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.
