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Cotton Bowl 1969
Texas 36 Tennessee 13 |
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DALLAS, Tex. (AP)- Texas used the lance and the sledgehammer with equal deadliness in executing bewildered Tennessee 36-13 Wednesday in the 33rd annual Cotton Bowl classic.
The "lance" was an especially concocted aerial from quarterback James Street to swift and elusive Charles "Cotton" Speyrer. The first strike went for 78 yards and a touchdown. The second bomb- also Street to Speyrer- and run covered 79 yards for a score.
The "sledgehammer" was the brutal, ground-trembling runs of Texas' "flying foursome." Street, All-America Chris Gilbert, Ted Koy and, Steve Worster galloped for 250 yards and three touchdowns through the physically whipped Volunteer line.
Tennessee was rather awed by the devastation. “I’ve never seen a backfield as balanced as theirs.” said Vol All American guard, Charles Rosenfelder. “Texas is one of the better, if not the best team I have played against in my three varsity seasons.”
Tennessee Capt. Dick Williams said "Their execution killed us. You couldn't tell what was happening. He (Street) did a great job. He knew what to do."
Street, whose only claim to fame at Texas until this season was that he was a good baseball pitcher, literally picked the heralded Vol defense apart.
Without once calling a pass, Street directed Texas 80 yards in 13 plays in the first period with Worster, only a sophomore, bulling across from 14 yards out.
Then Street stung the Vols with a totally unexpected play from the Texas 22. Operating from the Longhorns' unique "Wishbone-T" or "Y" Formation, Street faked beautifully drawing the Tennessee secondary in a step. He lofted a shot to sophomore Speyrer, a 168-pound gadfly split end. Speyrer caught the ball, faked defensive back Jimmy Weatherford out of position, and roared home.
Speyrer was the only receiver out on the play. It was the first time Texas had used it off the triple-option.
"I kinda thought we might hit that bomb," said Texas Coach Darrell Royal.
In the third quarter, Street and Speyrer teamed up on almost the exact carbon copy, only one yard longer.
Street, who was named the most valuable offensive player, hit 7 of 13 passes for 200 yards. Speyrer snared five of the passes for 161 yards.
Fifth-ranked Texas rolled up a massive 513 yards in total offense, 279 on the ground and 234 in the air. The other touchdowns came on Koy’s nine yard run and Gilbert’s five yard dash.
Gilbert, the only major college player ever to gain 1,000 yards in each of his varsity seasons, finished the day with 82 yards on 13 carries- three yards less than Worster.
Texas linebacker Tom Campbell, who intercepted two Vol passes, was named the outstanding defensive player.
Eighth-ranked Tennessee had trouble getting its offense on the track before the 72,000 fans in numbing 33-degree cold.
Vol Coach Doug Dickey replaced starting quarterback Bubba Wyche with soph Bobby Scott who threw a 17 yard touchdown pass to Gary Kreis and a 3-yard scoring pass to Mike Price.
Dickey had high praise for Texas, saying "They outran and outfought us. We dropped balls, didn't dive for fumbles, failed to block, got behind and had to play catch up. That is not our kind of football.”
"We felt we needed 24 or 25 points to win. We didn't make an inch."
Texas of the Southwest Conference entered the game a touchdown favorite in what was billed as a struggle between the Longhorn offense and the Vol defense which had allowed only 11 points per game.
Royal said he was as surprised about the outcome as Tennessee.
"I was sincere when I said I thought this game would be a tossup," Royal said. "Really, I didn't expect anything like this.
"I'd have to rate this as one of our greatest teams. Certainly it is one of the greatest teams that I've ever coached. Now that the season is over, I think I can say that."
It's obvious that vanquished Tennessee believes it, too.
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James Street carries for the Horns. |
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Speyrer breaks away on 78 yard touchdown pass in first quarter. |
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Tennessee's Richard Pickens carries.
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Chris Gilbert |
Worster scores on 14 yard run in 1st period. |
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Attendance: 72,000
Scoring Summary
First Quarter UT- Worster 14 run (Feller kick) UT- Speyrer 78 yard pass from Street (Feller kick fail)
Second Quarter UT- Koy 9 run (Feller kick) UT- Gilbert 5 run (Speyrer pass from Street)
Third Quarter TN- Kreis 17 yard pass from Scott (Kremser kick) UT- Speyrer 79 yard pass from Street (Bradley run)
Fourth Quarter TN- Mike Price 3 yard pass from Scott (Scott pass fail)
Individual Statistics
Rushing UT- Worster 10-85, Gilbert 13-82, Koy 13-45, Street 12-38, Dale 4-13-0 TN- Pearce 2-26, Pickens 8-20, McClain 2-19, Flowers 4-8
Passing UT- Street 7-13-200 TN- Scott 11-30-159, Wyche 5-11-33
Receiving UT- Speyrer 5-161, Bradley 1-34, Worster 1-25, Lester 1-14 TN- Kreis 3-77, McClain 3-57, Pickens 2-27, Baker 1-17, DeLong 2-14
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