SWC75
Bored Historian
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1927
Pete Reynolds was gone the next year, his place taken by Lew Andreas, a man much more associated with basketball as he was the head basketball coach on the Hill from 1924-1950 and also the school’s long-time athletic director. But football was king in those days and Andreas served as freshman coach under both Chick Meehan and Reynolds and was the natural choice as the new man. He would be the head football coach for the next three years.
Lew had lost the great Vic Hanson but he still had a star left and another one on the way. Ray Barbuti, the speedy back who had scored on that explosive run against Colgate the year before was now both star and captain of the team. He was also on his way to greater stardom in the Olympics, where he would win gold medals in the 400 meters and 1600 meter relay in Amsterdam in 1928. He was one of a number of SU athletes who had great success in the Olympics in the early days, from broad jumper Myer Prinstein who set a world record in 1900 and won the Olympics four years later, to Marty Glickman who famously was snubbed by the US Olympic Committee in Berlin in 1936 because they thought Hitler would be upset if a Jew competed.
Barbuti’s story is a terrific one. It seems the American track team in 1928 was so over confident they were said to have exhausted their liner’s supply of Ice Cream for the entire round-trip voyage on the way over all by themselves. Frank Wycoff, the favorite in the 100 meters, supposedly gained 10 pounds and finished fourth. In fact the Americans were unable to win any of the sprint races until the last one, the 400 in which Barbuti was entered. They hadn’t even won a single track Gold Medal in the first five days of competition. General Douglas McArthur, the head of the USOC, was furious with this showing and in a bad mood when Barbuti lost a semifinal race to the German entry, (but still qualified for the finals). “What happened out there?”, the imperious general demanded to know. “You’re going to have to do a lot better than that in the finals!”
Barbuti replied “Don’t worry General. If they’re all as slow as that German, the Gold Medal’s in the bag.” He later told a reporter, “I was going to send the Stars and Stripes up the victory pole if I had to pull it up myself. I never noticed the other runners after the start. I heard them, but all I kept thinking was, ‘Run kid, run!’ I don’t remember anything of the last 100 meters except a mad desire to get to that tape. It seemed a mile off.”
The co-favorites in the race were Canada’s James Ball and that ”slow” German, Joachim Buckner. There was one other American in the race, Herm Phillips. According to Dick Schapp’s An Illustrated History of the Olympics: “Phillips and Barbuti both broke well but Phillips, setting a blistering pace, wore himself down in the first 200 meters. As the tight field swept into the final 100 meters, Phillips faded- and Barbuti spurted. In the next fifty meters, the Syracuse football star opened up a five meter lead over Canada’s Ball. But Barbuti was in difficulty. His sprint at the head of the stretch had cost him most of his strength and Ball was pounding toward him, cutting into the American’s lead with every stride. Closer and closer Ball came and closer and closer came the tape. Desperately, less than ten yards from the finish, Barbuti flung himself forward, dove toward the tape, cut it and slammed painfully into the cinders. He had won, by inches. Ball finished second and Buchner third and everyone in the stadium realized that if the race had lasted another five meters, the Canadian would have won.” There is an excellent shot of the finish of this race in the 2000 edition of David Wallechinsky’s “The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics”. It shows Ball committing the cardinal sin of turning to look at his opponent during the race. Barbuti is fully focused on the tape ahead of him and that is clearly why he won.
Barbuti was quoted in a 1983 newspaper article as saying: “I dove right on my puss. But I was used to that being an old fullback.” He was also used to pain because he played in it during much of the 1927 season, injuring his leg in a shocking 19-6 win over the Georgetown Goliaths, who won their other eight games by a total of 351-2, (yes, 351-2!). That game was the highlight of SU’s season. The Orange had beaten three lightweight opponents to open the year by smaller than expected margins, shocked the Hoyas but then lost to Penn State, 6-9 and been clobbered at Nebraska by 0-21. Fortunately, they had scheduled another lightweight, Ohio Weslayan, for the week before the Colgate game.
Of course, the “Battling Bishops” had been set up as an easy mark two years before but that 3-3 disaster in a quagmire was deemed an anomaly. Andreas was so confident he held out his best passer, emerging “triple threat” star Harold “Skinny” Baysinger, (whose older brother, Reeves had played for SU in the Meehan era and would become the coach briefly in the 40’s before giving way to Ben Schwartwalder), to save him for Colgate. Actually, Baysinger played some but was not in the game as SU drove down the field in the fourth quarter for the clinching score, ahead by only 6-0. Baysinger had already won a reputation as one of the best passers around and “the best man in the country with a dirty ball”. But it was his back-up, Jonah Goldman, the man who had fumbled the punt in the previous year’s Colgate game, who dropped back to pass from Ohio Weslayan’s 10 yard line with 10 minutes left in the game. Darryl Royal used to say there are three things that can happen when you throw a pass and two of them are bad. One of those two happened here.
