7 Great Early Coach Royal Seasons 1959-1965

Discussion in 'On The Field' started by Bill in Sinton, Sep 19, 2020.

  1. Bill in Sinton

    Bill in Sinton 5,000+ Posts

    It started with his third year at UT. Remember back then ties were not broken and National Champions were decided by regular season results. I believe that there was talent on all these teams and with the right bounce of the ball in a few plays a loss or tie would have been won. I also believe each of these 7 teams were capable of winning the NC or at least very high rankings. My figures are for regular season results.

    1959- we go 9-1 in the regular season and come in 4th while Syracuse with a perfect record wins the NC. We lead TCU 9-7 but a fourth Q td beats us. If we had won we would probably have won the NC and got the votes to pass Syracuse because TCU was ranked No. 14. We end up ranked No. 4
    1960 - We lose three games with a one point loss to Nebraska and Arkansas and 7 points to Rice so we probably lost the NC by three close games. Remember we were ranked No. 4 when we played Nebraska. 1961- The bitterest pill of all that we all know about. Before the upset we scored 27 to 42 points a game and held every team to single digits except for a 14 point game. What hurts is that this was in my opinion the best team of that time frame. Final Ranking No. 4 1962 This is another bitter pill. We have a great defense. We work our way to No. 1 and lead Rice 14-7 in the 4th Q but Rice scores a TD and goes for the tie instead of the win and gets it and this costs us the NC . Final No.4 1963 - We go perfect and win our first NC. We had the potential to get more. 1964 - Another great season but we lose the NC by a one point loss to Arkansas as a late game 2 point conversion fails. Final No. 5 1965 - This was a great team and should have done better. Football is a mental game and I think they suffered a mental lapse and other teams played with more effort than they ordinarily. Had we beat Arkansas I think we would have competed and maybe won an NC. We came into the Arkansas Game Ranked No.1 but Arkansas scored late in the game to win 27-24. This was 2 years in a row we lost a close one to Arkansas and I think the team suffered mentally and we went on to lose 3 of the next 5 games. Oh what might have been.
     
    • Like Like x 5
  2. ViperHorn

    ViperHorn 10,000+ Posts

    ^^^^Great history reminder Bill. Thank you.
     
  3. Horn6721

    Horn6721 10,000+ Posts

    BIS
    We have missed you/ Good to see you back
    We got away from focusness
     
    • Like Like x 2
  4. caryhorn

    caryhorn 5,000+ Posts

    I agree Bill
    "1961- The bitterest pill of all that we all know about. Before the upset we scored 27 to 42 points a game and held every team to single digits except for a 14 point game. What hurts is that this was in my opinion the best team of that time frame."

    Jimmy Saxton was a great RB. So quick, shifty and could stop on a dime and be full speed in another direction in 1 or 2 steps. Man, that was a fun team to watch.
    I was sick when they lost that game.
     
  5. AC

    AC 2,500+ Posts

    My Dad went to all of those games 58-62. He graduated in 62. My Mom in 63. They got married across the street from Campus. I'm UT nostalgic today because our neighbor down the street died yesterday of Cancer. She was a UT cheerleader in the 90's. Life is short everybody! Really glad to hear from you Bill in Sinton. Hope all is well.
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1

Share This Page