You and I were on campus during the same time, and I'm sure we attended many of the same games. I was going to highlight these same games in remembering coach Akers. The 1980 Arkansas game had been moved by ABC-TV to Sept. 1, a Monday night, because they wanted the first televised college game of the new decade to be the Texas-Arkansas game. The atmosphere was awesome, the stadium was rocking, and it was an epic ass-kicking of the piggies, highlighted by Jeff Leiding going full Superman and destroying an Arkie kickoff returner.
One thing to mention about the 1979 OU game; this was the game where Billy Sims' bid for a second Heisman died. Texas D, led my Steve "Bam Bam" McMichael was in OU's backfield all day. I was sitting behind an older OU couple who turned to each other about mid-way through the third quarter and said, "I've never seen OU dominated like this". The score did not indicate that domination, but it was a dominant performance.
Should also mention the 1981 Miami game. Miami had not yet become "The U", but they were on the rise, and had a QB named Jim Kelly. A great game, I most remember for a pass from Rick McIvor from UT's own end zone, about 65 yards on the fly to Herkie Walls, who juggles the pass, pins the ball against his face mask, before falling down, but he made the catch, and Texas went on the score a TD on the drive, winning the game 14-7. Defense made many, many stops, as they always seemed to do when we needed it most. I never worried when the opposing team would get a first and goal, because I knew there was a better than even chance that they would not score, or would be held to a FG. Our defense during this era was just dominating, year after year.
Should also point out that the 1981 team finished 10-1-1. Had to come from 14-0 down to pull out a 14-14 tie against Houston. I often wonder what would have happened if we won that game. If my memory serves me correctly, we were ranked in the top 5 above Clemson going into that game, but dropped with the tie. Clemson finished the season undefeated and won the National Championship, but if we had beaten UH, what are the chances we would have remained above them in the rankings?
Coach Akers' teams, especially during his first 6-7 years, don't get the recognition they deserve. Coach definitely did the University proud. Hook 'Em, coach, and RIP.