Two Ways To Win A Ball Game

The squad went into its practice by teams (signal drills, no contact) with the offense working on the plays selected for the goal line attack, while the defense drilled on play recognition (freshmen impersonating Arkansas).

Arkansas: Friday: The team lunched early and then took off in two chartered planes at 11:30. For three hours and 15 minutes the players were at the mercy of the coaches, who questioned: "Where do you block on 24-trap? Who do you take on 33-power?" By 3:15, half an hour after they arrived in Austin, Arkansas was dressed and running in the Texas stadium. Lance Alworth raced up and down the field trying to impress the coaching staff and Trainer Ferrell with his easy stride and 50-yard kicks. Ferrell said, "He courts me as if I were his girl. I never saw a kid want to play so badly." Frank Broyles wanted badly to be convinced.

That night over an evening snack Broyles said, "I am beginning to feel optimistic. I have no real reason for my optimism, but my boys have constantly won when they didn't figure to. I have come not only to believe in guts but to depend on it."

Texas, Friday, Oct. 14: Suited Up in sweat suits, the squad had a 30-minute skull session with Royal, going over all plans for the Arkansas game. Kicking was emphasized.

After Arkansas finished its workout in Memorial Stadium, Texas had the field for 30 minutes, and ran through plays (the draw, the trap, the pitch-out around right end from an unbalanced line, the throw-back pass).

Texas players attended a campus pep rally at night, then went to the Holiday Inn Motel on the north edge of town to spend the night.

Pregame, Saturday: Arkansas Was up at 9, breakfasted at 9:30. The Texans had 12-ounce steaks and baked potatoes at about the same time. As the trainers taped Arkansas players, Broyles and his coaches conducted a play test. The exam was a success. Everybody knew his assignments. Royal handed out a check list to the Texas players. It started with the kicking game, went into offensive and defensive assignments and finally fundamental rules (the substitution rule, rules governing a fair catch, covering on kicks, protecting on kicks, etc.). Royal also warned his safety men of a quick-kick, particularly should Alworth enter the game with Arkansas in its own territory and the wind at its back. Then the team watched Arkansas movies. At 12, the preparations were over. Both teams left for the stadium.

Game, Saturday: Prepared as they were, it is doubtful that either Darrell Royal or Frank Broyles was ready for the melodramatic game that unfolded in Austin Saturday. It wasn't decided until the last 16 seconds, and the man who won it, a fourth-string Arkansas fullback named Mickey Cissell, hadn't figured in either coach's plans. As regular Quarterback George McKinney held the ball, Cissell stepped briskly forward and kicked as far as he could. The ball drifted slowly end over end and passed through the goal posts for a field goal with something like an eighth of an inch to spare. Arkansas won 24-23.

The game was a standoff in the first quarter as both teams, playing position-football, waited to exploit each other's mistakes. Then early in the second quarter James Saxton, a very fast halfback, returned an Arkansas punt 32 yards to the Arkansas 34-yard line. After two inconclusive plays, Texas Quarterback Mike Cot-ten called a throwback pass, and End Bob Moses broke free to catch it for a 21-yard gain, putting the ball on the Arkansas 10-yard line. Three plays later Texas had the first touchdown of the game and led by 7-0.

Seven plays after an Arkansas fumble, Texas scored again. The last and most difficult five yards of the drive resulted from Royal's solution for Arkansas' gap-8 defense. ( Texas, Thursday.) Texas trapped the charging Arkansas guard to take a 14-0 lead. Later, in the third quarter, when a wild scramble for another Arkansas fumble gave Texas the ball on the Arkansas one-yard line, Texas again used this trap play to penetrate the gap-8 for a touchdown.