn never lettered or received a scholarship.

Andre Robertson is the first black baseball player who received a scholarship to Texas and endured racist slurs from fans in a still tense time in American history.

In the Texas Tech game, the umpire on a perfect double-play ball for the Horns says that Andre Robertson’s foot was not on the base and called the runner safe at second. The lousy call cost them a qualifying spot in the SWC baseball tournament.

Robertson batted around .330, but his glove caught 1.000.  In the Texas Tech game, the umpire on a perfect double-play ball for the Horns says that Andre Robertson’s foot was not on the base and called the runner safe at second. The bad call cost them a qualifying spot in the SWC baseball tournament.

Robertson batted around .330, but his glove caught 1.000.

Creel is the team’s MVP and only All-SWC player.  

The Leading hitter is Joe Bruno. In all his years as the Longhorn coach, Gus says Joe Bruno is one of his most impressive players with a .348 batting average and 27 stolen bases. 

Austin American wrote an article about Longhorn baseball titled “Death of a Dynasty.” The Austin American is wrong again.

The team only had one member selected to the All SWC team in 1978.

1979- 61-8 SWC champs and 4th in the nation- central regional playoff and national tournament. 

That first “Central Regional,” as it was called, featured Pan American, Lamar, and BYU. Texas hosted 16 straight regionals in the first two decades at Disch-Falk until the streak was broken in 1995 when Texas traveled to Oklahoma City.

This team set the Longhorn season record for most victories. After the season is over, 10 players from this team enter the draft.

Pitcher Rickey Wright is lost for the season with a knee injury.

As of the end of the 1979 season Coach Gus’s record was 542 and 115.  Pitching was key this year.  Ricky Wright throws a no-hitter against Rice. 

The 1979 starting lineup is basically the same as 1978. 

This team wins 30 of the first 31 games.

Joe Bruno sets a season record with 33 stolen bases.

A rule change allows two staff coaches on the field at the same time. Basketball coach Abe Lemons says it is about time “ If my team screws up, I’m right out there for all the fans to see, yell at, and throw things at. If Coach Gus screws up, he just hides in the dugout, and nobody can see him.”

The Aggie coach says that the 1979 Longhorn pitching staff is the best he has seen in his 21 years of coaching. 

Three of the four teams in the SWC tournament are in the top 20. Baylor won the last two baseball tournaments, but the Longhorns won this one.

Texas earns the right to play in the CWS. This is the Longhorn’s 25th time competing for the National Championship and the 18th appearance in the CWS tournament.

After winning their first two games against Connecticut and Mississippi State, Texas lost to Arkansas and Pepperdine to finish 4th. Cal State Fullerton won its first title.

It wrapped a decade in which Texas reached the CWS six times.

Jerry Gleaton is 13-1 as the Longhorn pitcher and a first-team All-American.

Wright, Salazar, Gardenhire, and Bruno made the All SWC team. 

Ten players from this team signed professional contracts—the most every as of 1979. 

Captain Ron Gardenhire sets an SWC record in 1979 by driving in 10 runs against Arkansas. Mark Chelette is the other captain of the team. 

1980- 53-13  SWC Champs for the 53rd time. central regional playoff

21 of 39 players are rookies.

Gustafson has his 600th victory.

Keith Creel is 16-1 as a pitcher. Dave Seiler has a no-hitter against SMU. Coach Gustafson says, “I am probably prouder of this conference championship team than I am of any of them because of the circumstances.” Coach did not expect this team to do well, and their steady, methodically winning process surprised him.

A ball hits Coach Gustafson in the eye, but he recovers near the end of the SWC season.

Bill Bethea does a great job of coaching the team. Texas is the SWC champion, but Texas loses to Hawaii in the regionals.

Captain Ricky Nixon and Randy Richards hit .344 and .345, respectively. Creel was a 2nd team All -American, and David, Nixon, Campbell, and Zatopek were All SWC.

1981- 61-11-1 Coach Gus -” the most exciting team I ever coached.” The team was a central regional playoff and national tournament.

In 1981 Mark Reynolds had a .345 batting average with 17 doubles, 7 home runs, and 55 batted in but in 1982 he suffered a fractured left foot. According to team members, Mark is as good a fastball hitter as they have seen.

A team of Scramblers “Everyone seemed capable of playing one game at a level beyond his capabilities. so that games were forever being won by someone of whom little was expected.”

With the exception of Tony Arnold, pitching this year was problematic with hitting the key to success. 

This team comes from behind in 28 of 61 games won.

