The Bold, Brave Men of Archbold 1954: Illinois

[SWC75]

In the days of old, when knights were bold
Every city had its warrior man.
In the days of new, when fights are few
You will view them from a big grandstand.
In our college town one has great renown
If the game of football he should play.
With his pig-skin ball he is cheered by all,
He's the Saltine Warrior of today.
The Saltine Warrior is a bold, bad man,
And his weapon is a pigskin ball,
When on the field he takes a good, firm stand,
He's the hero of large and small.
He will rush toward the goal with might and main
His opponents all fight, but they fight in vain,
Because the Saltine Warrior is a bold, bad man,
And victorious over all.

We are early in a new era in SU football- the Doug Marrone era. 60 years ago, another era began- the Ben Schwartzwalder Era, during which SU rose from its greatest depths to its greatest heights, and then all the way back down again. It was the era into which I was born, the one I remember from my youth. I can still recall listening to the games on the radio and waiting until Tuesday to see the grainy black and white films of the previous Saturday’s games on the local news. The music played over these highlights was not “Down, Down the Field”. It was “The Saltine Warrior”. My Dad thought he knew the beginning of it and would sing “The Saltine Warrior was a bold, brave man”. I later found that the line was “bold, bad, man”. But that’s not the way I learned it and it’s not the way I like it. My heroes were not “bad” men. They were “brave” men. They were the “Bold, Brave Men of Archbold”.

 

[SWC75]

The Build-Up

The Illini of Illinois were next on the Orange schedule and they’d had quite a run under Coach Ray Eliot. They’d been the first Big Ten team to play in the Rose Bowl after the contract was signed to have the Big 10 and Pacific Coast Conference champions meet in the game. The thrashed an undefeated UCLA team 45-14 on 1/1/46. They were back in the Rose Bowl on 1/1/52, having gone undefeated, (with a 0-0 tie with Ohio State and a 41-20 thrashing of Ben Schwartzwalder’s third Syracuse team in Archbold Stadium). They crushed Stanford 40-7 that New Year’s Day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf5y2C-kAkU&feature=related

But their best team might have been the one they had two years later. In the 60’s when I was awed by the exploits of O. J. Simpson, my Dead told me that there was an O. J. Simpson type in the 50’s named J. C. Caroline who played for Illinois. In 1953, he led the nation in rushing with 1256 yards in nine games, (140 yards per game), 6.5 yards per carry. The yardage total broke a Big Ten record dating back to Red Grange. The #2 guy had 944 yards, (the #2 in yards per game had 97yards per game). They also had another fine runner in fullback Mickey Bates who rushed for 602 yards and scored 11 touchdowns. The primary reserve back was Abe Woodson, who would go on to become one of the NFL’s greatest kick returners. Overall, Illinois ran for 275 yards per game. They finished with a 7-1-1 record and tied for the Big Ten title but stayed home because they had been to the Rose Bowl and newcomer Michigan State had not.

Ray Eliot was famous for being one of the last of the old-fashioned speech making coaches:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64KSaAqx7vI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4zBHVX-72Y&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=KKR6O9kq2Ns
It must have been inspiring to have such a passionate coach on the sidelines all the time.

Why Syracuse, with what Ben Schwartzwalder called at the time was his best team yet, traveled to Champaign to play this team in 1953, it was considered a great achievement to lose by only 13-20. Now at 1-2 with a rebuilding team, we were traveling there again, (it was apparently a 1 for 2 contract). But this time, there was something wrong with the Illinois team. They’d been ranked #5 preseason, behind Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Maryland and Texas. Penn State beat them 14-12 in their opener. But Penn State, who had been 6-3 the year before, was perhaps the best team in the East. Then they traveled to Stanford, another good team, (6-3 the previous year), and lost again. But the 2-12 result seemed particularly anemic for such an explosive offensive team. Then came total disaster. They’d beaten Woody Hayes third Ohio State team 41-20 in Columbus the year before. But Woody, coaching what would be his first national championship team, gained a terrible revenge in Champaign, 40-7. They then traveled to the Twin Cities to play an under-rated Minnesota team and went down again, 6-19. Four games. 27 points for Illinois. 85 for the opposition. 0-4. And this was supposed to be the #5 team in the country!

One possible red flag had been serious losses in the line for the Illini: they’d lost both ends and both tackles to graduation. Then they’d been hit by a wave of injuries. They had a remuda of speedy back but no one to open the holes for them. Roy Simmons scouted them vs. Minnesota:” Although they lost four games, they lost them to tough teams. When you play those strong mid-West teams, week-in and week-out you are bound to be tough.” As usual, SU was badly out-weighed on the line- this time by 20 pounds per man. Jack Slattery warned “Should the Illini come up with a rough game against Syracuse Saturday, it might mean the remainder of the season will be one of the gloomiest Schwartzwalder has experienced on the hill since his arrival.”

