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1970s
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The highlight of the 1968 schedule was the meeting of Memphis State and the University of Tennessee for the first time in school history. The Highland 100 booster club had printed thousands of bumper stickers saying..."Draft the Volunteers, get the MSU-UT football series." A number of MSU students took the stickers and traveled across the state plastering cars. One group of students even went to Knoxville and stuck cars on the Tennessee campus. A bill was drafted to force the two teams to play but the school's presidents met with Governor Buford Ellington and set up the home-andhome contest. The Tigers lost to Tennessee, 2417, but claimed the Missouri Valley Championship and Murphy was named the Conference Coach of the Year. Louis Fernandez was selected to play in the Shrine North-South All-Star game after the 1969 season and Danny Pierce was picked to play in the East-West Shrine game in San Francisco. The Tigers were ranked 20th in the nation in the final United Press poll and David Berrong and Steve Jaggard were tied for third in the nation in interceptions with eight each. Offensive tackle Bob Parker was selected to UPI's and The Football News All-America teams. Berrong was tabbed by the Associated Press and the Central Press Association on their All-America squads.
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The Tigers made their first-ever network television appearance in 1967 against Florida State in Memphis. The game was televised by ABC-TV.
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Billy J. Murphy was carried off the field following Memphis' win over Mississippi in 1967.
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sociated Press Back of the Week and United Press National Player of the Week for his play against 9th-ranked Mississippi State. Fletcher set the Memphis State passing record against the Bulldogs that night, completing 18-of-30 pass attempts for 257 yards. The Tigers were ranked 15th by Associated Press on October 19, 1965. After the season, Dr. Lambert resigned as athletic director and Murphy assumed that role as well as head football coach. The 1966 season concluded with the Tigers playing the 11th-ranked University of Houston Cougars in the Astrodome. The game marked the first ever indoor contest for the Tigers. Memphis State won the game, 14-13. The shot-heard-around-Memphis came in 1967 when the Tigers opened the campaign with the Rebels of Ole Miss. The Liberty Bowl was packed with 50,414 fans on September 23 as the two teams met for the 21st time in the series. But this time the outcome was different. Led by Nick Pappas, Bob Baxter, Ricky Thurow and Herb Covington, the Tigers answered every Rebel score with one of their own and won the contest, 27-17. The 1967 season also marked the first time that Memphis State appeared on regional television. On November 4, 1967, the Tigers took on Florida State University on ABC-TV. As a first-year member of the Missouri Valley Conference, the Tigers were now aligned with Drake, Louisville, Wichita State, Bradley, Cincinnati, Tulsa, North Texas State and St. Louis but were not eligible for the conference title in that first year of competition.
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Tiger History
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The Tigers opened the decade of the 1970s with Paul "Skeeter" Gowen finishing 11th in the nation in rushing. The team compiled a 6-4 record and brought the five-year won loss record to 33-15. In 1971, Memphis State claimed the Missouri Valley Conference championship and for the first time since the 1954 Burley Bowl, earned that elusive bowl invitation. As conference champion, the Tigers were invited to the Pasadena Bowl to take on San Jose State. MSU won the game 28-9 but one note not covered in the game stories was a run by tailback Skeeter Gowen in the fourth period. After breaking free around the end, he scooted over the goal line, hotly pursued by a gigantic Spartan lineman. In the end zone, Gowen slowed to stop. But the lineman kept coming. Gowen trotted out of the end zone. So did the lineman. At that point the little Memphis back raced up the stadium steps into the seating area. When the big lineman finally gave up, Gowen sat down in the spectator seats, placed the ball in his lap and caught his breath. On February 5, 1972, Billy J. Murphy, the winningest coach in Tiger football history, announced that he was giving up coaching to devote himself full-time to his job as athletic director. In his war to bring Memphis State into national prominence, Murphy amassed a 9144-1 record. At the beginning of his final season, the Tiger coach was rated the nation's 15th winningest football mentor. As he had promised, Murphy built a winner in five years. Enter Fred Pancoast.