Texas wins the 54th SWC in 66 years.

Texas beats Stanford in the regionals.

Texas beats Rice in 19 innings to clinch the  SWC tournament championship. 

The Longhorns reached the CWS seven times in the 1980s, won one title, and finished runner-up three times. Tony Arnold pulled a groin muscle in the CWS before the Miami game, and Mike Withrow replaced him. Texas lost to Arizona State 11-2 to open the tournament but bounced back to win three games in a row, beating Michigan, Miami (Fla.), and Oklahoma State before losing again to eventual champion Arizona State 12-3.

Captain Buck Goldthorn led the team in batting with a .354 average.

Arnold, Goldthorn, Owen, and Culley were All SWC.

1982 59-6- Coach Gus – The Enigma. 55th SWC championship- central regional playoff and national tournament.

1982—At the beginning of the season, the team was hitting a paltry .249 in the SWC because Mark Reynolds had a broken foot and missed his power hitting. Entering the playoffs, Kirk Killingsworth led the team in hitting and pitching.

 The team was composed of 13 freshmen and 5 seniors.

Roger Clemens was not recruited out of Spring Woods High School, so he went to Jacinto Junior College to pitch until Cliff offered him a scholarship.

The home attendance record for a single game, 8000 fans, is set against OU. Texas wins the game 8-0.

Texas wins 33 games in a row. The 2nd longest in NCAA history. This year

At one point in the season, Gustafson said that his pitching staff was thin even with sophomore Roger Clemens and Calvin Schiraldi.  A bunt against the Aggies results in a homer for the Longhorns.   Longhorn Livermore says, “leave it to the Aggies to turn a bunt into a homer. I’ve seen that in Little League, but nowhere else.”

Spike Owens sets school records for runs scored (250) and stolen bases and only commits 7 errors in 250 chances. Spike receives All-American honors.

Kirk Killingsworth, Mike Brumley, and Mike Capel make the All-SWC team.

Randy Day is one of the two captains of the team.

Coach Gustafson is Coach of the Year.

Texas is projected to win the tournament. Texas beats Oklahoma State and Stanford but is eliminated in 24 hours by Miami and Wichita State.

1968- 1996- Coach Cliff Gustafson

Darrell Royal, then the athletic director at Texas, gets credit for hiring Cliff in 1968. Royal was asked in 1994 if he ever dreamed Gustafson would be so successful. He responded, “Hell, no, If I’d known that, I’d have gone down there in my car to hire him instead of calling him on the phone.”

When Bibb Falk retired following the 1967 season, Texas hired an alum, Cliff Gustafson. It’s one of the most significant coaching hires in college athletics, and he had no NCAA coaching experience. Coach Gus took the Horns to the College World Series in his first year as head coach for the Horns, where the team went 1-2. 

It is called Gusball, and Cliff Gustafson takes great pride in that moniker and the great athletes who played for him. As of 1994, 35 of his players made it to the majors, including Boston’s Roger Clemens and Houston’s Greg Swindell, but he “I’m just as proud of coaching three orthopedic surgeons.”

• 22 Conference titles

• 11 SWC Tournament Championships

• 2 National Championship -( 1975 and 1983)

• NCAA record 17 appearances to the College World Series

• Won-lost record of 1466-377-2 record

• Member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame

• 1994 inductee into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame

• 1998 received the James Keller Sportsmanship Award

• Coach makes decisions during his coaching years by statistics and percentages.

John Turman III a friend of Coach Gus says:

I tried to get coach Gus to use a computer for calculating batting averages in scrimmages. He explained to me that while he was calculating the averages by hand it helped him derive different lineups for different game time scenarios – pretty interesting.

One reason the Southwest conference and baseball became more competitive is that the NCAA reduced the number of scholarships from 21 under Bibbs to 13 under Cliff.

1968- 23-11  Coach Cliff Gustafson SWC Champs- district 6 and National tournament

4th Straight SWC in a row and 43rd since 1915

This year is the first time in Texas baseball history that the Longhorns lose their first three SWC games, but the Horns recovered and won the SWC. The youth -Tommy Harmon, Randy Peschel, James Street, and Larry Hardy – lead the team. Texas Tech joins the SWC in baseball competition. Captains are Bob Snoddy, Pat Brown, and George Nauert.

SWC allows freshmen to play varsity baseball. 

Professional baseball agrees not to sign college players until they are 21 or have finished three years of college. 

Longhorns come from behind in 6 of the 12 SWC victories.

