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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 1270052, member: 289"] [I]The Aftermath[/I] “The Orange and the Iowans might have been even on the scoreboard but Syracuse certainly had a distinct edge in errors.” This was the second tie of the Schwartwalder Era. The first came four years before, in 1953, when they tied Boston U., (who was their next 1957 opponent), 14-14. The next would be the first game I witnessed as a student at SU, a 20-20 tied with Wisconsin to open the 1971 season, (we’d tied the game up right at the end but missed what would have been the game winning extra point.) They then had 5 of them in the 22 seasons after Ben left, before overtime began in 1996. I’ve no idea what means, if anything. “To nobody’s surprise, Nichols was voted the outstanding back of the game, while Lasse was named the outstanding lineman.” ESPN’s College Football Encyclopedia tells the story of Iowa State’s 1959 team. Due to attrition and injuries, they were down to a squad of only 30 players when they played Drake in a “a withering rainstorm”. They held together and thensome, winning 41-0. When they came into the locker room covered in mud but happy, their trainer said “Well, here comes the dirty 30!”. That became their nickname. “The Dirty Thirty” went on one of Iowa State’s best seasons- 7-3-0 and Dwight Nichols was an All-American. I’ll be telling the story of Syracuse’s 1959 team in a couple of years. Brian Dennis, the outstanding receiver for Iowa State, had a good year in 1957 with 15 receptions, (a lot then) for 252 yards and 3 scores. Then he left school and played in Canada before becoming a policeman. Per Ira Berkow’s book “ The DuSable Panthers: The Greatest, Blackest, Saddest Team from the Meanest Street in Chicago.”, he didn’t get along with the coach who replaced Myers, (who moved to Texas A&M to replace Bear Bryant when he moved to Alabama), Clay Stapleton, who was from Tennessee and kept calling “Boy”. He tried out for the Bears in his native Chicago but was cut from the team. “On the police force, some of those white sergeants considered a black man a boy until he was 45 and then he was an uncle.” He eventually went into business for himself, selling educational materials to schools and youth organizations. “I’ve scuffled like hell. But one of the things I’ve learned … was to take pride in yourself, win or lose. Corny but once you lose it, you become just another n----r.” Three Orange linemen were helped off the field in the first half: Dick Lasse, Ron Luciano and Chuck Strid, but all played in the second half. Strid and Luciano were expected to be ready for the next week’s game, (no comment was made on Lasse, probably because his injury was not as serious. “The seriousness of a rib injury suffered by Dick Aloise hasn’t been fully appraised and halfback Dean De Angelis was pretty well battered. On the plus side Tom Stephens, who had been counted on as the starting left halfback but who didn‘t get into the game at all, probably will have recovered from his charley-horse in time to tangle with the Terriers.” “Chuck Zimmerman, Syracuse quarterback and Dick Lasse, end, were asked if they had thought of kicking a field goal in the last three minutes when faced with a fourth-down situation on the eight yard line. “We thought about it a lot”, they said “but the angle was bad and the coaches evidently didn’t think it was right.” Some thought Zimmerman should have run with the ball instead of passing on fourth down but he felt that he “saw Jackson, breaking loose from the defender at the last minute and fired to him.” “Fumbles and key penalties halted all but one Syracuse drive and Iowa State, after giving up seven points, struck swiftly through the air to gain its deadlock. …Lack of speed to the outside proved too much of a handicap for Syracuse to overcome fully, while most of the Cyclone’s threat as wrapped up in person on Nichols, a sophomore halfback who ran well on wide plays and threw three strikes in the Cyclone’s scoring drive….The predicted passing attack of the Orangemen failed to materialize with any degree of consistency and again Syracuse showed the weakness on pass defense which marked the 1956 team….the home club failed to capitalize on its chances. The visitors, in comparison, had just one good opportunity and cashed in beautifully.“ “The first half was particularly painful for Syracuse rooters, since the Orangemen began threatening from the opening kickoff and four times moved to within striking distance only to be hamstrung largely by their own errors. That ability to keep the favorites at bay, by any means, fired up the Cyclones and they showed far more spirit in the second half, although the Syracuse defense generally proved strong throughout.” Syracuse had a significant edge in the statistics, getting 19 first downs to 10. They showed a strong running attack with 240 yards to 130.The Orange passed for 50 yards. Nichols ran for 89 yards and passed for 59 more, (all the Cyclones got). Ed Coffin ran for 61 yards and Dave Baker got 47 more. Chuck Zimmerman could only pass for 38 yards in 11 attempts. “The Cyclones gained most of their 120 yards rushing…around their own left end. Syracuse