SWC75
Bored Historian
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THE GAME
(For some reason the Herald Journal is not represented for the first six months of 1957 on Newspaper Archive.com. So I will have nothing from Arnie Burdick or the Old Scout on this famous historical game. Everything is based on what was printed in the Post Standard, supplemented by chapters on this game in Ken Rappoport’s “The Syracuse Football Story”, “Big Bowl Football” by Fred Russell and George Leonard and “Football’s Unforgettable Games” by Harold Classen. I also have the official 1957 Cotton Bowl Highlight Film which I thought was on You-Tube but isn't: its very similar to the highlight film of the 1/1/60 Cotton Bowl, which is on You-Tube, same color footage and same narrator, but this one is about 20 minutes long. I’ll be describing some of the plays based on that tape.)
Sports Illustrated has a classic shot of Coach Abe Martin addressing his players before the game:
http://cache2.asset-cache.net/gc/81...7QVrH5rlqSlomOkrTSWGPEI+kgH80w3qA7yXovSFv41Q9
“While the Cotton Bowl was filling up with a feverish crowd, the TCU players were the first to enter the stadium. They took their calisthenics in the end zone marked boldly in six yard letters ‘SYRACUSE’. TCU followers observed it as a symbolic maneuver to trample the Orangemen into the ground. Syracuse returned the symbolic gesture at the other end of the field.”
The Horned Frogs kicked off at 1PM. “By 1:20 TCU had the ball on the Syracuse 7 yard line and the seven Syracuse cheerleaders beseeched their forces to “hold that line”. But at 1:21 TCU had a scored on a pass from Chuck Curtis to John Nikkel The traditional siren wail from the TCU Vigilantes, a student prep group, filled the air and sent cold shivers through the Syracuse faithful.”
“The Frogs, who won the toss in a ceremony half an hour before the game, were slowed by a clipping penalty on the kickoff return but got off the hook quickly. A 39 yard pass, Curtis to John Nikkel, proved an indication of things to come. The Orange stopped this drive and both teams had to punt but Syracuse seemed to have a march going when Shofner intercepted Brown’s pass. He got it on the TCU 30. The Frogs went all the way from there. Curtis cranked up his pitching arm, threw to O’Day Williams for 27 yards, threw to Swink for 17 yards and then, after Dike ran for 17, Curtis, lobbed a seven yard scoring pass to Nikkel.”
Abe Martin: “After looking at a Syracuse film, we thought they might lack a little on pass defense. Swink said he thought he could get behind the defense. We didn’t think we could run too well on Syracuse and we planned to pass more.“ Harold Classen: “TCU scouts reported that Syracuse had intercepted 20 passes in eight games but that the Orange line was too rugged to penetrate. TCU was basically a running team. In order to get the jump, the Texan’s battle plan called for a pro-type passing attack gunned by Curtis and aimed at Swink and end John Nikkel near the sidelines. The strategy looked fool-proof early...”
“That siren noise became even more annoying to Northern visitors when TCU went in for another touchdown early in the second period, this time on a pass from Curtis to Jimmy Shofner.”
“When Syracuse got the ball after the next kick-off, it held possession for only three plays before Vernon Hallbeck recovered. Ed Ackley’s fumble on the Syracuse 40 and again the Frogs were off to the races. Twice on this drive, the Orange missed opportunities to halt the rush. On the first play of the second period, Kuczala had a Curtis pass in his hands, with a chance for a wide-open interception but Ferdie dropped the ball. Two plays later, Dike fumbled a pitch-out, the ball rolled forward and two Orangemen had a chance to recover but Shofner not only recovered for TCU but made a first down on the play. Given these reprieves, the Frogs needed only two passes, a 13 yarder to Nikkel and an eight yard toss to Shofner in the end zone. When Pollard converted, at 1:159 of the period, it was 14-0 for TCU. “
“Twelve minutes later the score was tied at 14-14, courtesy of Brown. He scored two touchdowns, the final one with about minute left in the first half.” (Rappoport) “Brown hadn’t gotten his message across yet. He started by hauling back the ensuing kick-off from his end zone to the 30. Then he proceeded to batter his way for 59 of the remaining 70 yards, a drive which he completed by crashing over from the two.” (Classen) “Taking the kickoff with Brown bringing it 30 yards from the goal line, Syracuse marched all the way to score. It took ten plays, seven of them by Brown, whose 24 yard run was the biggest play, before Big Jim powered the last three yards into the end zone.” (Post Standard)
“Then, with the Frog reserves in action, Syracuse got two breaks which helped gain a 14-all tie at half-time. A bad pitch-out by Dick Finney was recovered by Ted Warholak on the Syracuse 38, but this drive only reached to the Frog 31 before it was stopped for downs. Then Finney fumbled again. Lasse recovered for Syracuse on the Frogs’s 24 and three plays netted the second Orange touchdown.“ SU clearly benefited from Martin’s decision to go with his second unit as Finney’s tenure was a disaster. “Brown threw a 20 yard pass to Ridlon, who was knocked out of bounds on the four and then Big Jim took a pitchout, turned the corner to the right and outraced the defenders as he swept to the score. After Brown made his second conversion to tie it, TCU had time for only one play before the half ended.”
