Some - Ugh - history
- Thread starter SWC75
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OrangeTarheel
It’s time to kick names and take ass
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I wonder how many of the guys who played in that era suffered concussions. The level of hard hitting doesn't seem to be the same, these guys go down like it is sandlot football on Thanksgiving.
SWC75
Bored Historian
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SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 34,006
- Like
- 65,626
From my 1952 version of "The Bold Brave Men of Aarchbold":
The headline in the 1/1/53 Post Standard read “ORANGE UNDERDOG AGAINST ALABAMA“ with pictures just below it of the SU offense and defense in full uniform, ready to run a play and appearing defiant. The front page of the sport section blared: “ORANGE IN BID FOR NATIONAL PRESTIGE TODAY”. Below that were pictures of the Alabama offense and defense, also in full uniform and formation, looking unimpressed. The accompanying article said “The Orangemen know they will have a terrific battle on their hands but they have confidence in their own defensive ability and feel their attack will be able to gain consistently“. Ed Dobrowolski had recovered completely from his injury and was ready to “show the tide a brand of off tackle speed they may not have seen.”
The first bad omen came at the end of the Orange Bowl parade when the Syracuse float caught fire and the Orange Football Queen and her court barely escaped the flames. The tulle on her dress caught fire and had to be doused to put out the flames.
Alabama won the toss and drove from their 19 to the Syracuse 35. But Bobby Marlow fumbled and Pete Lessard recovered for the Orange. SU tried going to the air immediately but after a 10 yard completion to Mark Hoffman, the fierce Alabama rush got to Stark, sacking him twice for big losses, forcing Don Althouse to punt on 4th and 39 from the SU 13. Cecil Ingram returned the kick from the SU 48 to the 39. Three runs got the ball to the 28 from where Clell Hobson found a leaping Bobby Luna in the end zone, who caught the ball over Bruce Yancey’s head. Luna’s kick made it Alabama 7, Syracuse 0 with 6:40 left in the period.
The Orange responded with a 78 yard scoring drive that made it look like it was going to be a real game. Leberman ran for 9 yards then Wetzel for 3 and a first down. After a one yard run by Hoffman, Stark hit Don Ronan for 16 yards. After a two yard run by Hoffman and an incomplete pass, Stark found Karilivacz for another 16 yard gain to the Bama 32. “Ronan made 4 on and end run and Leberman drove through a fine hole for 11 more to the 17.” Wetzel made two up the middle and Stark hit Szombathy at the 5. Joe carried a tackler into the end zone. Jim George’s conversion was partially blocked and hit the right upright, preventing the tie. But the period ended at Alabama 7 Syracuse 6 and to the entire country it appeared the eastern team was match for the team from the mighty SEC.
But later several participants noted that the outlook of the players seemed to change at that point: the Orange, perhaps not quite sure they belonged, deflated while Alabama’s confidence and aggression grew and grew.
On the subsequent possession, Corky Thorp fumbled a long snap and had to race back 10 yards behind the line the scrimmage to get it back. He then out-maneuvered the defenders to gain 12 yards on the play. Tommy Lewis had a 16 yard run and Bobby Marlow, despite nursing an ankle he’d injured early, capped off the 11 play drive with a 2 yard plunge. Luna’s conversion made it 6-14.
SU tried to respond with a drive but along pass by Stark was picked off at the Bama one yard line. The Tide gained 23 yards on an exchange of punts. A Bruce Yancey interception was followed by another punt and Alabama got the ball on their own 31. A 9 yard run by Lewis and a 24 yarder by Thorp was countered, somewhat by an 8 yard loss on a great rush by Bill Skyinskus. Then came perhaps the key play of the game.
From midfield, “Hobson fired a pass to Tharp on the 15. He juggled it for 10 yards but had it under control as he went into the end zone. “ Luna’s conversion made it 6-21 and the Orange was in trouble.
