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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 948567, member: 289"] THE BUILD-UP This past season, (2013), before we played Wagner, I heard several newscasters repeat a statement that “Syracuse hasn’t lost to a Division 1AA team since 1958.” They were talking about Holy Cross, the only team to beat us during the regular season that year, (by one point). But there was no such thing as Division 1AA back then. There was a concept of major colleges and small colleges but the Crusaders were not considered one of the small colleges. They were a respected major eastern independent . They had been to the Orange Bowl in 1945, losing to Miami on the last play of the game. They were coached by Dr. Eddie Anderson, who had played for Knute Rockne at Notre Dame and won 201 games in a 40 year coaching career and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971. In 1956 they came into the Syracuse game with a record of 3 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie, (they would finish with a solid 5-3-1). They’d beaten Colgate and Boston U., (two other schools who were major independents at the time and wound up in D1AA). They’d also beaten the Quantico Marines, a respected service team, tied Dartmouth and lost to Penn State. That game was a 0-43 debacle, which made the Orange a heavy favorite. “Because Holy Cross suffered at 43-0 loss to Penn State, beaten by Syracuse last week, fans may have a tendency to under-rate the Crusaders. However, Holy Cross bounced back from that loss to defeat Colgate 20-6, which means that they’re capable of beating any team in the East on a given day.” Bill Reddy reported: “Holy Cross, next objective of the Hillmen, apparently has come a long way since its sophomore-studded squad lost by 43-0 to Penn State. The Crusaders beat Boston University Saturday in a real bruiser and reports from Boston indicate that HC dominated play against the Terriers even more that Syracuse could against the same BU array. The Orange pass defense is in for a real test this week, too, because Bill Smithers, top quarterback with the Crusaders, not only is a fine passer but he can run well, too. Best bet of the week is that HC will flood the air above Archbold Saturday and the Orange will have to be alert every second.” Smithers had completed had completed 30 of 62 passes for 436 yards and 5TDs. But interceptions had been a problem for the Crusaders. Smithers had thrown 13 of them. His back-ups Tom Greene and Tom Roberts had thrown 7 more. 20 of their 94 pass attempts had been intercepted. “Smithers, a 22 year old senior, is the lad Schwartzwalder fears the most. The 180 pound back is an elusive running back who is always a threat to run the ball if there is an opening.” Arnie Burdick on Smithers: “Two of the most exciting athletes to ever perform on athletic fields, Billy Smithers and Bob Cousy, will hog the center of Syracuse stages in Archbold Stadium tomorrow afternoon and the War Memorial Sunday evening. Smithers, a senior from Somerville, Mass, has been threatening to give the Holy Cross Crusaders one of her best football machines for several years. Only a gimpy knee, received in a high school gridiron accident, plus a propensity to operate in an erratic manner, has prevented Billy from living up to his pre-Worcester promise, when he was the talk of the tough Boston schoolboy league. Smithers is a genuine triple-threat in every sense of the word and his ability to take a pass, then run, stamps him as the key to Crusader hopes in tomorrow’s big Orange-Purple clash. “ Arnie compared him favorably to Penn State’s Milt Plum, who had a 33 yard run against the Orange the previous Saturday. “Plum is a good runner but Smithers is a great one….Its’ a good bet that every eye in Archbold will be on Mrs. Smithers’ boy, Billy, tomorrow. His efforts figure to make or break the Crusader team. ” “The other members of the Crusader backfield are fellows who will around to plague Syracuse in the future. In the process of rebuilding, Anderson is expected to start junior Jack Ringel at left half, soph Ed Hayes at right half, and sophomore Joe Stagnone at fullback. Dale Hohl, a senior who has his brother, Ken as a competitor as well as Ringel, is also a possibility at left half. A hard runner, Dale is one of the Cross kicking specialists. ” Dick Archand and Dave Stecchi were the ends. “Crusader fans are reveling in the opportunity the team has to erase memories of the loss to Penn State by beating Syracuse.” Eddie Anderson: “We realize we’re walking into the home dugout of the eastern champions but we are going to try to make it an interesting afternoon.“ The Herald-Journal said “Syracuse must alter its defensive alignments to cover a wide variety of offenses used by the Crusaders. Orange scout Bill Eschenfleder reports: ‘They use 11 different types of offenses and with Smithers in the game it’s difficult to forecast just what play will develop.” Ben Schwartzwalder: “We’re not taking Holy Cross lightly. We know that they are a continually improving outfit and a team that has a mighty big forward wall.” Billy Reddy called the Crusaders “the biggest team Syracuse will face all season, considerably heavier than the Syracuse eleven.” Syracuse came through the Penn State game relatively healthy and was getting some players back, which was welcome news for players such as Jim and Bill Brown and Jim Ridlon who had to play most of the 60 minutes due to the lack of available replacements. Guard Rudy Farmer was expected back and so was end Chuck Strid who had to leave the Penn State game when he was “shaken up”, (a term frequently used in those days for a non-specific injury). Don Althouse, who had seen limited service vs. the Nittany Lions, was expected to play more against Holy Cross. “A sprained ankle has kept Big Don inactive most of this fall with Nick Baccile and Dick (Moose) Aloise filling in for him. This latter pair has showed a lack of game experience in recent tests.” The