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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 885805, member: 289"] THE BUILD-UP “Boston University…Penn State…Holy Cross….Colgate….Can one of the four stop the Syracuse march toward the eastern football season’s glittering goal- the Lambert Trophy? Each will have a chance. The Orange took a giant stride toward the trophy Saturday when it defeated a stubborn Army eleven, 7-0. Boston University next weekend should provide an easier foe. But the Penn State team that edged Ohio State 7-6 this weekend is a different story. Holy Cross is tough, too and Colgate is always fired up for the traditional season-ending clash with Syracuse.” The Terriers, still coached by old Schwartzwalder rival Buff Donelli, had an odd record. They opened with a 19-6 win over Massachusetts, then tied both William and Mary and George Washington, (strange bedfellows!), before losing 13-27 to Villanova. They were thus 1-1-2. Ed Coffin would miss the BU game with a leg injury but Gus Zaso was back just in time to replace him. Don Althouse was out for the game due to a knee injury and tackles Terry Cashman and Chuck Strid as well as fullback Ed Coffin had ‘bad charley horses, (meaning that Charley’s horse had a ‘lower body injury’) Cashman also had a couple of loose teeth and spent “an uncomfortable Sunday”. Tom Stephens was being moved back to end to replace Althouse but he had competition from Nick Baccile and Dick Aloise. Thursday’s paper suggested Baccile might have the edge, despite his size, (5-10, 172). But it was a time for small, quick linemen. Ed Bailey, a 195 pound guard, was named the Associated Press’ lineman of the week, primarily for his role in the goal line stand against Army. Syracuse quarterback Chuck Zimmerman originally matriculated at Forham but transferred back to Central New York when that school, (temporarily, as it turned out), gave up the sport that it had made such a name for itself in. Two halfbacks, Jimmy Dean, (no not the by now deceased actor or the future sausage king), and Bill Courville, had gone from Fordham to Boston U. “Dean, 185 pound speed boy, is rated particularly outstanding”. Syracuse scout Les Dye said “One of these games, Dean is going to turn in a really great game. It could be against us this week.” Courville joined his brother Jim, who was already playing halfback at BU. 5-8 185 Larry Fennessey was the Terrier’s leading rusher with 131 yards in only 22 carries. Frank Chiera had a 60 yard TD run against the Orange in 1954. The Terriers had plenty of halfbacks but they also had plenty of quarterbacks, which was a problem. Charlie Fiorino was more of a runner, Phil O’Connell and Lenny Hill better passers. O’Connell was 10 for 20 for 183 yards while Hill was 15 for 38 for 251. Bob Knight and Frank Regan were the leading receivers. Dye reported “This is a solid team, one that can rock and sock. And I heard enough talk in Boston that to know that they’re making Syracuse their big objective this season.” Buff Donelli said “I don’t try to make any particular games ’objective’’ ones but if the boys want to do it, I won’t try to stop them….We know Syracuse has a fine football team. We know we have to stop Brown when he goes around end, off tackle, through the line and anywhere else he wasn’t to go. We now have to stop Ridlon on the other side and Coffin up the middle. If we could narrow the field about 50 yards, we’d have a good chance.” Ben was concerned with his passing attack. “Our passing was adequate only in the first game. In the other three games we haven’t even been holding our own in that department. We’ve got to do something to break up those nine man lines we’ve been trying to run against…If we’re going to beat Boston University, we’ll have to be right, physically and mentally. Our kids make a lot of errors but they do hit hard and they’ll have to keep it up to offset our lack of team speed. Buff Donelli always manages to give us a rough tough game, as you can tell from the recent scores. He never uses the same defense twice. Last year he used about 12 defenses against us and yet we’ll probably have to look for something different this time. “ Arnie Burdick had a man-crush on Dick Lasse, who told him “Weight lifting is the big reason why it feels so good to be out there this year. I try to lift weights every day in order to build up my shoulders, legs and chest. Football is a game of legs, with shoulders a secondary consideration. These must be strong and kept strong or injuries will result.“ Burdick: “This perfectly-conditioned physical specimen is a coach’s dream for he never has to be told how to get in shape. He’s always ready to play, 365 days a year. He smokes not at all, drinks less. This summer, after he finished his nine hours of tough, heavy construction work, Dick would either run five or six miles or drive 30 miles to a friend’s house where he would lift weights…When taking laps at the end of a tough day’s practices on Hill, Lasse, like Nashua, (a leading race horse of the day), is almost always in front.” Dick didn’t have any weights to lift at his place- and neither did the University. “Actually, this 200 pound, six feet one and one half inches of MAN is a frustrated fullback. In his words, ‘I went out for fullback my freshman year in high school but they switched me to end. I really love to carry the ball. That’s why when I grabbed that fumble in the Maryland game and ran for a touchdown I felt so good. I like to catch passes and run with the ball, too. But I do like to play end. I feel that it’s the best all-around position in football. You’re required to do so much. You have terrific blocking and defensive responsibilities and, of course, you get a chance to carry the ball, if you’re REAL lucky.” Lasse was also an “eater to reckon with” who, according to Ben Schwartwalder was “the best doer we’ve ever had with a knife and fork”. Arnie told the story of an outing win which “Lasse wolfed down a few dozen shrimp, four large chicken drumsticks and 15 steaks” which he washed down with several bottles of pop. Lasse: “Well, those steaks were small!” Meanwhile there was a proposal reported to form an “Transcontinental Conference” featuring Army, Navy, the new Air Force Academy, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Southern California and UCLA. When asked about it, Bud Wilkinson said it was the first he’d heard of it. Also the last. But there would be other proposals over the years for a national conference of top powers. Jim Brown and Jim Ridlon, before leaving for Boston appeared at an “I’m a Chief pow-wow” along with Carmen Basilio, Dolph Schayes, Paul Seymour, Johnny Antonelli and Jimmy Piersall, among others, trying to get people to sign up to be Chiefs stockholders. The original Chiefs franchise had been moved to Miami. This was an Eastern league Syracuse Chiefs that operated in 1956-57 min hopes of getting back in the International League. The effort failed but the Chiefs would eventually return in 1961. Still, wouldn’t you like to have been there? “One of the top crowds in college football this year”- 30,000 were expected for the game at University Field, which used to be Braves’ Field when the National League baseball team was in town. It’s now called Nickerson Field but has been total renovated into a football stadium and all-purpose athletic field. The weather was expected to be cloudy and cool but dry. [/QUOTE]

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