“A Syracuse smoke bomb erupted under the TCU goalposts and a TCU ‘vigilante’ drew cheers from the home crowd when he raced around the end of the bowl to douse the bomb with a cup of water. It could not dampen the joyous spirits of the Syracuse people, however.”
“The Horned Frogs built what seemed like an insurmountable lead with a touchdown later in the fourth. Both times Syracuse fumbles opened the door for the Texans and the opportunistic Curtis drove his team right though for a 28-14 lead with a little more than 11 minutes left in the game.”
“In the third quarter, the Orange had penetrated Frog territory and Brown had made enough for a first down on the TCU 40 when Dike’s tackle forced the ball loose and John Cooper recovered for the winners.” (That’s not the John Cooper who coached Ohio State in the 80’s and 90’s- That John Cooper was in high school at the time and went to Iowa State from 1958-61.) “A great catch by O’Day Williams, a 15 yard run by Curtis and a 15 yard screen pass to Nikkel moved the ball to the seven. Then Curtis rolled out to pass, saw a clear path and carried it himself, covering seven yards untouched.”
“Again, Syracuse mounted an offensive, marched to the TCU 36 but there Ed Coffin fumbled, Jerry Holland recovered and the Frogs started their winning drive as the third period ended. Staying on the ground, except for a 24 yard Curtis-to-Swink doing fine work as the Syracuse defense seemed to fade. When he scored on a drive from the three yard line, Swink netted the 35th touchdown of his college career, tying the mark set by the fabulous Doak Walker at SMU. Trailing 28-14 with less than 12 minutes left, it looked like Syracuse was in for a one-sided loss.”
“Brown made it clear the game was far from settled, returning the kickoff 46 yards to the Frog 49. He and fullback Alan Cann, along with newly inserted quarterback Ferd Kuczala sent Syracuse rolling to the 2. Brown smashed right guard for his third touchdown of a great afternoon.” (Classen) “Brown fired up his mates when he made a brilliant 47 yard runback of Pollard’s kickoff. He carted it to the Frog’s 49. He almost got away for the distance but the Orangemen had to grind it out. Aided by Cann, who did some fine plunging, Brown bulldozed his way downfield in steady gains, hitting inside and outside and carrying tacklers with him on every thrust. He needed a yard on fourth down to score and he carried four frogs into the end zone.” (Post Standard)
Then came the deciding play of the game, although it shouldn’t have been. “On the conversion try, someone missed an assignment and Chico Mendoza raced in to block the kick.” (Classen) “This time a defensive assignment was missed and nobody blocked Mendoza on the try for point. He had a clear path as he swept in from his right end position and Brown’s all-important try for point traveled only two feet into Mendoza’s leaping block.” (Post Standard) “At this point, Mendoza threw his body in front of Brown’s extra point try, leaving TCU with a significant 28-20 lead and five minutes remaining in the game.” (Rappoport) This was two seasons before the two point conversion was adopted. “It meant that Syracuse had to score twice to win and the odds were great against the Orangemen”, pointed out Bill Rives in the Dallas Morning News.
“The Frogs were hemmed in their own territory when Swink momentarily fumbled Brown’s kick-off on the TCU 11. A clipping penalty pushed TCU back to its own five and there Syracuse barely missed getting credit for a safety. A pitch-out went to Swink in the end zone and Lasse had him pinned behind the goal-line, but Swink managed to dive out to the 2, giving the Frogs a fourth-down kicking opportunity. Shofner booted it out to the TCU 43 and Ridlon came through with a 15 yard pass to Lasse for a first down on the 29. From there, Zimmerman passed to Ridlon, who made a leaping catch at the goal-line to score….Most spectacular tally of the game was the final touchdown. It came on a 27 yard pass from Chuck Zimmerman to Jim Ridlon, with 1:16 left in the game. Ridlon, locked out earlier with a recurrence of a leg injury, was limping a bit when he returned to action, but he did a brilliant job on this play. He was covered by two defenders but he leaped between them to make the catch on the two yard line and fell into the end zone clutching the ball. ”
This time Brown got the blocking he needed and kicked the extra point to pull Syracuse within one at 27-28. “With just one minute and 16 seconds left in the game, many in the crowd of 68,000 expected Syracuse to try an onsides kick, in an attempt to recover the ball but the Orangemen kicked in the orthodox manner. TCU simply ran out the clock, preserving one of the most spectacular Cotton Bowl games in history.” Coaches….
The Post Standard had a large shot of Mendoza blocking the kick on its front page. It’s taken from the back of the end zone and to the right as you face the play. Ferd Kuczala is frozen in his holder’s position, his finger still on the ball. Jim Brown has planted his left foot and is swinging his right toward the ball. Mendoza has already broken through the line and it leaping to his left, anticipating where the ball can be intercepted.
On page 12 was a shot of Jim Ridlon catching a pass from Brown to set up SU’s second touchdown. He’s caught the ball and is struggling towards the goal line with Curtis on his back but he can’t quite break away. Brown scored on the next play.
