December 13, 2009
Remembering the game of the Century.
AUSTIN, Texas - All the elements necessary to make the 1969 Arkansas-Texas game a timeless classic that's among the most memorable of the past half-century fell perfectly into place.
Third-ranked Tennessee lost to Ole Miss on Nov. 10. A week later, top-ranked Ohio State was stunned by Michigan.
After being rescheduled at the behest of ABC, the 1969 Arkansas-Texas game was big enough to attract Richard Nixon.
Undefeated Texas now was No. 1. Unbeaten Arkansas was No. 2.
The Longhorns and Razorbacks clashed on national TV on Dec. 6, a day in which theirs was the only college football game scheduled. In anticipation of a possible No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup, the game was moved from its original Oct. 18 date because ABC television executives anticipated it might be a matchup of undefeated teams.
The game was so big, President Richard Nixon was in attendance.
Everything fell into place.
Just like James Street's pass to Randy Peschel.
Street, who played quarterback for Texas 40 years ago, wonders why, after four decades, that amazing game against Arkansas still resonates with college football fans and historians.
"When I start thinking about 40 years ago and try to put it in perspective, I think this way: It's like looking back 40 years from 1969 and asking what somebody did in 1929," Street says. "Babe Ruth might have hit a bunch of home runs that year. The stock market might not have done well that year. Other than that, what the hell do we care about what happened in '29? So, it amazes me that someone still cares about what happened in '69."
Perhaps what happened isn't as intriguing and fascinating as how it happened. An iconic coach who was averse to the forward pass instructed a wishbone quarterback who completed fewer than half of his attempts that season to throw deep to a slow-footed tight end on what, at the time, was the most crucial fourth-down play in his school's history.
Somehow, the football fell perfectly into place.
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Randy Peschel, 61, wearing glasses and sporting a salt-and-pepper goatee, sits behind a desk in the downtown office building of Texas Capital Bank. Except for an almost-hidden copy of Terry Frei's book on that 1969 game, "Horns, Hogs and Nixon Coming," there is nothing in the office to hint that Peschel was involved in one of the most clutch plays in college football history.
Peschel's eyes gleam as he remembers a spring day in 1967. That's when he realized his days as a quarterback were over. A star at nearby Lanier High School, he was one of seven quarterbacks signed by Texas in 1966. By the following spring, he knew he'd play another position.
When James Street took over as the Texas QB in 1968, the Longhorns' fortunes changed.
"I went to spring training the first day and I was running at wingback," Peschel recalls. "I was second team. But in passing drills, I realized I had a knack for catching the ball."
Coach Darrell Royal realized it, too. One day that spring, an article appeared in the Austin American-Statesman in which Royal prophetically praised Peschel's sure hands.
Yet, at that time, sure hands weren't necessarily a marketable commodity at Texas. Royal passed about as much as he lost. Although he claims he was misquoted, legend has it he made his thoughts on passing the football perfectly clear: "Three things can happen when you pass, and two of 'em are bad."
So Peschel has a knack for catching passes? Well, that's nice. You're now a tight end. Can you also block?
By the next season, the forward pass was largely insignificant at Texas. In 1968, the Longhorns switched from the I-formation and introduced a new-fangled, triple-option offensive set with three running backs that coordinator Emory Bellard developed. Sports writers dubbed it "the wishbone."
Sometimes, it takes a while to work the bugs out of a new idea. The wishbone was no different. The Longhorns struggled to a 20-20 tie with Houston in the '68 season-opener; the next week, they lost to Texas Tech 31-22.
But Street replaced Bill Bradley as the starting quarterback the next week, and the Longhorns took off. They posted nine consecutive victories, including a 36-13 thrashing of Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl, to finish the season ranked third in The Associated Press poll - behind national champion Ohio State and undefeated Penn State.
Texas' winning streak included a 39-29 victory over Arkansas. It was the Razorbacks' only loss. Arkansas completed its 10-1 season with a 16-2 victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and finished the '68 season ranked sixth by the AP.
The next year, Arkansas returned quarterback Bill Montgomery, leading rusher Bill Burnett, All-Southwest Conference wide receiver Chuck Dicus and a strong defense. Street was back for Texas. So was star fullback Steve Worster and standout offensive tackle Bob McKay.
Both teams knew they'd be good in 1969.
So did Beano Cook.
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ABC was seeking an attractive game to televise nationally on the first Saturday of December, after the rest of the regular season had been completed. Cook, who worked for ABC, thought Arkansas, which would open the '69 season ranked second, and Texas, which would be fourth, had the potential to go undefeated.
