FOOTBALL'S 4TH WEEK
THE EAST
While Army and Navy, the East's best, were displaying their talents in the Midwest, the Ivies took over the spotlight at home and created a minor stir as Dartmouth showed it has the muscles to challenge Princeton for league honors, and Columbia upset Yale.
Brown, toying deliriously with dreams of Ivy League supremacy after victories over Columbia and Yale, was shocked into reality by a hard-hitting, rugged-defending Dartmouth team which held the Bruin backs to a measly 52 yards and struck swiftly and smartly from its V formation for a 20-0 triumph.
Meanwhile, Princeton spent most of a sunny, windy afternoon trying to overhaul Penn, finally succeeded for good when Fullback Fred Tiley smashed over from the one-yard line in the closing minutes to put the Tigers ahead 20-14. Sophomore Tailback John L. Sullivan took over when Dan Sachs was lugged off with a back injury, sparked Princeton to three touchdowns before he, too, limped off.
Columbia, badly battered in 10 straight losses, finally emerged from the depths to upset Yale 13-0 after Guard Gene Appel found himself in possession of an errant Eli pass and carried it back 65 yards for a touchdown. Harvard, cheerless so far this year, uncovered Charlie Ravenel, a slick little sophomore quarterback, who led the Cantabs to a 20-0 win over favored Lehigh.
Rutgers, hardly looking itself for two periods while Richmond's Spiders spun a neat web around the Scarlet attack, was inspired by Tailback Billy Austin (see page 75) in the third quarter, belatedly mustered enough power to win 23-12 and remain among the East's unbeaten. Syracuse dipped down into the fourth and fifth strings in an attempt to hold down the score, but still thrashed inept Cornell 55-0. The top three:
1. ARMY (3-0)
2. NAVY (3-0)
3. PITT (3-1)
THE SOUTH
LSU, a scant pregame favorite, used big-gun Halfback Billy Cannon as a decoy, sent the rest of its high-speed backfield against a porous Miami line to ring up the South's surprise of the week 41-0. The unbeaten Tigers, certain of their running game, have now developed a quick-as-a-cat line and capable passing, are suddenly a factor in the SEC.
Auburn, tipped off to Kentucky's leaky pass defense, added an aerial barrage to its wonderfully consistent defense and rumbled past the Wildcats 8-0. Quarterback Lloyd Nix did most of the Auburn pitching, lobbing the big one to Halfback Jimmy Laster, who sprinted 43 yards for a fourth-period touchdown.
Turning loose its superb ground attack, Mississippi took advantage of Tulane's bad breaks to dump the Greenies 19-8 and remain unbeaten. Tulane lost a chance for a final, spectacular score in the last period when Quarterback Richie Petitbon, returning a kickoff, slipped and fell in the clear on the Mississippi 14-yard line.
Clemson failed on a two-point conversion when trailing Vanderbilt by a point, but pulled out a 12-7 thriller on Quarterback Harvey White's desperate dive into the end zone with nine seconds to play.
Playing the kicking game for all it was worth, Georgia Tech used a 14-yard field goal by Tommy Wells and a 74-yard punt return by Frank Nix to go ahead 9-0, and a 72-yard quick kick by Joe DeLany to stay there, in a 21-7 victory over Tennessee.