Page 14 had six different shots of the game. Ed Ackley was shown on a good play that became a bad one. He “barrels his way to gain for Syracuse. TCU defender is carried along as TCU’s Virgil Miller comes up to help”. Ackley has the ball under his armpit and is grimacing as the defender has his arms around him and Miller dives at his legs. In the shot below it, Miller has cut Ackley’s legs out from under him and he’s twisting and tumbling toward the ground. The ball is not yet out but neither of the Frog’s hands are near it. It must have slipped out of his grasp before he hit the ground. There was a shot of Jim Swink returning a second period kick-off just ahead of “Alex Benecick, Syracuse tackle, who looms behind Swink with upraised arms”. Below that, “Jim Brown is almost grabbed by TCU’s O’Day Williams before getting pass away. The Orange All-American’s hurried throw was intercepted by Horned Frog’s Jim Shofner.” Jim’s on the run, trying to ward off Williams with his left arm and swinging the ball away from him with his right arm. It’s hard to see how he could have gotten a pass off. Below that, “TCU”s Ken Wineburg nailed Jim Brown at scrimmage line”. Wineburg has put his shoulder into Jim’s midsection while Williams and Dike come up to assist. Finally, “Dick Finney of TCU recovers bouncing fumble that lost nine yards.” Finney is shown surrounding the ball while players from both teams close in. Too bad he couldn’t get his other two fumbles.
The 1/3/57 Post Standard had a four shot sequence of Curtis running for a score. “Top left, Curtis fakes handoff to Buddy Dike (38), TCU fullback. Top right, Curtis looks for pass receiver as he sweeps to left end of line. Bottom left: Still looking for a receiver Curtiss breaks out in full run. Bottom Right: With Syracuse guard Rudy Farmer in pursuit Curtis heads for the goal line at top speed. “
I reviewed the highlight film, play by play. Jim Brown kicks off. Jim Swink catches it at the 7, cuts to his right, jukes one player, bursts through a gap between three others, heads up the sideline, makes another man miss and finally is brought down from behind at the 36. Curtis then fades back on the first play and hits Nikkel down the left sideline at the 42. He gets run out of bounds at the Syracuse 37. Dick Lasse sacks Curtis for a 9 yard loss on a roll-out, which forces a punt to the SU 11.
Jim Brown gets a pitch-out but is tackled by Wineburg in the play described in the photo section. Brown gains 3 up the middle and “Charlie” Zimmerman rolls out to try a long one to Nick Baccile, but he’s well covered and he and the ball are smashed to the turf at the 40. SU punts.
Jim Shofner loses a yard on a sweep from the 46 but then gets a screen pass for 8. But SU holds and we see Zimmerman run the option for 8. Then Jim Brown tries his pass. He avoided Williams, who tried to horse-collar him, but threw an interception to Shofner at the Frog 30.
Curtis hits Williams with a bullet over the middle and O’Day says “Good Day” to the SU linebackers and bolts to the SU 41, where he is tackled and fumbles. The ball rolls forward into the arms of an SU player but Williams was ruled down. It looks questionable- Williams was going down and put his free hand on the turf but the impact jolted the ball out of his other hand. Then he falls to the ground. Curtis then hits Swink on a sideline pattern for 17 to the SU 24. Buddy Dike gets 17 on a trap play. Curtis rolls out and lobs the ball to an uncovered Nikkel at the goal line for the first score.
Ferdie Kuczala catches a short kickoff and manages to thread his way to the SU 29. Eddie Ackley gets 4 yards to the left on a sissors play but then fumbles, (see above) on a pitch-out to the right side. I ran this play back and forth and Ackley doesn’t lose control of the ball until hitting the ground. TCU got the call on this play as they did on the Williams play in their first scoring drive. But what do you expect playing a Texas team in Texas?
The quarter ends and we see Dike fumbling on an off-tackle play. There’s a scramble for the ball with several players from both teams after it but the pesky Shofner winds up with it at the SU 25. Curtis passes 12 yards to Nikkel on a button-hook, then rolls out to his right and hits Shofner in the end zone. He’s tackled immediately by Kuczala but it’s too little, too late. The announcer intones ”This looks so easy when it works.”
Jim Brown grabs the kickoff two yards deep in the end zone. It fools him a bit and he has to turn to catch it before it gets past him. But the coverage is slow to form and he gets past the 25 without being touched, before being tackled at the 30. Then with excellent blocking, he tears off left tackle for 24 yards, looking like a surfer on an white and orange wave. “This Syracuse team has caught fire!” Jim Ridlon gets the ball and goes for 6 on a similar play. Brown bursts up the middle for 19 more. Again, the blocking is so good he’s not touched until the very end of the run. He’s tackled by 6 guys after a two yard gain. Alan Cann plunges for four more, (he wasn’t facing 6 guys because they were all after #44). But Brown finishes it off, going over the middle, getting a couple of steps past the line before he’s met by four guys whom he knocks backwards into the end zone. Those running starts help in those collisions.
Brown’s kick-off is short and Vernon Hallbeck runs it back to the 30. A sweep gets 5 yards and the Finney throws a screen to Carlos Vacek, who put on a show, running down the sideline, spinning away from two men, cutting back to the middle of the field before being tackled at the SU 32. But then Finney runs the option, which is out of sync, and he winds up pitching out to nobody. Ted Warholak recovered for SU at the 37.
