The Pecan Park Eagle

UT Star Running Back Chris Gilbet and Coach Darrell Royal, 1968.

Way back on Saturday night, September 21, 1968, at Memorial Stadium in Austin, a titanic challenge battle took place between the visiting University of Houston Cougars of Coach Bill Yeoman and the home town Texas Longhorns of Coach Darrell Royal. It was the UH Veer offense versus the UT Wishbone in college football for the first time with a lot riding on the outcome. As per usual, UH had everything to gain, but not much to lose but the opportunity from a defeat. For UT, however, it was their often served sip of not much to gain from victory, but everything to lose from defeat. Every fan from UH or UT at the stadium that night had a lot riding emotionally on that outcome. And your humble reporter from The Pecan Park Eagle was there among those Cougar fans who had driven over from Houston as a UH alum – and seven years before I also added my UT degree. I was totally partisan for UH and still am today. Can’t help it. It’s in my blood.

What nobody counted on was what happened. – The game ended in a 20-20 tie and, as was the rule back then, there was no protocol for an overtime playoff to sudden victory for one team over the other. Everybody just had to go home with that not-so-great “kissing your sister” sensation that Bear Bryant used to ascribe to feelings generated by games that end in ties.

Tie outcome aside, the game had been a mighty showcase battle between two great running backs from UH and UT. Senior fullback Paul Gipson of Jacksonville, Texas and UT Senior halfback Chris Gilbert of Spring Branch High School in Houston both lived up to their advance game billing.

Chris Gilbert had finesse and speed. – Paul Gipson had power and speed.

Here’s how Associated Press sports writer Murray Chass described the star running back face-off a couple of days later:

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Texas U. Star Runs for 195 Yards

SIMPSON, GILBERT, GIPSON PRAISED

By MURRAY CHASS, Associated Press Sports Writer

O.J. Simpson of Southern California was a first team All-American halfback last year. Chris Gilbert of Texas and Paul Gipson of Houston only made the second team.

On college football’s first big Saturday, Simpson scored four touchdowns and rambled for 236 yards on 39 carries as second-ranked Southern California defeated Minnesota, 29-20.

O.J., however, did not overshadow the play of Gilbert and Gipson in what some people called the championship game of the Southwest. Both had a lot to do with the 20-20 tie that resulted from the clash between the nation’s Number 4 team, Texas and the Number 11 team, Houston.

Star Performances

Chris Gilbert lived up to his pre-season tout on the night of 9/21/1968.

Gilbert ran for 195 yards on 21 carries; Gipson gained 173 yards on 28 tries. Simpson’s average was six yards per carry, the same as Gipson’s. Gilbert finished with a nine-yard average.

Included in Gilbert’s gains were touchdown runs of 57 and 8 yards. Gipson scored all three of Houston’s touchdowns on runs of one, 66, and 5 yards.

Paul Gipson, above, going down hard in an earlier UH win over Florida State. – In the UT game, did Paul Gipson lose the call on his late game goal line run and dive that would’ve given UH the win? As one who sat directly on that goal line from the lower stands, I will swear forever that I saw Paul’s head, shoulders and the ball break the TD plane before UT pushed him back for an official “stop”. But that’s just how things go sometimes.

There was one time (late in the 4th quarter), however, when Texas stopped Gipson (at the goal plane) and that (“stop”) meant the difference between a tie and a Houston victory. The Cougars had the ball at the Texas two with a fourth down and the Longhorns stopped Gipson at the (goal) line.

~ excerpt from the Murray Chass article, as it appeared in the Lubbock (TX) Avalanche Journal, Monday, September 23, 1968, Page 47

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When we asked the referee after the game about how many inches Gipson had missed on his dramatic 4th quarter failed TD dive for a UH victory, the ref just flashed us the above hand signal to denote the failed distance.