Goldman was looking for Barbuti but the pass was off the mark and Ted Franz of OW lunged for it, tipped it in the air, caught it at the 15 and was off to the races. Baysinger was noted as a passer who would “cover his throws” by drifting over toward the location of the pass in case any of those bad things happened. Goldman was not similarly inclined and by the time he reacted it was too late. He was cut down by an enemy end and watched the play from the ground. Franz kept going faster and faster as he ran down the sidelines and not even, (an injured), Ray Barbuti could catch him. As he streaked triumphantly into the end zone, Franz must have had a feeling of déjà vu as he had won the previous week’s game against Wittenberg with a 65 yard interception return. Now he had gone 85 yards against Syracuse in Archbold Stadium. Unfortunately, his teammates spent so much time and energy celebrating they forgot they had to kick an extra point. When they finally remembered, a lineman named “Big” Tilton kicked a big kick that had a big tilt to the right. Neither team could do anything after that and the Battling Bishops had another upset tie with a totally vexed Syracuse team.
SU had gone from the 4-0 conquerors of mighty Georgetown to a struggling 4-2-1 team. The Maroon of Colgate, still under George Hauser, had an identical record over a weaker schedule. They had beaten Hamilton, St. Lawrence and Hobart and actually lost to another small-college team from the Midwest, Wabash by 0-7. They also lost to an unheralded Virginia Tech team. Their only notable successes had been against New York City teams, having held Chick Meehan’s NYU team to a 0-0 tie and beaten Columbia, 13-7. There was no talk of a “battle for the mythical eastern championship” this year.
Lawrence Skiddy did a column after the Ohio Wesleyan game in which he brought up some issues we are still talking about today. “At various times this writer has suggested it would be well to investigate the work of officials assigned to football games this year and eliminate some of them with a view of letting the spectators see more of the teams and less of the officials.” He also, in the wake of the Ohio Wesleyan game, discussed various proposals for eliminating the excessive ties the game was producing. He pointed out that other sports, like baseball and basketball go into overtime to resolve such things. Some had proposed a five minute overtime. But considering that SU and OW had not been able to score in the last ten minutes of their game, it was hard to see what that would accomplish. Another idea was to use the number of first downs as a tie-breaker. That, of course would make, say, a 50 yard run a disadvantage as it would eliminate the possibility of making five separate first downs. John Heisman had the idea of having each team run a set number of plays after regulation and the team that gained the most yards would be the winner. It took seven decades to come up with the current overtime system and many people are not happy with that. Personally, I think the team with the prettiest cheerleaders should win.
Skiddy also discussed Barbuti’s plight. He felt that the three week lay-off with the knee problem had left Ray rusty. “He needed a game to stimulate him and put him at the top of his form”. But now he was surely prepared to give “the greatest effort of his career” against Colgate. Ray was advised to alter his running style. He had a tendency to lower his head and just push forward without really looking where he was going. Such single mindedness served him well in the Olympics but in football it caused him to bump into his blockers from the rear, which is both an unaesthetic and impractical means of advancing the football
In the week before the game an early snowstorm hit Central New York, forcing the teams to take limited workouts in their gymnasiums rather than full scale practices on the field. This particularly frustrated Andreas, who felt his team needed some tough practices badly. It also threatened the playing conditions for Saturday’s game, which seemed to favor Colgate, (now sometimes referred to as the “Raiders” rather than the “Maroon”). The Raiders were thought to be stronger in the line, as shown when they held Chick Meehan’s now powerful NYU “Violent Violets” to a 0-0 tie. SU was more dependent on a fancy passing attack and could hardly expect to execute one in the snow and sleet. “Skid” wanted to know “Where is today’s hiding place of the gentleman who predicted a short and a mild winter?”
The paper detailed a scandal involving a Yale back who was allowed to play even though he had played previously for Brown as a freshman. It was explained that SU, as did many schools, had a rule that a player could not transfer from one school to another and play the same sport. This was primarily established to prevent the big schools from “raiding” the smaller schools for players, as was a common practice back then. SU had lost the possible service of future Hall Of Famer Century Milstead, who started out his career at Wabash College in Indiana, wanted to come to SU and wound up at Yale, starring for their unbeaten 1923 team.
The Herald of Wednesday, 11/9/27 showed a picture of the Colgate backfield, which was dubbed “Colgate’s Four Horseman” and included John Galloway, who was their “Galloping Ghost”. They may have been a little short of that but the photo also identifies “Vaughn…A husky negro who has been the best Maroon back this year…If nothing else it will be a fighting Colgate eleven that takes the field against Syracuse Saturday. The entire school is beginning to bubble over with spirit and the team’s workouts are showing up the hardest work that the squad has yet displayed.”
“From reports leaking out through the heavily guarded Orange fortress comes the good news that the silent Syracuse mentor has plenty of tricky stuff in store for the Chenango Valley gridders…..Andreas is delighted with the pep and spirit shown by his men. The popular rating of Colgate as a favorite for honors in the game doesn’t disturb him. He recalls the Georgetown contest of this year and he points down the Orange record of other seasons to show that a Syracuse team is most dangerous when it is regarded as beaten before a battle…..Hundreds of football critics may pick the Maroon to win over the Orange but after interviewing the members of the Syracuse team, one has cause to hesitate. To a man the Syracuse players insist they are at least two touchdowns better than their rivals. ‘We knocked off Georgetown, who were as good as anything Colgate can produce, so how do you figure we lose?’, retorted Sammy Sebo yesterday afternoon. Not only does Sebo hold this view but every wearer of the Orange speaks in terms such as this.” Sebo was “the smallest player on the SU squad but what he lacks in stature he makes up in spirit.”