But they didn’t quit. They drove to the Alabama 37 but a fake kick failed to get the first down and the Tide took over. Lewis got 16 yards on a sweep but fumbled and Yancey recovered to give the Orange another chance. But an exchange of interceptions ended the half. It had been a completive and reasonably exciting half of football, with Alabama getting a couple of big plays for the lead.
Syracuse’s one moment of triumph came at halftime when, after giving “a decidedly perfunctory introduction to the Syracuse University band” the public address announcer “with all the gusto he could command” said “AND NOW THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA’S MILLION DOLLAR BAND!” SU fan Marty Handler shouted, nearly as loudly, “IT’S CONFEDERATE MONEY!”
In the first half, Bill Orange ran the rapids. In the second half, SU went over the falls.
Bob Fleck: They, (the coaches) said we should start passing the ball in the second half and I felt at the time that it was really a mistake. I’m an offensive lineman and nobody’s going to tell me that we can’t run the ball. I think every time I can take that man across from me. But they wanted to pass and this backfired. And the next thing, we got a little further behind. So what do you do? Sit on the ball? You start passing the ball and taking chances. And after a while, you just get demoralized and it gets completely out of hand.”
The Orange got the kick-off but had to punt. Bob Conway recovered Althouse’s kick but handed off to Ingram, who “went for 42 yards, shaking off tacklers as though they were flies. On the next play, Hobson threw a pitch-out to Luna and the sophomore halfback, running like a whirlwind, shook off a couple more tacklers as he covered the 38 yards needed for the fourth Tide touchdown.” Luna again converted and it was 6-28. Any semblance of a game was over.
Ingram picked off Stark’s pass on the first play of the next possession and returned it to the SU 40. Eight plays later, Lewis scored from the four. Luna was again dead-on. 6-35. A partially blocked punt gave the Tide the ball at midfield. Two pass plays brought it to the 30 where “Lewis hit the middle of the line, brushed off tacklers without seeming effort and went all the way for the sixth tally“. Luna again converted but it was nullified by a personal foul penalty and this time he finally missed. It hardly had the impact of SU’s first period miss, however, as the score was Alabama 41 Syracuse 6.
That was the score at the end of the disastrous third quarter but the pain was hardly over. Red Drew sent in a freshman quarterback by the name of Bart Starr who led a 79 yard scoring drive keyed by pass completions of 33 yards and 22 yards, the last for the score to Joe Cummings. The conversion failed again.
Then Cecil Ingram caught a punt from Mike Jaso,” faked a hand-off to Bob Conway, kept the ball and went down the right sidelines. He faked the last Syracuse defender out of position at midfield and was untouched the rest of the way as he went 80 yards to tally. Finally, Buster Hill stepped in front of a Stark pass at the Alabama 43 and ran 57 yards to the final score. Both of these extra points were converted.
As a last insult, a 25 yard pass from Stark to Hoffman was nullified by a penalty. Alabama took over and drove to the Syracuse 22 where the game ended with the appalling score of Alabama 61, Syracuse 6.
The score was not deceptive The Tide had 586 yards total offense to 232 for Syracuse. They not only out-rushed the Orange, 286-75 but out-passed them, 300-157. Not bad for a team that supposedly had no passing game. Syracuse had 5 turnovers but Alabama had 4 of them. We just got pushed all over the field. It was as simple as that.
Hobson out-passed Stark, 14 for 22 for 207 yards and 2 scores compared to 17 of 33 for 157 yards 1 score and four picks. Starr was 8 of 12 for 93 yards and a score. Lewis had 77 yards rushing on 11 carries and two scores. Tharp had 62 yards and 11 carries and a score. Luna only had 4 carries but 51 yards and a score. Bob Leberman had 36 yards on 14 carries for SU. Joe Curtis, the 6-3 Tide receiver caught 8 passes for 65 yards. Joe Szombathy led SU in receiving with 5 catches for 45 yards and the lone score. It wasn’t nearly enough. Alabama set 13 different Orange Bowl records, including Ingram’s 80
yard interception return and Luna’s 19 points, including seven extra point conversions. They also had the most yards, the most first downs, of course, the most points. Pat Stark tied a record for completions, the sort of record that gets threatened in a bad loss. Never before or since has a team ever been beaten worse in a bowl game.