Their game was scheduled for Oct. 18 in Fayetteville, Ark., but ABC approached Arkansas coach Frank Broyles about moving the game to December.
"My recommendation involved Penn State and Arkansas finishing the regular season with perfect records and then playing for the national title," Cook said in Frei's book. "I said we should move Texas-Arkansas to December 6 because I thought Texas might be undefeated then, too."
ABC made the pitch to move the game - with the carrot that Nixon would attend. Both teams agreed.
Arkansas won every game by at least two touchdowns and ended November with a 33-0 shutout of Texas Tech, the third opponent the Razorbacks had held scoreless.
Texas had to rally from a 14-0 deficit to defeat Oklahoma 27-17, but won every other game by at least 17 points. The Longhorns ended November by thrashing Texas A&M 49-12.
"The Big Shootout," as Royal called it, was a matchup of undefeated teams, just as Cook anticipated.
"It makes them look wiser than a tree full of owls," Royal said then of the ABC executives.
Cook looked even wiser than that: Both teams were unbeaten, and they also were ranked first and second.
On Oct. 4, Texas had moved to No. 2 after beating Navy 56-17. Arkansas, which had dropped to fourth, moved up a notch on Nov. 15 when third-ranked Tennessee was blanked 38-0 by Ole Miss.
Yet, the Horns and Hogs figured to finish that way because defending national champion Ohio State was annihilating every opponent. The Buckeyes, who were on a 22-game winning streak, had won all eight games that season by at least 27 points. They averaged 46.3 points per game while allowing 8.6.
All that separated the Buckeyes from another national title was a victory over Michigan, which Ohio State routed 50-14 the previous year. But the Wolverines, under first-year coach Bo Schembechler, forced eight turnovers in a 24-12 upset of Woody Hayes' Buckeyes in a game that kicked off perhaps the most intense coaching rivalry in the history of college football.
The Ohio State loss also vaulted Texas to No. 1 and Arkansas to No. 2.
The showdown was complete.
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The contest between No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Arkansas was hailed as "The Game of the Century." That was hardly original.
Twenty-three years earlier, unbeaten Notre Dame and unbeaten Army clashed at Yankee Stadium in what was billed as the "Game of the Century." The Irish had Johnny Lujack, and Army featured Glenn Davis and Felix "Doc" Blanchard. With a huge radio audience listening, that game ended in a scoreless tie.
Arkansas-Texas was the first game of such magnitude to be played on national TV. A sellout crowd filled Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, and just as ABC had promised, Nixon was in the stands along with a delegation that included future president George W. Bush.
They all saw Arkansas get off to a fast start. Montgomery passed to set up a short touchdown run by Burnett, then connected with Dicus for another score to give Arkansas a 14-0 lead at halftime.
Meanwhile, Arkansas had changed its defense from a 4-3 to what was basically a 6-2 to slow Texas' wishbone. The strategy worked. Texas' running game stalled and the Longhorns were frustrated.
You could have given me 20 guesses and I never would have thought he'd call that.
— James Street on Darrell Royal calling a pass play. At halftime, Peschel approached Bellard.
"I came in the locker room and told Coach Bellard that the defensive halfbacks were coming up extremely fast to support the run," Peschel says. "I told Coach Bellard I felt like I could get behind the defensive halfbacks if we needed to pass."
Bellard relayed the information to Royal.
Texas' offense continued to struggle when play resumed. The Longhorns didn't score until Street scrambled for a 42-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. A two-point conversion cut Arkansas' margin to 14-8.
The Razorbacks responded by driving to Texas' 7. But on third-and-goal, Montgomery's pass for Dicus was intercepted by Texas' Danny Lester.
After an exchange of punts, Texas took over on its 36 with 6:10 left.
Three plays netted 7 yards, and on fourth-and-3, Street called timeout and went to the sideline to talk with Royal.
Texas had committed six turnovers that day. The wishbone could produce big plays, but Street's scramble was the only long run Arkansas' defense had allowed. With 4:47 left, time was a factor.
Royal shocked everybody - including his quarterback - by calling Veer 53 Pass, a deep pass with Peschel as the only receiver.
"That was totally out of school for him," Street says of Royal's call. "You could have given me 20 guesses and I never would have thought he'd call that."
Street threw just 81 passes that season; he completed 40. Dicus had more catches than that by himself. On the rare occasions Texas did throw, Street usually looked for wide receiver Cotton Speyrer, who had 30 of the team's receptions.
Street remembers being so surprised by the call that he asked Royal if he was sure of the call.
"Damn right," Royal shouted.
The Longhorns' players weren't so sure.
