SWC75
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TCU
Arnie Burdick warned fans not to underestimate TCU, despite their record of 7 wins and 3 losses: “TCU, unlike some people are thinking, is a top-rated football power. It is no cream-puff organization. They have had a tremendous gridiron history ever since Sammy Baugh put them on the map two decades ago with his All-American passing….If the Orange squad will work as hard as it has all year, it should be able to give TCU a fine football game. If not, they will have their troubles.”
Arnie requested Bill Rives of the Dallas Morning News to do a summary of the TCU team:
“If at times, it seems that my complimentary remarks about the Horned Frogs are rather extravagant, you may chalk it up to some of that Texas bragging you’ve heard about. I’m glad to get this chance to put something on paper. It looks like this is the only way I’ll be able to say something on behalf of Jim Swink. Ever since I got to Syracuse two days back I haven’t been able to get in a plus for our hero, because I’ve had to listen to so much talk about Jim Brown. Texans, it seems, don’t have a monopoly on that bragging business….The Cotton Bowl offers a great setting for a duel between Swink and Brown, who undoubtedly are two of the finest runners in the collegiate game of recent years. The fact that Brown has made every All-America team announced this far this season is proof enough of his ability. But shucks, folks, Jim Swink did that LAST year!” Swink, who grew up in Rusk, Texas, was known as the “Rusk Rambler” so the game would be the “Manhasset Mauler” vs. the “Rusk Rambler.”
In 1955, Swink, in ten games, had carried the ball 157 times for 1,283 yards, (8.2 per carry) for a national high 20TDs and 125 points, (he kicked 5 conversions). That’s more yards per game, (128-123), a higher average (8.2-6.2), more touchdowns (20-14) and more points, (126-106 than Jim Brown had in 1956, (although Jim, thanks to the Colgate game, scored points at a higher rate). Led by Swink, the Horned Frogs had won the SWC in 1955 with a 9-1-0 record, out-scoring their opponents 293-61, losing only to Bear Bryant’s Texas A&M “Junction Boys”, 16-19. Against, Texas, Swink ran for 235 yards from scrimmage, scoring on runs of 67. 52, 34 and 1 yards in a 47-20 win. They wound up ranked #6 by the writers and #5 by the #5 then lost the Cotton Bowl to Mississippi by a point, 13-14. In 1956, Swink had gained a far more modest 669 yards in the same number of carries: 157. But that still led the conference. I don’t know the number of touchdowns because he doesn’t appear among the national scoring leaders.
Rives: “But Jim was used mainly as a decoy for almost half the season. And, as a blocker, pass receiver and defender, he was vastly improved….This year Swink caught 19 passes for 390 yards, whereas a year ago, he only grabbed five for 110 steps. “ He set the conference career record with 2618 rushing yards, 200 yards above his nearest competitor. He also had another big game against Texas, with 122 yards and four more touchdowns, including a 72 yard scoring burst, in a 46-0 win. As a sophomore in 1954, Swink had run for 147 yards, including runs of 68 and 58 yards in a 34-35 loss. In three years against Texas, he’d run for 504 yards and a scored 9 times. One writer said his record against Texas “compared favorably with that of the United State against Germany…..The Southwest’s wisest historians have concluded that Swink is probably the greatest running back in conference history.”
Swink was 6-2 and 185 and, “has been clocked in 10 flat. He makes marvelous use of his blockers.” (Our Jim- Brown- had been clocked in 10.1.) Coach, (Abe- his actual first name was Othol and he told reporters he didn’t know why), Martin said “He has great balance. And he can hit a quick hole better than anybody I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen a breakaway back like him who has the ability to punch so powerfully for short yardage.” Martin expressed added confidence because of the return from injury of lineman Jim Cooper. “Cooper is the man who can make Swink go. Swink has needed the kind of blocking Cooper can give.“ Swink had also suffered a “torn lateral ligament” in his ankle against SMU but was reported to be “as good as new” for the bowl game.
Back to Bill Rives: “In his column, Monday, Arnie indicated that some people hereabouts apparently think TCU must not be a first-class team because its record is one of the few things Texans don’t brag about. Arnie knows what he’s writing. Don’t sell TCU short. Their only problem is being psychologically ready. They have all the equipment of greatness, a balanced attack generated by a big, mobile line and a hefty, yet fast-enough backfield. The line will average 210 pounds and the backfield 190.”
