Editor’s note: The following is the second of a three-part series on University of North Texas’ Fouts Field -- its history, its current-day status, and the possibility of it being replaced in the future. Today’s story focuses on the history of Fouts Field and some of its greatest moments and eras.

Ken Bahnsen can still recall the afternoon he played the first home game of his senior year at North Texas State College in 1952, even though it wasn't the best outing of his career.

Bahnsen was knocked out cold before the end of the first half of the Eagles' 55-0 win over North Dakota, but was alert for the most memorable part of the day -- the ceremonial opening of Eagle Stadium, now known as Fouts Field.

"It was a big deal when we played that first game," Bahnsen said. "The old field was where the library is now. A couple of years earlier we played Nevada and one of their guys said, 'Gee, they had to run the cattle off for the game.' … We thought we were big time when we moved to that new stadium."

The school that is now known as the University of North Texas is hoping to give a new generation of players an experience similar to Bahnsen's in the next few years by replacing Fouts Field, a facility where the school carved out a niche in college football history.

The integration of college football in the South reached a milestone at Fouts in the 1950s, when UNT became one of the first schools in the region to recruit black players. “Mean” Joe Greene -- a member of the college and pro football halls of fame -- built his reputation at Fouts in the 1960s, while Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas won back-to-back national rushing titles in 2003 and 2004 on the field UNT continues to call home through changing times.

UNT moved from Division I-A to Division I-AA and back, switched conferences multiple times and even changed its mascot from the Eagles to the Mean Green during the Fouts era.

“You can look at that field as just dirt and grass, but it was more than that,” former UNT running back Abner Haynes said. “It was where we stood together and set a standard for the people who came behind us.”

Haynes was speaking of the integration of the UNT football team, but he might as well have been talking about the generations of players who helped make the following milestones and eras possible at Fouts Field:

Breaking the color barrier

When it comes to historical moments at Fouts, one of the most important didn't involve a win or a championship. It was the integration of the UNT football team in 1956.

UNT was one of the first universities in the South to feature black football players. Head coach Odus Mitchell handpicked Haynes and Leon King, a pair of standout athletes from the Dallas area, for his team's historical endeavor.

The pair joined the Eagles' freshman squad, and after a few early incidents, was quickly accepted as part of the team.

“We didn’t have any problem at all,” King said in 2004, when UNT celebrated the 50^th anniversary of integration at the school. “The guys accepted us. We never gave it much thought.”

Haynes went on to become one of the greatest players in UNT history, rushing for 1,864 yards from 1957-59 while helping the Eagles win back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference titles as a junior and senior. King lettered in 1957.

After the pair finished their first season at UNT, coaching legends Paul "Bear" Bryant of Texas A&M and Bud Wilkinson of Oklahoma both met with Bahnsen -- who coached Haynes and King in their first year at UNT -- to seek his advice on how to deal with the impending integration at their schools.

Both Haynes and King went on to successful careers after their time at UNT. Haynes played in the AFL and NFL, while King became an administrator in the Dallas Independent School District.

Both credited their time at UNT for their success later in life.

"Fouts Field is the place I used to remember Vernon Cole, George Herring and J.N. Wright," Haynes said. "I was under a lot of pressure and they made me feel like it was cool."

The Valley titles

UNT had one of its most talented collections of players in the 1966 and ’67 seasons, when the Eagles won back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference titles.

John Love was an honorable mention All-America wide receiver in 1966 and was one of several UNT players who caught the attention of NFL teams while playing their home games at Fouts.

Joe Greene, quarterbacks Steve Ramsey and Vidal Carlin, and wide receiver Ron Shanklin helped the Eagles post a 15-3-1 record in two championship seasons while playing the likes of Louisville, Cincinnati and Memphis.

Greene went on to a Hall of Fame career in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers and played with Shaklin, who led Pittsburgh in receiving in four consecutive years. Ramsey threw for 6,437 yards with the Denver Broncos while Love played for the Washington Redskins. Carlin was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals and played with the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Oilers.

The Hayden Fry era

Some of the greatest moments in UNT athletic history came during the tenure of Hayden Fry, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame who put the Mean Green on the national map in the 1970s.

UNT finished with at least seven wins in the last four years of Fry's six-year tenure with the Eagles from 1973-78, and had two of the best seasons in school history in his final two campaigns.

UNT finished 10-1 with wins over SMU, UTEP and Memphis in 1977 before coming back to finish 9-2 the next season. The Mean Green gave Texas a scare in 1978 before falling 26-16.