Larry James says, “The SWC championship is 5 miles south of town and moving in.” Rains canceled the A & M game, and Texas wins the SWC. 

Pan American in Edinburg, Texas pushes Texas for dominance in college baseball for the next eight years. 

It takes a hit by Gene Salmon in the final district playoff game against Pan American for Texas to win the game. 

College World Series appearance- finish 5th at the CWS. 

Bobby Snoddy (1967) and Pat Brown (1968) are the only duo in Texas baseball history to win the batting average back to back who also played baseball together in high school (Odessa Permian). They were both also captains of the team.

.

1969- 40-6 There are Rule changes Coach Cliff Gustafson SWC Champs- District 6 champs and national tournament

The Southwest Conference is more competitive because the NCAA reduces the number of scholarships from 21 to 13. Requiring 8 players who wanted to be a Longhorn each year to choose another college.

Captains are Pat Brown, and Pat Amos

A rule change allows double-headers with non-conference opponents. Therefore the number of games allowed to prepare for SWC play increased from 30 to 42 games.  

Coach Gustafson hones his recruiting skills and convinces high school kids to enjoy the college experience before signing with a professional team. The tactic works, and Burt Hooton, David Chalk, and many other players postpone their professional careers for at least three years of college.

David Hall hits .396 and leads the team in hits, doubles, total bases, and RBI’s.

On paper, this team is one of the best in Texas. Even Bibb Falk said, “I’ve seen some good ones, and I have seen some bad ones, and this may well be the best of all.

Pitchers Hooton and Street are SWC players of the Year. Six players make the All SWC team.

Pat Brown is the only graduating starter on the team. Pat Brown breaks the school career record for hits. 

Street’s 12-2 pitching record ties a school record. Hooton was 12-0

The team is ranked number 1 

James Street pitches a no-hitter against SMU. 

Texas loses to Tulsa at the World Series and then to NYU on the worse umpire call in the history of the CWS. Ten thousand fans saw the NYU first baseman drop the ball before making a tag on Miller to end the game, but the umpire calls Miller out. Coach Gustafson protest the call, and the refs huddle to discuss the play, but none saw the loose ball, and the games committee would not over-rule the wrong call. Texas loses.

1970- 45-8 Coach Cliff Gustafson 45th SWC Championship in 55 years- district six playoffs and national tournament 

A great team, but critical injuries hurt performance. James Street pulled groin muscle, Hooton battled tendinitis, and Chalk missed crucial playing time with tonsillitis.

Captains are Tom Harmon and Pat Amos 

The pitching staff on this team holds the lowest ERA (1.88) record during The Modern Era. 

David Chalk leads the team in batting average (.354), One of the greatest natural hitters in Longhorn Baseball history. He was an All American in 1971 and 1972 and All SWC for three straight years.

                                                                                                Tommy Harmon 1970 HOH

Hooton makes first-team All-American, Tommy Harmon second team, and David Chalk third team. Langerhans, Bagwell, Chalk, Hall, Miller, Hooton, and Street make the All-SWC team. 

Chalk led the team in hitting with a .337 average.

David Chalk was a two-time captain for the Longhorns and a rare four-year player for someone of his ability. He sits sixth all-time in career batting average for Texas, hitting .362 during his time in burnt orange. Chalk hit three homers in a game once and led the Longhorns in stolen bases in 1971 with 12. He was a first-team All-American in 1971 and 1972 and won All-Southwest Conference first-team honors all four years of his college career.

Chalk was elected to the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002. His daughter, Brittany was a softball player for the Longhorns and wore number three just like her dad did.

Ten players on this team played professional baseball with Hooton pitching for the World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers.

A HARD TAG GETS STREET AND HARMON IN TROUBLE WITH SWC.

Tommy Harmon uses a “hard” tag on a Baylor player, and an angry Baylor coach runs toward home plate to protest the tag. James Street sees the coach running at Harmon and reacts instinctively and accidentally hits the Baylor coach in the stomach. The play makes national news. Street apologizes to the Baylor Coach, but the coach refuses his apology. Harmon and Street are cleared of willful misconduct by an SWC committee, but both received probation. David Chalk is an All American in 1971 and 1972.

Lou Bagwell is an Academic All American, All American, and receives an NCAA Post Graduate Scholarship Award.

 SWC champion Texas beats Pan American in the District playoff. 

After winning their first three games of the 1970 CWS against Delaware, Ohio, and Florida State, Texas lost to eventual champion USC in 14 innings, 8-7, and lost 11-2 to Florida State.

Ten players sign professional contracts.