“Up front the shining light is left tackle Norman Hamilton. You will get an idea of the sort of he-man he is when I report that his nickname is ‘Animal’…. He’s built along the lines of a brahma bull- low and thick. Hamilton stands 5-10 and weighs 215. He’s aggressive and strong and does everything well…..Another fine lineman is Joe Williams, a 215 pounder who has played both center and guard this season….When the team is operating on all cylinders, it has a wonderful backfield in Quarterback Charles (Chuck) Curtis, (6-4 205), halfbacks Jim Swink and Ken Wineburg (6-3 185) and fullback Buddy Dike (6-0 200). Curtis is an excellent faker, a fine passer and a good tactician…..The other three TCU backs are all among the top four rushers in the conference. Wineburg’s long dashes over-shadowed Swink in the early part of the season but he suffered an injury that slowed him down so much that he played very little in about four games. Wineburg gets a fast start and has been remarkably effective on his off-tackle bursts….Fullback Buddy Dike was a sensation as a sophomore but a kidney injury forced him to skip football last season. He’s had a fine year, averaging six yards a carry.”
“Now let’s get back to the TCU record. The Frogs lost only one conference game and, believe me the conference games are the only ones the teams down here get excited about unless they’re playing a celebrated non-conference opponent. That conference defeat was at the hands of Texas A&M. In a nutshell, here’s what happened: TCU dominated the game but couldn’t win it. The Frogs had five chances to score but failed to do so, apart from their one touchdown. They fumbled on the two yard line; were stopped on the one foot line; missed field goal tries from the 15 and 23 yard lines and had a pass intercepted when they were on the 18. The Aggies, on the other hand, crossed midfield under their own power only twice. But on one of those occasions, midway through the last period, when they were behind 0-6, they moved the ball 80 yards for their touchdown and then kicked the extra point to gain a 7-6 victory. That loss in what was acknowledged on all sides to be the key game of the year, took something out of TCU.”
Enough that the Horned Frogs lost by two touchdowns to both Miami and Texas Tech, (which was not yet a conference member: that would come in 1960).Their loss to Texas A&M was in a game played under a tornado warning. TCU rallied to win their last three to finish 7-3, having out-scored their opponents 203-83, (SU was 203-89). They were #14 in both polls. SU was #8 in both. There were 27 seniors on the Texas Christian team, all part of Abe Martin’s first recruiting class from when he took the job in 1953. He’d recruited 32 players and lost only 5 along the way. This was to be their finale of a very successful run. They’d gone 4-6 as sophomores, including a game where they led Oklahoma 16-7 with ten minutes to play before losing 16-21. Then came the 9-2 junior season and they were 7-3 as seniors and going to their second straight Cotton Bowl.
Arnie Burdick also talked to Lou Cox of the Dallas Times-Herald, who compared TCU to the Rice team that had embarrassed Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, 28-6, the year after the Crimson Tide crushed Syracuse in the orange. That was the game where Bobby Lewis of Alabama got so frustrated at Rice’s Dickie Moegle, who had already scored two TDs, one from 79 yards out and who was on his way to a third score, this one from 95, that Lewis ran out and tackled Moegle, (the refs awarded him the touchdown anyway). Cox compare Swink to Moegle, who ran for 265 yards on only 11 carries that day. He said TCU “played the same brand of ball” that Rice did that year. Burdick: “That’s a pretty fair stamp of approval, for that Rice squad could do a lot of things well. They had speed, power and defensive strength. It looks like the Orange...had better get itself geared for an all-out effort.”
An article praised the TCU second unit. Back-up quarterback Dick Finney headed up “a second unit behind the regulars that at times has shown more spirit and aggressiveness than the veteran starters. It zips into play in much the same fashion as the Oklahoma ‘speed-up’ unit that stunned Maryland in the 1956 Orange Bowl game. This second TCU unit wrecked a game Southern Methodist team in the season finale after the regulars bogged down.” TCU’s starting backfield was Charley Curtis at quarterback, the two Jims, Swink and Shofner at half and Buddy Dike at fullback. Their backups were Finney, Carlos Vacek and Virgil Miller and fullback Vernon Hallbeck
Ben Schwartzwalder: “”They are a real solid outfit. It would be nice if you could spend your time trying to devise ways of stopping Jim Swink, cut you can’t do that. That Curits is a fine passer and an exceptional ball handler and Wineburg is always a threat, especially on those tackle plays. Coach Abe Martin has a real solid attack and we are going to have plenty of trouble defending it.” But Abe Martin was also working on defense: there was report that when the Horned Frogs ran Syracuse plays with their third and fourth teams, the regulars were having a hard time defending them.