“Colgate’s biggest enemy tomorrow is overconfidence. With 10 of the Syracuse players who met the maroon last year out of the game because of graduation the Colgate eleven is a bit too sure of itself. …The best any team has been able to score on Colgate thus far is one touchdown and the Maroon players are inclined to regard their defense as unbeatable.”
Skiddy announced “Never is all history have two teams entered the Colgate-Syracuse annual classic with a more even prospect for victory.” He said Colgate had begun the year as “one of the biggest and best looking squads this writer had ever seen” but had declined since then due the Raider’s lack of offense. SU had begun as “unquestionably the poorest looking bunch ever assembled under the Orange banner” but “it arose far beyond what was considered possible of it every time it was sent into major completion.” Frank “Buck” O’Neill, the future Hall-of Famer who had coached at both schools and never lost to Colgate when he was the Syracuse coach and never lost to Syracuse when he was the Colgate coach, said “It looks to me like the prospect for one of the greatest battles of all time with each team having about the same chance of victory”, (presumably because he was coaching neither one).
Skiddy noticed that in one corner of the lobby of the Hotel Onondaga a gentleman was betting $100.00 that Syracuse would win while in the opposite corner another man was so sure Colgate would win he was betting the same amount for that result. In fact the Colgate rooters were so confident when they arrived they were taking 2 for 1 odds but after hanging around the SU fans the odds were down to even.
900 Colgate students and “scores of alumni and townspeople” traveled to Syracuse on special train and by automobile. Both the Colgate and Syracuse teams were billeted in Cazenovia the night before the game to keep them away from the crowds. Meanwhile the field at Archbold Stadium was covered with hay and straw all week to try to dry it out. This was raked to the side of the field in great piles so the team could practice and then replaced after practice. Nonetheless, when game time came, Lew Andreas was disappointed to find the field still too soft for his fast runners and receivers to really take advantage of it.
Saturday’s paper had a headline proclaiming “City Forgets it’s a Staid Old Burg in Annual Beat Colgate War Hoop”. The subtitle was “Fever of Traditional Battle Makes Youth Triumphant”. “Staid businessmen who, since their college days have developed stomachs and dignity forget these encumbrances in the general caper-cutting which the special license of the day permits. Established matrons feel again the pulsing thrill of their school girl days at the sight of mad young lads in coonskin coats, rushing hither, thither and yon, waving banners, turning themselves inside out in the pandemonium which is distinct from all other pandemoniums- the Syracuse-Colgate football rivalry “.
Brightening the drabness of a cloudy day and flinging a radiance of hope on the possible outcome of the struggle, co-eds loaded with pillows wearing orange “mums” and carrying raincoats streamed toward the stadium gates at an early hour this afternoon. The crowning gift of the day from a young gentleman to a young woman was a “mum”, orange of hue with a purple velvet block “S” worked into its petals.” SU had a logo even back then. All those young lads and their “co-eds” were to witness perhaps the greatest game in the history of the Colgate-Syracuse rivalry.
The first half of the game was scoreless but not without excitement. SU dodged a couple of bullets early when Barbuti fumbled at the Orange 27. After giving up a first down the defense stiffened and a field goal kick was blocked by Edwin Raymond, one of the two sophomore ends who had replaced Hanson and Archoska. Then a botched punt left the ball on the 23 but the defense held on downs.
Syracuse couldn’t run the ball because of the constant penetration of the Colgate line into the SU backfield. But Harold Baysinger surprised the Maroon with a second quarter pass from punt formation that traveled 50 yards in the air to Jonah Goldman who caught it on Colgate’s 35 to get SU out of the hole they had been in from the game’s beginning. Later Barbuti got loose for a 19 yard run, also to the Colgate 35. Neither penetration produced any points, however.
SU was again pinned deep in their own territory when Baysinger took advantage of a strong wind at his back to get off a tremendous 65 yard punt, which actually went 82 yards from where he kicked it to where it stopped rolling in the Colgate end zone.
The Raiders decided to go to the air, as well and got a 36 yard touchdown pass in the final seconds of the half. But it was called back. They decided to try the same play again and got a 25 yard gain but the clock ran out before they could get off another play.
Early in the third quarter Colgate captain Bill Timm, who had knocked the ball out of Jonah Goldman’s hands in the big play of the 1926 game, broke through to block a punt at midfield. A big tackle named Haines scooped up the ball at the SU 40 and rumbled all the way to the end zone. But Strambiello’s kick went wide and the game stayed at 0-6 in favor of the visitors.