1971- 33-11 Coach Cliff Gustafson SWC Champs- district 6 Champs and National tournament play. 

1971 was a roller coaster year that ended with a deep dip. The team started the year losing 3 out of 4 games to Pan American. After three weeks of baseball, the team was 8-6.

Captains are D. Chalk and J. Langerhans. 

This is one of the best hitting teams in Texas baseball history, except for Hooton, the organization lacked experience at pitching. Hooton suffered his first SWC defeat. Alan Lowry helps shore up the outfield. Burt Hooton pitches two seven-inning no-hitters. The team wins 25 of the last 28 games and sets a conference record of .333. Walt Rothe won the conference batting championship with a .485 average and 33 base hits. Coach Gustafson says the pitching duel between Texas Tech’s Reuben Garcia and Texas’s Burt Hooten is the most magnificent performance he has ever witnessed. Texas wins the SWC but loses to Pan American in the district playoffs. Pan America managed two shut-outs against the best hitting team in Longhorn history.

The man nicknamed “Happy” by Tommy Lasorda because he rarely smiled is one of the best Longhorn pitchers of all time. Hooton had a win-loss record of 35-3 in his three seasons at Texas. He holds the lowest career earned run average in Longhorn history, with a 1.14 ERA. He once struck out 19 batters in a game, which is tied for Texas’s best, and Hooton’s opponents only batted .158 against him in his career, which is also the best all-time for a Texas pitcher. Hooton’s 13 career shutouts are one shy of the NCAA record (held by Greg Swindell, also a Longhorn).

Hooton was taken second overall by the Cubs in the 1971 MLB draft, which is still tied for the best pick a Longhorn has ever been.

Burt Hooton is the first pitcher in college baseball history to be named All-American three years in a row. Texas has retired Hooton’s number 20, and he was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

It is Gustafson’s baseball team’s first absence from the CWS in 5 years.

Arizona State’s head coach says Hooton is the “best college pitcher we’ve ever faced—or seen.”

Walt Rothe sets a conference record with 33 hits.

1972- 50-9 Coach Cliff Gustafson Co-SWC Champs- district 6 playoff and national tournament

This is the first team in Longhorn sports history to win 50 games. Luck was part of the equation this year in reaching the CWS. Texas was Co-SWC champs because SMU in the bottom of the 9th beat the league-leading TCU Horned Frogs. It was the Longhorns 47th championship in 57 years. Pitching is inconsistent, but batting is not. 4 Longhorns are in the top 10 race for the SWC batting championship- Chalk, Berryhill, Markl, and Pyka. This team starts the season 17-1 but fades in the middle of the season due to pitcher injuries.

Captains are D. Chalk and M. Markl.

Charlie Crenshaw V is the brother of the great golfer Ben Crenshaw. Charlie played CF and RF for the Longhorn baseball team from ’70 to ‘73. During a game with Baylor, their fans starting screaming at Charlie, “Hey!!! How come you’re not caddying for your brother Ben?!?!?!” Charlie responded by hitting a home run and “saluting” the Bear fans with a profound universal gesture as he ran the bases.

Coach Gus had severe discipline problems with this team and threatened the team with canceling the trip to Omaha if they did not adhere to his rules. 

Berryhill leads the team in hitting with a .366 and is honored as a 3rd team All-American.

Gus always had the strictest of policies and a hair code. Long sideburns were out. Mutton chops were forbidden. BerryHill’s hair length bothered Coach Gus. One morning, Berryhill arrived at the ballpark and noticed that his uniform wasn’t in his locker. He approached trainer Spanky Stephens, who told him to take it up with Coach.

“I don’t see the relationship between my ability to hit a baseball and the length of my hair,” Berryhill told Gus defiantly.

Responded Gus, “Well, in your case, we’re not going to find out.”

David Chalk left Texas with a school-record career batting average of .362 and as a first-team All-American.

Markl, Berryhill, Pyka, Pape, and Rznovsky made the All-SWC team.

The team wins SWC barely beats their baseball nemesis Pan Am and then loses to Connecticut and USC in the CWS. Texas went 2-2 in Omaha almost eliminating USC in 10 innings. Texas loses 4-3.

1973- 50-7 Coach Cliff Gustafson SWC Champs-

1973 – Aluminum bats officially allowed

Texas won the SWC 48 out of 58 years.

The Horns started this season with two losses to Sam Houston State followed by 20 straight wins.

This year Ron Roznovsky throws a no-hitter and ties some other great pitchers with the most victories in a season.

