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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 1018344, member: 289"] THE AFTERMATH Maybe the happiest guy in the locker room was Don Althouse. Due to injury and military service, his career had lasted long enough that he was the only player to play in both the 6-61 loss to Alabama in the 1953 Orange Bowl and this 61-7 win over Colgate. He’d been over the falls and back up again. “Now I know how Alabama felt”, he said, with a broad smile on his face. Don would play on the Cotton Bowl team that regained the nation’s respect in the wake of the Orange Bowl disaster. Ben Schwartzwalder was about as happy as a coach can get. “What can you say after something like that? It was wonderful!...We were never more ready for a ball game. The kids played near perfection today.” He declared that it was the best performance by any of his teams since he came to Syracuse but that was stating the obvious. Bill Clark wrote in the Herald: “Colgate is known for their spirit in these games but could come nowhere near Syracuse in this respect for this one, despite all the things working for them. “ Ben “They have heard so much about Colgate spirit and the 12th man and all that that I guess they decide we could get that, too.” There was a “win one for the Gipper” aspect, according to assistant coach Bill Eschenfelder. Cal Smith who had played guard for Syracuse in 1953-55, was in Dallas Texas in an “iron lung”, having been struck down with polio. Cal had sent a telegram reading “Nobody could be prouder of what you guys have done. Win this one and I’ll see you at the Cotton Bowl!” It was read to the team before they took the field. Althouse: “That just blew the cap on the lid for us.” “if anybody ever stamped himself an All-American on his showing in just one game, completely over=-looking the rest of the season it was Jimmy Brown yesterday. He set a new rushing record, scored 43 points, and did about everything anyone could do. But honors and records were not in his mind: “I just wanted to run. I been getting’ myself mentally ready for this for a long time . I wasn’t thinkin’ about records- I knew I could get the 17 yards I needed. . I’d really like to go down south now- we could really prove ourselves.” Ben: “Jim Brown gets better each week and this was his greatest game. And don’t forget he played an excellent game on defense. He was just great.” The Post Standard credited “Alan Cann, another Orange senior, who ripped gaping holes in the middle of the Colgate line to share honors with Brown in the spectacular victory.“ Cann ran for 134 yards on 17 carries themselves as Syracuse ran for 511 yards, the most they’ve ever gained on anyone. Syracuse added 90 yards passing. Colgate ran for 95 yards. Guy Martin completed 16 of 35 passes for 195 yards and the Red Raider’s only score. That set a record for the most pass completions ever against Syracuse but he also completed 5 passes to Syracuse players. Syracuse scored in 9 of 11 possessions. SU never punted: the other two were Ridlon’s fumble and Whitehair’s interception. Brown carried the ball 22 times for 197 yards and 6 touchdowns. The seven extra points game him 43 points, the highest individual total for any NCAA player since that organization decided to keep records in 1938. Fred Wendt had scored 42 points for Texas Western (UTEP) in 1948 vs. New Mexico A&M, (State). Arnold “Showboat” Boykin of Mississippi laid 42 on arch rival Mississippi State in the 1951 Egg Bowl. Wendt scored 6 touchdowns and Boykin 7 but Showboat’s show didn’t include any extra points. Jim’s record would last until Howard Griffin of Illinois scored 8 touchdowns and 48 points against Southern Illinois in 1990. Griffin went to become Terrell Davis’ lead blocker on Denver’s Super Bowl championship teams. Marshall Faulk had a 44 point game for San Diego State against Pacific scoring 7 touchdowns and two point conversion in 1991. Here’s a little something nobody knows about: Leo Schlick of St. Viator College of Indiana scored 100 points, (12TDs and 28 of 29 extra points) in a 205-0 squeaker over Lane Tech back in 1916. If you thought Jim Brown was great, you shoulda seen Leo Schlick! He was really schlick! On the subject of rolling up the score, Ben insisted he had tried to hold it down. “The kids had orders to keep the ball on the ground but they were so fired up they disobeyed one time late in the game. You work and work and work to get them in a mood to play their best and then it’s impossible to contain them. They want to play and you just can’t say quit. We did all we could to hold it down.” For this Syracuse team, keeping the ball on the ground was more likely to roll it up than hold it down. Trainer Julie Reichel: “I’m glad I lived long enough to see this.” Lew Andreas, the Syracuse athletic director said after the game that is was Cotton Bowl or bust for SU. They didn’t want to go to a “minor” bowl like the Gator Bowl. He later retracted that, saying “We are not ruling out any bowl.” Colgate Coach Hal Lahar issued a terse statement: “Syracuse is a great football team, much more powerful than Army.” He later was found sitting on an equipment trunk, saying “This is the worst beating I ever took. When asked to assess Guy Martin’s performance, he said “he didn’t have much chance to show anything, did he?...They are a powerhouse with a great line. They just got rolling and there’s wasn’t much anyone could do to stop