[citation needed] The relative parity which had existed within the Southwest Conference ended with the arrival of Darrell Royal and Frank Broyles at their respective schools, with either Texas or Arkansas winning or sharing the SWC crown eight out of the ten years leading up to the game (the exceptions were 1966 and 1967, when SMU and Texas A&M, respectively, won the titles).
The 1969 season marked the centennial of college football, and this game decided the Southwest Conference championship and its berth in the Cotton Bowl.
ABC television executive Beano Cook had arranged for Texas and Arkansas to play the final game of the regular season, moving their usual October date to the first weekend in December.
There were early discussions of moving the game to an evening start at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, where Arkansas played two or three home games per season, but ABC did not consider the lights at Little Rock to be sufficient (the practice of renting portable light standards for late afternoon and evening kickoffs did not begin until the 1980s).
Ohio State was dominating the Big Ten and the chances of the game having an impact on the national championship appeared remote.
However, as the Longhorns took a Saturday off to prepare for their upcoming game on Thanksgiving Day with Texas A&M, Michigan and its upstart coach Bo Schembechler upset the Buckeyes 24–12 in Ann Arbor.
The night before, a steady, cold rain fell in Fayetteville and an icy fog hovered over the stadium as the crowd awaited the arrival of President Nixon, who would award a plaque symbolic of the National Championship to the winner.
The Longhorns got off to a sloppy start, losing a fumble on the second play from scrimmage and throwing an interception on their first passing attempt of the game, which came during their second possession.
Still down 14–8, Texas began a desperate drive for the end zone that appeared to stall with 4:47 left, when Royal opted for yet another gamble on fourth-and-3 from their own 43-yard line.
Donnie Wigginton, the third-string quarterback who was the holder, made a big save on a high snap and Happy Feller booted the extra point for the winning score of 15–14 with 3:58 left.
[10] Arkansas made a push into Texas territory, hoping for a field goal from All-American kicker Bill McClard.
Representatives George H. W. Bush of Texas and John Paul Hammerschmidt of Arkansas, having announced that he would give a plaque to the winner, proclaiming it to be the National Champion – to the chagrin of observers who thought it premature to do so before the New Year's Day bowl games, and of fans of Penn State, which would also end the season undefeated and untied.
This decision was made while Ohio State was still ranked #1 with only one game to play, so at the time, it did not appear that a national title was likely to be at stake.
The 1969 Texas–Penn State conflict, never settled on the field, has been one of the major arguments in favor of what eventually became, four and a half decades later, the Division I-A playoff.
However, major college football was not completely integrated until 1972 when the final holdouts, Brigham Young, LSU and Ole Miss, fielded their first black varsity members.
With the Vietnam War still raging and Nixon in attendance, protesters came to the game, and one of them climbed up a tree overlooking the stadium and held up an antiwar sign.
An urban legend grew up around this game, claiming that this protester was Arkansas native and future President Bill Clinton.
In addition to being athletic director, Broyles also went on to become the lead color analyst for college football on ABC, working alongside Keith Jackson from 1977 until 1985.