EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma football team has been competing since 1902. To tell the story of the program's more than 100 years of history must be done in more than one Friday Feature. Last week we looked at the DII Era (1988-present) and today we will look at the middle ages.
Central won its first national championship in 1962. The leadup to that is as good a part of history as any to start "The Middle Ages."
UCO, which of course was Central State College at the time, won the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference title in 1948, 1949, and 1950. The Bronchos went 6-2, 7-2, and 7-3 respectively during those campaigns. Dale Hamilton led the charge for the first two titles, then his assistant Gene Smith took over for two years and won the third of those titles.
Hamilton returned to the head coaching post in 1952 and would win three more conference titles. Hamilton led the Bronchos to titles in 1954, 1955, and 1956, posting records of 6-2-1, 8-1, and 7-2.
The former coach and former athletic director amassed 73 wins in his two stints as head coach (1941-49 & 1952-57) as well as seven conference championships.
Al Blevins took over in 1958 and over the next six seasons compiled what is still today the highest winning percentage of any coach in school history.
Like the 8-1 squad of 1955, Blevins put together a pair of one-loss Broncho battalions in his tenure. Central went 8-1 in 1959, winning the final seven games of the season. The Bronchos also went 9-1 in 1961, losing the final game of the season by a single point, 27-26, to Oklahoma Panhandle State.
Then came the 1962 season.
Central made its first-ever playoff appearance in 1962 following an 9-0 regular season campaign and a conference championship. The Bronchos opened the playoffs with a 20-0 win over Emporia State at Oklahoma City's Taft Stadium and followed that with a 28-13 win over Lenoir-Rhyne in the NAIA National Championship Game in Sacramento, California.
Central trailed 6-0 early in the national title game, but took a 14-6 lead into halftime. Lenoir-Rhyne cut it to 14-13 in the second half, but the Bronchos pulled away late. R.L. Briggs and George Hughley scored first-half rushing touchdowns and Mike Rollins threw two touchdown passes to Billy Jones in the second half to give the Bronchos the 28-13 victory and the school's first national championship.
The 1962 team is also one of four squads that posted undefeated regular seasons (13-0, 1998; 11-0, 1962; 9-0, 1915; 7-0, 1942).
Phil Ball took over for Blevins in 1964 and he would go on to win 82 games, third-most in school history, over the next 12 years. Ball did win just one conference title though, that coming in 1972 as he took the Bronchos back to the NAIA playoffs for the first time since 1962.
Ball did see Central through a crucial transition during his tenure. In 1965, the Bronchos began playing their home football games at Wantland Stadium, where they still play today. The new field replaced Central Field, where the Bronchos played from 1928-1964.
Central beat the College of the Ozarks 31-0 in the first ever game at Wantland Stadium and the Bronchos posted a perfect 5-0 record at home during that first season.
The Bronchos have an 176-103 all-time record at Wantland Stadium including nine seasons with an undefeated home record. Central's record crowd of 10,000 at Wantland Stadium was that first season, Oct. 9, 1965 against Southwestern Oklahoma State.
Gary Howard, commended for his efforts in the transition of UCO to an NCAA school in Part I of our history on the football program, took over for Ball in 1976. Similar to his promptness getting the Bronchos to a winning NCAA program in the 1990s, Howard wasted little time putting the Bronchos in good standing on the national stage when he took over in the late 1970s and into the early 1980s.
In 1979, just Howard's third season, the Bronchos opened the season with three consecutive shutouts by a combined 132-0. Central finished the regular season 9-1, then beat Nebraska Kearney and Presbyterian College in the first and second round of the NAIA playoffs. UCO met up with Texas A&M Kingsville in the national championship game, but came up short 20-14. Scott Burger's 72-yard touchdown pass to Bennie West with just over four minutes to play put the Bronchos within a score, but Central couldn't find another in the final minutes.
Howard's early success continued and just three seasons later, the Bronchos were back in the playoffs.
Central had to go to Pueblo, Colo. in the first round but the fifth-ranked Bornchos had no problem winning 61-20. Central then again hit the road, taking on Northeastern State in Tahlequah in the national semifinals, and overcame a 10-0 deficit and six turnovers to beat NSU 28-17 and reach the national title game for the second time in four seasons and the third time in school history.
Central wouldn't be turned away this time.
In a game at Wantland Stadium, aired on the USA Network, the Bronchos may have had their worst offensive game of the season. But the defense was there. Central beat Colorado Mesa 14-11 to win its second national championship. The Bronchos got a huge fourth-quarter interception from Randy Preston that set up a one-yard touchdown run from Randy Page and the Bronchos came away victors.
The Bronchos finished 10-2 with a national championship in 1982.
Howard led Central back to the playoffs in 1983 and 1985. He then, as documented last week, helped immensely as UCO transitioned to NCAA Division II.
There are many more memorable moments in "The Middle Ages." Here are just a few.
Central went 7-0 in 1942 as many schools quit playing sports for World War II.
Central did not field a team from 1943-45 for the war.
Central posted 36 winning seasons from Dale Hamilton's first season in 1941 until the Bronchos moved to Division II in 1988.
Jack Ross made 197 tackles in 1969 and that Central record still stands today.
Dean Shinault made 12 sacks in 1985 and that Central record still stands today.
James Hooks' 132 points, all from 22 touchdowns, is a Central record that still stands today.
Centrals' 535 rushing yards against Central Arkansas in 1955 is a school record that still stands today.
Of the 45 individuals who played or coached football at Central that are now in the UCO Athletics Hall of Fame, 33 played or coached during "The Middle Ages."
