Class of 1991: Do you remember...

[Mustang1991]

A brief reflection at the dawn of a new era.

As freshmen in the fall of 1987, the first year of the death penalty, do you remember what it was like to go to homecoming at a soccer game? to go to high school football games to satisfy your need for football on weekends? to go to a Highland Park HS game to get your first real glimpse of the Mustang Band?

do you remember what it was like leading up to the Rice game in 1989, the first game back from the death penalty, and what it was like after losing to a Rice team that had lost its previous 18? i know you remember 95-21. do you remember the excitement after we thumped Vanderbilt in the 1990 opener followed by the disappointment of losing the next 11?

Remember thinking to yourself: one day things will be different? Many of us thought it would take as much as 10 years to restore our program back to respectability. We were wrong. It's been a lot longer. For too long the door to success was off limits, marked "Do Not Enter". But on January 8, 2008, the university did something it has resisted since those dark days of 1987: it stared the legacy of the death penalty in the face and stated emphatically "WE ARE NO LONGER AFRAID TO SUCCEED." They heard it as far away as Hawaii, and soon it will be heard in the football lockerrooms throughout Texas and the country.

Success will bring its own challenges, but we have learned from prior mistakes.

Kudos to Turner, Orisini and everyone else who had a hand in that statement. They refused to give in to the forces of the status quo -- they did not give in. And as we were all counselled at graduation, "never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never."

[91Stang]

Yes, I remember those things. The Homecoming soccer game was great (beat NTSU, as I recall), but Homecoming seemed weird without football.

I remember the Rice game at the beginning of the 1989 season, when Rice fumbled the opening kickoff, and SMU recovered. Lost yards and kicked a field goal, prompting then-announcer Bill Melton to issue his basketball-spawned battlecry: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Mustangs had just scored ... a THREE ... POINT ... PLAY." I also remember the opinion column in the Daily Campus that week that pointed out that Melton's catchphrase worked in basketball because it signified a good play, but that in football, it meant they hadn't reached the end zone. As I remember, a bunch of people were pissed that the paper challenged Melton. What I don't remember is why they cared. Bill Melton couldn't carry Dan Bell's microphone.

Like you, I remember thinking things would change. Of course, I thought Forrest Gregg would still be coach when we returned to glory. He was asked when football returned how long it would take to be competitive, and he opined that it might take upward of five years.

For the first time in years, it feels like we're getting close to breaking through. I'm even going to try to fly down for the Red/Blue game.

[Butts in the Stands]

As a class of 91 grad, I remember oh so well. I walked in to the stadium, watched the soccer game for 5 minutes and then said screw it and went to a bar and got drunk. That was a miserable feeling. I never questioned my decision to go to SMU but I was definitely not happy about no football.

[Longtime]

The first homecoming soccer game was against TCU. Everyone had to sit on the wooden bleachers on the visitor's side at Ownby. They were worried the concrete side might collapse after years of neglect and gutting it for lockerrooms, etc.

[txshusker]

as a 90 grad, I was actually there the year before the DP and then for homecoming and then the first year afterwards. The year before - '86 season, we had to drive to Texas Stadium, pay 20 bucks for parking, walk a mile to the stadium, sit with the 15K SMU fans in a 65K fan stadium (the A&M game was a sellout, too - and not in a good way - that was disheartening) Watching games there stunk.. in that way, the DP was great for the students... watching football at Ownby is great.

That first homecoming in a soccer game, I couldn't even get motivated to attend.
But in 89 with football back, I just remember cheering like a maniac for first downs... as if we'd scored a touchdown.

I had remarked earlier this year how depressing it was for SMU not to have rebounded at some point in the last 17 years to have a least a competetive team... Not ranked, just competetive.. when Wake Forest can win a conference, or teams who didn't have football programs 10 years ago can go to bowls (2 this year) why SMU hadn't been able to become mediocre boggled my mind.

Now, however, I too am happy they put up and are making the attempt.
I, also, will be heading to Dallas for more games in the upcoming season.

It wasn't the death penalty that killed SMU football, it was the improper attempts to come back from it. Hopefully, things can turn around.

I'd love to have the feeling again that I had when Romo threw a touchdown pass on the last play of the game to beat UCONN for he first win back. I still have the darn ticket stub!

[docabel]

I do remember going to that Rice game. Wasn't it televised by ESPN? I thought for sure it was going to be our day after that first fumbled kickoff. Learned quickly from that not to get your hopes up.

My other distinct memories of football at Ownby were

* the comeback win by Romo against Connecticut. Most of us had already left the stadium when the comeback started and there was a train of people running back down Airline to see the end of the game.

* the "home" game at Ownby versus Texas. Probably what txhusker experienced at Texas Stadium.

* the game against Baylor when Grant Teaff faked a punt in the second half when up by a very large margin already. That was the day I lost any and all respect for Teaff and/or Baylor.

[cs09viking]

I do remember going to that Rice game. Wasn't it televised by ESPN? I thought for sure it was going to be our day after that first fumbled kickoff. Learned quickly from that not to get your hopes up.

