Utah’s new head coach would be Bill Meek, a
coaching veteran who was an outstanding blocking back under
Tennessee’s famed General Robert Neyland. He coached at Fort
Benning while serving in the military, assisted at Maryland, and
became one of the nation’s youngest head coaches at Kansas State
in 1951. Meek moved to the University of Houston and in two
seasons won the conference Coach Of The Year Award and the
Missouri Valley Conference championship. He took on the head job
at SMU where he coached Don Meredith, [see HELMET HUT http://www.helmethut.com/College/SMU/TXXSMU5761W.html ]
and moved to the NFL as an assistant and personnel director,
followed by two years of coordinating the offense at West Point.
He then became Utah’s head coach. As he had done at SMU Meek
introduced two new helmet designs for the ’68 season that would
mark his full six year tenure in Salt Lake City. The Utes wore a
white helmet with red flanking stripes at home and reversed the
look on the road with a red shell sporting white flanking
stripes. Meek’s inaugural year resulted in an emphasis on
recruiting high school seniors rather than JC transfers but
resulted in a 3-7 mark in part due to the offense which was
limited to the 1006 reception yards tallied by All Conference
Louis “Speedy” Thomas and his sixty catches and
jack-of-all-trades Ray Groth who just fell short of the
conference lead with 1512 total yards. Thomas played for the
Bengals and Saints in a six season pro career. Lightweight
defensive end Gary Kerl did not make it after being a Cardinal
draft choice but put in a year in the CFL while All Conference
Norm McBride on the other side of the defensive line lasted two
seasons with the Dolphins. ’69 saw forty freshmen brought to
varsity camp from what was considered a terrific group and the
8-2 final record brought Meek Conference Coach Of The Year
honors. Success came from team effort, better depth, and with
few gaudy statistics. Dave Smith, a Packer draft choice led the
ground game behind tackle Gordon Jolley while tight end Dale
Nosworthy proved to be a reliable target and All WAC choice.
Team leader Ray Groth did not match his quarterback statistics
of the previous year but ran the team efficiently, was drafted
as a receiver by the Cardinals but instead coached high school
football for more than two decades. All Conference performers
linebacker Larry Stone, with his ninety-two tackles and DB Norm
Thompson handled the defensive chores. Meek allowed for the
similarities in the helmet colors of both New Mexico and Arizona
to the Utes own red and decided to put his team in their usual
home white helmets for those two away games. 1970 brought a 6-4
mark with good talent so there was some disappointment among
team followers. Kicker and punter Marv Bateman stood out as the
nation’s leading punter, his average boosted by a seventy-two
yard skyscraper! Billy Hunter rushed for 484 yards which got him
drafted by the Bills but tackle Gordon Jolley, like Bateman,
Hunter and tight end Dale Nosworthy, an All WAC pick lasted six
years with the Lions and was a member of the Seahawks inaugural
squad. His son stood out at BYU and also had a pro career.
Nosworthy, a former Parade All American later became a
successful restaurateur in Idaho. Cardinals first round draft
pick All American Norm Thompson, filled out their defensive
backfield through ’76 and then became the NFL’s first free agent
to sign with another team, playing a final three seasons with
the Colts. 1971 brought more regression with its 3-8 record.
Marv Bateman made his second All American honor again leading
the nation in punting as he had in ’70. The at times
inconsistent offense was led by quarterbacks Gordon “Scooter”
Longmire and Don Van Galder, the latter lighting up New Mexico
for over 350 yards and four TDs. Fred Graves moved out to wide
receiver from his more familiar running back post to lead the
team with forty-five receptions and has had a lengthy career as
an assistant coach at both the collegiate and pro levels. Meek
dressed his Utes in their usual home field white helmets for the
final game of the season at Houston.
SPOTLIGHT
ON MARV BATEMAN
It isn’t often that a
punter/placekicker is the stand-out player for a college team
but Utah Hall Of Fame member Marv Bateman was the star of a
disappointing 1971 squad and its only All Conference member.
Bateman in fact was All American for two seasons, leading the
nation in punting and setting an NCAA record mark of 48.07 yards
per punt in his senior year. An excellent placekicker, Bateman
doubled up and totaled 118 PAT and field goal points in his Utah
career. He had a professional career that spanned nine seasons
with four teams and despite injury his first season with the
Cowboys, was named to the NFL All Rookie squad.
Hopes
were high for a rebound year in ’72 and the Utes did improve to
6-5 although they lost to both Utah State and BYU as their major
rivals. The 16-7 BYU upset was especially painful because for
the second consecutive year, losing to an underdog opponent cost
them the conference championship. The 6-5 mark also seemed to
mark the mediocrity of Utah’s program under Meek, summarized by
good recruiting, solid expectations, and middle-of-the-road
results. Quarterback Don Van Galder, despite injury propelled
his 6’2”, 175 pound frame to the All WAC and Conference MVP
honors passing for 1155 yards and fifteen touchdowns. Defensive
back Steve Marshall moved in to bolster the position in his
absence. Gene Belczyk handled the rush game with 777 yards while
the receivers were led by Willie Armstead and Lance Robbins.
Steve Odom, 9.5 track star was a potent return man and garnered
some “All” honors with his additional thirty receptions, fourth
ranking in the nation for receiving touchdowns and fifth in
yards per catch. Guard Bob Peterson led the way up front and was
drafted by the Saints. Despite a number of high scoring games,
defensive standouts Bob Prichett and Bob Fratto were All WAC on
the D-line while linebacker Elliot Hagood led the team with 124
tackles, totaling 305 for his three varsity seasons. Fans were
uplifted by the 82-6 victory over UTEP in the second game of the
1973 season but the team would settle back into their usual
tepid record under Meek, upsetting sixth-ranked Arizona State
but losing to BYU and then Hawaii in their “extra”
end-of-the-season game and finishing 7-5. The material was there
for more with All WAC offensive linemen Chuck Johanson and Bill
Powers in front of quarterback Van Galder who completed his
career with a solid 2012 passing yards. He put a year in with
Portland of the World Football League. Van Galder also had
reliable receivers in Lance Robbins who later became a dentist
for the Northwestern University Athletic Department and Willie
Armstead. The big gun on offense was receiver and return man
Odom whose thirty-eight receptions provided 723 yards and he
earned All American honors with his kick returning abilities.
His all-purpose yardage total stood at Utah for decades and he
enjoyed five seasons with the Packers and a sixth pro year
divided between Green Bay and the Giants. Three year starter and
All Conference Steve Marshall finished with seven interceptions
and later coached high school football. Tackle Ron Rydalch was
the conference Defensive Player Of The Year, signed with Houston
of the WFL and then played with the Chicago Bears for six
seasons while line mate Gary Keller earned a Vikings draft pick
with his eighty-six tackles. At season’s end Coach Meek was
gone, not technically fired but gone nonetheless with the
University claiming they could not provide funds for a salary
increase or improved facilities which Meek had insisted upon.