Abe Martin compared Syracuse to 8-1-1 Miami, who had beaten the Horned Frogs, 14-0 and 9-0-1 Texas A&M, who beat them 6-7. “Syracuse is big and powerful- and they have the staying power. Their running is terrific and their passing good. It’s one of the better ballclubs we’ve seen this year… Syracuse may not be quite as agile as Miami but they look just as tough. They are a big, powerful, running team that is tough on defense, too. If they don’t stay in there and fight, they’ll eat us up. Coach Schwartzwalder has the kind of team I like to see. If it gets a break deep in enemy territory, it has that reserve snap to take advantage of it. Syracuse comes out of that huddle all fired up after it recovers a fumble or intercepts a pass….That big, old line of theirs just knocked those other people down and rushed right on in. I don’t see how I can ask our little old kids to go up against bruisers like that. Guess I’ll have to ask for volunteers. …Looks to me like they just keep hittin’ you until they wear you out. …we’ll look closer at those pictures but at first glance I was real impressed. Scared, you might say. …I know our quarterback, Chuck Curtis, is gonna have to have a good day for us to have a chance to beat them.”
“I don’t believe two touchdowns will beat them. That’s why we’re fixin’ to score three.” Ben later responded to this by saying “Then I guess we’d better score four, at least”. He was then asked if he intended to “roll up the score” on TCU. He laughed and said, “Yes, by one point”. Back to Martin: “I’m almost certain the fans are going to see a lot of touchdowns. I think my boys are going to be ready to play a football game and I have confidence in our attack. I’m pretty sure that we can move the ball. But that unbalanced line is going to give us plenty of trouble. You can’t play them balanced or they’ll overpower you. And you’ve got be careful where you loosen up or they’ll smash back at you with their misdirection series. We haven’t seen anything like it all year. “ Martin seemed more worried about Jim Ridlon than Jim Brown. “Oh, that Brown’s a rugged feller, OK but I’ll tell you one thing. I like that other halfback just as well. This guy’s not only big (185) he seems to hit the line tougher, squirm a little and looks like he might be dangerous in the open field. We were told the quarterback, Chuck Zimmerman, was the weakness on their team but somebody mixed up on this.”
“I’ve been trying to bring my boys along slowly for this Bowl game. You see, it’s been a dog-gone funny season. We lost a heartbreaker to A&M last year, 19-16. So the boys worked themselves up all winter and spring and summer, waitin’ to get back at the Aggies. Well, we out-gained ‘em and out-first downed ‘em and out-everythinged ‘em but got beat on the scoreboard. And it just tore the heart right out of ‘em. Nobody wanted to play too much after that. They just brooded about the loss to the Aggies. When the season was over, they just looked tired, physically and emotionally and that’s why I gave ‘em 10 days off. Ever since we got ‘em back, we’ve been kind of playing at football. We’ve had no two-a-day. We’ve kept our practice periods short. But we’ve run ‘em hard, trying to keep their legs and wind ready.”
Arnie Burdick point out “This is quite a contrast from the way Syracuse has been going at it, with their two drills a day plus a lot of scrimmaging. But, as Martin points out, every group is different and, in this business, you’ve got only one guess and you hope it’s the right one.“ Later when the team arrived in Dallas, Ben Schwartzwalder addressed this issue: “The boys had their best workout at Norman last Friday but they looked disinterested in football at their drill Saturday morning. But they have plenty of time to bounce back today and tomorrow. We planned to work them a little too much because we’re not going to do very much here between now and the time of the game. I think that they’ll bounce back all right and give us what they’ve got.” Determining how hard to work a bowl team and when to back off is a difficult but significant decision for a coach and Ben’s 2-5 record in bowl games suggests he never mastered it, although there are certainly other factors that could have accounted for that.
Ben Schwartzwalder did agree with Martin that Syracuse would have to stop Curtis to win. An article described Curtis as a “Man With a Mission”. He’d played one play in the 1956 Cotton Bowl game vs. Mississippi: the opening kick-off. He’d tried to return it as an “up man”, ran 20 yards and wound up with two broken ribs. “I’ve been practicing lateralling the ball to Jim Swink and the other backs all year. I’ve learned my lesson”. Curtis had passed for 867 yards and 5 scores on 53 for 119, ((44.5%). He’d also run for 108 yards but been thrown for 107 yards in losses when he had to “eat the ball”. Ben hoped his charges would bring Curtis “the bacon”.
Arnie described Curtis as being a little on the “cocky” side, presenting this quote: “Look we know Syracuse is a good football team, but so are we and we’re meaning to prove it next week. We think that Syracuse’s rushing linebackers, aggressive like they are, will take themselves out of some plays, too. We might have to throw more than we’ve been throwing but that shouldn’t bother us too much, after we get adjusted.” Arnie: “The feeling permeating the Frog locker room, which is located in the catacombs of plush Amon Carter Stadium, seems to be that TCU at its best is a better team than Syracuse at its best. “And we’re aiming to be at our best “ chirped All-America tackle Norm Hamilton.”