SU struck back a couple of possessions later Goldman returned a punt to the Colgate 40. Hal Baysinger rifled a pass to Goldman at the Colgate 18. He caught it in stride and proceeded to the 5 until he was knocked out of bounds. Two plays later, Ray Barbuti wormed his way through the defense and scored. This time he didn’t land on his “puss” but instead on his back, with the goal line under him and the gray sky above him.
Colgate put on a drive deep into SU territory but Baysinger stepped in front of a pass at the 12 and ran 75 yards down the sideline before he was tackled at the Colgate 13. However, SU gave up the ball on downs. Sammy Sebo claimed passionately that he had been interfered with on the final pass play.
But the most exciting play of the game came early in the fourth quarter when Colgate’s punter, Bruce Dumont, stood on his own 4 yard line with the same wind at his back Baysinger had had for his huge punt. Goldman was standing at the SU 45, which seemed to some too far away until Dumont’s punt went way over his head. “Turning with the pace so well known to baseball fans who watched outfielders bring down the ball in a splendid catch, Goldman ran from the 50 yard line almost to his 35 and then, with a jump, brought down the ball. The ball had traveled too far for Colgate’s ends to close in on the receiver. Goldman, settled squarely on his feet, poised himself for a moment, took one step to his right, reversed himself and let the pack come toward him. Sidestepping again, he swung to his right, switching the ball under his arm and, with a straight arm baffled Captain Timm as the Colgate leader tackled for him. Twisting and turning, Goldman squirmed away from first one and then another until he had advanced a full 45 yards to the 20 yard line. As reached the 20, he darted into a circle of Orange jerseys. With interference behind, ahead and at both sides, the little wizard was safe from any enemy hand and the last 20 yards of the journey was just a romp.”
“Goldman essayed the kick for point after touchdown but Jonah’s foot is not as sure in its drive against the ball as it is in picking the spots of a rush down the field and his boot was wide”. This would cost SU a chance at victory in the end but for now the home team led, 13-6. The rest of the game was dominated by the punters, (each team punted 18 times in the game, often one first down to try to win the battle of field position). And Colgate’ Dumont had the wind behind him. Slowly, with each possession, the ball advanced closer and closer to the SU goal line.
With five minutes to go, Baysinger lined up to punt from his own 5 yard line. Once more Timm broke through and blocked the kick “The ball rolled over the goal line into the end zone with a pack of Orange and Maroon clad figures in the chase. Orange fingers grazed the ball for what could have been a safety and only two points had it been held. But the leather bounded away and there piled onto it a mass of humanity, close to 20 rival warriors, all fighting for the oval. The pack was cleared away by the official and when the ball was reached it was found encircled by the arms of Cox, Colgate’s eager center, for a touchdown. This time, when the pinch was greatest, Strambiello, Colgate’s sophomore end, rose to the occasion and kicked the final point.” It was 13-13.
“Only five minutes of play were left after the score was tied but one sensation piled on top of another. Syracuse backs got into the clear, only to be brought down by Colgate’s secondary defense. Colgate just missed a touchdown by a dropped forward pass. Baysinger was all but driven back for a two point safety only to turn suddenly, when Syracuse hearts had jumped into their throats, and cut up the field for a fine run, being brought down 18 yards further downfield with the element of danger over.” But the element of danger was there right to the end. On virtually the last play of the game, “Timm rushed down the field and into the clear, 5 yards ahead of any Orangeman. The ball came sailing straight and true. Victory lay with the ball as it sailed into the grasp of the Maroon captain, the man who, more than any other, had been responsible for both his team’s touchdowns. He reached for the ball. His hands clasped it. But they did not hold it…Flinging himself on the ground the Colgate Captain kicked at the air in agony, as the final scoring chance for either team passed.”
The Herald described the post game celebrations. “With a tie score that entitled both sides to a celebration, Syracuse and Colgate followers last night took possession of the city, invaded lobbies of the hotels by the thousands, packed the dining rooms beyond capacity and staged impromptu parties on the thronged streets. The hotels, veterans in the art of entertaining football crowds, had the lobbies cleared for action. All except the necessary furniture was removed. There were various football dances. Numerous private entertainments were staged.” The newspaper left the nature of those entertainments to the imagination. There was a separate article chronicling the many and varied automobile accidents on the day of the game, “Colgate Day” as they called it. One car, containing two 24 year old males and a 21 year old female, flipped over near Liverpool after “taking a ride around Syracuse”.
30,000 fans had seen the game but only 22,000 of them had paid for their tickets. The other 8,000 were Syracuse and Colgate students who got in free. Even the 22,000 were more than three times as many fans who had paid to see any other home game at Archbold that year, leaving a discouraged SU athletic department to actually seek out road games for the future, feeling that they could make more money as a road team than they were aiming for home games. Disappointing turnouts caused both Penn State and Georgetown to consider whether they wanted to come to Syracuse again and Pitt had for sometime flatly refused to play SU in the Salt City. SU closed out the home season before only 4,000 fans, beating Niagara 13-6 before traveling to New York to loose to Columbia 7-14 before 25,000 at the Polo Grounds. They finished 5-3-2, the worst record in 11 years. Things would get worse both on and off the field for the Orange long before they would get better.