Jim Brown then bounces off of several defenders on a sweep to the right side and gains 14 yards before being shoved out of bounds. Ridlon then goes off tackle almost untouched for 12 yards. But TCU stiffens and takes over on downs. Another busted option results in another pitchout to nowhere but Finney manages to fall on the ball, (see the photo section, above). Finney then tries a sneak but fumbles when he’s hit and Dick Lasse recovers for SU at the 24. Ridlon sweeps on the halfback option and passes into the end zone but Shofner breaks it up. Brown gets a pitch-out, finds the road blocked, starts in the other direction, pauses and passes to Ridlon who gets tackled at the 4 by Curtis. Brown then waltzes into the end zone untouched on a beautifully blocked sweep to the right side. He kicks the point to tie the score and the half ends at 14-14.
Brown returns a short second half kick-off to the SU 35. Jim then gets stood up at the line and fumbles, with John Cooper recovering. Curtis drops back to pass, finds no one open and scrambles down the left sideline to the SU 24. Ken Wineburg catches a screen pass and then “he zigs and he zags” until he’s stopped on the SU 15. Swink gains three up the middle and Curtis scores untouched on a bootleg.
Chuck Zimmerman returns another short kick-off to the SU 35. Brown powers to the right for 8 yards and Ernie Jackson gets four off the left side. Jim the sweeps the right side for about a dozen yards. But Ed Coffin has the ball pop out of his hands on a run up the middle and it bounces into the hands of TCU’s Jerry Holland.
Hallbeck runs up the middle for 5. Then the quarter ends and Dike gains another five up the middle, going in the opposite direction. Shofner gets stuffed for two but then finds a hole at left tackle for 11 yards. Swink gains 8 on a sweep. Curtis then passes to Swink over the middle for another 13 yards. SU doesn’t know what to expect by now and Dikes runs right up the middle for 11 yards. Swink then makes a couple of moves, sees an opening and dives across the goal line for TCU’s final score. Harold Pollard kicks his fourth successful point after touchdown in four tries. “You can’t beat perfect.” No, you can’t- not if you're imperfect..
Jim Brown catches the kickoff on his 4 yard line, right on his finger-tips and bolts up the middle, almost untouched, to nearly midfield. Kuczala crosses up the defense by sneaking up the middle for “seven well-educated yards”. Brown gets a somewhat bobbled pitch-out, only to see several defenders moving in. He beats them to the corner and gets all the way to the Frog 27. Then, on a much better blocked play, he sails for 10 more off the right side. They ran the same play and Jim got to the 9 this time. Cann powers to the 3. Brown is stopped by three guys at the 1 but then easily scores behind a couple of strong blocks that escort him into the end zone off the tackle spot.
Then comes the Mendoza play. Chico is lined up well outside the line, (the Mendoza Line?). He’s obviously surrendering ground to try to get an open lane to the kick. The outside blocker apparently concludes that he’s not a threat and steps inside to offer extra support there. Mendoza runs in from the side and leaps, not at the point of the kick but to swipe at the ball as it goes by. He gets it with his fingertips. Really a great play by Mendoza more than a blown assignment.
Brown’s short kick-off was a mystery to Swink, who bobbles it, lets it get behind him and has to search for it before the SU players arrive. He manages to dive on it at the 10. Ed Bailey, who got married on the next day, tackled Jim Swink on the next two plays, the second one a sweep that went down at the TCU 2. (Swink was never actually in the end zone so the chances for a safety were minimal, unless he was knocked backwards. Bailey got him by the ankles from behind.) They punted away and Ridlon almost fumbled the catch, running into a confused Brown. But he secured it and ran forward to the TCU 43.
Ridlon took a pitchout, spun to get away from two defenders and fired the ball the Dick Lasse, who got tackled at the 29. Zimmerman faded back and lofted a perfect pass to Ridlon at the goal line. He buleds past two defenders and into the end zone. Brown kicked the extra point and there the highlight film ends.
Texas Christian gained 335 yards, 133 on the ground and 202 in the air, thanks to Curtis, who was a dazzling 12 for 15 for 174 yards and two scores, running for a third that was clearly set up by his brilliant passing. “In spite of facing a defense heavily packed to stop ground maneuvers, a defense which was virtually a nine man line much of the time and which invited passes, Syracuse managed to complete only 3 out of 7 aerial attempts.” It got them 63 yards and a score. Against that same nine man line, Jim Brown almost out-rushed the entire TCU team with 132 yards on 26 carries and three touchdowns. He also passed for 20 yards and returned three kickoffs for 96 yards. He was named the outstanding back and MVP of the game, even over Curtis, and despite being on the losing side, while Norm Hamilton of TCU was the lineman of the game. Jim Swink had 41 yards in 12 carries but also caught four passes for 60 yards. Buddy Dike rushed for 54 yards on 11 carries.
Curtis had to feel especially good after playing just one play in the 1/1/56 Cotton Bowl against Mississippi, being injured on the opening kick-off of a one point loss. Now he’s played a brilliant game in a one point win. “For both sides there was nothing but vindication. The Southwest Conference “second stringers” won for the first time in four Cotton Bowl tries against a powerful foe. Syracuse and Brown proved a point – that 1952 was not 1956. The Orange could walk proudly on the field with anyone”.
Ben Schwartzwalder was asked if this atoned for the Miami defeat. “No. When You’ve lost a game, you’ve lost it. You’re out to win a game, not atone for another. We hope to come back some day and do a little better.”