Houston joins the SWC.

Jim Gideon shares his story at the link below.

https://www.texaslsn.org/1974-jim-gideon-baseball

The team sets a modern school record with 20 consecutive victories. This was the winningest team in school history at 45-5 going into the playoffs.

Team Captain is Steve Clancy.

The 1973 recruiting class was one of the best in Longhorn baseball history. After the National Championship game in 1975, all but three members of this class signed professional contracts.

This team equals the W-L record of the great 1972 with a different cast of players.

Captain Ron Roznovsky sets a school pitching record with 13 wins and throws a no-hitter.

Freshman Keith Moreland and Ron Roznovsky are All-Americans.

Keith set school records for a season with 209 at-bats and 73 hits with a .405 batting average. Ron set a school record with a 14-0 record and one no-hitter.

 Texas once again has to overcome Pan American to make the CWS. Texas wins the Pan American game in 13 innings, 14-12. For the third time in three trips, Texas fell to USC; Texas went 2-2 in the tournament. It is Texas 16th visit to the College World Series. They lose to USC and Arizona State but tie for 3rd in the series.

1974 – 54-8 SwC Champions- district 6 playoff and national tournament

1974-  The designated hitter rule was implemented and a limited substitution rule was authorized.

This team starts slowly, and Terry Pyka says, “The key is unity. There have been many great individuals in the past, and this year’s team is no exception. After our losses to Tech and Arkansas, we realized we had to come together to win the conference. We just had to get it together, and we did.”

Top of the charts 1974

Pitcher Ed Gideon only allows 1.94 walks a game. https://www.texaslsn.org/1974-jim-gideon-baseball

The use of Aluminum bats is approved, and eight individual seasonal hitting records are broken, and 17 seasonal team records fall, including 629 hits, 128 doubles, 66 home runs, best batting average .319, and a best slugging percentage of .508. 

Texas beats A & M to win the SWC championship in the last SWC game at Clark Field. The Horns dominate the Aggies 60-22-4 at Clark Field. 

During the 47 year history of Clark Field, Texas wins the SWC 37 of 46 times. Twenty-two of those Texas teams participate in the NCAA playoffs, and won 2 National Championships. 

Jim Gideon ties an NCAA record with 19 victories for the season.

The fans go nuts after the final game at Clark Field and start taking souvenir pieces of Billy Goat Hill.  

Rick Bradley leads the Horns in hitting with a 414 average. In pitching, the Horns led the SWC in the fewest runs and fewest walks.

Texas beats Pan America and Louisiana Tech in district play on the road to the CWS tournament. Once again, Texas faced USC in an elimination game, and once again, the Trojans won a thriller, 5-3, en route to its fifth straight title. Texas lost to USC to open the tournament 9-2 but battled back with blowout wins over Seton Hall and Oklahoma to get to a rematch.

Texas finishes 4th at CWS. 

https://www.texaslsn.org/tom-ball-baseball

https://www.texaslsn.org/tom-ball-baseball-interview

Keith Moreland (1973-1975)

The outfielder and occasional third baseman led his team in batting average in every year he played in Austin and improved his already stellar hitting with every season. His continued success culminated with a .410 average in 1975, the fourth-best all-time for a Texas player. His .388 career batting average ranks third for all Texas players, only behind Brian Cisarik (.389), and Dustin Majewski (.395). The Longhorns won the national championship in 1975 thanks to Moreland’s stellar play, and Moreland was an All-American in all three of his seasons at Texas.

. A College Baseball Hall of Fame member, Moreland’s number three jersey was retired by Texas in 2010.

Keith Moreland is an All-American who set 5 individual season records and seven career batting records. He was inducted into the Omaha College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. His jersey number 3 was retired in 2010.

David Reeves is an All-American

1974-1975-  59-6 National champs Coach Gus is SWC Coach of the Year.

It was the first national championship for Texas in 25 years.

Mark Griffin

In the 1975 NCAA College World Series, Mark Griffin played a pivotal role in securing victory for the Texas Longhorns. His clutch performances were crucial in their championship run:

• Championship Game Against South Carolina:

  • With the game on the line, Mark Griffin delivered not one but two important hits that swung the momentum in favor of the Longhorns.

  • These hits were critical in crucial situations, driving in runs and keeping the Longhorns’ offense alive.

  • Griffin’s contributions were instrumental in securing the College World Series title for Texas.

• Bill LITTLE SAYS

“But there was one other guy who made a difference” in the CWS.