The Hoodoo continued….
Pete Reynolds was gone the next year, his place taken by Lew Andreas, a man much more associated with basketball as he was the head basketball coach on the Hill from 1924-1950 and also the school’s long-time athletic director. But football was king in those days and Andreas served as freshman coach under both Chick Meehan and Reynolds and was the natural choice as the new man. He would be the head football coach for the next three years.
Lew had lost the great Vic Hanson but he still had a star left and another one on the way. Ray Barbuti, the speedy back who had scored on that explosive run against Colgate the year before was now both star and captain of the team. He was also on his way to greater stardom in the Olympics, where he would win gold medals in the 400 meters and 1600 meter relay in Amsterdam in 1928. He was one of a number of SU athletes who had great success in the Olympics in the early days, from broad jumper Myer Prinstein who set a world record in 1900 and won the Olympics four years later, to Marty Glickman who famously was snubbed by the US Olympic Committee in Berlin in 1936 because they thought Hitler would be upset if a Jew competed.
Barbuti’s story is a terrific one. It seems the American track team in 1928 was so over confident they were said to have exhausted their liner’s supply of Ice Cream for the entire round-trip voyage on the way over all by themselves. Frank Wycoff, the favorite in the 100 meters, supposedly gained 10 pounds and finished fourth. In fact the Americans were unable to win any of the sprint races until the last one, the 400 in which Barbuti was entered. They hadn’t even won a single track Gold Medal in the first five days of competition. General Douglas McArthur, the head of the USOC, was furious with this showing and in a bad mood when Barbuti lost a semifinal race to the German entry, (but still qualified for the finals). “What happened out there?”, the imperious general demanded to know. “You’re going to have to do a lot better than that in the finals!”
Barbuti replied “Don’t worry General. If they’re all as slow as that German, the Gold Medal’s in the bag.” He later told a reporter, “I was going to send the Stars and Stripes up the victory pole if I had to pull it up myself. I never noticed the other runners after the start. I heard them, but all I kept thinking was, ‘Run kid, run!’ I don’t remember anything of the last 100 meters except a mad desire to get to that tape. It seemed a mile off.”
The co-favorites in the race were Canada’s James Ball and that ”slow” German, Joachim Buckner. There was one other American in the race, Herm Phillips. According to Dick Schapp’s An Illustrated History of the Olympics: “Phillips and Barbuti both broke well but Phillips, setting a blistering pace, wore himself down in the first 200 meters. As the tight field swept into the final 100 meters, Phillips faded- and Barbuti spurted. In the next fifty meters, the Syracuse football star opened up a five meter lead over Canada’s Ball. But Barbuti was in difficulty. His sprint at the head of the stretch had cost him most of his strength and Ball was pounding toward him, cutting into the American’s lead with every stride. Closer and closer Ball came and closer and closer came the tape. Desperately, less than ten yards from the finish, Barbuti flung himself forward, dove toward the tape, cut it and slammed painfully into the cinders. He had won, by inches. Ball finished second and Buchner third and everyone in the stadium realized that if the race had lasted another five meters, the Canadian would have won.” There is an excellent shot of the finish of this race in the 2000 edition of David Wallechinsky’s “The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics”. It shows Ball committing the cardinal sin of turning to look at his opponent during the race. Barbuti is fully focused on the tape ahead of him and that is clearly why he won.
Barbuti was quoted in a 1983 newspaper article as saying: “I dove right on my puss. But I was used to that being an old fullback.” He was also used to pain because he played in it during much of the 1927 season, injuring his leg in a shocking 19-6 win over the Georgetown Goliaths, who won their other eight games by a total of 351-2, (yes, 351-2!). That game was the highlight of SU’s season. The Orange had beaten three lightweight opponents to open the year by smaller than expected margins, shocked the Hoyas but then lost to Penn State, 6-9 and been clobbered at Nebraska by 0-21. Fortunately, they had scheduled another lightweight, Ohio Weslayan, for the week before the Colgate game.
Of course, the “Battling Bishops” had been set up as an easy mark two years before but that 3-3 disaster in a quagmire was deemed an anomaly. Andreas was so confident he held out his best passer, emerging “triple threat” star Harold “Skinny” Baysinger, (whose older brother, Reeves had played for SU in the Meehan era and would become the coach briefly in the 40’s before giving way to Ben Schwartwalder), to save him for Colgate. Actually, Baysinger played some but was not in the game as SU drove down the field in the fourth quarter for the clinching score, ahead by only 6-0. Baysinger had already won a reputation as one of the best passers around and “the best man in the country with a dirty ball”. But it was his back-up, Jonah Goldman, the man who had fumbled the punt in the previous year’s Colgate game, who dropped back to pass from Ohio Weslayan’s 10 yard line with 10 minutes left in the game. Darryl Royal used to say there are three things that can happen when you throw a pass and two of them are bad. One of those two happened here.
