Johnny Mata (2020) - North Texas Athletics Hall of Fame - University of North Texas Athletics

Johnny Mata

Induction:
2020
Class:
1967

Mata was a team captain and the top linebacker on back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference championship teams. He was a standout at Blinn Junior College, where he earned junior college All-America notice before transferring to North Texas, where he earned Missouri Valley all-conference honors. Although tackle statistics from that era have not survived, Mata was a leader on a rugged defense that held opponents under 20 points in 14 of the 19 games North Texas played in 1966 and 1967, and allowed an average of 14.7 points per game on squads that went 15-3-1.