The headline in the 1/1/53 Post Standard read “ORANGE UNDERDOG AGAINST ALABAMA“ with pictures just below it of the SU offense and defense in full uniform, ready to run a play and appearing defiant. The front page of the sport section blared: “ORANGE IN BID FOR NATIONAL PRESTIGE TODAY”. Below that were pictures of the Alabama offense and defense, also in full uniform and formation, looking unimpressed. The accompanying article said “The Orangemen know they will have a terrific battle on their hands but they have confidence in their own defensive ability and feel their attack will be able to gain consistently“. Ed Dobrowolski had recovered completely from his injury and was ready to “show the tide a brand of off tackle speed they may not have seen.”
The first bad omen came at the end of the Orange Bowl parade when the Syracuse float caught fire and the Orange Football Queen and her court barely escaped the flames. The tulle on her dress caught fire and had to be doused to put out the flames.
Alabama won the toss and drove from their 19 to the Syracuse 35. But Bobby Marlow fumbled and Pete Lessard recovered for the Orange. SU tried going to the air immediately but after a 10 yard completion to Mark Hoffman, the fierce Alabama rush got to Stark, sacking him twice for big losses, forcing Don Althouse to punt on 4th and 39 from the SU 13. Cecil Ingram returned the kick from the SU 48 to the 39. Three runs got the ball to the 28 from where Clell Hobson found a leaping Bobby Luna in the end zone, who caught the ball over Bruce Yancey’s head. Luna’s kick made it Alabama 7, Syracuse 0 with 6:40 left in the period.
The Orange responded with a 78 yard scoring drive that made it look like it was going to be a real game. Leberman ran for 9 yards then Wetzel for 3 and a first down. After a one yard run by Hoffman, Stark hit Don Ronan for 16 yards. After a two yard run by Hoffman and an incomplete pass, Stark found Karilivacz for another 16 yard gain to the Bama 32. “Ronan made 4 on and end run and Leberman drove through a fine hole for 11 more to the 17.” Wetzel made two up the middle and Stark hit Szombathy at the 5. Joe carried a tackler into the end zone. Jim George’s conversion was partially blocked and hit the right upright, preventing the tie. But the period ended at Alabama 7 Syracuse 6 and to the entire country it appeared the eastern team was match for the team from the mighty SEC.
But later several participants noted that the outlook of the players seemed to change at that point: the Orange, perhaps not quite sure they belonged, deflated while Alabama’s confidence and aggression grew and grew.
On the subsequent possession, Corky Thorp fumbled a long snap and had to race back 10 yards behind the line the scrimmage to get it back. He then out-maneuvered the defenders to gain 12 yards on the play. Tommy Lewis had a 16 yard run and Bobby Marlow, despite nursing an ankle he’d injured early, capped off the 11 play drive with a 2 yard plunge. Luna’s conversion made it 6-14.
SU tried to respond with a drive but along pass by Stark was picked off at the Bama one yard line. The Tide gained 23 yards on an exchange of punts. A Bruce Yancey interception was followed by another punt and Alabama got the ball on their own 31. A 9 yard run by Lewis and a 24 yarder by Thorp was countered, somewhat by an 8 yard loss on a great rush by Bill Skyinskus. Then came perhaps the key play of the game.
From midfield, “Hobson fired a pass to Tharp on the 15. He juggled it for 10 yards but had it under control as he went into the end zone. “ Luna’s conversion made it 6-21 and the Orange was in trouble.
But they didn’t quit. They drove to the Alabama 37 but a fake kick failed to get the first down and the Tide took over. Lewis got 16 yards on a sweep but fumbled and Yancey recovered to give the Orange another chance. But an exchange of interceptions ended the half. It had been a completive and reasonably exciting half of football, with Alabama getting a couple of big plays for the lead.