Goldman was looking for Barbuti but the pass was off the mark and Ted Franz of OW lunged for it, tipped it in the air, caught it at the 15 and was off to the races. Baysinger was noted as a passer who would “cover his throws” by drifting over toward the location of the pass in case any of those bad things happened. Goldman was not similarly inclined and by the time he reacted it was too late. He was cut down by an enemy end and watched the play from the ground. Franz kept going faster and faster as he ran down the sidelines and not even, (an injured), Ray Barbuti could catch him. As he streaked triumphantly into the end zone, Franz must have had a feeling of déjà vu as he had won the previous week’s game against Wittenberg with a 65 yard interception return. Now he had gone 85 yards against Syracuse in Archbold Stadium. Unfortunately, his teammates spent so much time and energy celebrating they forgot they had to kick an extra point. When they finally remembered, a lineman named “Big” Tilton kicked a big kick that had a big tilt to the right. Neither team could do anything after that and the Battling Bishops had another upset tie with a totally vexed Syracuse team.
SU had gone from the 4-0 conquerors of mighty Georgetown to a struggling 4-2-1 team. The Maroon of Colgate, still under George Hauser, had an identical record over a weaker schedule. They had beaten Hamilton, St. Lawrence and Hobart and actually lost to another small-college team from the Midwest, Wabash by 0-7. They also lost to an unheralded Virginia Tech team. Their only notable successes had been against New York City teams, having held Chick Meehan’s NYU team to a 0-0 tie and beaten Columbia, 13-7. There was no talk of a “battle for the mythical eastern championship” this year.
Lawrence Skiddy did a column after the Ohio Wesleyan game in which he brought up some issues we are still talking about today. “At various times this writer has suggested it would be well to investigate the work of officials assigned to football games this year and eliminate some of them with a view of letting the spectators see more of the teams and less of the officials.” He also, in the wake of the Ohio Wesleyan game, discussed various proposals for eliminating the excessive ties the game was producing. He pointed out that other sports, like baseball and basketball go into overtime to resolve such things. Some had proposed a five minute overtime. But considering that SU and OW had not been able to score in the last ten minutes of their game, it was hard to see what that would accomplish. Another idea was to use the number of first downs as a tie-breaker. That, of course would make, say, a 50 yard run a disadvantage as it would eliminate the possibility of making five separate first downs. John Heisman had the idea of having each team run a set number of plays after regulation and the team that gained the most yards would be the winner. It took seven decades to come up with the current overtime system and many people are not happy with that. Personally, I think the team with the prettiest cheerleaders should win.
Skiddy also discussed Barbuti’s plight. He felt that the three week lay-off with the knee problem had left Ray rusty. “He needed a game to stimulate him and put him at the top of his form”. But now he was surely prepared to give “the greatest effort of his career” against Colgate. Ray was advised to alter his running style. He had a tendency to lower his head and just push forward without really looking where he was going. Such single mindedness served him well in the Olympics but in football it caused him to bump into his blockers from the rear, which is both an unaesthetic and impractical means of advancing the football
In the week before the game an early snowstorm hit Central New York, forcing the teams to take limited workouts in their gymnasiums rather than full scale practices on the field. This particularly frustrated Andreas, who felt his team needed some tough practices badly. It also threatened the playing conditions for Saturday’s game, which seemed to favor Colgate, (now sometimes referred to as the “Raiders” rather than the “Maroon”). The Raiders were thought to be stronger in the line, as shown when they held Chick Meehan’s now powerful NYU “Violent Violets” to a 0-0 tie. SU was more dependent on a fancy passing attack and could hardly expect to execute one in the snow and sleet. “Skid” wanted to know “Where is today’s hiding place of the gentleman who predicted a short and a mild winter?”
The paper detailed a scandal involving a Yale back who was allowed to play even though he had played previously for Brown as a freshman. It was explained that SU, as did many schools, had a rule that a player could not transfer from one school to another and play the same sport. This was primarily established to prevent the big schools from “raiding” the smaller schools for players, as was a common practice back then. SU had lost the possible service of future Hall Of Famer Century Milstead, who started out his career at Wabash College in Indiana, wanted to come to SU and wound up at Yale, starring for their unbeaten 1923 team.
The Herald of Wednesday, 11/9/27 showed a picture of the Colgate backfield, which was dubbed “Colgate’s Four Horseman” and included John Galloway, who was their “Galloping Ghost”. They may have been a little short of that but the photo also identifies “Vaughn…A husky negro who has been the best Maroon back this year…If nothing else it will be a fighting Colgate eleven that takes the field against Syracuse Saturday. The entire school is beginning to bubble over with spirit and the team’s workouts are showing up the hardest work that the squad has yet displayed.”
