Book masterfully lays out The Big Shootout

Arkansas football coach Frank Broyles, left, and Texas coach Darrell Royal greet on the field in Fayetteville, Ark., in this Dec. 6, 1969, file photo. No. 1 Texas defeated no. 2 Arkansas 15-14. (AP Photo/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, File)When the first email came almost two years ago, the first thought was long shot.

Mark McDonald, a former sports writer for the Dallas Morning News, was touching base and sharing the news of his new project — a book on The Big Shootout, 50 years later.

Another trip through that 1969 epic of a game between the University of Arkansas and Texas, which was a heartbreaking 15-14 loss on national TV that was attended by President Richard Nixon and covered by…