Syracuse had come in its walk, too. A picture appeared in the Herald-Journal of quarterback Chuck Zimmerman and tackle Jerry Cashman talking with the caption “NO PRESSURE …The sophomore quarterback and senior tackle long ago decided TCU can be taken in the Cotton bowl classic and the pair have been selling teammates the idea since post season training started.” In the article, reserve back Tom Sardinia “was especially enthusiastic”. His quote: “If we play to our capabilities, we’ll win, all right. The team spirit has gotten better than last week. “
Syracuse was 14th in the country in rushing offense with 249 yards per game and 10th in rushing defense with 145 yards per game. They out-gained their opposition 315-258 and out-scored them 25-11. TCU had outgained their foes 356-238 and out-scored their opponents by an average of 20-8. They’d actually rushed for more yards per game than SU, (251) and out-passed SU 66-105. Jim Brown was our only back with more than 300 yards rushing while TCU had three backs with more than 500 yards. Jim Brown had finished third in the country in rushing behind Jim Crawford of Wyoming, (1104 yards in 200 carries in 10 games) and Bill Barnes of Wake Forest (1010 yards in 168 carries, also in 10 games). Jim’s yards per carry and per game were superior to both. The Orange topped the Horn Frogs in extra points, scoring 23 of 30 vs. 20 of 30, so they might have an edge there, it seemed. But TCU had kicked one field goal, something no Ben Schwartzwalder Syracuse team had ever done. It was a different era.
The squad appeared to be at full strength for the game, with the exception of Ron Luciano, who wasn’t fully recovered from his leg injury. The paper described Luciano as “hurt in, operated on after and out since the West Virginia game”, a nice, concise writing style. The traveling squad was going to be 44 players, large for the time, “although more personnel could be added later. Nobody wants to miss a bowl game. Schwartzwalder said the expected to use a “two team set-up”, saying “I wouldn’t think we could expect any of the boys to play 60 minutes down there.”
Ben welcomed his team back to practice with a short speech: “I never expected to see this gang back together again as a football team. We have a lot of work to do. Conditioning and timing will be stressed this week. I know you guys are ready to work as hard as necessary. We are not going to believe any of this “mismatch like ‘53” business!” The Post Standard had a picture of Ben giving this speech before the team in the locker room, gesturing toward them with his arm. They apparently did get some outdoor work in as there were pictures of the team working out with a blocking sled in the Herald and Ed Bailey and Bill Brown in their three point stances on “a snowy patch”. Ben: “The boys are going to be real serious about this thing. They know that we have a real job getting ready for the game but I think they want to win real badly.”
Arnie Burdick did a position by position comparison of the 1952 and 1956 Syracuse teams using the anonymous evaluations of members of the coaching staff, (there were only 11 of them) and concluded that the 1952 team was superior at quarterback, (Pat Stark), left end, (Carl Karilivacz) and right tackle, (Bob Fleck) and even at center, (Jim Ringo vs. Bill Brown) and Left Guard, (Sam Johnson and Ralph Farmer). The 1956 team was better at fullback, (where Arnie listed Jim Brown) and halfback with Ridlon and Al Cann or Ed Coffin. Actually Cann and Coffin played fullback and Jim was a halfback when he was at SU. Ed Bailey was the better right guard and Chuck Strid and Dick Lasse at left tackle and left end. That left it 6-3-2 for the 1956 team, with the obvious edge with the running backs. It was also felt that this was a much better defensive team. “It might be Syracuse’s hide that gets tanned on New Year’s Day but they won’t tan ‘em by 61-6!”. The 1953 Orange Bowl was the elephant in the room.
There was a humorous editorial in the Herald describing the reaction of Texans to Syracuse’s “invasion form the north. The column suggested that Texas and SMU were looking for coaches, (as they surely were after going a combined 5-15), and might make a big offer to Ben Schwartzwalder while he was down there. The paper suggested that Ben’s status as a Republican would make him unacceptable to the Lone Star State. I’ve no idea if Texas and SMU were actually thinking of offering Schwartzwalder their head coaching jobs but it’s not surprising that he was getting some feelers at this stage of his career. The Mustangs wound up with Bill Meek, who had been coaching Houston. Texas went for one of Bud Wilkinson’s quarterbacks who was presently employed at the University of Washington, a chap named Darrell Royal.
