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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 620873, member: 289"] THE BUILD-UP The Syracuse players were “down” after the Penn State loss. Ben Schwartzwalder said “I don’t know how long it will be before we can get these kids thinking about Colgate and forget that affair on Saturday….Our coaching staff and the players took it pretty hard. Confidence was shaken and our boys are tired, mentally and physically.” Beyond that, Jim Ridlon, Rudy Farmer, Mark Hoffman, Pete Schwert and Chuck Strid were all nursing injuries. Ben called the Penn State game “real physical”, alleging that several of his players were victims of clips. “At the moment I do not think we can afford to have any contact work this week. We were really chewed up out there on Saturday.” Colgate also had a number of injured players, mostly linemen. The Post-Standard’s Bill Reddy predicted “This is the game the players have been waiting for and their physical recuperation will be astonishing.” But he wondered, “Perhaps the tough, all-major slate played by the Orangemen this fall is taking its toll and perhaps that’s why they faded in the dying minutes of Saturday’s Penn State affair.” Jack Slattery reported that the mood at the weekly luncheon was, “a semi-belligerent attitude…Some of the alumni and other privileged second-guessers were downright angry. They thought that Syracuse, though it met a very capable Penn State team, should have thumped the Nittany Lion. They believe the Orange practically gift-wrapped the Penn State victory.” Varsity Club President rose to introduce the coach. “The main thoughts he expressed were that the Penn State loss was water under the dam, that he was proud of the Syracuse University football team. Syracuse athletes in general, and that he was confident the Orange would enjoy even greater days in the future.” When Ben Schwartzwalder got up to speak. “The applause was generous. But something came over the large group in the room. The applause just grew and grew and continued. Then Ken Boehner, chairman of the program committee and a former football star on the Hill, rose to his feet. The group rose with him and the applause continued and grew louder.” “By this time Ben Schwartzwalder was at the microphone but it wasn’t until after a pause that he spoke and when he spoke it was with some difficulty. The warm, generous welcome given to a coach who had lost a ball game the alums thought should be won, completely took Ben by surprise. The parachute veteran of World War II, who likes to surround himself with an air of a rough, tough guy, had a tear or two in his eyes and he had trouble getting his first couple of words out. He admitted that the loss to Penn State and the coming game with Colgate had so preoccupied him that he had not given adequate time to thoughts he should express to the luncheon group. And then he went right ahead and made one of the finest talks I’ve ever heard him give.” Slattery continued: “I was in Miami a couple of Januarys ago when the Orange took a whomping in the Orange Bowl It was nothing to licking they took in the Florida papers and by word of mouth in the Sunshine State. But through it all Ben never ducked, never flinched, never pointed a finger at an official nor at a player. He took all the blows right on the chin. Right then I made up my mind that I was associated with an outstanding man. I hadn’t forgot it and never will. But yesterday Ben threw in another clincher.” “Ben told the group he was aware of some complaints, some beefs about the pass play just before the half that backfired and set up a Penn State touchdown. He said he was informed that Eddie Albright, the quarterback was being blamed.” Ben: “I want you to know now that you are looking at the fellow who is to blame. Don’t blame Eddie Albright. He’s a great boy and a fine football player. And there isn’t anyone in the world who wanted to win that game more than Eddie. And he’s not at fault for that loss. There were lots of plays in that ball game. But, if we must pick out that one and say it cost us the victory, all right. But I want you to know that Albright wasn’t at fault.” “While discussing the business of football Ben observed that one must start with the premise that a football coach is stupid. Because a man has to be stupid to become a coach. He then told a Syracuse alum who was blasting him prior to one of the last Colgate games. The alum indicated he thought Ben less than bright. Ben’s reply was, ”It’s all right to call me stupid. But just don’t question my courage.” That from a man who, when he was to make a parachute jump over Normandy, had to be awakened from a nap.” “He introduced one of his players, Rudy Farmer and asked if Rudy had anything to say to the group. “Rudy was surprised. He raised his eyebrows, hesitated a second and, then, in a quiet voice, said “We’ll be hitting out there Saturday.” Ben beamed.” Assistant Bill Bell declared Colgate’s Guy Martin “the best quarterback in the East”. And Tom Powell was one of the best linemen. Martin had completed 38 of 99 passes (38.4%) for 484 yards and 4 scores in 7 games. (SU’s Eddie Albright was 11 for 19 for 179 yards and 4 scores), The Red Raiders were 5-2, having beaten Dartmouth, Cornell, Princeton, Yale and Bucknell and lost to Holy Cross and Army. They had a reputation for finishing strong with 10 fourth quarter touchdowns and after Syracuse lost that 20-7 lead vs. Penn State, finishing strong was a concern for the Orange. Benn suggested they might skip the fourth quarter in the upcoming game. Hal Lahar, the Colgate coach, said he’s like to have the fourth quarter come earlier, anyway. Les Dye called Colgate “the best all-around team since Hal Lahar got there…The Red Raiders have real ability and spirit.” He felt that Colgate’s ends, Fran Angeline, Tom Dugle. John Dow and Milt Graham, were comparable to Syracuse’s. The Wednesday Herald Journal had a picture of the Red Raiders charging out onto the practice field with the caption: “Raiders Romp…Here’s how the Colgate grid Machine will look to thousands of Archbold Stadium fans.” The article below warned of Raider backs Jack Call and Frank Nardulli. Call led the team with 31 points scored and was averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Nardulli topped that with 5.6 (Jim Brown was 5.8). Another back, Frank Spen,o had caught 10 passes for 155 yards. Thursday’s Herald responded with a shot of the SU starting line-up in formation but without helmets. Don Laacksonen was the fullback, Jim Brown and Billy Micho the halfbacks, Ed Albright the quarterback, Tom Richardson and Jim Ridlon the ends, Jerry Cashman and Cal Smith the tackles, Jim Brill and Bill Brown the guards and Pete Schwert at center. Ben praised Jim Brown for “showing marked improvement….He’s starting to figure things out and he’s come to the point where he’s fully aware that there’s a lot more to the game than just grabbing that ball and running with it.” Ben said that the Penn State game was Jim’s best performance so far, offensively and defensively and predicted that Jim would be an All-American in 1956. “There’s no limit to what he might accomplish if he kept at it.” Jim came into the game having gained 498 yards on 86 carries and scoring 6TDs in as many games. Billy Reddy had this interesting post script to the Penn State game: “One suggested yesterday that the Orange could have wrapped up the decision with a field goal after reaching the nine yard line, leading by a touchdown in the fourth period. Perhaps it would have been attempted on fourth down if a third down pass hadn’t been intercepted. If it had, it would have set a precedent. In 61 games under Ben Schwartzwalder Syracuse football teams have yet to attempt a field goal”. One thing I remember from my youth rooting for SU is that we always had lousy place-kicking. If the extra point made it to the crossbar, it was something to celebrate. But it was a sign of the times. The last SU field goal Reddy could remember was in the 1941 Colgate game, when Bunky Morris kicked it for a 19-19 tie. There was an item in Thursday’s paper that the Very Reverend Celestin J. Steiner, President of the University of Detroit and Con Jennings, the Athletic Director of Marquette, that they were interested in forming a new conference consisting of their schools, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Boston College and Syracuse, among others. Maybe someday…. Syracuse SID Arnie Burdick estimated that the crowd might reach 40,000 as only 2500 tickets were unsold as of Tuesday. It would be the biggest crowd in the history of Archbold Stadium. Syracuse was a 7 ½ point favorite. “Because both teams have shown a liking for offensive football and have demonstrated that they can move the ball well, a high scoring game is in prospect for the big crowd. [/QUOTE]

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