The first thing that comes to my mind when thinking of the Ticket City Bowl isn’t any play on the field…It’s Case Keenum playing Band Director after the game.
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I actually was empathetic to the dozens of Penn State fans that we ran across in the stands. Let’s just say they were subdued during the trip, dealing with the Sandusky scandal aftermath
A look back through UH football uniform changes in the 1960s, from Hal Lehar’s uniforms to Bill Yeoman’s drastic changes:
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Did any team use interlocking letters on their helmets before us? None that I can find
I’ve always felt that the Sooners borrowed our look and then stuck to it until it became classic while we moved on till we were lost in branding wilderness
We were definitely among the first. Indiana started in 1960, a little different way to interlock and the logo was on the front and the back.
Most of the helmets before 65 or so were plain, maybe the numbers on the side and a strip or two.
I did not dive too deep but there is a helmet history website.
Lots of great stuff, thanks!
I was shocked to see the photo of Dick Kirtley. He was my junior varsity coach and my geometry teacher at St.Thomas H.S. The guy was a beast. The photo doesn’t show how big and solid he was. I was a Phi Kappa Theta pledge in the Fall of 1966. Guess who walked in during my Hell Week…Dick Kirtley. I almost died.
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55 years ago today, UH joined the SWC
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Joining the SWC was the most significant milestone in UH athletics history. It legitimized the program on a national stage and supplied UH with conference funding that it was without as an independent. Fact is, as UH became more successful in athletics, it became more difficult to schedule teams from national conferences and have them run the risk of losing a non-conference game. Joining the SWC gave UH tailor-made regional rivalries. It certainly made the other Texas universities pay attention.
“UH destroyed Auburn in the 1969 Bluebonnet Bowl, 36-7, to finish 9-2 and #12 in the AP Poll. Yeoman had gone 33-9-3 since he debuted the Veer at Tennessee in 1965. His team had also finished in the top 20 in four straight seasons. With opponents starting to pull out of scheduling agreements, Yeoman spent the spring of 1970 wondering if UH had gone as far as it could.”
U of H in the 60’s had great/notable wins. Went toe to toe against National programs and beat some of them regularly. Mr. Patrick Moran that past away recently told me that it did not seat well with other Texas programs. As an independent we were making our mark Nationally. Yes the sec was indeed looking at us and why would not they since we beat sec teams multiple times.
Miss.State, Georgia, Ole Miss, Auburn without mentioning FSU, Miami, VTech and other notable teams.
Some will tell you that we never got a written invite but what made a huge difference was the friendship between Mr. Yeoman and royal, the uta HC.
We were a force to be reckon with and what followed speaks for itself. We accepted the invitation in 1971 and started playing SWC football in 1976. Again, keep in mind that we finished 11-1 in 1973. We lost 0-7 against Auburn. We were this close from an undefeated season…as an independent friends…and we got our first probation in 1966…
Surely from a regional “angle” accepting the SWC invitation was a no brainer but what followed changed our football history forever. By immediately winning the SWC this was the opposite of what uta and atm wanted. Oh yes we received in 1977 our second probation…again everybody Nationwide did the same thing…but us? This culminated in 1988 when we received our third probation. What we found out afterward was that the ncaa and uta were “in bed together”. This is well documented. Some on Coogfans will never accept it because uta is untouchable to them. Yes, we got hammered (again close to the death penalty) for the exact same reasons as uta except that uta got a slap on the wrist. What followed is a crucial moment in our history. Shortly after while banned Mr. Andre Ware won the Heisman. The following season Mr. Pardee went to the Oilers. In 1990 we finished 10-1 while on probation and with a reduced roster. What Mr. John Jenkins as a HC is truly remarkable. This probation was disastrous to us. Not only did it kill another momentum for us but it “shackled” us. That 10-1 should have been a major recruiting opportunity for us…No we could not. This probation/Near death penalty did its job. We all know what came next.
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Our Cougars were also on probation in 1977.
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Yes I pointed it out. I had to twice post it.
Insight 20/20 the SWC invite was “poisoned” from the start. royal, uta HC might have been friends with Mr. Yeoman but OTHERS clearly wanted to “reign us in” control us. They sure did and we all know what followed .
When YOU KILL MOMENTUM in crucial times especially for a new program it has devastating impacts that last to today.
This is why the Fritz hire is an historical game changer for us and why we need to win ASAP.
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Today, in 1939, UH completed the first building on a college campus with AC, the Roy Gustav Cullen Building:
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I nick named Hebert The Boot after he kicked Wondrous Warren in the behind- don’t remember the game.
The game was Wake Forest in 1967.
We destroyed them. Wondrous ran out-of-bounds to avoid taking a big hit. Hebert took that as an insult to the toughness we were supposed to have.
This was our next game after upsetting Michigan St. We were ranked #2 in the Nation.
58 seasons later our 1967 team remains the only team to be ranked #2.
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I was there!
Thank you for posting TucsonCoog. THIS should make everyone understand what our true potential is. There is one HC that knows this. He has known it for years. He should have been our HC way before today and probably before judas was hired. What matters is that he is with us today. The sky is the limit.
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By the by I and several friends attended the 1967 Ole Miss game in Oxford.
Wondrous Warren became the first Black Player ever to set foot on their field.
He received death threats. Was told if he ever crossed their goal line he would be shot dead in the end zone.
He broke loose on a Veer play and was off to a score. He fell down. No Rebel defender near him. Just fell down,untouched. We lost 14-13.
During the game our fans were subject to verbal taunts, being called “N-word lovers” and many other vile taunts. Whiskey bottles were thrown our way.
In 1968 we played Ole Miss in Jackson. Archie Manning at QB for The Rebels. Paul Gipson became the first Black player to ever set foot on that field.
We destroyed them in Jackson. Paul Gipson ran wild.
In 1969 they came to our Astrodome. First visit since we beat them there in 1965. We crushed them 25-11. Gary Mullins ran the Veer to perfection. Huge crowd near 50,000.
Our history is amazing. We beat the heck out of SEC teams. Kentucky, Georgia, Ole Miss,Miss. State, Auburn all lost to our Coogs.
We also beat Miami and Fla. St. many times. The Veer plus Mad Dog defense. A killer combo. You could not run on our Defense, but we could run on yours. Ate up the clock. Hit opponents with long pass plays, set up because their DB’s cheated up to help stop the run.
Great memories!
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Thank you for posting. This is why it is so important to know our history.
How many times did you see these dates documented on the jumbotron?
Our administration is missing a golden opportunity to showcase what is truly our ceiling…THE PENTHOUSE.
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