Arnie Burdick warned fans not to underestimate TCU, despite their record of 7 wins and 3 losses: “TCU, unlike some people are thinking, is a top-rated football power. It is no cream-puff organization. They have had a tremendous gridiron history ever since Sammy Baugh put them on the map two decades ago with his All-American passing….If the Orange squad will work as hard as it has all year, it should be able to give TCU a fine football game. If not, they will have their troubles.”
Arnie requested Bill Rives of the Dallas Morning News to do a summary of the TCU team:
“If at times, it seems that my complimentary remarks about the Horned Frogs are rather extravagant, you may chalk it up to some of that Texas bragging you’ve heard about. I’m glad to get this chance to put something on paper. It looks like this is the only way I’ll be able to say something on behalf of Jim Swink. Ever since I got to Syracuse two days back I haven’t been able to get in a plus for our hero, because I’ve had to listen to so much talk about Jim Brown. Texans, it seems, don’t have a monopoly on that bragging business….The Cotton Bowl offers a great setting for a duel between Swink and Brown, who undoubtedly are two of the finest runners in the collegiate game of recent years. The fact that Brown has made every All-America team announced this far this season is proof enough of his ability. But shucks, folks, Jim Swink did that LAST year!” Swink, who grew up in Rusk, Texas, was known as the “Rusk Rambler” so the game would be the “Manhasset Mauler” vs. the “Rusk Rambler.”
In 1955, Swink, in ten games, had carried the ball 157 times for 1,283 yards, (8.2 per carry) for a national high 20TDs and 125 points, (he kicked 5 conversions). That’s more yards per game, (128-123), a higher average (8.2-6.2), more touchdowns (20-14) and more points, (126-106 than Jim Brown had in 1956, (although Jim, thanks to the Colgate game, scored points at a higher rate). Led by Swink, the Horned Frogs had won the SWC in 1955 with a 9-1-0 record, out-scoring their opponents 293-61, losing only to Bear Bryant’s Texas A&M “Junction Boys”, 16-19. Against, Texas, Swink ran for 235 yards from scrimmage, scoring on runs of 67. 52, 34 and 1 yards in a 47-20 win. They wound up ranked #6 by the writers and #5 by the #5 then lost the Cotton Bowl to Mississippi by a point, 13-14. In 1956, Swink had gained a far more modest 669 yards in the same number of carries: 157. But that still led the conference. I don’t know the number of touchdowns because he doesn’t appear among the national scoring leaders.
Rives: “But Jim was used mainly as a decoy for almost half the season. And, as a blocker, pass receiver and defender, he was vastly improved….This year Swink caught 19 passes for 390 yards, whereas a year ago, he only grabbed five for 110 steps. “ He set the conference career record with 2618 rushing yards, 200 yards above his nearest competitor. He also had another big game against Texas, with 122 yards and four more touchdowns, including a 72 yard scoring burst, in a 46-0 win. As a sophomore in 1954, Swink had run for 147 yards, including runs of 68 and 58 yards in a 34-35 loss. In three years against Texas, he’d run for 504 yards and a scored 9 times. One writer said his record against Texas “compared favorably with that of the United State against Germany…..The Southwest’s wisest historians have concluded that Swink is probably the greatest running back in conference history.”
Swink was 6-2 and 185 and, “has been clocked in 10 flat. He makes marvelous use of his blockers.” (Our Jim- Brown- had been clocked in 10.1.) Coach, (Abe- his actual first name was Othol and he told reporters he didn’t know why), Martin said “He has great balance. And he can hit a quick hole better than anybody I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen a breakaway back like him who has the ability to punch so powerfully for short yardage.” Martin expressed added confidence because of the return from injury of lineman Jim Cooper. “Cooper is the man who can make Swink go. Swink has needed the kind of blocking Cooper can give.“ Swink had also suffered a “torn lateral ligament” in his ankle against SMU but was reported to be “as good as new” for the bowl game.
Back to Bill Rives: “In his column, Monday, Arnie indicated that some people hereabouts apparently think TCU must not be a first-class team because its record is one of the few things Texans don’t brag about. Arnie knows what he’s writing. Don’t sell TCU short. Their only problem is being psychologically ready. They have all the equipment of greatness, a balanced attack generated by a big, mobile line and a hefty, yet fast-enough backfield. The line will average 210 pounds and the backfield 190.”
