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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 762057, member: 289"] THE AFTERMATH “Syracuse’s defense was no better than West Virginia’s last week. However our offense was really clicking during the early part of the game.” That was a quote from “smiling, grinning John Michelosen, coach of the winning Pitt Panthers here yesterday”. I assume he meant that the SU defense was no worse than West Virginia’s but that Pittsburgh just played better than they did vs. the Mountaineers. “Corky Cost and Jimmy Theodore, two fine spot players, did a good job running against the Orange defense, which was spread wide to stop us. But we still managed to get outside.” “Coach Ben Schwartzwalder of Syracuse was a little disappointed that his Orangemen didn’t get started earlier. “Once we came down to earth we did alright didn’t we? If we had only beaten Maryland 7-6 last week and the Panthers had really whipped West Virginia, we might have won. Pitt is a very aggressive team. They were all fired up.” The Orange was finding out what it was like to be another team’s target. It was confirmed that Jim Ridlon really was injured on the second to last play, sort of. He’d fallen on the ball and had the wind knocked out of him. Gus Zaso was expected back for the West Virginia game and the rest of the starting line-up, including previously injured Ferd Kuzala and Don Althouse would be healthy for the game. SU also had a bye week coming up before taking on the Mountaineers, who “outplayed Pitt all the way 10 days ago and should have won. They’ll be roaring into Archbold Stadium intent on making amends for the whipping Syracuse handed them last November at Morgantown.” Bill Reddy in the Monday Post Standard, reported “As the game in College Park, Maryland drew to a close a Syracuse rooter looked at the score and said, pensively: “This probably means that we won’t beat Pitt but just the same, it’s nice.” That same rooter probably wishes he hadn’t called the turn so exactly. A Syracuse team that was up for the Maryland game was flat for the first half of the Pitt game. Conversely, a Pitt team that barely edged a fired-up West Virginia team came out roaring to face Bill Orange. What’s more, a Syracuse team which shot the works against Maryland didn’t come up with anything good enough to fool Pitt consistently. The Panthers won it and more decisively than the score indicates. “ Reddy indicated that one sportswriter was pushing the much talked about concept of an eastern football conference by publishing “standings” in his column. George Springer of the Beckley, West Virginia Post-Herald had put together a mythical conference of Army, Navy, Boston College, Boston University, Holy Cross, Syracuse, Colgate, Penn State, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and George Washington. Pitt was in first place in the early going. The Panthers would go on to record 7 wins, 2 losses and a tie. They were upset by California 0-14 in their next game and later got beat by Minnesota 6-9 and tied by Penn State 7-7. No eastern team beat them and there was considerable grumbling at the end of the season when Syracuse was awarded the Lambert Trophy. They were re-matched with Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl. Again, they lost by a single touchdown: [media=youtube]Uj07cfmOqvk[/media] There was still no Old Scout. Arnie Burdick, in the Herald-Journal said “It does your heart good every now and then to see a modern, well-oiled 1956 football machine operate the way they used to when Dad was courtin’ Mom. The Pittsburgh Panthers, eastern champions last fall and likely repeaters after chopping down Syracuse Saturday, play that kind of football.…Pitt blocks and tackles, especially up front, like they sued to- not that Syracuse didn’t last weekend while licking Maryland- but they out-hit the Orange Saturday en route to a victory that should have been more than the seven points which beamed on the scoreboard at the end of the struggle….The Pitts hammered the Orange tactics and swept the flanks as though they had left them back in Archbold’s dressing rooms. Retreating ends were Syracuse’s undoing. Thanks to some pass happy generalship, Syracuse was kept in the ball game until the final seconds. …The Smoky City lads would swoop downfield, devouring great chunks with every play. Then either Darrell Lewis or Corney Salvaterra, two hard-running quarterbacks, would take to the air and stop the first half drive. Later a Lewis-Joe Walton pass did click for the winning points so maybe they knew what they were doing.” “Syracuse is a much better football team than it showed Saturday. They proved it at Maryland last week and they’ll prove it again before this season is over.” So the Orange limped home, just another 1-1 team after the incredible high of beating mighty Maryland in their own place. But it was the only game they would lose in 1956. [/QUOTE]

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