Meanwhile the normally gloomy Ben Schwartzwalder was surprisingly pleased with his teams 19-41 loss to Boston U. He wasn’t happy we lost but liked the fact that we didn’t give up when our previously #1 rated pass defense was shredded for four TD passes in a 6-34 first half and yet came back to make a game of it. If SU had completed a long fourth quarter drive, they could have gotten to within 26-34, (that would not have made it a one-score game, however: the two point conversion didn’t come in until four years later). Instead they were stopped on fourth down and BU got a long TD run in the final seconds.

But the papers noted how SU seemed to lack the explosiveness of the Terrier attack and how difficult it was to try to score on long drives, where one mistake could ruin the drive. They didn’t keep track of time of possession back then but SU ran 65 plays and scored 19 points while BU ran 51 plays and scored 41 points. Bill Reddy predicted Boston U. might “sweep through the 1954 season undefeated” with their quick-strike attack.

Quarterback Tom Gastall was much-praised. It was noted he had two good mentors, his BU predecessor Harry Agganis and former Holy Cross quarterback Charlie Maloy, who was an assistant coach for the Terriers. Like Agganis , Gastall was an all-around athlete. He was captain of the basketball team and wound up being drafted by the Detroit Lions but signed for a $40,000 bonus with the Baltimore Orioles. He played in 52 games for them as a catcher. And like Harry Agganis, he died young. On September 20, 1956, he was piloting a plane when he crashed into Chesapeake Bay and died at the age of 24. One cynical headline referred to him as “The Bird Who Should Have Stayed on the Ground.”

http://urbanshocker.wordpress.com/2007/10/04/orioles-catcher-tom-gastall-the-bird-who-shouldve-stayed-on-the-ground/

Despite his positive outlook, Ben declared that all practices leading to the Illinois game will be conducted in secret ”so we will be able to concentrate and so that we will not be subject to distractions…we’ve got a lot of work cut out for us and I believe that if we work in secrecy, we’ll accomplish things faster….We are improving each time out and maybe we’ll be able to play a good first half at Illinois, something we haven’t been able to do yet.” Ben praised Art Trolio as “the best back we’ve got on the basis of the records”. Art had run for 71 yards in only 5 carries vs. BU, caught passes for another 16 yards and got off a punt from the end zone after a bad snap “with a defender draped over his shoulder”. Ben was working on the passing game as we’d misfired on 12 of 16 aerials vs. Boston U. He was also concerned about punting as Illinois was averaging 40.1 yards per punt with Caroline leading the team with a 44 yard average.

A headline read “Orange Cripples Return for Illinois”. What this meant is that injured players Sam Alexander, Paul Slick and Eddie Albright were cleared to play in the game. A day later, another headline said “Syracuse Football Weakened By Illness and Injury” Art Trolio, Jim Ridlon and Ray Perkins weren’t going to even make the trip to Illinois. Neither were fullback Bill Wetzel or lineman Joe Cappadona who had been previously injured. Trolio was sick in the infirmary, where he had lost ten pounds. Perkins was in the same place with a fever. Ridlon had pulled a muscle in his back in practice. Saturday’s headline was “Crippled Orange Given Little Chance vs. Illinois”

SU was expected to be a 2-3 touchdown underdog, despite the home team’s dire record. The late October temperature would “flirt with the 70 degree mark”. A crowd of 43,000 was expected for the game.

 

[SWC75]

The Game

The Orange got an early break after an exchange of punts thanks to a botched Illinois handoff which was recovered on the Illini 30 . Runs by Jim Brown and Sam Alexander produced a first down on the 16 but two runs and two pass attempts produced nothing and the home team took over. Quarterback Em Lindbeck found Abe Woodson for a 40 yard pass to the SU 26. “Brown, the last man, made the tackle to prevent the touchdown. JC Caroline then ran the ball to the 8 but Woodson fumbled on the next play, ending the threat.

Syracuse was forced to punt and Eddie Albright’s kick went out of bonds on the Illinois 41. Lindbeck again dropped back and looked for Abe Woodson. He found him and the result was 59 yard touchdown pass. “Three Syracuse tacklers missed shots at Woodson as he scampered down the sidelines….Lindbeck, faking well, passed to Woodson, who juggled the ball, hung onto it, was missed by two tacklers and evaded another as he went all the way to score.” The kick made it 0-7 for Illinois.