“Up front the shining light is left tackle Norman Hamilton. You will get an idea of the sort of he-man he is when I report that his nickname is ‘Animal’…. He’s built along the lines of a brahma bull- low and thick. Hamilton stands 5-10 and weighs 215. He’s aggressive and strong and does everything well…..Another fine lineman is Joe Williams, a 215 pounder who has played both center and guard this season….When the team is operating on all cylinders, it has a wonderful backfield in Quarterback Charles (Chuck) Curtis, (6-4 205), halfbacks Jim Swink and Ken Wineburg (6-3 185) and fullback Buddy Dike (6-0 200). Curtis is an excellent faker, a fine passer and a good tactician…..The other three TCU backs are all among the top four rushers in the conference. Wineburg’s long dashes over-shadowed Swink in the early part of the season but he suffered an injury that slowed him down so much that he played very little in about four games. Wineburg gets a fast start and has been remarkably effective on his off-tackle bursts….Fullback Buddy Dike was a sensation as a sophomore but a kidney injury forced him to skip football last season. He’s had a fine year, averaging six yards a carry.”
“Now let’s get back to the TCU record. The Frogs lost only one conference game and, believe me the conference games are the only ones the teams down here get excited about unless they’re playing a celebrated non-conference opponent. That conference defeat was at the hands of Texas A&M. In a nutshell, here’s what happened: TCU dominated the game but couldn’t win it. The Frogs had five chances to score but failed to do so, apart from their one touchdown. They fumbled on the two yard line; were stopped on the one foot line; missed field goal tries from the 15 and 23 yard lines and had a pass intercepted when they were on the 18. The Aggies, on the other hand, crossed midfield under their own power only twice. But on one of those occasions, midway through the last period, when they were behind 0-6, they moved the ball 80 yards for their touchdown and then kicked the extra point to gain a 7-6 victory. That loss in what was acknowledged on all sides to be the key game of the year, took something out of TCU.”
Enough that the Horned Frogs lost by two touchdowns to both Miami and Texas Tech, (which was not yet a conference member: that would come in 1960).Their loss to Texas A&M was in a game played under a tornado warning. TCU rallied to win their last three to finish 7-3, having out-scored their opponents 203-83, (SU was 203-89). They were #14 in both polls. SU was #8 in both. There were 27 seniors on the Texas Christian team, all part of Abe Martin’s first recruiting class from when he took the job in 1953. He’d recruited 32 players and lost only 5 along the way. This was to be their finale of a very successful run. They’d gone 4-6 as sophomores, including a game where they led Oklahoma 16-7 with ten minutes to play before losing 16-21. Then came the 9-2 junior season and they were 7-3 as seniors and going to their second straight Cotton Bowl.
Arnie Burdick also talked to Lou Cox of the Dallas Times-Herald, who compared TCU to the Rice team that had embarrassed Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, 28-6, the year after the Crimson Tide crushed Syracuse in the orange. That was the game where Bobby Lewis of Alabama got so frustrated at Rice’s Dickie Moegle, who had already scored two TDs, one from 79 yards out and who was on his way to a third score, this one from 95, that Lewis ran out and tackled Moegle, (the refs awarded him the touchdown anyway). Cox compare Swink to Moegle, who ran for 265 yards on only 11 carries that day. He said TCU “played the same brand of ball” that Rice did that year. Burdick: “That’s a pretty fair stamp of approval, for that Rice squad could do a lot of things well. They had speed, power and defensive strength. It looks like the Orange...had better get itself geared for an all-out effort.”
An article praised the TCU second unit. Back-up quarterback Dick Finney headed up “a second unit behind the regulars that at times has shown more spirit and aggressiveness than the veteran starters. It zips into play in much the same fashion as the Oklahoma ‘speed-up’ unit that stunned Maryland in the 1956 Orange Bowl game. This second TCU unit wrecked a game Southern Methodist team in the season finale after the regulars bogged down.” TCU’s starting backfield was Charley Curtis at quarterback, the two Jims, Swink and Shofner at half and Buddy Dike at fullback. Their backups were Finney, Carlos Vacek and Virgil Miller and fullback Vernon Hallbeck
Ben Schwartzwalder: “”They are a real solid outfit. It would be nice if you could spend your time trying to devise ways of stopping Jim Swink, cut you can’t do that. That Curits is a fine passer and an exceptional ball handler and Wineburg is always a threat, especially on those tackle plays. Coach Abe Martin has a real solid attack and we are going to have plenty of trouble defending it.” But Abe Martin was also working on defense: there was report that when the Horned Frogs ran Syracuse plays with their third and fourth teams, the regulars were having a hard time defending them.
