30 years ago if there was one word to describe what was going on in Commerce, Texas and on the campus of East Texas State University, it would be uncertainty and change.

Those two words never go well together. There is nothing worse in life that having a situation leads you into change that is uncertain regarding the outcome.

The first change was that in 1996, the Texas A&M University System invited East Texas State University to join it’s system. Contrary to popular belief, the TAMU system did not “buy” East Texas State. It offered to let ETSU join the TAMU System and actually East Texas State had to pay to be in the system, which is exactly how things are today. At that time, ET needed a refresh. There were only 6,500 students total in the entire university, a drop of nearly 3,000 students from just 4 years earlier. The only thing keeping the school afloat was the School of Education, which continued to pump out teachers and administrators for all across Texas, and boosters and alums that were not going to allow the State of Texas to either close down East Texas or restructure it as a Junior College, as had been proposed a decade earlier.

The decision to join the Texas A&M University system was met with overwhelming support as both sides needed each other. Texas A&M did not have a presence in North or East Texas, and ET needed the backing of a major university system worth hundreds of millions of dollars in their corner. There would be no change to the mascot, or colors, or traditions. Then came the name change nobody wanted and everyone hated.

I worked with a West Texas State graduate a few years ago, and got the story about how to handle a name change. West Texas A&M University had joined the A&M system 6 years earlier and initially the school offered to change the name to either Texas A&M West Texas, Texas A&M-Canyon, or West Texas A&M. The good folks in the panhandle, many of them lifelong residents and alums, DEMANDED West Texas A&M and they got what they wanted. There would be no negotiating or committees, it would be keeping the West Texas name front and center, or the alumni would pull their support en masse. It worked, and it West Texas State eased into becoming West Texas A&M.

That did not happen in Commerce, Texas. Students were told that the 1996-1997 school year would be the year that the name would change and 3 names were considered, East Texas A&M University, Northeast Texas A&M University, or Texas A&M University-Commerce. East Texas A&M was the overwhelming favorite in a student body vote. A&M-Commerce was the least favorite. Nobody thought that for a second the East Texas name would be taken out, but they were in for a rude awakening.

When President Jerry Morris was about to accept the name change, the powers that be in College Station decided that East Texas State students and alums were not smart enough to know what is good for them, so they “encouraged” the East Texas administration to adapt a more “geographically sound” name, meaning try to name it after North Texas, but Morris and the administration knew that would make Lion Nation furious, so they went with Texas A&M University-Commerce. It didn’t go over very well, and you all know the story.

That being said, in the fall of 1996, there would be no ET on the helmet decals, but Lion heads. The school was facing tough fiscal issues both overall and especially athletically. Tennis had been cut, and head coach Eddie Vowell found himself having to continue to do more with less, but in the previous 6 seasons, Vowell had gone to the playoffs 3 of the previous 6 years and had won 44 games in that stretch. He could do it.

1995 had ended in disappointment as ET was the victim of bad officiating in a playoff game, but 1996 had a reason for promise.

The 1996 Lions started out the season ranked 11th in the country and defeated Harding 43-28, Henderson State 19-14, lost to Division I Northwestern State 33-7, and then rebounded to defeat Arkansas Pine Bluff 20-7 for a 3-1 start and a # 6 ranking.

Then, LSC play started, and it was two straight top ten teams right off the bat, third ranked Central Oklahoma, and 8th ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Lions were dropped in Edmond, Oklahoma by a very good Broncho team 38-21, knocking them totally out of the NCAA top 20, and then put a up respectable loss to rival Kingsville 41-28. It was the first time the Lions had started LSC play 0-2 since the dreadful 87 season.

Then, the newly minted Texas A&M-Commerce Lions reeled off 3 straight wins; shutting out West Texas A&M 31-0, hammering Eastern New Mexico 42-10 on homecoming, and gaining a gritty 17-0 win over Abilene Christian on the road. The Lions were now 6-3 and ranked 16th in the country and the taste of the earlier losses were about to be gone, but there was one large task to perform.

Beat Angelo State.

The Rams and The Lions were evenly matched and had identical records. The Rams had broken Lion hearts before in big ways. In 1991, the Rams tied the Lions, causing them to have to settle for second place instead of going back to back in LSC titles. In 1988, ASU hammered the Lions when all they needed was to beat the Rams to clinch an LSC title, the two teams tied again in 1980, giving ASU the higher seed in the NAIA playoffs, and having to share a spot with best NAIA team in the Lone Star Conference, and 1979 was perhaps the most heartbreaking was when the Lions controlled their own destiny, after beating top ranked Kingsville in the legendary 3-0 win, if the Lions defeat the Rams, they win the LSC and go to the NAIA playoffs. On 4th down with the game on the line, Wade Wilson threw a perfect pass to Ron Trammell who caught it with one foot in right in front of the Lion sideline, only for it to be ruled out of bounds and the Rams won 23-21.

You might call it the “same old, same old.” The Lion offense hummed along to score 32 points, but Angelo State scored 35 in a shootout. It was a game the Lions had to win to return to the playoffs, and there was no question it had to be done, but at the final gun, the Seniors of 1996, who had done so much and seen so much, would be knocked out on their Senior day. The final game of the year was a blowout win over rival Tarleton State to end the season at 7-4 overall and 4-3 in conference. The Associated Press would give the Lions a final ranking of 20th in their poll.

After the loss, an East Texan Student Newspaper Editorial referred to the game as “The A&M curse.” That curse would not be broken for another 11 years when the 2007 Lions won the North Division, 18 years until the Lions won the LSC Conference outright, and 19 till they made the playoffs again. It should have been called the “Angelo State Curse” after all.

It was Coach Eddie Vowell’s final winning season, as a cut in funding and issues with the school administration would be a key factor in Vowell going 6-16 in his final two seasons and leaving after only 13 seasons. However his 73 wins would put him behind only the legendary Ernest Hawkins and would usher in a new era of Lion Football, until a new hope arrived over a decade later.

1996 Texas A&M-Commerce Lions, # 20 Final Ranking

All-Americans

• Kevin Mathis, First Team
• James Epps, Third Team
• Brett Bertrand, Honorable Mention

All-Lone Star Conference

LSC Superlatives

• Defensive Back of the Year: Kevin Mathis

LSC First Team

• Ralph Bennett, Offensive Tackle
• Brett Bertrand, Defensive End
• Cole Cayce, Quarterback
• David Dell, Kicker
• James Epps, Receiver
• Kevin Mathis, Cornerback
• Jim Suiter, Offensive Tackle

LSC Second Team

• Travis Marshall, Defensive End

LSC Honorable Mention

• Trey Burk, Offensive Guard
• Casey Cowan, Wide Receiver
• Jason Hoffman, Center
• Jermaine McDowell, Running Back
• Neal Searcy, Defensive Back
• Carl Wheeler, Defensive Back