In the Longhorns’ win over South Carolina that led to an eventual championship game, a power-hitting outfielder was struggling at the plate. Gustafson called time out, and with a count of 0-2 on the batter, called on Mark Griffin, a little guy whose limited career had produced only a .263 batting average. And he sent him to the plate. With only one strike left, he laced a single that plated a run, and ignited a six-run rally. 

 Jim Gideon is the SWC Player of the Year. Keith Moreland, Ricky Bradley, Garry Pyka, Mickey Reichenbach, and Martin Flores were all SWC.

The team moves to The Disch-Falk Field, and the Horn skill-set changes with the new stadium. The “Cactus” annual states that more emphasis is put on “speed, defense, and pitching” and controlled hitting than Clark Field. Horns are 23-1 in SWC play. Six members of this team are selected to the All SWC team. Gustafson’s record after this season is 342-65. Jim Gideon is 12-0, and Wortham is 10-0.

First at Disch-Falk Field 

The first victory against St. Mary’s on Feb. 17, 1975; Blair Stouffer got the first hit and first home run; pitcher Jim Gideon the first victory. 

During SWC play, Texas’s batting average was sub-par going into the Baylor game. Coach Gustafson speculates that one reason is that—like wood bats—aluminum bats have a limited useful life. He instructs the managers to take only new aluminum bats to Waco. Texas beat Baylor in all three games, scoring 44 runs on 50 hits with 11 home runs.

This team holds the Longhorn record for most triples ( 51), highest batting average (.325), and most shutouts (16)

Texas wins the SWC and again beats Pan American in the South Central Regionals. 

The CWS starts with an inauspicious beginning: undefeated Wortham loses in the second game to Arizona State, followed by a sloppy win 12-11 over Seton Hall. This year’s failures mirror those of the other great Longhorn teams that collapsed at the CWS.

Coach Gus could feel the stress building up on the team and recognized he needed to loosen everyone up. He said to his team, “If I were a drinking man, I’d go out and get drunk tonight.” Many players did as instructed, and the rest is college baseball history. Texas defeated South Carolina 17-6, won the flip and the Bye based on Spanky Stephens’s lucky feeling, and defeated South Carolina again 5-1.

Texas takes a .328 batting average and an earned run average of 1.74 to Omaha. The Longhorns went 4-1 in Omaha, the only loss coming to Arizona State, 5-2. Texas won a 12-10 game over Seton Hall to reach the championship round against South Carolina.

Mickey Reichenbach was named Most Outstanding Player for Texas, who also boasted a roster that included Keith Moreland, Jim Gideon, Don Kainer, and Rich Wortham. Texas finished the season 59-6 overall.

Reichenbach’s home run is at 1:40

Jim Gideon tied an NCAA record with 19 victories in 1974. He was also an Academic All-American and All-American in 1974 and 1975.

1976- 48-16 -Victory Lane and Defeat Avenue- 51st Swc championship- Southwest regional playoffs.

The team starts at 16-2, but injuries to Keith Moreland, Blair Stouffer, Rick Bradley, and Jim Gideon put the team in a significant slump. OU beats the Horns for the first time in 4 years, and for the first time since 1960, there is no Texas school in the CWS.

Wendell Hibbett ties an SWC record with 3 home runs in one game. The Horns tie a school record with 25 hits in one game.

A 48-16 record would be excellent for most baseball teams, but it was his worst year to date for Gustafson. Over a 23-game stretch, the Horns were 13-10.

Captain Richard Wortham is an All-American. He was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010. He holds the career record of most innings pitched (456.2) and most career victories (50).

A four-year starting pitcher from 1973-1976, Wortham appeared in 75 games for the Longhorns and played an integral part in the 1975 national championship.

Captain Doug Duncan is an Academic All-American in 1975 and 1976.

Proske, Pyka, and Reichenback make the All SWC team.

This Longhorn team sets a school record for 25 hits in one game.

Texas is the SWC champion, but the Longhorns lose to OU in the Regionals.

1977- 53-10- The wild bunch (fans, not the team)

1977-  Once told, “you can’t’ win them all.” Cliff replied, “You can if you are good enough,” and he’s been out to prove the theory ever since.

 He took his Longhorns to the 17 College World Series. When he retired in 1996, he had won more games than Billy Disch, and Bibb Falk combined with a record of 1466 wins, 377 losses, and two ties.

In the early 1950s, three men participating in the same game, sharing a moment that would touch Texas baseball for 80 years. 