Caroline then intercepted a Mickey Rich pass at the Illini 48. A defensive holding penalty later pushed the ball to the SU 27. “Carolina ran for a touchdown after a tricky double reverse. Caroline ran beautifully down the sidelines….On the first play, (after the penalty), the home team pulled a tricky double reverse Lindbeck to Woodson to Caroline and the dusky star, pulling dangerously close to the right sideline, went twisting and dodging all the way for a 27 yard scoring jaunt.” Now it was 0-14. Illinois was “getting well” against Syracuse.

The Orange responded with their only scoring drive, a 71 yard march completed by a four yard plunge by fullback Don Laacksonen. The drive got started with a great catch in which he pulled the ball out of Lindbeck’s arms for a 19 yard completion. But his extra point attempt went wide. Syracuse’s scoring was done for the day at 6-14.

An Abe Woodson fumble gave SU the ball on the Illinois 41 but the Orange gave up ball on downs at the 26. Illinois drove from there to the Orange 18 but time ran out of them and the Orange were still “in it” at the half, 6-14. But not for long.

Jim Brown returned the second half kick-off to the 35 but fumbled and Jack Chamblin recovered for Illinois. The Illini drove to the one where Caroline was stopped on a fourth down sweep. But on the next play Chamblin ripped the ball away from Billy Micho and Illinois recovered on the 5. Two plays later, Woodson scored on a one yard dive. Don Laacksonen blocked the conversion but SU was now down 6-20.

Caroline went back to field a Syracuse punt but had a surprise in store for the Orange. He caught the punt but then handed off to teammate Harry Jefferson on a reverse. “While the Orangemen chased Caroline, Jefferson swung to the left and getting a key block from Steve Nosek at the Syracuse 20, hotfooted it all the way, 89 yards, to pay dirt..” It was 6-27 after three periods.
The fourth period started with four consecutive turnovers, three fumbles and an interception which produced no scores. Then reserve Illini quarterback Hiles Stout lofted a pass that Eddie Albright prepared to intercept. But the ball was thrown so high that Illinois’ Charlie Butler was able to close on the play and pick the ball out of Albright’s hand. He wasn’t caught until the one yard line. On the next play, Bob Graeff scored and the conversion produced a final score of Illinois 34 Syracuse 6.

For some reason the home team, perhaps starved for the kind of glory they expected, kept launching passes on it’s last possession but it came to nothing. Perhaps they realized what was coming up: four more losses in a row to Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin and Northwestern to finish a dismal 1-8, the worst record ever for a team ranked so highly in the preseason polls. (This was one of two Illinois teams to win their only game of the season vs. Syracuse: the other would be in 1978).

The rushing totals for the game were close. Syracuse’ plodding offense managed to gain 165 yards to Illinois’ 177. But SU could only complete 4 of 16 passes for 47 yards while the Illini was 6 for 9 for 188 yards. That plus the long reverse on the punt return spelled the difference in the game.

The Post Standard noted that J.C. Caroline, Abe Woodson and Harry Jefferson were all “shifty negro backs”. Illinois was in the forefront of northern schools that had benefited by integrating their teams. Syracuse had had a history of that themselves and would benefit considerably from “negro” talents, the height coming when the next #44 would be the first African American Heisman Trophy winner.

Jim Brown, “playing his best game, to date, was the work horse. He carried the ball 13 times for 63 yards, a 4.8 average.” Jim was the subject of the only photo of the game printed in either Syracuse newspaper, a shot of him being forced out of bounds by J. C. Caroline after a six yard sweep. If the fans at the game were told that the greatest running back ever was playing in the game, they would likely have assumed it was the guy doing the pushing on that play, not the guy being pushed.

Jim in his autobiography, (ironically titled “Out of Bounds”), recalls this game. “Fourth game of the year, against Illinois, several of our backs were injured and they had no choice but to start me. I also got some time at cornerback, made a few rough tackles, a couple of respectable runs. Illinois had an All-American player named J.C. Caroline. Once J.C. turned the corner, I rushed in and stuck him. They had to carry J.C. off the field. The next week my coaches were more polite.” Caroline would only rush for 440 yards in 1954 and would go on to have a long career in the NFL with the Chicago Bears but as a defensive back. He did get some carries as a running back and ran for 263 yards in ten season, 12,049 fewer than the man he pushed out of bounds in 1954.

At this point Ben Schwartzwalder was in his sixth season and had lost three games in a row to give the team a 1-3 start. His overall record was 27-23-1. Of course the record in the previous 51 games was 17-32-2 but still, SU fans had to wonder if someone else couldn’t do better. They needn’t have worried. Syracuse wouldn’t lose consecutive games for the rest of the decade.