Dear SportsPeople:
A 10-10 tie the ”Game of The Century”? A game that ended as one side kicked an extra point and then ran out the clock? A game where the other side later lost its bowl game? You jest.
My candidate is the 1969 Texas-Arkansas contest. This was the final game of the 100th season of college football and No. 1 Texas rallied on a 2-point conversion and a bomb on 4th down to come from a 14-point deficit to beat No. 2 Arkansas 15-14.
As we all know, that Texas team went on to beat Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl in ND`s first bowl appearance in modern times. In that game, Texas, trailing 17-14, went for a first down instead of a field goal and scored a TD to win.
When asked why he didn`t go for the tie, Texas coach Darrel Royal said:
”A champion should be carried out feet first.” If only Ara Parseghian had followed that philosophy, there would have been a winner instead of two losers in that ”classic” 10-10 tie with Michigan State.