search for a quarterback who could complete a pass continued. “The Hill passing game, which showed a record of no completions in seven tries against the Nittany Lions, does not show the three or four times that a pass was called and the passer had to eat the ball. There’s work to be done here and it’s a good bet that Schwartzie will give sophomore Dan Fogarty a chance to show what he can do this week. The latter, pressed into offensive action late in the first half Saturday when both Chuck Zimmerman and Ferd Kuczala had used up their substation eligibility, sparked the club to their only TD of the opening half, (and the game).” The situation was so bad that Jim Ridlon was even being given some practice snaps at quarterback to see what he might accomplish. “Several times the 6 foot 187 pounder has passed well from the right half position and he pitched for touchdowns against Army and West Virginia from that spot last year.” Schwartzwalder: “If we could complete a pass, it might upset our kids so much that we’d lose the game. But we’re going to have to take that chance.” Syracuse had risen to #11 in the coach’s poll, #9 in the writer’s poll and #8 in a poll quoted in the Herald Journal put together by the International News Service. An article suggested that the Syracuse-Penn State game was an elimination game for a Cotton Bowl bid but that Navy, was still in consideration. Like Syracuse, they were 5-1, having beaten William & Mary, Cornell, Cincinnati, Pennsylvania and Notre Dame but losing to Tulane. They still had difficult games coming up against Duke and Army and a game against Virginia. Thursday’s Herald Journal had a photo of Ernie Jackson, Jim Ridlon and Jim Brown listening to Roy Simmons explain the Orange “battle plans”. Jim had accumulated 687 rushing yards, 4th in the nation. The three men ahead of him had all played 7 or 8 games. Jim was going for the Syracuse single season record of 805 yards, set by George Davis in 1949, Ben’s first year. Miss Sonia Dalrymple, a seventh grade English teacher at the Lincoln school, asked her pupils to write an essay on the person they admired the most. Several of them chose Jim Brown. Some of their comments: “He is the bread and butter player…He has overcome criticism of his color to become a great football star….He has the best personality I know. Down at the recent Chiefs rally, he appeared to make a speech. After a few words, he went backstage. After about 15 minutes, he was going home. Everybody swarmed around him. He waited patiently until everybody’s autograph was signed….I think he has a nice personality. If I ever play football, I would like to play like him. It’s sure going to be tough next year without him. Nothing can stop him. They tear his shirt or do anything, but they can’t stop him. Ever since he was number 44, it became my favorite number….I admire him, for in a game he wouldn’t get mad or blow up because one of his fellow players fumbled or misses a pass. He would probably say ‘Let’s try again.’” The Herald Journal named Jim it’s “athlete of the week”, which got him a new suit of clothes at a local store. I guess it was OK with the NCAA. Arnie Burdick got a letter from one John Arndt “who wants to know if the sequence run by Syracuse when the quarterback, calling signals, turns around and the ball is snapped, is legal. Syracuse first started to operate in this fashion in 1952 as a change-of-pace. Pat Stark, who was the T quarterback of that team, whirled 180 degrees, counted at least one full prior to the ball being snapped. Coach Schwartzwalder has used this formation sparingly the last four seasons, operating an interesting buck-lateral series from it. It has never been ruled illegal the way Syracuse has operated it, though several opponents, including Maryland’ Jim Tatum, have complained. The officials have ruled that the quarterback is a legal man in motion, as long as he doesn’t make a quick or jerky motion. Syracuse scored with it last year at Worcester against Holy Cross on a beautiful, multiple ball-handling 60 yard maneuver …Ditto, Maryland. It was a perfect play. Quarterback Eddie Albright whirled and the ball was snapped directly to full back Don Laacksonen, who bucked into the middle of the line, slipping the ball to Albright. Eddie flipped to pigskin back to right halfback Mark Hoffman, who was circling to his left. Hoffman then threw a left-handed strike to end Jim Ridlon, who raced the final 30 yards unmolested. Who says the Orange had no pass plays?” And who says that football back then was “primitive”, with no imagination? But when were we going to really bust out and score a lot of points against someone? Syracuse had a sterling 5-1 record but had out-scored their opposition by only 101-62, (17-10 per game.) Don’t good teams dominate their opponents? Could SU continue to win so many close games? 23,000 tickets had been sold for the game, (which would be played at Archbold), “the largest crowd ever to see Holy Cross play”. Holy Cross arrived Friday and went right to Archbold for a practice session as some light snow flurries were headed into town. A tarp was then put over the field, which was expected to be a bit muddy. Bill Reddy: There are those who figure will it be more dangerous if today’s game is played on a dry field because the visitors have been at their best with a passing attack. Yet, if it comes up mud, the Holy Cross weight may make the visitors even more formidable in a low-scoring contest.” The Orange was a 14 point favorite. Bill Reddy: There’s no trace of a defeatist attitude in the Holy Cross squad which flew into Syracuse yesterday. The Crusaders have a long line of scores to settle with Syracuse and they’re up for this game. No Holy Cross official would predict a victory for the visitors but Dr. Eddie Anderson, gentlemanly coach of the Crusaders, admitted that “If we play the best football we’re capable of playing for the whole game, we could be in there all the way.” [/QUOTE]

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