In other games, Texas A&M drove 88 yards to push ahead 14-10 in the third quarter, had no trouble holding off fizzling Maryland for the rest of the game; North Carolina punched out a second-quarter touchdown and then sat on it to beat South Carolina 6-0; Wake Forest kept pace with Clemson at the top of the Atlantic Coast heap, beating North Carolina State's defending champions 13-7; Duke overcame Baylor 12-7; West Virginia huffed and puffed through a 22-point last period, but it wasn't quite good enough to catch Boston U., a 36-30 winner; Georgia, getting off its back after a shaky start, beat Florida State 28-13. The top three:
1. AUBURN (3-0)
2. MISSISSIPPI (4-0)
3. CLEMSON (4-0)
THE SOUTHWEST
Texas, smelling upset blood after three periods of hard-nose football with Oklahoma, called on sub Quarterback Vince Matthews (see page 8) to lend an arm in the last quarter, got just the pickup it needed when he completed six out of seven passes to bring the Longhorns to the Sooner seven-yard line. In came regular Quarterback Bobby Lackey, who aimed a jump pass over the middle to End Bob Bryant to tie the score at 14-14, then calmly kicked the extra point to lower the boom on prestige-heavy Oklahoma 15-14 (see page 14), as goggle-eyed Texans set off a roar that set all of Dallas jumping.
With Southwest Conference action still in the embryonic stage, Rice found a sparkplug in sophomore Quarterback Alvin Hartman, who scored once and passed 36 yards for another touchdown, bringing the Owls a 24-0 victory over Arkansas and a share in the SWC lead with TCU and Baylor.
TCU's Marvin Lasater, an unhappy young man while floundering in his team's first three games, suddenly found himself, scored one touchdown and set up two others to help beat Texas Tech 26-0.
Colorado, with one eye focused on the still-distant game with Oklahoma, thumped Arizona 65-12 as Howard Cook, an able successor to All-America Bob Stransky, ran for four touchdowns. The top three:
1. TEXAS (4-0)
2. TCU (3-1)
3. SMU (1-2)
THE MIDWEST
Eastern football, long considered second-rate in comparison with midwestern standards, moved up in stature but it took the armed forces to turn the trick.
Army, exploiting greater speed and unbounded enthusiasm, sent Halfbacks Pete Dawkins and Bob Anderson slicing inside and outside the tackles, gave ground on defense only when it didn't matter to beat dogged, unspectacular Notre Dame 14-2.
Navy wound up on the short end of the statistics but on the long end of a 20-14 score against favored Michigan. Quarterback Joe Tranchini (see left), as elusive as a cockroach on a kitchen floor, passed the Wolverines dizzy, tossing 37 yards to End Dick Zembrzuski for the winning touchdown with five minutes to play.
Pitt, another eastern power, was not quite so fortunate, bowing 22-8 to Michigan State's superior manpower and heft. State hugged the ground, threw only nine passes. Observed Spartan Coach Duffy Daugherty facetiously: "We don't need more passing, just more completions."
Outweighed 30 pounds per man but not outgamed, spirited Illinois jammed up the inside, forced Ohio State to run outside, gave Coach Woody Hayes food for thought before his Buckeyes wore down the Illini 19-13.
Dark horse Wisconsin moved alongside Ohio State, Northwestern and Iowa in the Big Ten race, making capital of Purdue's errors to roll to an easy 31-6 victory. Brash young Northwestern, with Sophomore Quarterback Dick Thornton [see below) showing the way, stormed 59 yards in the final minutes to edge Minnesota 7-3, while Iowa hit defenseless Indiana hard and often to win 34-13.
Missouri found prosperity hard to take and blew a 19-point lead before losing to SMU 32-19. The top three:
1. OHIO STATE (3-0)
2. WISCONSIN (3-0)
3. MICHIGAN STATE (2-0-1)
THE WEST
Oregon found an offense named Willie West, who romped 66 yards in the opening minutes, to match its air-tight defense and bulled past USC 25-0 into first place in the PCC.
Coach Jack Curtice, who has long claimed that football was for fun and laughs but has had little occasion for either since he arrived at Stanford, was beginning to chuckle again after his thrice-trounced Indians beat Washington 22-12.
California's Joe Kapp put on another dazzling show for the home folks with his ball handling and passing in a 36-21 victory over Utah.
Oregon State and UCLA were licking their wounds after tilts with outsiders. Wyoming, the class of the Skyline Conference, gave a 28-0 thumping to lackluster Oregon State; although UCLA End Dick Wallen snared 10 of Tailback Don Long's passes, Florida beat the disorganized Bruins 21-14.
