FOOTBALL'S 4TH WEEK
After four weeks of solid combat, college football began to take on a lively new look. While perennial powers sadly licked their wounds, a new cast of characters sneaked into prominence. In the Midwest, Oklahoma and Ohio State each nursed two defeats, and Northwestern and Purdue, not too long ago the boot scrapers of the Big Ten, became the teams to beat. In the East, twice-beaten Army and Navy lost irretrievable ground to Penn State and Syracuse among the independents, while in the Ivy League Dartmouth and Princeton were no longer the bully boys. Instead, unbeaten Penn, Cornell and Yale were regarded as most likely to succeed. In the Southwest, undefeated Texas and Arkansas took the play away from TCU and SMU, the preseason favorites. In the West, USC, after years in the depths of the late Pacific Coast Conference, was back in the driver's seat. Only in the South, where LSU and Mississippi were still rolling along and Georgia Tech had moved up, were things near normal.
THE MIDWEST
The Big Ten was shuddering and shaking all over, but out of the organized confusion came one indisputable fact: it would take a combination of skill and luck to win the championship.
Unbeaten Northwestern, pushed around by Minnesota's bulky line and missing Quarterback Dick Thornton, barely escaped with its life and a 6-0 victory. Scrawny Sophomore Bob Eickhoff finally picked the faltering Wildcats up in the fourth quarter, passing seven yards to End Paul Yanke for the winning touchdown.
Meanwhile, Purdue was breathing heavily down the necks of the subdued Wildcats. While the tenacious Boilermaker line stifled Wisconsin's running attack, forcing five fumbles, and rushing Passer Dale Hackbart so badly that he had three tosses intercepted, junior Quarterback Bernie Allen carried out Coach Jack Mollenkopf's prebattle plan to perfection. Throwing against Wisconsin's nine-man line, Allen, a fill-in for injured Ross Fichtner, pitched for three touchdowns, and the Boilermakers won 21-0.
Iowa edged back into the race with an awesome display of power against Michigan State. The Hawkeyes, striking fast and often as Quarterback Olen Treadway had his best passing day (two touchdowns), ran down the meager-attacking Spartans 37-8.
Illinois, with scant regard for preseason predictors who blandly left them for dead, caught Ohio State with its usually reliable defense down and shocked the Buckeyes 9-0. The Illini defenders, led by Tackle Joe Rutgens, forced Ohio State's Bob White to eat dirt most of the afternoon, while Mel Meyers left the Buckeyes gasping when he and Johnny Counts teamed up on a 73-yard touchdown pass.
Michigan, after six straight losses, wriggled out from under to beat Oregon State 18-7, and Indiana overwhelmed Marquette 33-13.
In other games Kansas edged Nebraska 10-3; Quarterback Gale Weidner led Colorado past Kansas State 20-17; Ohio U. beat Xavier 25-7; Bowling Green downed Western Michigan 34-0; Miami of Ohio suffered its first defeat in 28 MidAmerican Conference games, bowing to Kent State 13-7. The top three:
1. NORTHWESTERN (3-0)
2. PURDUE (2-0-1)
3. IOWA (2-1)
THE SOUTHWEST
Caught flat-footed by two quick Oklahoma touchdowns in the opening period, Texas fought back gamely with its rabbit-footed sophomores and finally overtook the Sooners 19-12 to preserve its unbeaten streak (see page 21). The Longhorns went ahead 13-12 in the second quarter when veteran Rene Ramirez passed 11 yards to Larry Cooper, and Sophomore Jim Saxton led a 61-yard charge which ended in a scoring plunge by Fullback Mike Dowdle. Despite the efforts of Oklahoma Fullback Prentice Gautt, Texas held firm and put away the clincher on Mike Cotten's 61-yard pass-run play with classmate Jack Collins.
SMU's Don Meredith, who passes with Swiss-watch accuracy, was at his best against Missouri and helped the Mustangs run down the Tigers 23-2 (see page 21). Dancing and dodging gracefully out of the SMU spread, Meredith completed 10 out of 14 for 120 yards and two touchdowns and ran for four extra points.
