Remarks During a Television Interview in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

MR. SCHENKEL.¹ Mr. President, Bud and I are so pleased that you came up into our office to pay us a visit at half time.

THE PRESIDENT. Well, Chris, it is a little warmer up here than it is down in the stands. I must say I have never seen a football game where there is more excitement in the air than there is today. This whole State is just alive. I can feel it.

¹The President was interviewed by Chris Schenkel, ABC sportscaster, along with Charles B. (Bud) Wilkinson, widely known sports figure who was a Special Consultant to the President. that is all they are talking about, this game.

We stopped at an airport about an hour away by car and everybody there--

MR. SCHENKEL. And of course, with their nickname, the Razorbacks, and the calling of the hogs, it is a most unusual setting for this game.

THE PRESIDENT. I have never heard a yell like that before.

I am sitting, incidentally, in a very interesting spot. I have four Texas Congressmen sitting in back of me and two Senators from Arkansas and a Congressman. Believe me, there is a lot of rivalry here in the stands.

MR. SCHENKEL You talk about the pep rallies, Mr. President. In Austin, the night before the team flew here, at the stadium, their pep rally for the Longhorns drew 28,000 fans, most of them students, and that is most heartwarming.

THE PRESIDENT. Well, looking at this game, it is for the ranking of Number 1. Incidentally, I say it is for that, having in mind the fact that Penn State has been giving me a lot of flak this week for coming down here.

MR. SCHENKEL. Did you get many wires?

THE PRESIDENT. Yes. Penn State is the team that will have the longest undefeated streak for the year. You have covered them, and I know they are a great team. Maybe we ought to have a super college bowl after this.

But whatever the case might be, looking at these two teams today, either one is going to be Number 1 by vote of the writers. What is more important is the tremendous spirit that they generate.

It is good for people to be for somebody, to be for a team. You can learn a lot from losing as well as winning. I have had a little experience in that.

MR. SCHENKEL. Well, Mr. President, with the favorite team, Texas, down seven to nothing here at half time, that is true. The first half of your career you were down but, boy, you came back a winner.

THE PRESIDENT. I was down more than seven to nothing, I would say. It was sort of a fourth quarter finish, you know, and a pass perhaps in the last 30 seconds to win. But that is what counts.

MR. SCIHENKEL. I am one of the many millions who are glad you won.

You watched football for years, and I know you watch it from an analytical standpoint, whether it be on television or in person. Could you just predict, maybe, what might transpire in this second half?

THE PRESIDENT. Let me say, first, the reason I watch it is that I sat on the bench when I was in college, and you learn a lot from the coach when you sit on the bench.

As I looked at this game in the first half, I think that Texas has enormous power that is really not unleashed yet, and that in the second half they are likely to be much better offensively.

However, they are not going to run over Arkansas. They can't do it by just going that 3 yards and a cloud of dust, the old Woody Hayes [head football coach at Ohio State University] formula--not the Woody Hayes formula this year.

I think they are going to have to throw more. They have an excellent passer and they will have to throw to open up the Arkansas defense. I think under those circumstances they are likely to score once or twice.

Also, I would suggest that Arkansas looks better offensively than I had realized. They could score in this second half. They have a fine passer. I don't think I have seen a cooler passer than [Quarterback Bill] Montgomery. He is really cool under very great pressure.

Texas has got a great pass rush. But Montgomery is cool. He gets out there and goes off.

I would rather say I expect both teams to score in the second half. The question is whether Texas' superior manpower, and I mean probably a stronger bench, may win in the last quarter. That is the way I see it.

MR. SCHENKEL. Mr. President, if Bud Wilkinson, our analyst, ever falters, we at ABC may call on you to do our commentary. Excellent.

THE PRESIDENT. I am not thinking, Chris, of what I am going to do when I finish my present job, but there is nothing I would like better than to have Bud's job right with you. I like football and this is the first game I have seen this year in college football, and I am glad it is the greatest of the year.

MR. SCHENKEL. You have paid all of us a great deal of honor by coming to this, the number one game of the year, in the centennial year. Enjoy the second half.

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you.

MR. SCHENKEL. Thank you, Mr. President.