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Editor's note: Orville Hen- ry's column from the Dec. 8, 1969, edition of the Arkansas Gazette, two days after No. 1 Texas beat No. 2 Arkansas, 15-14, in the legendary "Big Shootout" football game. Betsy Broyles cried, and grown men cried. Before President Nixon reached the Arkansas dressing room, tears streamed down the fac- es of Don Breaux, a confident Cajun who thrives on pres- sure, and Richard William- son, a Bear Bryant man who once caught Joe Namath's first touchdown pass at Al- abama. Along with Mervin Johnson, an unflappable Missourian who somehow keeps his head amid the din on the sidelines, they knew better than anyone how truly great Arkansas had played, and how close Arkansas had come to that MacArthur Bowl that Darrell Royal will collect in the Waldorf-Asto - ria on Tuesday night. Along with all the other trophies Royal will get his hands on. (Deservedly, it must be admitted.) Sunday morning, defen- sive coordinator Charley Coffey, Hootie Ingram and Harold Horton delayed their departures on their recruit- ing rounds long enough to grade the f ilm, the one a deep-dyed rooter must find hard to face after the fourth period rolls around. Coffey confirmed what he suspected. What stopped the Texas Longhorns' super Wishbone T attack wasn't anything special. It was just the best fundamental defen- sive performance by any Ar- kansas unit ever, especially by Cliff Powell, especially by lightly-heralded Roger Harnish, especially by Rick Kersey, especially by every- one. The answer will not be especially helpful to all of Charley's coaching friends who can't wait to find out how to defend the Texas attack. They don't have Ar- kansas' quick, quick play- ers. But what Charley will tell them is that his athletes got under the Texas muscle, achieved some stalemates, and thus gained time to re- act and pursue. They react- ed and pursued so well that Texas' longest running gain for three quarters was about seven yards. Texas had aver- aged seven yards per try in recent games. Powell and his mates played seven quarters of shutout football on national television, four against Texas Tech, three against Texas. That Texas juggernaut did not roll over them. The Steers won with a busted play and a desperation bomb. And with James Street. So far, and it's not over for him, of course, Bill Mont- gomery has played Bob- by Layne to Street's Doak Walker act. Two can't win in this thing. Chalk up two for Street. Like Bobby Layne against SMU, Bill Montgomery de- serves something better than second, just as his team does. Betsy Broyles dried her tears. She went home, took off her game day finery, and put on her favorite costume, blue jeans and a faded red UofA jersey, No. 10. As the dozens of writers trooped in and out of sleet and snow for a sit-down dinner at the Broyles home, they got a fleeting glimpse of Betsy. She is 11, tall and rangy for 11, and she is an athlete. By the summer of 1972, her par- ents may have to give up a summer to her for the Olym- pics in Munich, Germany. After school, she watches the last stages of football prac- tice. Then maybe she will try backfield coach Breaux in his mile run (he has to sprint the last few yards to keep her from winning, which he must to save pride.) Or maybe she'll race Bill when he takes his own post-prac - tice wind sprints, the ones that gave him the quickness to juke 6-8, 250-pound Bill Atessis and All-American linebacker Glen Halsell on occasion. "Bill is good to her," Frank told the writers, explaining the No. 10. "He'd let her win, and he talks to her like a grown-up." For all the poise that Montgomery showed in the game, completing four pass- es to get Arkansas to the Texas seven, then five to the Texas 39 at the end, he needs even more to accept defeat. For as much as Street is, he is a winner. "Until the fourth peri- od," said Broyles, "Bill was the hero. Then Street took it away from him. Street is something. He's the greatest competitor this league has had in a long time." And that's an understate- ment. The people who gathered around Street in the Texas dressing room found James lit up like a 10-ball pinball machine. That's how he is all the time. Just idling, he's likely to explode. In the hud- dle, the Steers feel his excite- ment, frequently conveyed with four-letter words. For the first three peri- ods, you could see Street clapping hands, even when there was nothing there to applaud, trying to generate something. Nothing hap- pened much for Texas until he bolted away from an Ar- kansas rush, tore free from a man, picked up a block, and fled 42 yards and into the end zone. The Steers hadn't gotten a smell until then; he put them into the game with one hearty, un-sched- uled gulp. The Steers' deepest pene- tration