SWC75
Bored Historian
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Back in 1966, I'd just turned 13 when I read an article in SI about the nation's best small college football team, North Dakota State. They'd never amounted to much until Darrell Mudra came there in 1963 to take over a team that had gone 0-10 the year before. But he totally turned the Bison around in a very short time. They went 9-1 in 1964 with the only loss being by a touchdown to arch-rival North Dakota, who had dominated them for decades. Then they won one of the first small college bowl games, the Mineral Water Bowl, 14-13 over Western Colorado. The next year nobody could beat them. They even beat North Dakota for the first time since 1952, 6-3. That was North Dakota's only loss that season. They swept through the regular season and beat Grambling, 20-7 in the Pecan Bowl. They were voted "National Small College Champions" for 1965.
Mudra moved on, (he was Lou Saban/Larry Brown type who couldn't stand to be in a place very long), to be replaced by Ron Erhardt, who late coached the Patriots.
In 1966, the won their first six games, going into another confrontation with North Dakota, who was also undefeated. they were the #1 and #2 ranked college division teams in the country and they played a great game, decided on a last second field goal, 18-15 and described in a great article by SI that peaked my interest in the Bison.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079213/3/index.htm
Meanwhile a coach named Don Coryell was building another small college powerhouse at Sand Diego State. SI had an article about them after they whitewashed major college San Jose State, 25-0.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079184/index.htm
They dressed in black and red uniforms that were quite striking and were like a miniature version of USC or UCLA, full of sprinters. They, too hadn't been much until Coryell got there. He took over a team that had been 1-6-1 in 1960 and went 38-10-1 through 1965, showing the kind of exciting offense Coryell was later famous for in the NFL. The Aztecs had won their first six games of the 1966 season. I remember thingking how it was too bad they didn't have a playoff in college football such that North Dakota State and Sand Diego State could play each other.
I was amazed to get my SI the next week and find that they had, in fact, scheduled each other. I was more amazed at the results on the field:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079266/index.htm
After that I felt kind of sorry for the Bison. And it did take them a couple of years to recover but they came back to be voted National Small College Champion two more times, in 1968 and 1969. After comparative mediocrity in the 70's, they came back to win 5 Division II national championships from 1983-90. Another dry period ended when they moved up to FCS in this decade and they have won the last three national titles in that division.
San Diego State had been NSCC in 1966-67 and had been ranked #1 until a 13-13 tie late int he season vs. Tennessee State in 1968. They went major college in 1969 and went 11-0, averaging 45 points a game, playing a schedule of the lesser major college teams. They were sort of the Boise State of their time but they couldn't sustain it. Coryell left for the pros after 12 seasons in which he went 104-19-2 and had winnings streaks of 31 and 25 games. His successor, Claude Gilbert, went 61-26-2 but when they joined the WAC , they became just another team that couldn't beat BYU.
What does all this have to do with basketball? Well, North Dakota State and Sand Diego State will meet in the NCAA tournament at 6:10. I thought of their confrontation those years ago. I wonder if the Bison have ever had a chance to get back at the Aztecs since then, in any sport. The kids who play today probably don't know or care about that 1966 game. But I remember reading about it and will be thinking about it today. I wonder if any Bison or Aztec fans will be doing the same.
Mudra moved on, (he was Lou Saban/Larry Brown type who couldn't stand to be in a place very long), to be replaced by Ron Erhardt, who late coached the Patriots.
In 1966, the won their first six games, going into another confrontation with North Dakota, who was also undefeated. they were the #1 and #2 ranked college division teams in the country and they played a great game, decided on a last second field goal, 18-15 and described in a great article by SI that peaked my interest in the Bison.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079213/3/index.htm
Meanwhile a coach named Don Coryell was building another small college powerhouse at Sand Diego State. SI had an article about them after they whitewashed major college San Jose State, 25-0.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079184/index.htm
They dressed in black and red uniforms that were quite striking and were like a miniature version of USC or UCLA, full of sprinters. They, too hadn't been much until Coryell got there. He took over a team that had been 1-6-1 in 1960 and went 38-10-1 through 1965, showing the kind of exciting offense Coryell was later famous for in the NFL. The Aztecs had won their first six games of the 1966 season. I remember thingking how it was too bad they didn't have a playoff in college football such that North Dakota State and Sand Diego State could play each other.
I was amazed to get my SI the next week and find that they had, in fact, scheduled each other. I was more amazed at the results on the field:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079266/index.htm
After that I felt kind of sorry for the Bison. And it did take them a couple of years to recover but they came back to be voted National Small College Champion two more times, in 1968 and 1969. After comparative mediocrity in the 70's, they came back to win 5 Division II national championships from 1983-90. Another dry period ended when they moved up to FCS in this decade and they have won the last three national titles in that division.
San Diego State had been NSCC in 1966-67 and had been ranked #1 until a 13-13 tie late int he season vs. Tennessee State in 1968. They went major college in 1969 and went 11-0, averaging 45 points a game, playing a schedule of the lesser major college teams. They were sort of the Boise State of their time but they couldn't sustain it. Coryell left for the pros after 12 seasons in which he went 104-19-2 and had winnings streaks of 31 and 25 games. His successor, Claude Gilbert, went 61-26-2 but when they joined the WAC , they became just another team that couldn't beat BYU.
What does all this have to do with basketball? Well, North Dakota State and Sand Diego State will meet in the NCAA tournament at 6:10. I thought of their confrontation those years ago. I wonder if the Bison have ever had a chance to get back at the Aztecs since then, in any sport. The kids who play today probably don't know or care about that 1966 game. But I remember reading about it and will be thinking about it today. I wonder if any Bison or Aztec fans will be doing the same.
