Our friend, former UH starting offensive lineman and 1984 SWC champion Mike Wharton (Football ’82, ’84), passed away on October 2nd. In his memory, we want to share our interview with him, recounting that 1984 season and UH’s fourth trip to the Cotton Bowl.
There’s also a gallery from 1984 below.
Highlights:
4:10 – Going to Baylor and beating the Bears in a monsoon (4:10).
7:58 – Whooping #6 SMU at Texas Stadium (at the time, SMU was 35-3-1 in their last 38 games, dating back to 1981).
12:00 – Beating Texas for the first time since 1978. The Coogs forced Longhorn QB Todd Dodge into 5 INTs and no completions through 3.5 quarters. The Horns turned it over nine times.
15:00 – Texas Tech in a sleet storm on a wild day in the SWC.
17:40 – Needing a win over Rice to clinch a share of the conference title and a Cotton Bowl berth.
19:28 – Cotton Bowl stories and memories.
Spotify:
Apple Podcasts:
Soundcloud:
YouTube:
Gallery: 1984 SWC Champions
Photos courtesy of the Houstonian Yearbook unless specified. Stories gathered from various historical archives.
1984 SWC Standings
| Team | SWC | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| Houston | 6-2* | 7-5 |
| SMU | 6-2 | 10-2 |
| Texas | 5-3 | 7-4 |
| TCU | 5-3 | 8-4 |
| Arkansas | 5-3 | 7-4 |
| Baylor | 4-4 | 5-6 |
| Texas A&M | 3-5 | 6-5 |
| Texas Tech | 2-6 | 4-7 |
| Rice | 0-8 | 1-10 |
| *won head-to-head |
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