On that Friday night we played the first game of the year we were to win our first college football national championship. The prior year we had a great defense and we were to have a good one in 1963 with a much improved offense though not spectacular but still good. Our first game that night was against Tulane in New Orleans. We didn't play many Friday night games but we did that year because of another game to be played their Saturday. We had first game jitters because it was a struggle to beat Tulane. Our defense dominated the game but points were hard to come by. I always felt if we had a two possession in the 4th quarter we would win because of our great defense but if not then I was always nervous because of the possibility of a player getting lose for a long td and winning the game. We finally got a field goad with 1:10 left in the half to take a halftime lead 3-0. We got another field goal in third quarter to lead 6-0. We finally got another touchdown and with two point conversion we lead 14 to 0 early in the fourth quarter. I felt relieved we would avoid the upset then and we got another one later to win it 21-0. The start of a great year. There weren't many televised games that year of Texas or anyone else for that matter but I listened to Kern Tipps on the radio for the ones that weren't. I am posting for the young ones to get a little background history and maybe bring back memories from those that were around and remember this great year. Please post your thoughts and memories also. I will post on other games later and add some historical backgrounds latter but this was the beginning of our first one. I hope you enjoy it,
Back then basics were really a high priority and Coach Royal wanted his players to block and tackle hard. There weren't many missed tackles even in the open field and conditioning was very important. Winning teams generally had very good defenses. A good defensive team with just enough offense to win would usually be an NC contender that year we had one of the top scoring and rushing defenses and also had a very good defensive passing defense even though teams knew they couldn't run on us and passed most of the time. Stats were kept on sacks or hurries but generally every time at least one of our players would break through and put the rush on the passer.
Not to get too far ahead in the '63 season, but why doesn't LHN ever show the Cotton Bowl from that season? Or the Notre Dame Cotton Bowl from the '69 season???
I, too, listened to the game that night on the magic box that filled up the imagination in a special way -- especially listening to Kern call the game as instantly as it happened, and with color and a voice that to me still epitomizes the sound of college football. I can still hear him say, "And he saddled 'im and rode him down on the 20." If you missed football in those days, you missed an almost different game. I can still see much of it in the games today. That's why I keep going.
At that time Coach Royal wanted his starting QB to be a senior which is why he moved Duke Carlisle to starting QB even though he was also a great DB. Duke became a good one and still helped us at DB at critical times to come. The best passer on the team was Tommy Wade and he was third string but he was to play a very important role for us later that year. Getting No. 1 and retaining was difficult then especially with big upsets being more common. A blemish (loss or tie) would most likely cost you a shot at the NC. Remember no OT then on tie games. The polls chose their National Champion at the end of the season because Bowl games then were considered something extra for the teams and fans and were thought of as exhibition games since due to the time between the last regular season games it was thought the teams would not really be at their best. If a team got to No. 1 they generally had control of their destiny and win the NC but that was easier said than done.
Back then the season was generally ten games and a bowl game making it 11 total. The main poll was the Associated Press. That year the top five teams in the Country in preseason was defending champion USC at 1, 2 was Mississippi, 3 was Alabama, 4 was Oklahoma and Texas was 5. All teams had control was to win their games and depend on what happened with other teams. Bowls were generally locked up so even then you couldn't always get matches people wanted but this year it worked out well for the Country and us. On 9-21- 63 Memphis shocked the Country by tieing MIssissippi and we moved to No. 4 behind USC, Alabama, and Oklahoma. On 9-28- 63 Oklahoma beat USC and we were moved to No. 3 behind Oklahoma and Alabama. We moved to No. 2 behind Oklahoma since on 10-5-63 Bama played a bad game against Vanderbilt winning only 21 to 6 and we looked good against Oklahoma State. Plus getting a No. 1 vs No. 2 was considered. After 10-12-63 we got No. 1 by beating Oklahoma and it was ours to keep especially since Bama was beat by Florida 10-6. Navy was to work its' way to no. 2 during the year. No. 1 and the NC was ours to keep and we had control of our own destinies again. It wasn't easy but we were to keep it.
Bill, Glad you mentioned Duke. He was my hero in those days. Unfortunately, the team and players were not very accessible to the fans then. Last year, on a whim, I emailed the LHFoundation and asked them if they could contact Duke, saying I would, finally, like to have an autographed picture of him. A couple of weeks later he contacted me, then sent a B&W 8x10 from '63 with my name and his signature. A prized possession from a magic time.
That is great HORN60! I have two copies of Coach Royal's book Darrell Royal Talks Football. One of them I purchased when it first came out and another one on EBAY a few years ago. Unfortunately I was never able to get one autographed
We had a great defensive team in 1962 and came close to winning the NC. That team only allowed 72 points the whole year including the bowl game. The next year we had another great defense and the team only allowed 71 points the whole year. I remember knowing we would be great defensively but I was worried because we had experience coming back except one of the linebackers and it was to be in the hands of a sophomore. No problem as the sophomore was great and one of the best defensive men on the team - his name was Tommy Nobis. The offense in 1963 was much improved though and that was a big help. In 1962 we struggled with moving the ball and only scored 184 points but the next year we moved the ball better and scored 243 points. That team scored the first possession in 8 of 11 games!
Great show on the '63 NC team on LHN last night including narratives from Carlisle, Nobis and many others!