them.” Dr. Everett Case, the Colgate President, visited the locker room and commented “This certainly want’ our day.” Poor Colgate actually had to play another game after this debacle. The score, (a 0-20 loss to Brown), indicates their degree of enthusiasm for that one. Then their coach, Hal Lahar, took the job at Houston. There would never be another competitive Syracuse-Colgate again and we would lose the rivalry that had meant more to Syracuse than any other. The Sunday Post Standard had a timely Gravure section with Jim Brown on the cover, holding the ball in his left hand and cocking his right as he draws a bead on an opposing tackler who is out of the picture. The article was entitled “All-American Candidate on Campus”. The article says Jim was already being considered for that status before the season opener against Maryland and that he’s continued to boost that status in every game, despite the fact that opposing coaches have set defenses to stop him. Jim was the school’s first four sport letterman since Jim Konstanty in 1939 “and Brown has been far more of a standout in his sports than was Konstanty, who later became a major league pitching ace”. Konstanty won the 1950 NL MVP as the relief ace of the “Whiz Kid” Phillies. Jim Brown “is a senior in recreation education, hopes to become a coach and he’ll be one of the top choices in the country in the professional draft. Jim, at 20, is the youngest senior on the football squad.” Jim had come a long way from the freshman who had come to Syracuse, (unbeknownst to him) with no scholarship, his tuition paid for by the Manhasset Community only to find himself segregated from the team. His freshman coach used him only as a place-kicker and a varsity coach wanted him to become a lineman. Pictures showed Jim putting on his #44 jersey in the locker room, “the most watched uniform in any game he plays”, “Jarrin’ Jim drives off-tackle for a short gain against Penn State”, “Blackboard Jumble”: He and Roy Simmons look on as Ben Schwartzwalder draws up a play, “Psychology lecture” Jim and three other students listen to Instructor Lewis Koeingsburg, “Home Study”: Jim studies in his room in the Collendale Tract with a military officer’s cap on the desk. “Jim is a first lieutenant in Reserve Officer’s Training Corps, spent several weeks at Fort Bragg last summer to help qualify for his officer rating.” Well, he was in “The Dirty Dozen”. In the final shot, Jim is seen sharing a coke with teammates at something called the Coke and Caper Club. They drank coke in those days. The Post Standard had a large and classic front page photo of Jim Brown scoring the first SU touchdown, taken from the back at the end zone. Jim is bent over with his distinctive helmet with the white stripe and has two blockers lying on the ground in front of him. No less than four Colgate tacklers, two on each side, are lunging to closer the whole, far too late. Section III had two shots from the stadium that were not action shots of the game. One showed Miss Lou Elliot of Owasso, Oklahoma, the “1956 Colgate Queen”. Another showed two Colgate students in feathered head dresses and war paint, (the “Red Raiders”). They are sitting back to back on the sidelines, looking pretty glum. Page 25 was all game-related shots but of the action before the game and on the sidelines. There was a shot of the entire stadium that must have been taken from Mt. Olympus of the “Syracuse Marching Band in Circus Formation” The formation is two 0s. I guess they are supposed to be circus rings. Below that is Governor Harriman and Chancellor Tolley. Next to that is a meeting of top executives of corporations like General Electric and some members of the Board of Trustees. Below that is the “smart stepping Colgate band”, a cheerleader catching the golden horseshoe that they used to toss over the goalpost before the Colgate game, (she uses she bullhorn). Next to that a student crew is cleaning the cannon that was fired off, (full of confetti), after touchdowns. Good thing as it would be fired nine times this day. Former Colgate Coach Andy Kerr is shown looking glumly at the camera. The freshman card section produced a representation of the flag and the liberty bell labeled “US”. Those were days of unquestioned patriotism and loyalty and football was very much plugged into that. On the Sports Page, it was back to football with a shot of Jim Brown on his 50 yard scoring run. He’s carrying the ball just in his right hand, not tucked into his body, because he’s making a move. The shot is from right along the sidelines, just as he’s cutting off a block from Al Cann, who is bent over and has a bead on Walt Betts of Colgate, who doesn’t seem to see Cann as his eyes- and everyone else’s are on #44. Something very bad is about to happen to Mr. Betts. Below that is “Colgate’s only moment of Glory” as Al Jamison catches a ball in front of Ed Ackley at the SU goal line to make it 14-7 in the first period. At the bottom of the page is a shot from the top of the stadium with one of those arrows I love. Chuck Zimmerman has just thrown a pass to Jim Ridlon and Jim motors downfield for 26 yards to set up SU’s second score. Page 34 was all pictures of the game. The top photo shows Jim Brown going over the goal line backwards for his second score, which also happened to be the play on which he passed George Davis as SU’s all-time single season rusher. Below that we see the aftermath of Jim Ridlon’s fumble on the