10,000 fans show up to watch the Texas Rangers play the Longhorns. The rangers win 9-4. It is a costly game for the Horns losing pitcher Bob Heuck with a torn tendon in his throwing arm that ended his baseball career.

NCAA reduces the number of Scholarships in baseball from 20 to 13. 

Texas breaks the NCAA record by winning 34 games in a row, but for the first time since 1964, Texas does not win the SWC or make the playoffs. 

The Wild Bunch was a group of fans whose existence will live in infamy. This group hated the Aggies and mocked them and their traditions during the games. These Horns were poor sports, and ironically, this year, with a record of 53-10, the Horns lost the SWC to the Aggies.

With a 39-1 record, Sports Illustrated once again was a jinx to a great season. Sportswriter Doug Looney joined the Longhorn team for the Texas A&M baseball series. A & M won 2 of 3 games, and the Sports Illustrated story was not written. In truth, the assistant sports director who handled baseball for Texas said this team was not really that good, but they did not know it. To paraphrase Dick Siebert, the Minnesota baseball coach -records like this happen in sports with everything breaking your way. Many times, the momentum changes, and everything starts to go against you.

This is the first year for the SWC post-season tournament. Texas places 2nd in the tournament.

Rocky Thompson sets a record by not striking out the entire season.

Captain Wendell Hibbett and Don Kainer make the All-SWC team. C. Proske is the other Captain of the team.

Mickey Reichenbach sets a career school record for runs batted in. Jones leads the team in hitting with a .353 average. Dan Kainer and Tony Brizzolara each led the team in pitching, winning 15 games and losing 2.

1978- 36-17  A season of frustration with a foot fault to end the season

Captains of the team are Mark Chelette and Chris Raper.

Horns finish in 5th place in the SWC.  The baseball team did not have one sweep of an SWC team this year.  The batting average is  .211 for 7th place in the SWC.

Ronnie Gardenhire is injured three times- nose, wrist, and thumb, but manages to set an SWC record by driving in 10 runs in a win over Arkansas.

Pitcher Ricky Wright tore up a knee, and his older brother Kem had arm trouble.

At one point, this team was 4-8 in the SWC.

Gustafson has received much criticism from the fans this year, but the players support him and take most of the blame for his poor year.

Andre Robertson is Texas’s first black baseball player to receive a scholarship to Texas. HOH inductee

Though Robertson never eclipsed a .300 average in burnt orange, he was a more promising professional prospect than many on the Longhorn team. Professionally, he did well, suffering a broken neck in a car crash that ended his career. He was also the first black player to receive a full scholarship for baseball at Texas.

 History says that Gralyn Wyatt was the first black baseball player at Texas, but Gralyn never lettered or received a scholarship.

Andre Robertson is the first black baseball player who received a scholarship to Texas and endured racist slurs from fans in a still-tense time in American history.

In the Texas Tech game, the umpire on a perfect double-play ball for the Horns says that Andre Robertson’s foot was not on the base and called the runner safe at second. The lousy call cost them a qualifying spot in the SWC baseball tournament.

Robertson batted around .330, but his glove caught 1.000.  In the Texas Tech game, the umpire on a perfect double-play ball for the Horns says that Andre Robertson’s foot was not on the base and called the runner safe at second. The bad call cost them a qualifying spot in the SWC baseball tournament.

Robertson batted around .330, but his glove caught 1.000.

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Austin American wrote an article about Longhorn baseball titled “Death of a Dynasty.” The Austin American is wrong again.

The team only had one member selected for the All-SWC team in 1978.

1979- 61-8 SWC champs and 4th in the nation- central regional playoff and national tournament. 

That first “Central Regional,” as it was called, featured Pan American, Lamar, and BYU. Texas hosted 16 straight regionals in the first two decades at Disch-Falk until the streak was broken in 1995 when Texas traveled to Oklahoma City.

This team set the Longhorn season record for most victories. After the season is over, 10 players from this team enter the draft.

Pitcher Rickey Wright is lost for the season with a knee injury.

As of the end of the 1979 season Coach Gus’s record was 542 and 115.  Pitching was key this year.  Ricky Wright throws a no-hitter against Rice. 

The 1979 starting lineup is basically the same as 1978. 

This team wins 30 of the first 31 games.

Joe Bruno sets a season record with 33 stolen bases.

A rule change allows two staff coaches on the field at the same time. Basketball coach Abe Lemons says it is about time “ If my team screws up, I’m right out there for all the fans to see, yell at, and throw things at. If Coach Gus screws up, he just hides in the dugout, and nobody can see him.”

