THE BUILD-UP
In 1915 An undefeated Colgate team, (5-0), got crushed by one of Syracuse’s best teams, (they were 6-1 and wound up 9-1-2 and were invited to the first modern Rose Bowl but didn’t have the funds available to go), 38-0, in one of the great performances in Orange history. Four years later SU did it again, beating another undefeated, (5-0-1) Colgate team 13-7. That Orange team, (7-1) was pretty good, too. It seemed maybe Syracuse had Colgate’s number. Little did they know…
In 1923 a 7-0 Syracuse team got beat by a 6-1-1 Colgate team, 7-16. That Syracuse team was still good enough to be ranked #1 nationally by this selector:
http://www.jhowell.net/cf/cf1923.htm
It’s our “other” national championship. That team was also invited to the Rose Bowl but an anti-football faction in the faculty prevented them from going. But that team couldn’t beat Colgate. It was a sign of what was to come. From 1925-1937 we never beat Colgate, even though all the games were played in Archbold Stadium, which was far bigger than Colgate’s field. No less than four times in that stretch did a previously undefeated Syracuse team go down to the Red Raiders. In 1925 both teams were 6-0-1 but Colgate was better, 6-19. Our 1931 team was 7-0 but lost 7-21 to a 6-1 Colgate team. The 1934 team was 6-0 but fell 2-13 to a 4-1 Colgate team. (Bill Reddy said that that Syracuse team had a Rose Bowl invitation “in it’s pocket” if they had won that game.) We seemed ready to end the “HooDoo” as it was called in 1935 when another 6-0 Syracuse team took on a Colgate team that had stumbled to a 2-3 record. The 0-27 loss that year had to be the most galling of all. The only two undefeated teams to survive in the series had both been Colgate teams- that 1925 team which wound up 7-0-2 and their famous 1932 team, which was undefeated, untied and unscored upon though nine games and wanted to be invited to the Rose Bowl but was not.
In the years since both teams had already been humbled before meeting each other at the end of the season. But in 1954 Colgate, under Hal Lahar, had some of the old magic going for them. They’d opened with a 19-14 upset of Cornell, then blanked Holy Cross 18-0 and beaten Rutgers 26-14. Dartmouth went down 13-7. They tied Yale, the Ivy League co-champs that year, 13-13 and then did the same to perennial power Princeton, 6-6. A 20-14 win over Bucknell gave them a 5-0-2 record heading in the Syracuse game. There was talk about their going to the Cotton Bowl if they finished the year unbeaten. They were favored to take the “Upstate New York title”, (who’s gonna tell Army?) in their battle with the Orange in what appeared to be the last year of the round robin with SU, Cornell and Colgate. (There was one upstate school with a perfect record: Hobart, which completed their season 8-0 under coach Eddie Tryon, Colgate’s Hall of Famer who had been the star of the 1923 team. It was the first perfect season in Hobart history.)
Colgate had 11 seniors who had never beaten Syracuse. Syracuse had 13 seniors who had never lost to Colgate. But at 2-4 the Orange looked very beatable. Colgate has “a big stout line led by Don Tomanek, Tom Powell and Milt Graham (which) has opened holes for such speedsters as Eddie Whitehair Johnny Williams, Frank Nardulli, Jack, Frank Speno and Chuck Garivaltis to dart through.” But their star was quarterback Dick Lalla, “an outstanding ball-handler and passer“. But sophomore quarterback Gil Martin “could put pressure on Lalla to hold the top ranking, for he’s stronger defensively.” all year. Ed Asperger was “a driving fullback prospect“. Ted Vurbeff was another back and Milton Graham the only experienced end to star the season. They had had the “by far the strongest freshman team in Upstate New York”, which addressed what had been their main problem, depth.
Martin had been pressed into service at times due to injuries that seemed to hound Lalla. Jack Slattery was impressed with him. “Martin has done some exceptional things as a sophomore…Personally, I am glad the youngster slipped out of the Big Ten Conference circle. It is a pleasure to watch him work. And even if he should prove to be the ruination of the Orange on Saturday, the true football fan, Syracuse rooter or not, will have to admit it was a true joy to see such a talented youngster in action.”
Slattery was also impressed with Milt Graham. “Graham is rugged and he has a fine pair of hands. There have been defensive backs who claimed the expression ‘pair of hands’ is an understatement. He frequently gets balls that look beyond catching with just standard equipment. One pass he caught to score against Cornell in the season’s opener was as good a catch as ever I’ve seen made.” Graham had equipment that wasn’t exactly standard. He stood 6-6 and was the center on the Colgate basketball team. He had 15 catches for 170 yards and one score.