“From reports leaking out through the heavily guarded Orange fortress comes the good news that the silent Syracuse mentor has plenty of tricky stuff in store for the Chenango Valley gridders…..Andreas is delighted with the pep and spirit shown by his men. The popular rating of Colgate as a favorite for honors in the game doesn’t disturb him. He recalls the Georgetown contest of this year and he points down the Orange record of other seasons to show that a Syracuse team is most dangerous when it is regarded as beaten before a battle…..Hundreds of football critics may pick the Maroon to win over the Orange but after interviewing the members of the Syracuse team, one has cause to hesitate. To a man the Syracuse players insist they are at least two touchdowns better than their rivals. ‘We knocked off Georgetown, who were as good as anything Colgate can produce, so how do you figure we lose?’, retorted Sammy Sebo yesterday afternoon. Not only does Sebo hold this view but every wearer of the Orange speaks in terms such as this.” Sebo was “the smallest player on the SU squad but what he lacks in stature he makes up in spirit.”
“Colgate’s biggest enemy tomorrow is overconfidence. With 10 of the Syracuse players who met the maroon last year out of the game because of graduation the Colgate eleven is a bit too sure of itself. …The best any team has been able to score on Colgate thus far is one touchdown and the Maroon players are inclined to regard their defense as unbeatable.”
Skiddy announced “Never is all history have two teams entered the Colgate-Syracuse annual classic with a more even prospect for victory.” He said Colgate had begun the year as “one of the biggest and best looking squads this writer had ever seen” but had declined since then due the Raider’s lack of offense. SU had begun as “unquestionably the poorest looking bunch ever assembled under the Orange banner” but “it arose far beyond what was considered possible of it every time it was sent into major completion.” Frank “Buck” O’Neill, the future Hall-of Famer who had coached at both schools and never lost to Colgate when he was the Syracuse coach and never lost to Syracuse when he was the Colgate coach, said “It looks to me like the prospect for one of the greatest battles of all time with each team having about the same chance of victory”, (presumably because he was coaching neither one).
Skiddy noticed that in one corner of the lobby of the Hotel Onondaga a gentleman was betting $100.00 that Syracuse would win while in the opposite corner another man was so sure Colgate would win he was betting the same amount for that result. In fact the Colgate rooters were so confident when they arrived they were taking 2 for 1 odds but after hanging around the SU fans the odds were down to even.
900 Colgate students and “scores of alumni and townspeople” traveled to Syracuse on special train and by automobile. Both the Colgate and Syracuse teams were billeted in Cazenovia the night before the game to keep them away from the crowds. Meanwhile the field at Archbold Stadium was covered with hay and straw all week to try to dry it out. This was raked to the side of the field in great piles so the team could practice and then replaced after practice. Nonetheless, when game time came, Lew Andreas was disappointed to find the field still too soft for his fast runners and receivers to really take advantage of it.
Saturday’s paper had a headline proclaiming “City Forgets it’s a Staid Old Burg in Annual Beat Colgate War Hoop”. The subtitle was “Fever of Traditional Battle Makes Youth Triumphant”. “Staid businessmen who, since their college days have developed stomachs and dignity forget these encumbrances in the general caper-cutting which the special license of the day permits. Established matrons feel again the pulsing thrill of their school girl days at the sight of mad young lads in coonskin coats, rushing hither, thither and yon, waving banners, turning themselves inside out in the pandemonium which is distinct from all other pandemoniums- the Syracuse-Colgate football rivalry “.
Brightening the drabness of a cloudy day and flinging a radiance of hope on the possible outcome of the struggle, co-eds loaded with pillows wearing orange “mums” and carrying raincoats streamed toward the stadium gates at an early hour this afternoon. The crowning gift of the day from a young gentleman to a young woman was a “mum”, orange of hue with a purple velvet block “S” worked into its petals.” SU had a logo even back then. All those young lads and their “co-eds” were to witness perhaps the greatest game in the history of the Colgate-Syracuse rivalry.
The first half of the game was scoreless but not without excitement. SU dodged a couple of bullets early when Barbuti fumbled at the Orange 27. After giving up a first down the defense stiffened and a field goal kick was blocked by Edwin Raymond, one of the two sophomore ends who had replaced Hanson and Archoska. Then a botched punt left the ball on the 23 but the defense held on downs.
Syracuse couldn’t run the ball because of the constant penetration of the Colgate line into the SU backfield. But Harold Baysinger surprised the Maroon with a second quarter pass from punt formation that traveled 50 yards in the air to Jonah Goldman who caught it on Colgate’s 35 to get SU out of the hole they had been in from the game’s beginning. Later Barbuti got loose for a 19 yard run, also to the Colgate 35. Neither penetration produced any points, however.
SU was again pinned deep in their own territory when Baysinger took advantage of a strong wind at his back to get off a tremendous 65 yard punt, which actually went 82 yards from where he kicked it to where it stopped rolling in the Colgate end zone.
The Raiders decided to go to the air, as well and got a 36 yard touchdown pass in the final seconds of the half. But it was called back. They decided to try the same play again and got a 25 yard gain but the clock ran out before they could get off another play.
Early in the third quarter Colgate captain Bill Timm, who had knocked the ball out of Jonah Goldman’s hands in the big play of the 1926 game, broke through to block a punt at midfield. A big tackle named Haines scooped up the ball at the SU 40 and rumbled all the way to the end zone. But Strambiello’s kick went wide and the game stayed at 0-6 in favor of the visitors.
