Akers started off with a bang. His first decision was to scrap the wishbone, a decision almost made for him because of the rules changes, specifically the 30-90 scholarship limitation. Someone correct me on this one, I think the limits started in 1978?, so Freddie knew he wouldn't have the depth to field two halfbacks + a fullback. (I realize Fred's first year was '77, I'm thinking Fred was planning for the future)
So, Akers moved Earl from fullback to tailback, installed the I formation, with the offense of give it to Earl, give it to Earl, and pitch it to Earl. Fred had Earl, so when during the OU game, first and second string QBs went down with injuries, Randy McEachern(sp, whew I can't spell his name) came in and just handed to Earl the rest of the game, the famous 13-6 win. Johnnie Johnson and Brad Shearer teamed up to stop Thomas Lott on Fourth and 1 at the five yard line. Boom, it took both of them, Shearer hit him low, Johnson hit him high, he didn't come close to the first down. Then Erxleben kicks a fabulous punt to effectively end the game, I want to say a 76ish yard punt.
Next week it was mostly the same in a more exciting win over nationally ranked? Arkansas. This game was more exciting because of the kicking duel that might emerge. Steve Little of Arkansas had a huge leg, and Erxleben had the NCAA record of 67 yards against Rice. I want to say Little had a kick of 66 yards against a more formidable opponent, maybe in 1976, so when Exleben spotted the tee, he moved it back a yard so he could have the record all to himself.
Here is the twist you would have never seen from Darrell. Akers threw a screen pass to Earl. Wow! He almost scored, then the next play, our smallish halfback danced into the end zone. I remember because my dad groaned when he started dancing, quoting DKR, "act like you've been there before!" my dad shouted at the TV. Anyway a 13-9 win, notice the three field goals by Little, and no TDs allowed by the Texas defense in two consecutive games over nationally ranked opponents.
At that point we knew it was a special year. And Akers was golden that year almost entirely because of his decision to put in the I formation and put Earl at tailback.
But as the years went by, people expected Fred to grow as a head coach, specifically in his decision making. He never did. I don't think he ever got over that 38-10 loss to Notre Dame, on Jan. 1, 1978. You would have hoped he would learn how to prepare a team for a bowl game, but it didn't seem to happen.
One of Fred's biggest problems was ego. He was a defensive coach, but he wouldn't agree to give the offensive reins to anyone. The specific example was the famous Cotton Bowl victory against Alabama.
January 1982, Robert Brewer has had a special year as QB, and the team was 9-1-1 going into the bowl game. The tie was one of those ridiculously frustrating games where the offense just couldn't do anything against Cougar High, of all teams. The loss was the embarrassment of the decade to that point, a 42-11 loss to Arkansas. I remember talking to a friend the next day at church and the first thing out of his mouth was "Akers should be fired, that team was not prepared to play at all".
You guys have to remember that there weren't that many big games on national TV back then, so when an embarrassment like that happened, it carried a lot of weight with the fans. We only saw 2 to 3 games a year on TV.
Anyway, so New Year's Day, '82, Brewer is sick and tired of being chased around the backfield, comes to the line and calls timeout. Texas is trailing, 10-7?, and the ball is on the 'Bama 30. He goes to the sideline, he is the one who appears to be initiating the conversation. Back then the camera angles were pretty good. I'm guessing with fewer games to cover, the networks put a pretty good effort out there.
Okay, so we all know what happens, it's a QB draw, the 'Bama defense parts like the Red Sea, no defender is within 10 yards as Brewer scores the winning TD. Afterwards there is a dispute over who made the call! Akers claims it was his call, and the offensive assistant says he made the call.
There are plenty of other examples of Akers doing some strange things. For example, he would always take his best players and put them on defense. The quickest fastest, whatever adjective you want to use, they were put on defense. No balance in other words. Later in his time at Texas I think Akers finally gave in and hired an offensive coordinator, but by then the recruiting problems had made his life much more difficult.
I was at Akers last game, I remember all of the Aggie cars with the "Keep Fred" signs on their cars. My grandfather went with me, we bought some scalped tickets, sat in the off and on rain, watched a very frustrated Texas team work their butts off in a loss to the Ags, I want to say 16 - 3.
I can give you other examples, but the main idea here is that Akers inherited a tremendous program, and did a fabulous job with the defense, but fell far short in the decision-making portion of the coaching that seems to always fall nowadays on offensive coordinators. If Fred had only seen the light and hired an OC, maybe in '79, '80, we might have had National titles in '81, and certainly '83. I say '81 because of the tie. That darn tie hurt so bad because it was later in the year. Everyone knew the team was totally unprepared against Arkansas, but to tie the Coogs was the straw that broke the camel's back. Texas would end up the year ranked #2 in the country, with the #1 defense. Probably the best Texas defense ever. Underrated of course because of the Arkansas fiasco, that team hit so incredibly hard.