Roy Simmons and Les Dye had scouted Colgate in the Bucknell game and said that SU would have to play it’s best game of the season to beat Colgate. Cornell had used a 6-1-4 defense to stifle the Orange and Colgate was expected to do the same. Ben Schwartzwalder was hopeful “to muster enough of a passing attack for the Red Raiders to cause them some concern. ”Ben had a request: “We’ll expect Colgate to use an 11 man line. But just out of courtesy I am going to ask Lahar if he won’t drop just one man back and indicate to the fans that we might be able to throw a pass.“ Against Cornell, the Orange completed their first forward pass in the fourth quarter of the game and only three after that. Colgate’s Red O’Hora had scouted Syracuse: “But I don’t blame Syracuse for not passing much. If we could gain on the ground the way they can, we wouldn’t pass as much as we do.”
There also seemed to be a crisis in confidence on the team. “The Hillmen had enough opportunities but they were a stumbling, confused group that didn’t seemed to know what to do. They looked listless and dazed, rather than the confident, hard-running eleven that toe Holy Cross apart the previous week.”
“Main source of joy to the Orange over the week-end was Jimmy Brown, hard-running, speedy sophomore, who stepped into the backfield in the third minute of play when senior Art Trolio injured an ankle on a pitch-out play. Trolio may not be ready for this week’s battle with the Maroon but Brown’s 53 yard touchdown gallop plus his 151 yards gained from scrimmage, certainly stamp him as the most capable back on the field Saturday.”
On Tuesday came the news that both Art Trolio and Mickey Rich, the starting quarterback, were “doubtful starters for the Colgate game. Both had sustained leg injuries in the Cornell game. Eddie Albright would have to take over the first team quarterback duties. Beyond Eddie, according to Ben it was “a call for volunteers”.
Colgate had had a bad game throwing the ball themselves vs. Bucknell, completing only 4 of 19 passes. Still Lalla and Martin had completed 47 of 102, (46%) of their passes for 575 yards and 6 scores. Williams led them with 294 yards in 58 rushed but Nardulli topped him with a 5.8 average. Colgate’s defense was “stingy”, giving up 122 yards rushing and 96 passing a game. Coach Lahar was said to be “building up the line” with heavy work-outs to prepare for “such rushing titans as fullback Bill Wetzel and halfbacks Ray Perkins and Jim Brown“.
“Both teams have poor extra point records. Colgate has only been able to make only 7 X 18 while the Orange have connected on 6 X 13...and the Hillmen are hoping the law of averages will benefit their extra point work this weekend..” In those days, extra points were like free throws in basketball. There were no kicking specialists- one player on each team- 1st, 2nd or 3rd, would be that unit’s place-kicker, just as one would be a punter, not necessarily the same guy), so they were far from automatic. I have memories of extra point trying being short. They often looked like the promotional kicks we see during games these days. And like free throws, they weren’t a glamorous aspect of the game but they often made the difference. There were a lot more one point losses in those days.
There was a set of pictures in Saturday’s paper of the SU starting backfield under the headline “Carry Syracuse hopes in Grid Classic against Colgate today”. Ray Perkins, Bill Wetzel and Eddie Albright were represented by portraits but there was a good shot of Big Jim, with a shock of hair above his forehead straight-arming a phantom opponent while running parallel to the camera.
A singing group called “The Colgate 13” made an appearance on a local TV program, “Kay Russell’s Ladies Day”. When SU students heard about it, about 20 of them showed up to jeer them. The police were summoned and the group given an escort out of the studio to their waiting busses while the students continued to mock them. On a more positive sign there was a contest on the hill to see which fraternity had the best “Beat Colgate” sign. A pep rally with a bonfire and snake dance was also scheduled.
A headline said “Russians Boast 60,000 Grid Teams in Training“. Avery Brundage, head of the International Olympic Committee, made a speech in Philadelphia warning that the US was losing it’s sports superiority to the Soviet Union. “The Russians have over 800,000 trained gymnasts and in the Ukraine alone they have 60,000 football teams. No country is stringer than it’s people and we had better think about our coddled and cushioned youth huddling over our television sets.” He urged the nation to stop being spectators and start being participants. I suspect the 60,000 football teams were not of the gridiron variety. In any case SU had to deal with Colgate before worrying about them.
