LAST Football Game Played at Fouts Field - Denton, TX
N 33° 12.572 W 097° 09.317
14S E 671929 N 3676032
A 2019 University of North Texas sign at the former site of the university's legendary Fouts Field notes that the last game played here took place in 2010.
Waymark Code: WM12YV1
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/09/2020
Views: 8
Wikipedia indicates that the final game took place on November 27, 2010, and UNT lost to Kansas State, 49-41. One can find references to the coach's pep talk to the players before the game, reminding them of the history of the field, but there's not much to be found for a box score. Big scoring game, but still close...maybe they just don't want to talk about a "L" in the final game.
The sign stands at a Denton County Transportation Authority transfer station, and there's another one identical to it across the parking lot. It features a vintage aerial photo of the stadium, and the text reads:
Opened in 1952, Eagle Stadium was renamed Fouts Field after the death of coach and athletic director Theron J. Fouts. In his 34 years at North Texas, he had built a nationally acclaimed sports and recreation program and initiated the campaign to build the stadium. The first football game played there was a 55-0 victory over North Dakota on Sept. 27, 1952. Fouts Field became home to one of the South's first integrated college football teams in 1956 when African American students Abner Haynes and Leon King joined the freshman squad. In the 1960s, the Mean Green nickname was born at the stadium as fans cheered on the punishing defense. One of the linemen went on to a Hall of Fame career in the NFL, where he acquired a nickname of his own -- "Mean" Joe Greene. Also calling Fouts Field home were track and field teams featuring Olympians Dave Clark, pole vault, 1960; Bill Schmidt, javelin bronze medal, 1972; and Johnny Quinn (also a wide receiver), bobsled, 2014. Iconic football games at Fouts Field included a snowy 1976 contest with Florida State and a 2002 victory over New Mexico State that clinched the conference title and brought the goal posts down. Fouts Field also hosted graduations and fireworks shows and became a TV and film set for The Jesse Owens Story and Necessary Roughness. The last football game was played there in 2010 before the move to Apogee Stadium, and new track facilities in 2019 marked the old stadium's end. As pro football legend Haynes told the Denton Record-Chronicle: "You can look at that field as just dirt and grass, but it was more than that." A marker at the 50-yard line honors decades of UNT memories.