Syracuse’s one moment of triumph came at halftime when, after giving “a decidedly perfunctory introduction to the Syracuse University band” the public address announcer “with all the gusto he could command” said “AND NOW THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA’S MILLION DOLLAR BAND!” SU fan Marty Handler shouted, nearly as loudly, “IT’S CONFEDERATE MONEY!”
In the first half, Bill Orange ran the rapids. In the second half, SU went over the falls.
Bob Fleck: They, (the coaches) said we should start passing the ball in the second half and I felt at the time that it was really a mistake. I’m an offensive lineman and nobody’s going to tell me that we can’t run the ball. I think every time I can take that man across from me. But they wanted to pass and this backfired. And the next thing, we got a little further behind. So what do you do? Sit on the ball? You start passing the ball and taking chances. And after a while, you just get demoralized and it gets completely out of hand.”
The Orange got the kick-off but had to punt. Bob Conway recovered Althouse’s kick but handed off to Ingram, who “went for 42 yards, shaking off tacklers as though they were flies. On the next play, Hobson threw a pitch-out to Luna and the sophomore halfback, running like a whirlwind, shook off a couple more tacklers as he covered the 38 yards needed for the fourth Tide touchdown.” Luna again converted and it was 6-28. Any semblance of a game was over.
Ingram picked off Stark’s pass on the first play of the next possession and returned it to the SU 40. Eight plays later, Lewis scored from the four. Luna was again dead-on. 6-35. A partially blocked punt gave the Tide the ball at midfield. Two pass plays brought it to the 30 where “Lewis hit the middle of the line, brushed off tacklers without seeming effort and went all the way for the sixth tally“. Luna again converted but it was nullified by a personal foul penalty and this time he finally missed. It hardly had the impact of SU’s first period miss, however, as the score was Alabama 41 Syracuse 6.
That was the score at the end of the disastrous third quarter but the pain was hardly over. Red Drew sent in a freshman quarterback by the name of Bart Starr who led a 79 yard scoring drive keyed by pass completions of 33 yards and 22 yards, the last for the score to Joe Cummings. The conversion failed again.
Then Cecil Ingram caught a punt from Mike Jaso,” faked a hand-off to Bob Conway, kept the ball and went down the right sidelines. He faked the last Syracuse defender out of position at midfield and was untouched the rest of the way as he went 80 yards to tally. Finally, Buster Hill stepped in front of a Stark pass at the Alabama 43 and ran 57 yards to the final score. Both of these extra points were converted.
As a last insult, a 25 yard pass from Stark to Hoffman was nullified by a penalty. Alabama took over and drove to the Syracuse 22 where the game ended with the appalling score of Alabama 61, Syracuse 6.
The score was not deceptive The Tide had 586 yards total offense to 232 for Syracuse. They not only out-rushed the Orange, 286-75 but out-passed them, 300-157. Not bad for a team that supposedly had no passing game. Syracuse had 5 turnovers but Alabama had 4 of them. We just got pushed all over the field. It was as simple as that.
Hobson out-passed Stark, 14 for 22 for 207 yards and 2 scores compared to 17 of 33 for 157 yards 1 score and four picks. Starr was 8 of 12 for 93 yards and a score. Lewis had 77 yards rushing on 11 carries and two scores. Tharp had 62 yards and 11 carries and a score. Luna only had 4 carries but 51 yards and a score. Bob Leberman had 36 yards on 14 carries for SU. Joe Curtis, the 6-3 Tide receiver caught 8 passes for 65 yards. Joe Szombathy led SU in receiving with 5 catches for 45 yards and the lone score. It wasn’t nearly enough. Alabama set 13 different Orange Bowl records, including Ingram’s 80
yard interception return and Luna’s 19 points, including seven extra point conversions. They also had the most yards, the most first downs, of course, the most points. Pat Stark tied a record for completions, the sort of record that gets threatened in a bad loss. Never before or since has a team ever been beaten worse in a bowl game.