Fry left for Iowa after his success at UNT didn't translate into the bowl bids he thought his team deserved. 

"I really enjoyed my time at North Texas," Fry said. "But we went 10-1 and 9-2 and didn't get to go to a bowl game."

The return to Division I-A

A project the size of building a new football stadium is not an entirely foreign concept to UNT, which took on a project of a similar magnitude in 1995 with a return to Division I-A.

UNT played at the highest level of college football before dropping to I-AA for 12 seasons beginning in 1983. Getting back to the Division I-A level was a challenge UNT took on in large part in Fouts.

UNT expanded the stadium by 10,500 seats to seat 30,500 to meet NCAA criteria for Division I-A programs in time for the 1995 campaign.

"The expansion created a lot of excitement," said UNT deputy athletic director Hank Dickenson, one of the few current athletic department officials still at the school who was involved in UNT's move up from Division I-AA. "That first I-A team was a I-AA team that had to play an unbelievable schedule. The guys on that team deserve a lot of credit for reviving the program."

UNT didn't have much success that season, but one of its wins in a 2-9 campaign was among the more memorable moments at Fouts Field in the last 20 years.

The Eagles defeated Oregon State, 30-27, in their first game at Fouts after returning to Division I-A. Troy Redwine gave UNT the win when he caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Jason Mills with 13 seconds left in the game.

Redwine caught 10 passes for 123 yards and three touchdowns on the day.

"Beating Oregon State for the first I-A win was big," Dickenson said. "That game went right down to the wire. It was nice. Those kids didn't enjoy a lot of success, but they beat a Division I-A team right at home."

The bowl years

When Todd Dodge took over as UNT's new head coach in December, he cited several reasons why he left the high school football dynasty he built Southlake Carroll.

One was the success the Mean Green enjoyed in the 2001-04 seasons that proved the school could win on the Division I-A level. UNT captured four straight Sun Belt Conference titles, 26 consecutive conference games and enjoyed unprecedented national attention after Cobbs and Thomas won back-to-back national rushing titles.

UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal listed several moments from that era among his favorite memories of Fouts Field.

"Clinching the conference title against New Mexico State at home and the activities that followed are among my favorite memories," Villarreal said of the 2002 season. "Seeing two national rushing leaders back-to-back was also really special."

What made UNT's run under head coach Darrell Dickey even more memorable was that it seemed to come out of nowhere. The Mean Green was 0-5 in 2001 when it pulled out a 24-21 win over unbeaten Middle Tennessee, sparking a run of five straight wins. The streak earned UNT the first of its four straight conference titles.

"We all had a lot of confidence playing at Fouts," said Scott Hall, the quarterback who led UNT to three of its four Sun Belt titles. "We were very successful there. We never felt like we would lose a home game."

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

Milestone moments in Fouts Field history

1952 -- UNT beats North Dakota 55-0 in the first game at Eagle Stadium, which is now Fouts Field

1954 -- Eagle Stadium is renamed after retiring athletic director Theron J. Fouts

1976 -- UNT narrowly loses 21-20 to Florida State during a snowstorm at Fouts Field.

1978 -- UNT wins its last game under Hayden Fry at Fouts, 41-24, over Memphis.

1983 -- UNT clinches a share of the Southland Conference title and a berth in the Division I-AA playoffs with a 52-15 win over UT-Arlington in front of 11,400.

1985 -- UNT announces a $2 million renovation of Fouts Field that includes replacing the grass field with Astroturf and replacing the cinder track with a synthetic surface.

1994 -- UNT begins construction on a project to add 10,500 seats to Fouts Field so that it will meet the NCAA minimum 30,000 seats required for Division I-A programs in time for the 1995 season.

1995 -- UNT beats Oregon State 30-27 in its first game at Fouts after moving back to Division I-A.

2001 -- UNT beats Middle Tennessee 24-21 at Fouts to start five-game winning streak after starting the season 0-5. The Mean Green ties for the Sun Belt Conference title and earns a berth in the New Orleans Bowl.

2002 -- UNT beats New Mexico State 38-27 at Fouts to secure a second straight New Orleans Bowl berth.

2003 -- Defensive lineman Brandon Kennedy returns a fumble 24 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and UNT goes on to hammer Baylor 52-14 in front of a Fouts Field record crowd of 29,437

2004 -- UNT beat Idaho 51-29 at home to secure a New Orleans Bowl bowl bid behind Jamario Thomas, who rushed for a school record 291 yards.

2005 -- UNT installed new Sportexe turf in Fouts Field prior to the beginning of the season. UNT's old Astroturf was replaced due to safety concerns.