Arkansas, making the most of its speed and tight pass defense, turned an interception and two fumbles into a 23-7 victory over Baylor; TCU held off Texas Tech 14-8; Texas A&M trounced Houston 28-6; Rice and Florida battled to a 13-13 tie. The top three:
1. TEXAS (4-0)
2. SMU (2-1)
3. ARKANSAS (4-0)
THE SOUTH
Rapidly gaining stature as an SEC dark horse, Georgia Tech gave its teeth-jarring defense some offensive help, and the Engineers defeated Tennessee 14-7 in a battle of unbeaten teams at Knoxville. While the ubiquitous Tech line was happily ripping nine jerseys off two Vol tailbacks, Fullback Taz Anderson, a reformed halfback who red-shirted last year, battered through the Tennessee middle for one touchdown and scored a second after taking a short pass from Quarterback Fred Braselton.
As has been the case so often this year, LSU's defense held firm until the offense was ready to explode; then overmatched Miami suddenly found itself floundering on all sides. Billy Cannon crunched over from the five-yard line the first time LSU got the ball, but the attack slowed down until the third quarter when the Bengals perked up, thrashed the Hurricanes 27-3.
Halfback Jimmy Pettus set the tone with an 88-yard return of the opening kickoff, and Auburn, reaping the reward of a brutally rugged week of drills, pummeled Kentucky 33-0. But even more rewarding was the performance of sophomore Bobby Hunt, who may be the quarterback who will lead the Tigers back to prosperity.
Mississippi, grinding it out with the cold efficiency of a steam roller, battered Vanderbilt for a shocking 427 yards and flogged the poor Commodores 33-0.
North Carolina, beginning to find itself after an unfortunate start, had the answer to South Carolina's tough defense which had held three foes to an average of 49.7 yards rushing. Tar Heel Quarterbacks Jack Cummings and Ray Farris passed for 190 yards (15 for 35) to triumph 19-6.
In other games Clemson hammered North Carolina State 23-0; Wake Forest beat Maryland 10-7; Mississippi .State trounced Arkansas State 49-14; Georgia handled Hardin-Simmons 35-6; Alabama bumped Chattanooga 13-0. The top three:
1. LSU (4-0)
2. GEORGIA TECH (4-0)
3. MISSISSIPPI (4-0)
THE EAST
For weeks word had come rumbling out of New York State about the powerhouse that was Syracuse. And last Saturday, the mighty Orange unleashed its full fury to batter Navy in the muddy Oyster Bowl at Norfolk. Deploying out of a power-massed wing T, Syracuse tore into the Middies at the outset behind the artful faking, passing and running of Quarterback Dave Sarette and never let up until the score was 32-6. Fullback Art Baker scored twice, once on a 96-yard run with an intercepted pass. Sarette himself carried one touchdown across and passed to Gerhardt Schwedes for another.
Outmanned (by Penn State) and out-whistled (by the officials), Army' paper-thin legions went down before Richie Lucas and the Nittany Lions 17-11. With ailing All-America Halfback Bob Anderson and End Don Usry watching painfully from the sidelines, where they were joined by injured Halfback Steve Waldrop in the first quarter, the Cadets struggled manfully but Lucas was too much for them. The sprightly State quarterback ran, passed and defended with all the finesse of a pro, scoring both touchdowns. And when Army threatened, penalties cost them two long touchdown sprints.
Penn followers, so critical of Coach Steve Sebo last year, can go back to waving banners again. The improved Quakers, who may well turn out to be the best of the Ivies, tied Princeton's single wing into defensive knots and rambled past the Tigers 18-0 for their third straight. Halfback Pete Schantz, a third-stringer, ran 23 yards on a double reverse and snared an end-zone pass from George Koval.
Yale and Cornell kept pace with Penn. The Elis beat Columbia handily 14-0; but Cornell waited until the last 24 seconds to pull out a 20-16 cliffhanger over Harvard. Dartmouth battled Brown to a 0-0 tie.