(For some reason the Herald Journal is not represented for the first six months of 1957 on Newspaper Archive.com. So I will have nothing from Arnie Burdick or the Old Scout on this famous historical game. Everything is based on what was printed in the Post Standard, supplemented by chapters on this game in Ken Rappoport’s “The Syracuse Football Story”, “Big Bowl Football” by Fred Russell and George Leonard and “Football’s Unforgettable Games” by Harold Classen. I also have the official 1957 Cotton Bowl Highlight Film which I thought was on You-Tube but isn't: its very similar to the highlight film of the 1/1/60 Cotton Bowl, which is on You-Tube, same color footage and same narrator, but this one is about 20 minutes long. I’ll be describing some of the plays based on that tape.)
Sports Illustrated has a classic shot of Coach Abe Martin addressing his players before the game:
http://cache2.asset-cache.net/gc/81...7QVrH5rlqSlomOkrTSWGPEI+kgH80w3qA7yXovSFv41Q9
“While the Cotton Bowl was filling up with a feverish crowd, the TCU players were the first to enter the stadium. They took their calisthenics in the end zone marked boldly in six yard letters ‘SYRACUSE’. TCU followers observed it as a symbolic maneuver to trample the Orangemen into the ground. Syracuse returned the symbolic gesture at the other end of the field.”
The Horned Frogs kicked off at 1PM. “By 1:20 TCU had the ball on the Syracuse 7 yard line and the seven Syracuse cheerleaders beseeched their forces to “hold that line”. But at 1:21 TCU had a scored on a pass from Chuck Curtis to John Nikkel The traditional siren wail from the TCU Vigilantes, a student prep group, filled the air and sent cold shivers through the Syracuse faithful.”
“The Frogs, who won the toss in a ceremony half an hour before the game, were slowed by a clipping penalty on the kickoff return but got off the hook quickly. A 39 yard pass, Curtis to John Nikkel, proved an indication of things to come. The Orange stopped this drive and both teams had to punt but Syracuse seemed to have a march going when Shofner intercepted Brown’s pass. He got it on the TCU 30. The Frogs went all the way from there. Curtis cranked up his pitching arm, threw to O’Day Williams for 27 yards, threw to Swink for 17 yards and then, after Dike ran for 17, Curtis, lobbed a seven yard scoring pass to Nikkel.”
Abe Martin: “After looking at a Syracuse film, we thought they might lack a little on pass defense. Swink said he thought he could get behind the defense. We didn’t think we could run too well on Syracuse and we planned to pass more.“ Harold Classen: “TCU scouts reported that Syracuse had intercepted 20 passes in eight games but that the Orange line was too rugged to penetrate. TCU was basically a running team. In order to get the jump, the Texan’s battle plan called for a pro-type passing attack gunned by Curtis and aimed at Swink and end John Nikkel near the sidelines. The strategy looked fool-proof early...”
“That siren noise became even more annoying to Northern visitors when TCU went in for another touchdown early in the second period, this time on a pass from Curtis to Jimmy Shofner.”
“When Syracuse got the ball after the next kick-off, it held possession for only three plays before Vernon Hallbeck recovered. Ed Ackley’s fumble on the Syracuse 40 and again the Frogs were off to the races. Twice on this drive, the Orange missed opportunities to halt the rush. On the first play of the second period, Kuczala had a Curtis pass in his hands, with a chance for a wide-open interception but Ferdie dropped the ball. Two plays later, Dike fumbled a pitch-out, the ball rolled forward and two Orangemen had a chance to recover but Shofner not only recovered for TCU but made a first down on the play. Given these reprieves, the Frogs needed only two passes, a 13 yarder to Nikkel and an eight yard toss to Shofner in the end zone. When Pollard converted, at 1:159 of the period, it was 14-0 for TCU. “
“Twelve minutes later the score was tied at 14-14, courtesy of Brown. He scored two touchdowns, the final one with about minute left in the first half.” (Rappoport) “Brown hadn’t gotten his message across yet. He started by hauling back the ensuing kick-off from his end zone to the 30. Then he proceeded to batter his way for 59 of the remaining 70 yards, a drive which he completed by crashing over from the two.” (Classen) “Taking the kickoff with Brown bringing it 30 yards from the goal line, Syracuse marched all the way to score. It took ten plays, seven of them by Brown, whose 24 yard run was the biggest play, before Big Jim powered the last three yards into the end zone.” (Post Standard)
“Then, with the Frog reserves in action, Syracuse got two breaks which helped gain a 14-all tie at half-time. A bad pitch-out by Dick Finney was recovered by Ted Warholak on the Syracuse 38, but this drive only reached to the Frog 31 before it was stopped for downs. Then Finney fumbled again. Lasse recovered for Syracuse on the Frogs’s 24 and three plays netted the second Orange touchdown.“ SU clearly benefited from Martin’s decision to go with his second unit as Finney’s tenure was a disaster. “Brown threw a 20 yard pass to Ridlon, who was knocked out of bounds on the four and then Big Jim took a pitchout, turned the corner to the right and outraced the defenders as he swept to the score. After Brown made his second conversion to tie it, TCU had time for only one play before the half ended.”