had been the Arkan- sas 31-yard line, where they had failed to move the stakes after making five yards in four tries. It did not surprise Arkan- sas that Texas went for two points, then. "That is the accepted practice now," said Broyles later. "Coaches all over the country recognize that your chances to make two early are much better than after a late score." Street made it on a count- er option keeper. He faked up the middle, pivoted and ducked for the goal. He made it with Powell hanging on his back. Powell had no chance: his own diving momentum helped carry Street over. The man who had the chance was Kersey, Arkan- sas' dreaded Yellow-Hair Kid from Conway. Kersey was waiting for the play. And just as Street arrived, he got blocked. And injured. He left the game and now faces knee surgery (the outcome of which will determine if, next spring or fall, he can replace Powell as a middle linebacker.) One of Texas' big backs threw that block, Broyles noted. One reason the Long- horns paraded up and down the field on their previous foes was the tremendous blocking of those three. After that, yes, Kersey was missed. He is, after all, the best fundamental down linemen Arkansas has had under Broyles. Lloyd Phil- lips, a two-time All-Amer- ican, was greater, but in a different style of defense. Kersey does it with a mere 5-11, 200-pound frame. Still, that defense battled Street to the bitter end, on third and four, third and five and on that big fourth down and three. Dick Bump- as crashed into Street on a third and four, forcing a fumble by Ted Koy at the Arkansas 42 when it was still 14-8. And Bumpas and Ter- ry Don Phillips stacked up the bullish Steve Worster to leave it fourth and three at the Texas 43 with 4:47 left. Normally, that would mean a punt. As everyone knew they would, the Steers passed. And Randy Peschel, a 6-1, 195-pound senior tight end and from Austin, one of the more versatile Steers for the past three seasons, caught a 44-yard bomb with two Ra- zorbacks on him. The strong-armed Street, a big winner in baseball the last two springs, threw it. To the everlasting credit of the Razorbacks, they came back when it was 14-8 and they came back when it was 15-14, first with Chuck Dicus spreading consternation in the Texas secondary, the way Bobby Crockett did in 1965, and then with Bill Burnett taking four safety valve toss- es down the boundary. Danny Lester stopped the first drive with an end zone theft, just as Dicus was reaching for the TD pass and third and seven. Tom Camp- bell wrested the ball away from John Rees at the Texas 21, within range for Bill Mc- Clard. Those plays killed Ar- kansas' hopes, but those two drives under pressure endeared the Razorbacks to the nation. What the pundits will al- ways ask is, "Why didn't Ar- kansas set up a point-blank field goal on its first sashay down there, when it was 14- 8?" "We planned to do that on fourth down," Broyles told the writers. "We had two scoring downs, the third to go for a touchdown, and if we made it we would have gone for two points, and the fourth down to go for a field goal. "If we didn't have a great quarterback, we wouldn't have called the pass. But we do. Bill had been effective throughout the drive. We hadn't thrown an intercep- tion in six games and that's 172 passes, I was told. The pass called was a safe one, Bill sprinting out with two lead blockers. Chuck was open, he'd beaten his man in the end zone. But the pass was a step under-thrown and Lester made a great play on it. "Who knows, we might have missed the field goal, or Texas might have blocked it." And Bill Burnett or Bruce Maxwell or Montgomery might have fumbled on the keeper to set up the field goal. That's happened. In fact, Arkansas lost five fum- bles during the time no pass- es had been intercepted. Big Shootout lived up to its made-for-TV name ORVILLE HENRY ARKANSAS GAzETTE File photo/Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Northwest Arkansas Times Collection Arkansas receiver Chuck Dicus scores a 29-yard touchdown Dec. 6, 1969, during the third quarter of a game against Texas in Fayetteville. File photo/Shiloh Museum of Ozark History/Springdale News Collection Arkansas quarterback Bill Montgomery (10) listens to assistant coach Merv Johnson. Arkansas coach Frank Broyles is shown at right. File photo/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Texas quarterback James Street smiles as he walks off the field following the Longhorns' 15-14 victory over Arkansas. "Until the fourth period. Bill [Montgomery] was the hero. Then [James] Street took it away from him. Street is something. He's the greatest competitor this league has had in a long time." — Arkansas coach Frank Broyles v Continued on next page 2S v FriDAy, DeCeMBer 6, 2019 ∂ ∂ The Big Shootout