My other distinct memories of football at Ownby were

* the comeback win by Romo against Connecticut. Most of us had already left the stadium when the comeback started and there was a train of people running back down Airline to see the end of the game.

* the "home" game at Ownby versus Texas. Probably what txhusker experienced at Texas Stadium.

* the game against Baylor when Grant Teaff faked a punt in the second half when up by a very large margin already. That was the day I lost any and all respect for Teaff and/or Baylor.

tell us more of the Texas game at Ownby....i wish we could play Texas again one day.

[StallionsModelT]

I was at SMU from 2002 through 2006. My first game was Phil Bennett's first game as head coach and I remember being really fired up about the game. We had a decent sized crowd with a good number of students, a jet flyby, and the damn fire from the pregame fireworks setting the grass ablaze. I should have known then my four years at SMU as it relates to football were going to be rough. I attended every home game during my tenure, made road trips to Baylor, TCU, Rice, etc. The only really shining football memory I have from my time on the Hilltop was the TCU upset my senior year. What a great feeling that was. I remember thinking we might have a shot to go down to College Station and give the Aggies a game. Whoops.

Anyway, I feel the pain you guys are all going through. I wish I could be a freshman again and have four years of June Jones to look forward to instead of the train wreck that I saw from 02-06.

[docabel]

I do remember going to that Rice game. Wasn't it televised by ESPN? I thought for sure it was going to be our day after that first fumbled kickoff. Learned quickly from that not to get your hopes up.

My other distinct memories of football at Ownby were

* the comeback win by Romo against Connecticut. Most of us had already left the stadium when the comeback started and there was a train of people running back down Airline to see the end of the game.

* the "home" game at Ownby versus Texas. Probably what txhusker experienced at Texas Stadium.

* the game against Baylor when Grant Teaff faked a punt in the second half when up by a very large margin already. That was the day I lost any and all respect for Teaff and/or Baylor.

tell us more of the Texas game at Ownby....i wish we could play Texas again one day.

It was more of an event. I think I remember them bringing in some extra seating for the game, but Ownby still held less than 28K. Like now students sat on the visitors side, but that was essentially 20-25 rows of aluminum bleachers. It was the game after the Conneticut comeback, but more than the football game, it was a chance to see old friends that had gone to UT, with good natured ribbing back and forth - you know, like college football games are supposed to be.

[Mustang1991]

I still have the darn ticket stub!

I was mad because the ticket guy took the whole ticket and wouldn't let us keep a stub as a souveneir. That was the one thing I wanted...besides a win.

[Mustang1991]

I do remember going to that Rice game. Wasn't it televised by ESPN? I thought for sure it was going to be our day after that first fumbled kickoff. Learned quickly from that not to get your hopes up.

My other distinct memories of football at Ownby were

* the comeback win by Romo against Connecticut. Most of us had already left the stadium when the comeback started and there was a train of people running back down Airline to see the end of the game.

* the "home" game at Ownby versus Texas. Probably what txhusker experienced at Texas Stadium.

* the game against Baylor when Grant Teaff faked a punt in the second half when up by a very large margin already. That was the day I lost any and all respect for Teaff and/or Baylor.

tell us more of the Texas game at Ownby....i wish we could play Texas again one day.

It was more of an event. I think I remember them bringing in some extra seating for the game, but Ownby still held less than 28K. Like now students sat on the visitors side, but that was essentially 20-25 rows of aluminum bleachers. It was the game after the Conneticut comeback, but more than the football game, it was a chance to see old friends that had gone to UT, with good natured ribbing back and forth - you know, like college football games are supposed to be.

Don't forget the "low-blow" on the Texas player. Made me smile

[cs09viking]

I do remember going to that Rice game. Wasn't it televised by ESPN? I thought for sure it was going to be our day after that first fumbled kickoff. Learned quickly from that not to get your hopes up.

My other distinct memories of football at Ownby were

* the comeback win by Romo against Connecticut. Most of us had already left the stadium when the comeback started and there was a train of people running back down Airline to see the end of the game.

* the "home" game at Ownby versus Texas. Probably what txhusker experienced at Texas Stadium.

* the game against Baylor when Grant Teaff faked a punt in the second half when up by a very large margin already. That was the day I lost any and all respect for Teaff and/or Baylor.

tell us more of the Texas game at Ownby....i wish we could play Texas again one day.

It was more of an event. I think I remember them bringing in some extra seating for the game, but Ownby still held less than 28K. Like now students sat on the visitors side, but that was essentially 20-25 rows of aluminum bleachers. It was the game after the Conneticut comeback, but more than the football game, it was a chance to see old friends that had gone to UT, with good natured ribbing back and forth - you know, like college football games are supposed to be.

were there more SMU or Texas fans at the game?

[docabel]

More UT, but that was the beauty of Ownby as a smaller stadium. Even if you only drew 10K SMU supporters, then you could only "fit in" 13K UT fans.