Abe Martin compared Syracuse to 8-1-1 Miami, who had beaten the Horned Frogs, 14-0 and 9-0-1 Texas A&M, who beat them 6-7. “Syracuse is big and powerful- and they have the staying power. Their running is terrific and their passing good. It’s one of the better ballclubs we’ve seen this year… Syracuse may not be quite as agile as Miami but they look just as tough. They are a big, powerful, running team that is tough on defense, too. If they don’t stay in there and fight, they’ll eat us up. Coach Schwartzwalder has the kind of team I like to see. If it gets a break deep in enemy territory, it has that reserve snap to take advantage of it. Syracuse comes out of that huddle all fired up after it recovers a fumble or intercepts a pass….That big, old line of theirs just knocked those other people down and rushed right on in. I don’t see how I can ask our little old kids to go up against bruisers like that. Guess I’ll have to ask for volunteers. …Looks to me like they just keep hittin’ you until they wear you out. …we’ll look closer at those pictures but at first glance I was real impressed. Scared, you might say. …I know our quarterback, Chuck Curtis, is gonna have to have a good day for us to have a chance to beat them.”
“I don’t believe two touchdowns will beat them. That’s why we’re fixin’ to score three.” Ben later responded to this by saying “Then I guess we’d better score four, at least”. He was then asked if he intended to “roll up the score” on TCU. He laughed and said, “Yes, by one point”. Back to Martin: “I’m almost certain the fans are going to see a lot of touchdowns. I think my boys are going to be ready to play a football game and I have confidence in our attack. I’m pretty sure that we can move the ball. But that unbalanced line is going to give us plenty of trouble. You can’t play them balanced or they’ll overpower you. And you’ve got be careful where you loosen up or they’ll smash back at you with their misdirection series. We haven’t seen anything like it all year. “ Martin seemed more worried about Jim Ridlon than Jim Brown. “Oh, that Brown’s a rugged feller, OK but I’ll tell you one thing. I like that other halfback just as well. This guy’s not only big (185) he seems to hit the line tougher, squirm a little and looks like he might be dangerous in the open field. We were told the quarterback, Chuck Zimmerman, was the weakness on their team but somebody mixed up on this.”
“I’ve been trying to bring my boys along slowly for this Bowl game. You see, it’s been a dog-gone funny season. We lost a heartbreaker to A&M last year, 19-16. So the boys worked themselves up all winter and spring and summer, waitin’ to get back at the Aggies. Well, we out-gained ‘em and out-first downed ‘em and out-everythinged ‘em but got beat on the scoreboard. And it just tore the heart right out of ‘em. Nobody wanted to play too much after that. They just brooded about the loss to the Aggies. When the season was over, they just looked tired, physically and emotionally and that’s why I gave ‘em 10 days off. Ever since we got ‘em back, we’ve been kind of playing at football. We’ve had no two-a-day. We’ve kept our practice periods short. But we’ve run ‘em hard, trying to keep their legs and wind ready.”
Arnie Burdick point out “This is quite a contrast from the way Syracuse has been going at it, with their two drills a day plus a lot of scrimmaging. But, as Martin points out, every group is different and, in this business, you’ve got only one guess and you hope it’s the right one.“ Later when the team arrived in Dallas, Ben Schwartzwalder addressed this issue: “The boys had their best workout at Norman last Friday but they looked disinterested in football at their drill Saturday morning. But they have plenty of time to bounce back today and tomorrow. We planned to work them a little too much because we’re not going to do very much here between now and the time of the game. I think that they’ll bounce back all right and give us what they’ve got.” Determining how hard to work a bowl team and when to back off is a difficult but significant decision for a coach and Ben’s 2-5 record in bowl games suggests he never mastered it, although there are certainly other factors that could have accounted for that.
Ben Schwartzwalder did agree with Martin that Syracuse would have to stop Curtis to win. An article described Curtis as a “Man With a Mission”. He’d played one play in the 1956 Cotton Bowl game vs. Mississippi: the opening kick-off. He’d tried to return it as an “up man”, ran 20 yards and wound up with two broken ribs. “I’ve been practicing lateralling the ball to Jim Swink and the other backs all year. I’ve learned my lesson”. Curtis had passed for 867 yards and 5 scores on 53 for 119, ((44.5%). He’d also run for 108 yards but been thrown for 107 yards in losses when he had to “eat the ball”. Ben hoped his charges would bring Curtis “the bacon”.
Arnie described Curtis as being a little on the “cocky” side, presenting this quote: “Look we know Syracuse is a good football team, but so are we and we’re meaning to prove it next week. We think that Syracuse’s rushing linebackers, aggressive like they are, will take themselves out of some plays, too. We might have to throw more than we’ve been throwing but that shouldn’t bother us too much, after we get adjusted.” Arnie: “The feeling permeating the Frog locker room, which is located in the catacombs of plush Amon Carter Stadium, seems to be that TCU at its best is a better team than Syracuse at its best. “And we’re aiming to be at our best “ chirped All-America tackle Norm Hamilton.”
