November 21, 1970, was a day of firsts for Wake Forest and Houston, playing that day in the Astrodome. Thanks to a North Carolina win over Duke, Wake Forest won its first-ever conference championship in its 83rd football season. Later in the day, the Demon Deacons lost to Houston 26-2 in a college football scorigami. No college football game had ever ended in a 26-2 final.
UH led just 6-2 at halftime as the Cougar offense struggled: five punts, two turnovers on downs, a fumble, a blocked punt through the end zone for a safety, and a missed PAT. But Houston dominated the third quarter, running 28 plays for 189 yards and two touchdowns. Wake Forest had just seven offensive snaps in the quarter for 17 yards.
“Well, our defense came up with another shutout tonight,” punter Mike Parrott said in the locker room after the game. “But I didn’t.”
In the 4th quarter, Elmo Wright scored on a pass from Joel Despain (UH missed the PAT again).
Houston ran 85 plays for 450 yards, including 302 on the ground. Robert Newhouse had 114 yards on 14 carries, and Tommy Mozisek ran for 99 on 21 attempts. After 147 yards in the first half, Wake Forest had only 95 in the second half.
UNC’s win over Duke gave Wake Forest the ACC title with a 5-1 conference record. Despite the conference title, wake finished with a 1-4 record vs. out-of-conference opponents.
Wake Forest started the season 0-3. After losing at FSU in week three, head coach Cal Stoll announced the team was abandoning their pro-spread offense and going to Bill Yeoman’s Houston Veer. The Deacs won six of their next seven games (loss to #9 Tennessee in Knoxville) before ending the regular season at UH.
Had Wake beaten UH, the Deacs would have been back in the Astrodome for the Bluebonnet Bowl. But with a 6-5 record, the ACC champions were not invited to a bowl game.
Lagniappe: Wake Forest was the second-straight game UH held an opponent without an offensive score. The Coogs beat Wyoming the week before 28-0. Going back to the Ole Miss game, UH held opponents without a touchdown for over nine quarters … Elmo Wright did not play in the Wyoming game but returned against Wake Forest. His TD reception – his 31st in his career – moved him within one of Howard Twilley’s NCAA record … Against UH, Ed Stetz set a (still-standing) Wake Forest record with 19 solo tackles (25 total). He made 16 the week before, earning the AP’s “lineman of the week award … Wake had been in a conference for 35 years before winning their first title on that day. They would go another 36 years before winning their second … This game is the only time in UH history that an opponent finished a game with two points. UH lost to Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Texas State) 2-0 in 1947 … Houston and Wake have played twice – in 1967 and 1970. UH outscored Wake Forest 76-8 in the two games.
