Former All-SWC Longhorn quarterback Mike Cotten dies | Bohls
Former All-Southwest Conference quarterback Mike Cotten, who led Texas to Darrell Royal’s first Cotton Bowl win, died of natural causes at his Westlake home Saturday.
He was 84.
Cotten was regarded as an excellent, all-around athlete and quarterback who took the Longhorns to the brink of what would have been the school’s first national championship in football in 1961, but for a stunning 6-0 upset at the hands of TCU. Texas finished 10-1 that year after beating Ole Miss 12-7 in the Cotton Bowl.
Were it not for that shocker when All-American halfback Jimmy Saxton was knocked unconscious on a tackle that many deemed a dirty play, and the only score of the game came on a Horned Frogs trick halfback pass, Cotten would have joined the ranks of Duke Carlisle, James Street, Eddie Phillips and Vince Young as quarterbacks who won a national title.
As a senior, Cotten was the team co-captain and led the Southwest Conference with seven passing touchdowns. He also completed 57 percent of his passes that year — a mark that stood until freshman Major Applewhite connected on 58.2 percent of his throws in 1998 — and had just two passes intercepted all season.
He was inducted into the Texas Hall of Honor in 1981 and had been a season-ticket holder for Longhorn football, baseball and basketball seasons for decades.
Born in Uvalde, Cotten moved with his family to Austin and was the last Austin High quarterback to win a playoff game with the Maroons. He was also a catcher and center fielder on his high school team, which won a state championship in 1957.
Cotten served in the Marines after graduating from UT School of Law and had been a devout military man his entire life. He worked as an attorney for Clark, Thomas & Winters, eventually becoming a partner.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty, and is survived by their daughters, Lesley Childress and Ashley Putman.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Former All-SWC Longhorn quarterback Mike Cotten dies