“A Syracuse smoke bomb erupted under the TCU goalposts and a TCU ‘vigilante’ drew cheers from the home crowd when he raced around the end of the bowl to douse the bomb with a cup of water. It could not dampen the joyous spirits of the Syracuse people, however.”
“The Horned Frogs built what seemed like an insurmountable lead with a touchdown later in the fourth. Both times Syracuse fumbles opened the door for the Texans and the opportunistic Curtis drove his team right though for a 28-14 lead with a little more than 11 minutes left in the game.”
“In the third quarter, the Orange had penetrated Frog territory and Brown had made enough for a first down on the TCU 40 when Dike’s tackle forced the ball loose and John Cooper recovered for the winners.” (That’s not the John Cooper who coached Ohio State in the 80’s and 90’s- That John Cooper was in high school at the time and went to Iowa State from 1958-61.) “A great catch by O’Day Williams, a 15 yard run by Curtis and a 15 yard screen pass to Nikkel moved the ball to the seven. Then Curtis rolled out to pass, saw a clear path and carried it himself, covering seven yards untouched.”
“Again, Syracuse mounted an offensive, marched to the TCU 36 but there Ed Coffin fumbled, Jerry Holland recovered and the Frogs started their winning drive as the third period ended. Staying on the ground, except for a 24 yard Curtis-to-Swink doing fine work as the Syracuse defense seemed to fade. When he scored on a drive from the three yard line, Swink netted the 35th touchdown of his college career, tying the mark set by the fabulous Doak Walker at SMU. Trailing 28-14 with less than 12 minutes left, it looked like Syracuse was in for a one-sided loss.”
“Brown made it clear the game was far from settled, returning the kickoff 46 yards to the Frog 49. He and fullback Alan Cann, along with newly inserted quarterback Ferd Kuczala sent Syracuse rolling to the 2. Brown smashed right guard for his third touchdown of a great afternoon.” (Classen) “Brown fired up his mates when he made a brilliant 47 yard runback of Pollard’s kickoff. He carted it to the Frog’s 49. He almost got away for the distance but the Orangemen had to grind it out. Aided by Cann, who did some fine plunging, Brown bulldozed his way downfield in steady gains, hitting inside and outside and carrying tacklers with him on every thrust. He needed a yard on fourth down to score and he carried four frogs into the end zone.” (Post Standard)
Then came the deciding play of the game, although it shouldn’t have been. “On the conversion try, someone missed an assignment and Chico Mendoza raced in to block the kick.” (Classen) “This time a defensive assignment was missed and nobody blocked Mendoza on the try for point. He had a clear path as he swept in from his right end position and Brown’s all-important try for point traveled only two feet into Mendoza’s leaping block.” (Post Standard) “At this point, Mendoza threw his body in front of Brown’s extra point try, leaving TCU with a significant 28-20 lead and five minutes remaining in the game.” (Rappoport) This was two seasons before the two point conversion was adopted. “It meant that Syracuse had to score twice to win and the odds were great against the Orangemen”, pointed out Bill Rives in the Dallas Morning News.
“The Frogs were hemmed in their own territory when Swink momentarily fumbled Brown’s kick-off on the TCU 11. A clipping penalty pushed TCU back to its own five and there Syracuse barely missed getting credit for a safety. A pitch-out went to Swink in the end zone and Lasse had him pinned behind the goal-line, but Swink managed to dive out to the 2, giving the Frogs a fourth-down kicking opportunity. Shofner booted it out to the TCU 43 and Ridlon came through with a 15 yard pass to Lasse for a first down on the 29. From there, Zimmerman passed to Ridlon, who made a leaping catch at the goal-line to score….Most spectacular tally of the game was the final touchdown. It came on a 27 yard pass from Chuck Zimmerman to Jim Ridlon, with 1:16 left in the game. Ridlon, locked out earlier with a recurrence of a leg injury, was limping a bit when he returned to action, but he did a brilliant job on this play. He was covered by two defenders but he leaped between them to make the catch on the two yard line and fell into the end zone clutching the ball. ”
This time Brown got the blocking he needed and kicked the extra point to pull Syracuse within one at 27-28. “With just one minute and 16 seconds left in the game, many in the crowd of 68,000 expected Syracuse to try an onsides kick, in an attempt to recover the ball but the Orangemen kicked in the orthodox manner. TCU simply ran out the clock, preserving one of the most spectacular Cotton Bowl games in history.” Coaches….
The Post Standard had a large shot of Mendoza blocking the kick on its front page. It’s taken from the back of the end zone and to the right as you face the play. Ferd Kuczala is frozen in his holder’s position, his finger still on the ball. Jim Brown has planted his left foot and is swinging his right toward the ball. Mendoza has already broken through the line and it leaping to his left, anticipating where the ball can be intercepted.
On page 12 was a shot of Jim Ridlon catching a pass from Brown to set up SU’s second touchdown. He’s caught the ball and is struggling towards the goal line with Curtis on his back but he can’t quite break away. Brown scored on the next play.