Syracuse had come in its walk, too. A picture appeared in the Herald-Journal of quarterback Chuck Zimmerman and tackle Jerry Cashman talking with the caption “NO PRESSURE …The sophomore quarterback and senior tackle long ago decided TCU can be taken in the Cotton bowl classic and the pair have been selling teammates the idea since post season training started.” In the article, reserve back Tom Sardinia “was especially enthusiastic”. His quote: “If we play to our capabilities, we’ll win, all right. The team spirit has gotten better than last week. “
Syracuse was 14th in the country in rushing offense with 249 yards per game and 10th in rushing defense with 145 yards per game. They out-gained their opposition 315-258 and out-scored them 25-11. TCU had outgained their foes 356-238 and out-scored their opponents by an average of 20-8. They’d actually rushed for more yards per game than SU, (251) and out-passed SU 66-105. Jim Brown was our only back with more than 300 yards rushing while TCU had three backs with more than 500 yards. Jim Brown had finished third in the country in rushing behind Jim Crawford of Wyoming, (1104 yards in 200 carries in 10 games) and Bill Barnes of Wake Forest (1010 yards in 168 carries, also in 10 games). Jim’s yards per carry and per game were superior to both. The Orange topped the Horn Frogs in extra points, scoring 23 of 30 vs. 20 of 30, so they might have an edge there, it seemed. But TCU had kicked one field goal, something no Ben Schwartzwalder Syracuse team had ever done. It was a different era.
The squad appeared to be at full strength for the game, with the exception of Ron Luciano, who wasn’t fully recovered from his leg injury. The paper described Luciano as “hurt in, operated on after and out since the West Virginia game”, a nice, concise writing style. The traveling squad was going to be 44 players, large for the time, “although more personnel could be added later. Nobody wants to miss a bowl game. Schwartzwalder said the expected to use a “two team set-up”, saying “I wouldn’t think we could expect any of the boys to play 60 minutes down there.”
Ben welcomed his team back to practice with a short speech: “I never expected to see this gang back together again as a football team. We have a lot of work to do. Conditioning and timing will be stressed this week. I know you guys are ready to work as hard as necessary. We are not going to believe any of this “mismatch like ‘53” business!” The Post Standard had a picture of Ben giving this speech before the team in the locker room, gesturing toward them with his arm. They apparently did get some outdoor work in as there were pictures of the team working out with a blocking sled in the Herald and Ed Bailey and Bill Brown in their three point stances on “a snowy patch”. Ben: “The boys are going to be real serious about this thing. They know that we have a real job getting ready for the game but I think they want to win real badly.”
Arnie Burdick did a position by position comparison of the 1952 and 1956 Syracuse teams using the anonymous evaluations of members of the coaching staff, (there were only 11 of them) and concluded that the 1952 team was superior at quarterback, (Pat Stark), left end, (Carl Karilivacz) and right tackle, (Bob Fleck) and even at center, (Jim Ringo vs. Bill Brown) and Left Guard, (Sam Johnson and Ralph Farmer). The 1956 team was better at fullback, (where Arnie listed Jim Brown) and halfback with Ridlon and Al Cann or Ed Coffin. Actually Cann and Coffin played fullback and Jim was a halfback when he was at SU. Ed Bailey was the better right guard and Chuck Strid and Dick Lasse at left tackle and left end. That left it 6-3-2 for the 1956 team, with the obvious edge with the running backs. It was also felt that this was a much better defensive team. “It might be Syracuse’s hide that gets tanned on New Year’s Day but they won’t tan ‘em by 61-6!”. The 1953 Orange Bowl was the elephant in the room.
There was a humorous editorial in the Herald describing the reaction of Texans to Syracuse’s “invasion form the north. The column suggested that Texas and SMU were looking for coaches, (as they surely were after going a combined 5-15), and might make a big offer to Ben Schwartzwalder while he was down there. The paper suggested that Ben’s status as a Republican would make him unacceptable to the Lone Star State. I’ve no idea if Texas and SMU were actually thinking of offering Schwartzwalder their head coaching jobs but it’s not surprising that he was getting some feelers at this stage of his career. The Mustangs wound up with Bill Meek, who had been coaching Houston. Texas went for one of Bud Wilkinson’s quarterbacks who was presently employed at the University of Washington, a chap named Darrell Royal.