COP's Dick Bass was at it again (see page 75), battering and slithering his way to one touchdown and 135 yards in less than half a game as the undefeated Tigers routed Brigham Young 26-8.
Equally at home on the ground and in the air, the Air Force kept its string going, zooming past Colorado State 36-6. The top three:
1. COLLEGE OF PACIFIC (3-0)
2. OREGON STATE (2-2)
3. AIR FORCE (2-0-1)
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PHOTO
BACK OF THE WEEK: Quarterback Joe Tranchini manipulated tricky wing-T attack to outfox Michigan, passed for two TDs, set up another in 20-14 Navy win.
PHOTO
LINEMAN OF THE WEEK: Guard Al Krutsch threw key block on 60-yard run, was constant irritation to Brown linemen and backs as Dartmouth won 20-0.
TWO PHOTOS
NEW FACES OF THE WEEK: Northwestern Quarterback Dick Thornton (left) scored in last minute to beat Minnesota 7-3; Vince Matthews, another quarterback, emerged from anonymity of Texas bench, fired drive that upset Oklahoma.
TOP TEN SMALL COLLEGES
1. NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA (5-0)
2. WILLAMETTE (4-0)
3. ARIZONA ST. (FLAGSTAFF) (5-0)
4. MIDDLE TENNESSEE (4-0)
5. LAMAR TECH (TEXAS) (3-0)
6. CENTRAL MICHIGAN (5-0)
7. MISSOURI VALLEY (3-0)
8. EAST TEXAS STATE (3-1)
9. CALIF. POLYTECHNIC (SAN LUIS OBISPO) (4-0)
10. TAMPA UNIVERSITY (3-0)
RED GRANGE PREDICTS
WISCONSIN VS. IOWA
A battle between the Midwest's two best quarterbacks, Wisonsin's Dale Hackbart and Iowa's Randy Duncan, but the Badgers have the stronger defense. WISCONSIN.
PURDUE VS. MICHIGAN STATE
Purdue has a tendency to make too many mistakes, and the Boilermakers can't afford even one against the alert Spartans. Dean Look's running and greater depth make the choice MICHIGAN STATE.
MICHIGAN VS. NORTHWESTERN
North western's surprising Wildcats have chewed up three straight opponents, but they don't have the manpower to hold Michigan's multiple offense. MICHIGAN.
AUBURN VS. GEORGIA TECH
Auburn doesn't score much but neither does the opposition. Georgia Tech's wide-open stuff won't be good enough to dent the big and fast Tiger line. AUBURN.
KENTUCKY VS. LSU
Kentucky's pass defense needs mending, but the Wildcats have good backs and will be a real test for unbeaten LSU. Because this game is in Baton Rouge—a shade to LSU.
NORTH CAROLINA VS. MARYLAND
This is one Coach Jim Tatum likes to win, and he will have his sturdy Tar Heels fired up for Maryland, which sputtered badly against Texas A&M. NORTH CAROLINA.
SMU VS. RICE
Rice has come up with a fine passer in Al Harman, but the SMU line gives Don Meredith better protection, so I have to pick the Mustangs to make the Owls blink. SMU.
USC VS. CALIFORNIA
California's Joe Kapp is the best quarterback I have seen this year. He passes, runs and manipulates the Bear attack with finesse and will be too much for USC to handle. CALIFORNIA.
OREGON VS. WASHINGTON STATE
Oregon has the defense to control Washington State even if Bob Newman is healthy again. OREGON.
PENN STATE VS. BOSTON U.
This NCAA telecast game will be my assignment on NBC-TV, and it should be a good one to watch. I won't pick a winner. The question here is: Can BU's fine offense score against rough, tough Penn State?
LAST WEEK'S PREDICTIONS:
6 RIGHT; 3 WRONG
RECORD TO DATE: 28-8-1