Page 14 had six different shots of the game. Ed Ackley was shown on a good play that became a bad one. He “barrels his way to gain for Syracuse. TCU defender is carried along as TCU’s Virgil Miller comes up to help”. Ackley has the ball under his armpit and is grimacing as the defender has his arms around him and Miller dives at his legs. In the shot below it, Miller has cut Ackley’s legs out from under him and he’s twisting and tumbling toward the ground. The ball is not yet out but neither of the Frog’s hands are near it. It must have slipped out of his grasp before he hit the ground. There was a shot of Jim Swink returning a second period kick-off just ahead of “Alex Benecick, Syracuse tackle, who looms behind Swink with upraised arms”. Below that, “Jim Brown is almost grabbed by TCU’s O’Day Williams before getting pass away. The Orange All-American’s hurried throw was intercepted by Horned Frog’s Jim Shofner.” Jim’s on the run, trying to ward off Williams with his left arm and swinging the ball away from him with his right arm. It’s hard to see how he could have gotten a pass off. Below that, “TCU”s Ken Wineburg nailed Jim Brown at scrimmage line”. Wineburg has put his shoulder into Jim’s midsection while Williams and Dike come up to assist. Finally, “Dick Finney of TCU recovers bouncing fumble that lost nine yards.” Finney is shown surrounding the ball while players from both teams close in. Too bad he couldn’t get his other two fumbles.
The 1/3/57 Post Standard had a four shot sequence of Curtis running for a score. “Top left, Curtis fakes handoff to Buddy Dike (38), TCU fullback. Top right, Curtis looks for pass receiver as he sweeps to left end of line. Bottom left: Still looking for a receiver Curtiss breaks out in full run. Bottom Right: With Syracuse guard Rudy Farmer in pursuit Curtis heads for the goal line at top speed. “
I reviewed the highlight film, play by play. Jim Brown kicks off. Jim Swink catches it at the 7, cuts to his right, jukes one player, bursts through a gap between three others, heads up the sideline, makes another man miss and finally is brought down from behind at the 36. Curtis then fades back on the first play and hits Nikkel down the left sideline at the 42. He gets run out of bounds at the Syracuse 37. Dick Lasse sacks Curtis for a 9 yard loss on a roll-out, which forces a punt to the SU 11.
Jim Brown gets a pitch-out but is tackled by Wineburg in the play described in the photo section. Brown gains 3 up the middle and “Charlie” Zimmerman rolls out to try a long one to Nick Baccile, but he’s well covered and he and the ball are smashed to the turf at the 40. SU punts.
Jim Shofner loses a yard on a sweep from the 46 but then gets a screen pass for 8. But SU holds and we see Zimmerman run the option for 8. Then Jim Brown tries his pass. He avoided Williams, who tried to horse-collar him, but threw an interception to Shofner at the Frog 30.
Curtis hits Williams with a bullet over the middle and O’Day says “Good Day” to the SU linebackers and bolts to the SU 41, where he is tackled and fumbles. The ball rolls forward into the arms of an SU player but Williams was ruled down. It looks questionable- Williams was going down and put his free hand on the turf but the impact jolted the ball out of his other hand. Then he falls to the ground. Curtis then hits Swink on a sideline pattern for 17 to the SU 24. Buddy Dike gets 17 on a trap play. Curtis rolls out and lobs the ball to an uncovered Nikkel at the goal line for the first score.
Ferdie Kuczala catches a short kickoff and manages to thread his way to the SU 29. Eddie Ackley gets 4 yards to the left on a sissors play but then fumbles, (see above) on a pitch-out to the right side. I ran this play back and forth and Ackley doesn’t lose control of the ball until hitting the ground. TCU got the call on this play as they did on the Williams play in their first scoring drive. But what do you expect playing a Texas team in Texas?
The quarter ends and we see Dike fumbling on an off-tackle play. There’s a scramble for the ball with several players from both teams after it but the pesky Shofner winds up with it at the SU 25. Curtis passes 12 yards to Nikkel on a button-hook, then rolls out to his right and hits Shofner in the end zone. He’s tackled immediately by Kuczala but it’s too little, too late. The announcer intones ”This looks so easy when it works.”
Jim Brown grabs the kickoff two yards deep in the end zone. It fools him a bit and he has to turn to catch it before it gets past him. But the coverage is slow to form and he gets past the 25 without being touched, before being tackled at the 30. Then with excellent blocking, he tears off left tackle for 24 yards, looking like a surfer on an white and orange wave. “This Syracuse team has caught fire!” Jim Ridlon gets the ball and goes for 6 on a similar play. Brown bursts up the middle for 19 more. Again, the blocking is so good he’s not touched until the very end of the run. He’s tackled by 6 guys after a two yard gain. Alan Cann plunges for four more, (he wasn’t facing 6 guys because they were all after #44). But Brown finishes it off, going over the middle, getting a couple of steps past the line before he’s met by four guys whom he knocks backwards into the end zone. Those running starts help in those collisions.
Brown’s kick-off is short and Vernon Hallbeck runs it back to the 30. A sweep gets 5 yards and the Finney throws a screen to Carlos Vacek, who put on a show, running down the sideline, spinning away from two men, cutting back to the middle of the field before being tackled at the SU 32. But then Finney runs the option, which is out of sync, and he winds up pitching out to nobody. Ted Warholak recovered for SU at the 37.