"We were out there in the huddle because back then the whole team did not go to the sideline," Peschel says. "I was on one knee when James came walking back into the huddle. He said, 'Randy, I'm looking at Cotton [to make it seem as if the play was set up for Speyrer], but I'm talking to you ... 53 Veer Pass.'
"There was some rumbling and grumbling in the huddle, but James was saying, 'No, this is going to work.' Bob McKay is still a great friend - and to this day he denies this - but when James called the play, he said, 'You've got to be (kidding) me.'
"James said, 'No, this is going to work.' "
In truth, Street had his doubts, too.
"I was probably just being positive," Street says. "What I actually said in the huddle is, 'You're not going to believe this play - but it will work.' "
The play called for a run fake, so Street faked the option and dropped back to pass. Peschel, lined up at tight end on the left side, got an inside release. He got behind the secondary, but Arkansas' Dennis Berner and Jerry Moore recovered and had Peschel tightly covered.
"I remember thinking we'd fooled them for a second," Peschel says. "I got behind them, but they caught up with me because I was not that fleet afoot.
"Originally, I thought the pass was way overthrown. I guess I looked down and kept running."
In his telling of the story, sitting in his office in Austin, Peschel raises his hands and crosses them at the wrist.
"When I looked back, I saw this," he says. "And then the ball just dropped right in between them."
Peschel made the catch at Arkansas' 20 and tumbled out of bounds at the 13, making it a 44-yard completion.
In Austin, Calvin Peschel - Randy's father - was watching the game on TV at a neighbor's home. When Randy made the catch, Calvin leaped forward and landed flat on the floor sprawled out in front of the TV.
Two plays later, fullback Jim Bertelsen scored on a 2-yard run. The extra point gave Texas a 15-14 lead.
Still, there were almost four minutes left, and Arkansas drove inside Texas' 40. But Tom Campbell intercepted a Montgomery pass to seal the win for the Longhorns.
For a pass play that didn't directly produce points, the Street-to-Peschel connection remains one of the biggest in college football history.
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After the game, Nixon presented Royal with a plaque and proclaimed Texas national champions.
That rankled Penn State coach Joe Paterno, whose Nittany Lions also were undefeated. A few years later, when Nixon was embroiled in the Watergate scandal, Paterno quipped, "How could Nixon know so little about Watergate and so much about football?"
Paterno couldn't complain too much, though. Penn State was extended an invitation to face Texas in the Cotton Bowl, but chose to accept an Orange Bowl invitation to face No. 6 Missouri.
Instead, Texas' Cotton Bowl opponent was No. 9 Notre Dame, which had ended a self-imposed 45-year bowl ban. The Longhorns won 21-17, with Speyrer making a great catch of Street's underthrown pass to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Billy Dale with just over a minute remaining to wrap up the national title. It was the last title won by an all-white team.
Had Texas not beaten Arkansas, it would have been the Razorbacks playing the Irish. And if not for the Peschel catch, the Longhorns wouldn't have beaten Arkansas.
The Texas-Arkansas game is considered a classic, but legendary sports writer and college football historian Dan Jenkins doesn't necessarily remember it as a great game.
"A great game is when both teams play well," Jenkins wrote in an e-mail. "It was great entertainment, of course, and everything was riding on it and Texas was good enough to win 'ugly.' ... The Texas-Notre Dame game in the Cotton Bowl after 'The Big Shootout' was a much better game."
While the greatness of the Arkansas-Texas game can be debated, what can't be debated is that it remains one of the most memorable games in college football history.
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Peschel ended up with a successful banking career. He and his wife, Susan, raised three children and have five grandchildren. Peschel, who had open-heart surgery a year ago, still thinks often of his dad, who died Dec. 10, 2001.
"I still miss him," Peschel says. "He would mention to me that on a regular basis, someone would mention the catch to him and he would discuss it with them in detail."
When it is suggested his catch might have been his father's proudest moment, Peschel leaned back in his chair with a pensive look on his face.
"It probably was," he says.
Street also has had a successful career, in the finance field. He raised three sons; one of them, Huston, was the 2005 American League Rookie of the Year as a reliever for the Oakland A's.
James Street says that '69 season helped prepare him for his life in business.
"I remember 40 years ago Coach Royal called me to the front of the bus [en route to the Arkansas game], and told me if we go for a two-point play, this is the play we're going to run," Street says. "So when we went for the two-point play, there was no panic whatsoever.
"That taught me in business or anything else, the more prepared you are for what's coming, the more relaxed you'll be."
Street pauses for a moment.
"But all BS aside, sometimes you've got to be lucky," he says, smiling.
Olin Buchanan is the senior college football writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at olin@rivals.com. |