one yard line. The ball is bouncing to the left and Bob Conkilin of Colgate has the inside track on it. Jim brown has his back to it. Al Cann is facing in the right direction but has not had time to react yet. Al is wearing the transparent fiberglass faceguards that were briefly popular. Next to that was another shot of the first score, from the side. Jim is now on the ground but safely past the goal line and has turned to his left, labeling the score with the number on his back: “44”. Below that Gus Zaso is showing making his third period interception. Above him is a large, pasted-on arrow labeled “Syracuse” and pointing forward, a beautiful symbol of the day. Next to that is one of Jim’s first carries. He’s been tripped up but is keeping the play alive by holding himself up off the ground with his famous forearm. On page 35, “swerving Al Cann” made a 15 yard run in Syracuse’s fourth scoring drive. Cann is shown turning to make a move on Chuck Garivaltis. The Herald-American had a great shot on its front page of Jim speeding down the sideline in an 11 yard second quarter run. Jim has the ball under his right shoulder and is swinging his left arm to get his running rhythm going as a Colgate tackler bares down on him. The sports page began with a shot of Brown’s 50 yard run taken from the far side of the field at the top of the stadium. The caption read: THE “BROWN BLIZZARD” ROLLS ALONG ON 50 YARD GALLOP FOR THE THIRD SYRACUSE TOUCHDOWN” He’s hightailing it down the sidelines with a couple of Colgate defenders trying to close in but they won’t be fast enough. On of them is #12 Walt Betts, who apparently avoided destruction at the hands of Al Cann, who is likely the prone SU player behind Jim. But Al at least sent Betts wide so he couldn’t make the play. On page 61, we see a close-up shot of Jimmy Ridlon turning to try to split two defenders after making the catch on his first quarter play, which here is described as a 27 yard play, not 26. The Herald also had a full page spread of photos, one a practice shot of Jim carrying the ball with both hands toward the photographer. Above that, Al Cann is shown having plowed through the Colgate line, still surrounded by blockers but drawing a bead on what appears to be the lone Colgate man between Al and the goal line. Alas, it was only a 13 yard gain so that was one the Red Raiders won. Below Dean DeAngelis is shown grabbing his interception out of the hands of a frustrated Colgate receiver. To his left is a picture of sophomore Dan Ciervo plunging over the goal line for the final score. Below that “Old No. 44 barrels over would-be Colgate roadblock with full steam to race eight yards for fourth Orange touchdown in second quarter.” Bill Reddy: “If there had been any doubts about Jim Brown’s All-America status, they were dispelled in the amazing performance of the 212 pound Manhasset Marauder against Colgate Saturday. Jim got fine blocking in a grand team performance but time after time, he gained gobs of yards after he had broken loose from blockers and had to go it alone Then the full power of his churning body made it impossible for tacklers to bring him down. Big Jim will make most of the All-American teams. That is certain now. He will be the first SU backfield man to attain that honor. “ It’s interesting that none of the various attempts to stick Jim Brown with a nickname: The Manhasset Marauder, (Jack Dempsey had been “The Manassa Mauler”), “Jarrin’ Jim”, (the 1939 Heisman trophy winner had been n”Jarrin’ John Kimbrough” of Texas A&M), “The Brown Blizzard” ever took. “Jim Brown” said it all. Reddy said that Vancouver of the Canadian league had already drafted Jim and had scouts at the game. But Jim Brown’s future was not in Canada. The Old Scout told Arnie Burdick “I don’t know what ben Schwartzwalder fed his squad prior to the Colgate game that juiced them up so but he certainly ought to remember it and keep it as a coaching secret. My, how that Syracuse team hit. That was the greatest single performance I have seen in the many, many years that I’ve been watching football….The Orange blockers that were digging out such big holes against the Raiders were hitting so hard they were knocking themselves out. …What a championship way for Jimmy to finish his career. It was as tremendous a performance as any boy has ever given, anywhere….One thing that impressed me about Syracuse against Colgate- all year long, really, was the precision of their timing- that charge of the first line and how they all get off so well together. They were never offside or in motion. ” The OS picked his all-time Syracuse backfield- Brown, Jack McBride, Gotch Carr and either Roy Simmons of Art Cramer running the show at quarterback. All but Brown played in the 1920’s, the last glory era of SU football before the Schwartzwalder Era. “Saturday’s rout might have surprised a lot of fans but it has been coming for several seasons- I hated to see it happen for interest in the series will wane if fans beginning to feel that one team doesn’t have a chance to win….What a pleasant winter it would be for me to just rock in my favorite chair in front of the fireplace thinking about last Saturdays; 61-7 drubbing of Colgate. What a perfect winter it would be- almost as perfect as Syracuse’s performance Saturday.” But there would be one more game to go in the 1956 season. It just wouldn’t take place in 1956. [/QUOTE]

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