Jim Brown then bounces off of several defenders on a sweep to the right side and gains 14 yards before being shoved out of bounds. Ridlon then goes off tackle almost untouched for 12 yards. But TCU stiffens and takes over on downs. Another busted option results in another pitchout to nowhere but Finney manages to fall on the ball, (see the photo section, above). Finney then tries a sneak but fumbles when he’s hit and Dick Lasse recovers for SU at the 24. Ridlon sweeps on the halfback option and passes into the end zone but Shofner breaks it up. Brown gets a pitch-out, finds the road blocked, starts in the other direction, pauses and passes to Ridlon who gets tackled at the 4 by Curtis. Brown then waltzes into the end zone untouched on a beautifully blocked sweep to the right side. He kicks the point to tie the score and the half ends at 14-14.
Brown returns a short second half kick-off to the SU 35. Jim then gets stood up at the line and fumbles, with John Cooper recovering. Curtis drops back to pass, finds no one open and scrambles down the left sideline to the SU 24. Ken Wineburg catches a screen pass and then “he zigs and he zags” until he’s stopped on the SU 15. Swink gains three up the middle and Curtis scores untouched on a bootleg.
Chuck Zimmerman returns another short kick-off to the SU 35. Brown powers to the right for 8 yards and Ernie Jackson gets four off the left side. Jim the sweeps the right side for about a dozen yards. But Ed Coffin has the ball pop out of his hands on a run up the middle and it bounces into the hands of TCU’s Jerry Holland.
Hallbeck runs up the middle for 5. Then the quarter ends and Dike gains another five up the middle, going in the opposite direction. Shofner gets stuffed for two but then finds a hole at left tackle for 11 yards. Swink gains 8 on a sweep. Curtis then passes to Swink over the middle for another 13 yards. SU doesn’t know what to expect by now and Dikes runs right up the middle for 11 yards. Swink then makes a couple of moves, sees an opening and dives across the goal line for TCU’s final score. Harold Pollard kicks his fourth successful point after touchdown in four tries. “You can’t beat perfect.” No, you can’t- not if you're imperfect..
Jim Brown catches the kickoff on his 4 yard line, right on his finger-tips and bolts up the middle, almost untouched, to nearly midfield. Kuczala crosses up the defense by sneaking up the middle for “seven well-educated yards”. Brown gets a somewhat bobbled pitch-out, only to see several defenders moving in. He beats them to the corner and gets all the way to the Frog 27. Then, on a much better blocked play, he sails for 10 more off the right side. They ran the same play and Jim got to the 9 this time. Cann powers to the 3. Brown is stopped by three guys at the 1 but then easily scores behind a couple of strong blocks that escort him into the end zone off the tackle spot.
Then comes the Mendoza play. Chico is lined up well outside the line, (the Mendoza Line?). He’s obviously surrendering ground to try to get an open lane to the kick. The outside blocker apparently concludes that he’s not a threat and steps inside to offer extra support there. Mendoza runs in from the side and leaps, not at the point of the kick but to swipe at the ball as it goes by. He gets it with his fingertips. Really a great play by Mendoza more than a blown assignment.
Brown’s short kick-off was a mystery to Swink, who bobbles it, lets it get behind him and has to search for it before the SU players arrive. He manages to dive on it at the 10. Ed Bailey, who got married on the next day, tackled Jim Swink on the next two plays, the second one a sweep that went down at the TCU 2. (Swink was never actually in the end zone so the chances for a safety were minimal, unless he was knocked backwards. Bailey got him by the ankles from behind.) They punted away and Ridlon almost fumbled the catch, running into a confused Brown. But he secured it and ran forward to the TCU 43.
Ridlon took a pitchout, spun to get away from two defenders and fired the ball the Dick Lasse, who got tackled at the 29. Zimmerman faded back and lofted a perfect pass to Ridlon at the goal line. He buleds past two defenders and into the end zone. Brown kicked the extra point and there the highlight film ends.
Texas Christian gained 335 yards, 133 on the ground and 202 in the air, thanks to Curtis, who was a dazzling 12 for 15 for 174 yards and two scores, running for a third that was clearly set up by his brilliant passing. “In spite of facing a defense heavily packed to stop ground maneuvers, a defense which was virtually a nine man line much of the time and which invited passes, Syracuse managed to complete only 3 out of 7 aerial attempts.” It got them 63 yards and a score. Against that same nine man line, Jim Brown almost out-rushed the entire TCU team with 132 yards on 26 carries and three touchdowns. He also passed for 20 yards and returned three kickoffs for 96 yards. He was named the outstanding back and MVP of the game, even over Curtis, and despite being on the losing side, while Norm Hamilton of TCU was the lineman of the game. Jim Swink had 41 yards in 12 carries but also caught four passes for 60 yards. Buddy Dike rushed for 54 yards on 11 carries.
Curtis had to feel especially good after playing just one play in the 1/1/56 Cotton Bowl against Mississippi, being injured on the opening kick-off of a one point loss. Now he’s played a brilliant game in a one point win. “For both sides there was nothing but vindication. The Southwest Conference “second stringers” won for the first time in four Cotton Bowl tries against a powerful foe. Syracuse and Brown proved a point – that 1952 was not 1956. The Orange could walk proudly on the field with anyone”.
Ben Schwartzwalder was asked if this atoned for the Miami defeat. “No. When You’ve lost a game, you’ve lost it. You’re out to win a game, not atone for another. We hope to come back some day and do a little better.”