In other games, Pitt's battery of Ivan Toncic and Mike Ditka outmaneuvered Duke 12-0; Rutgers outlasted Colgate 15-12; Holy Cross beat Dayton 8-0; Boston College took Villanova 39-6; Bucknell upset Buffalo 26-21. The top three:
1. SYRACUSE (3-0)
2. PENN STATE (4-0)
3. PITT (3-1)
THE WEST
Notre Dame provided most of the punch as it shredded California 28-6, but the Bears got in their licks during some last-period fisticuffs. That action seemed to enliven the Californians and they quickly stomped 97 yards for their only touchdown. Notre Dame Quarterback George Izo made his first appearance of the season, played two minutes, threw a 26-yard scoring pass and then rested his delicate leg as he watched the remainder of the bruising game from the bench.
Richie Mayo filled the air with 22 passes and his receivers pulled in 15 of them as the Air Force brushed aside Idaho 21-0. En route to their 14th straight decision without a loss, the Falcons also exhibited a productive ground attack built around Mike Quinlan and George Pupich.
Another air-minded team, Stanford, fell before Washington 10-0 in the first game ever played by the new Athletic Association of Western Universities. The Huskies' fine defenders stole four of Dick Norman's tosses to stall the Indians' offense.
Oregon exploited its new double wing, unleashed Willie West for three touchdown runs and trimmed San Jose State 35-12. The top three:
1. USC (3-0)
2. AIR FORCE (3-0)
3. WASHINGTON (4-0)
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PHOTO
BACK OF THE WEEK: Quarterback Bernie Allen pitched three scoring strikes, kicked three extra points to lead Purdue to convincing 21-0 win over Wisconsin.
PHOTO
LINEMAN OF THE WEEK: Tackle Joe Rutgens made his 245 pounds felt as he hit hard, backboned stubborn Illinois line in surprise 9-0 shutout of Ohio State.
TWO PHOTOS
NEW FACES OF THE WEEK: Jack Collins (left) sealed Texas win over Oklahoma by racing 50 yards for TD after taking 11-yard pass; Taz Anderson filled Georgia Tech's fullback void, bucked Tennessee line, snared passes, scored twice.
RED GRANGE PREDICTS
Michigan vs. Northwestern
Northwestern had its letdown against Minnesota last week and it isn't likely to happen again, even without Dick Thornton. Michigan lacks the strength to stop NORTHWESTERN.
Ohio State vs. Purdue
The Buckeye defense has been stuttering and State lacks a concentrated attack. Purdue, on the other hand, has a good line and a fine passer in Bernie Allen. PURDUE.
Wisconsin vs. Iowa
Don't sell the Hawkeyes short. Coach Forest Evashevski has plugged the gaps, and Olen Tread-way has solved the quarterback problem. Wisconsin looked ragged the last time out, so I'll take IOWA.
Michigan State vs. Notre Dame
Notre Dame is getting help from its sophomores, and George Izo and Red Mack are back. State is still learning. No winner because this is my NBC-TV game this week.
LSU vs. Kentucky
It has to be LSU against anyone. Those three Bengal teams will simply outrun a Kentucky club which lacks defensive skill. LSU.
Auburn vs. Georgia Tech
This should be the battle of the day. Tech has a better offense, but I have a hunch that Auburn's defense will be able to handle the Engineers. AUBURN.
Syracuse vs. Holy Cross
Syracuse has the attack to go with a tremendous line, and Holy Cross may find itself overmatched. The Orange looks like the class of the East. SYRACUSE.
UCLA vs. California
This is one of those traditional games and the record sometimes means very little. But California appears too weak to test UCLA.
Oregon vs. Air Force
Both are unbeaten but Quarterback Richie Mayo's passing gives the Air Force the advantage. Oregon will be tough. However, my choice is the AIR FORCE.
USC vs. Washington
The Trojans are on the move again and I can't see Washington holding them in check for a full game. Line play will make the difference and a win for USC.
Texas vs. Arkansas
This could go either way. Texas has the speed to match Arkansas in the backfield and seems to be stronger up front. I'll stick with TEXAS.
LAST WEEK'S PREDICTIONS: 7 RIGHT; 2 WRONG
RECORD TO DATE: 24-12-1