scrimmaged the ball 65 times to the invader’s 43.” Ben Schwartzwalder: “That’s a bad way to start the season and now we’ll just have to settle down and work harder than ever. I thought we’d been working hard all along: now we’ll have to strive for more perfection and desire.” That’s a football coach talking! “Iowa State didn’t particularly surprise us with anything we weren’t ready for, but they had a good ball club. We made too many mistakes. We’re going to have to work really hard to get ready for Boston University. You have to expect mistakes in the first game of the year. But we made far more than our share. I sure hope we got most of them out of our system. ” Jim Myers: “I thought my boys hit relentlessly and thus saved the game. I felt we could do more passing in second half and we did, making good for our touchdown. I think our comeback will help our spirit for the rest of the season.” Myers said he was “tickled to death to gain the tie.” Tee-hee. “Any time you can hold a team as good as Syracuse to a tie after they push you around all day, you must feel good….Even though they pushed us around, we’re still proud to settle for a tie.” I wonder if he ever met Pat Dye. I’d bet they’d get along great. “Once I didn’t’ play for a tie with UCLA in a Rose Bowl game with Michigan State with only 30 seconds left and the gamble cost me the game. I won’t be subject to that ridicule again….Notice how our boys seemed to enjoy the game so much. They hit your fellows hard, got hit themselves but bounced up ready for the next play. Sure hope we gave your fans an interesting afternoon. Don’t forget those Syracuse players were getting hit on those fumbles, too.” Bill Reddy: “With all due respect to Iowa State’s fighting spirit, Syracuse University’s football team beat itself yesterday. Granted that the Cyclone’s hard-hitting defense slowed the Orangemen from time to time. Still, it was the home team’s mistakes, rather than the late-game inspired play of the Midwesterners which forced Coach Ben Schwartzwalder’s team to settle for a tie….It may prove to have been a good thing, in the long run, that this one didn’t turn out to be the 14 point or better victory that had been predicted. At least, it proved that there’s plenty of work to be done in smoothing the attack while the Orange line, at the same time, looked good enough to give any opponent trouble.” “The Cyclone’s single-wing attack had the Orangemen in trouble on sweep plays, while the home club lived up to advance fears by failing to demonstrate any speed to the outside itself. The movies may show some rays of cheer but the team’s failure to outscore an outweighed for of scant reputation is going to take some forgetting. “ The Old Scout was grumpy and impatient. “Fortunately, we got out it with a tie. I think it’s one of the few times in recent years that I’ve seen Ben Schwartzwalder’s boys get outhit and out-hustled. They’ve bene winning a lot of football games over the years because of their aggressiveness and hard-driving play, but Saturday most of them looked like they were concentrating on their dates after the game.” “We’ve still got a lot of unharnessed power and if we ever get the group in the proper frame of mind to play football the rest of the year, they might even go on and successfully defend their Eastern championship. “ Now, let’s worry about some obvious errors that they made- like clippings on free punts, or picking up a punt on the two yard line for an automatic touchback. That’s inexperience and the boys won’t make those mistakes again. “ “But I’m concerned about our passing game! I thought that we’d be able to put plenty of heat on the other fellow’s passer, but those Iowa tailbacks never got mussed up all afternoon. This was our big problem in the Cotton Bowl- no rush. And we’ve got to put the ball in the air more ourselves. Without Brown to carry the ball plus two or three opponents for extra yards, our smaller halfbacks are going to have to get some breathing room…and nothing can drive the defenders away from the line of scrimmage quicker than a few completed passes. I thought that Chuck Zimmerman threw the ball well when he had some time…though it seemed to me that he was tossing most of his passes in rather obvious pass situations, (third and fourth downs)” “But our execution, basically, was poor and Syracuse is just not going to win many football games this Fall, unless its deception and timing are improved. And they’ve got to get some teeth in their short-side attack, too. Ben’s got his problems…he’s played one game and he still has to come up with an answer to his halfback headaches…and he’s got to find an end to go with Dick Lasse to help his defense. “ “You know, despite all of these troubles, it’s still a pretty good squad of football players. Though maybe not as lucky as last year’s team. Like when Danny Ciervo fumbled into the end zone early in the game. If last year’s club did that they’d have probably recovered it for a touchdown. Good teams are aggressive and make their own breaks. A real good spark or leader could be just what this team needs in order to help them jell. Their unharnessed power, plus a spark, spells DYNAMITE!” [/QUOTE]

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