The Aggie coach says that the 1979 Longhorn pitching staff is the best he has seen in his 21 years of coaching. 

Three of the four teams in the SWC tournament are in the top 20. Baylor won the last two baseball tournaments, but the Longhorns won this one.

Texas earns the right to play in the CWS. This is the Longhorn’s 25th time competing for the National Championship and the 18th appearance in the CWS tournament.

After winning their first two games against Connecticut and Mississippi State, Texas lost to Arkansas and Pepperdine to finish 4th. Cal State Fullerton won its first title.

It wrapped a decade in which Texas reached the CWS six times.

Jerry Gleaton is 13-1 as the Longhorn pitcher and a first-team All-American.

Wright, Salazar, Gardenhire, and Bruno made the All SWC team. 

Ten players from this team signed professional contracts—the most every as of 1979. 

Captain Ron Gardenhire sets an SWC record in 1979 by driving in 10 runs against Arkansas. Mark Chelette is the other captain of the team. 

1980- 53-13  SWC Champs for the 53rd time. central regional playoff

21 of 39 players are rookies.

Gustafson has his 600th victory.

Keith Creel is 16-1 as a pitcher. Dave Seiler has a no-hitter against SMU. Coach Gustafson says, “I am probably prouder of this conference championship team than I am of any of them because of the circumstances.” Coach did not expect this team to do well, and their steady, methodically winning process surprised him.

A ball hits Coach Gustafson in the eye, but he recovers near the end of the SWC season.

Bill Bethea does a great job of coaching the team. Texas is the SWC champion, but Texas loses to Hawaii in the regionals.

Captain Ricky Nixon and Randy Richards hit .344 and .345, respectively. Creel was a 2nd team All -American, and David, Nixon, Campbell, and Zatopek were All SWC.

1981- 61-11-1 Coach Gus -” the most exciting team I ever coached.” The team was a central regional playoff and national tournament.

In 1981 Mark Reynolds had a .345 batting average with 17 doubles, 7 home runs, and 55 batted in but in 1982 he suffered a fractured left foot. According to team members, Mark is as good a fastball hitter as they have seen.

A team of Scramblers “Everyone seemed capable of playing one game at a level beyond his capabilities. so that games were forever being won by someone of whom little was expected.”

With the exception of Tony Arnold, pitching this year was problematic with hitting the key to success. 

This team comes from behind in 28 of 61 games won.

Texas wins the 54th SWC in 66 years.

Texas beats Stanford in the regionals.

Texas beats Rice in 19 innings to clinch the  SWC tournament championship. 

The Longhorns reached the CWS seven times in the 1980s, won one title, and finished runner-up three times. Tony Arnold pulled a groin muscle in the CWS before the Miami game, and Mike Withrow replaced him. Texas lost to Arizona State 11-2 to open the tournament but bounced back to win three games in a row, beating Michigan, Miami (Fla.), and Oklahoma State before losing again to eventual champion Arizona State 12-3.

Captain Buck Goldthorn led the team in batting with a .354 average.

Arnold, Goldthorn, Owen, and Culley were All SWC.

1982 59-6- Coach Gus – The Enigma. 55th SWC championship- central regional playoff and national tournament.

1982—At the beginning of the season, the team was hitting a paltry .249 in the SWC because Mark Reynolds had a broken foot and missed his power hitting. Entering the playoffs, Kirk Killingsworth led the team in hitting and pitching.

 The team was composed of 13 freshmen and 5 seniors.

Roger Clemens was not recruited out of Spring Woods High School, so he went to Jacinto Junior College to pitch until Cliff offered him a scholarship.

The home attendance record for a single game, 8000 fans, is set against OU. Texas wins the game 8-0.

Texas wins 33 games in a row. The 2nd longest in NCAA history. This year

At one point in the season, Gustafson said that his pitching staff was thin even with sophomore Roger Clemens and Calvin Schiraldi.  A bunt against the Aggies results in a homer for the Longhorns.   Longhorn Livermore says, “leave it to the Aggies to turn a bunt into a homer. I’ve seen that in Little League, but nowhere else.”

Spike Owens sets school records for runs scored (250) and stolen bases and only commits 7 errors in 250 chances. Spike receives All-American honors.

Kirk Killingsworth, Mike Brumley, and Mike Capel make the All-SWC team.

Randy Day is one of the two captains of the team.

Coach Gustafson is Coach of the Year.

Texas is projected to win the tournament. Texas beats Oklahoma State and Stanford but is eliminated in 24 hours by Miami and Wichita State.