SU struck back a couple of possessions later Goldman returned a punt to the Colgate 40. Hal Baysinger rifled a pass to Goldman at the Colgate 18. He caught it in stride and proceeded to the 5 until he was knocked out of bounds. Two plays later, Ray Barbuti wormed his way through the defense and scored. This time he didn’t land on his “puss” but instead on his back, with the goal line under him and the gray sky above him.
Colgate put on a drive deep into SU territory but Baysinger stepped in front of a pass at the 12 and ran 75 yards down the sideline before he was tackled at the Colgate 13. However, SU gave up the ball on downs. Sammy Sebo claimed passionately that he had been interfered with on the final pass play.
But the most exciting play of the game came early in the fourth quarter when Colgate’s punter, Bruce Dumont, stood on his own 4 yard line with the same wind at his back Baysinger had had for his huge punt. Goldman was standing at the SU 45, which seemed to some too far away until Dumont’s punt went way over his head. “Turning with the pace so well known to baseball fans who watched outfielders bring down the ball in a splendid catch, Goldman ran from the 50 yard line almost to his 35 and then, with a jump, brought down the ball. The ball had traveled too far for Colgate’s ends to close in on the receiver. Goldman, settled squarely on his feet, poised himself for a moment, took one step to his right, reversed himself and let the pack come toward him. Sidestepping again, he swung to his right, switching the ball under his arm and, with a straight arm baffled Captain Timm as the Colgate leader tackled for him. Twisting and turning, Goldman squirmed away from first one and then another until he had advanced a full 45 yards to the 20 yard line. As reached the 20, he darted into a circle of Orange jerseys. With interference behind, ahead and at both sides, the little wizard was safe from any enemy hand and the last 20 yards of the journey was just a romp.”
“Goldman essayed the kick for point after touchdown but Jonah’s foot is not as sure in its drive against the ball as it is in picking the spots of a rush down the field and his boot was wide”. This would cost SU a chance at victory in the end but for now the home team led, 13-6. The rest of the game was dominated by the punters, (each team punted 18 times in the game, often one first down to try to win the battle of field position). And Colgate’ Dumont had the wind behind him. Slowly, with each possession, the ball advanced closer and closer to the SU goal line.
With five minutes to go, Baysinger lined up to punt from his own 5 yard line. Once more Timm broke through and blocked the kick “The ball rolled over the goal line into the end zone with a pack of Orange and Maroon clad figures in the chase. Orange fingers grazed the ball for what could have been a safety and only two points had it been held. But the leather bounded away and there piled onto it a mass of humanity, close to 20 rival warriors, all fighting for the oval. The pack was cleared away by the official and when the ball was reached it was found encircled by the arms of Cox, Colgate’s eager center, for a touchdown. This time, when the pinch was greatest, Strambiello, Colgate’s sophomore end, rose to the occasion and kicked the final point.” It was 13-13.
“Only five minutes of play were left after the score was tied but one sensation piled on top of another. Syracuse backs got into the clear, only to be brought down by Colgate’s secondary defense. Colgate just missed a touchdown by a dropped forward pass. Baysinger was all but driven back for a two point safety only to turn suddenly, when Syracuse hearts had jumped into their throats, and cut up the field for a fine run, being brought down 18 yards further downfield with the element of danger over.” But the element of danger was there right to the end. On virtually the last play of the game, “Timm rushed down the field and into the clear, 5 yards ahead of any Orangeman. The ball came sailing straight and true. Victory lay with the ball as it sailed into the grasp of the Maroon captain, the man who, more than any other, had been responsible for both his team’s touchdowns. He reached for the ball. His hands clasped it. But they did not hold it…Flinging himself on the ground the Colgate Captain kicked at the air in agony, as the final scoring chance for either team passed.”
The Herald described the post game celebrations. “With a tie score that entitled both sides to a celebration, Syracuse and Colgate followers last night took possession of the city, invaded lobbies of the hotels by the thousands, packed the dining rooms beyond capacity and staged impromptu parties on the thronged streets. The hotels, veterans in the art of entertaining football crowds, had the lobbies cleared for action. All except the necessary furniture was removed. There were various football dances. Numerous private entertainments were staged.” The newspaper left the nature of those entertainments to the imagination. There was a separate article chronicling the many and varied automobile accidents on the day of the game, “Colgate Day” as they called it. One car, containing two 24 year old males and a 21 year old female, flipped over near Liverpool after “taking a ride around Syracuse”.
30,000 fans had seen the game but only 22,000 of them had paid for their tickets. The other 8,000 were Syracuse and Colgate students who got in free. Even the 22,000 were more than three times as many fans who had paid to see any other home game at Archbold that year, leaving a discouraged SU athletic department to actually seek out road games for the future, feeling that they could make more money as a road team than they were aiming for home games. Disappointing turnouts caused both Penn State and Georgetown to consider whether they wanted to come to Syracuse again and Pitt had for sometime flatly refused to play SU in the Salt City. SU closed out the home season before only 4,000 fans, beating Niagara 13-6 before traveling to New York to loose to Columbia 7-14 before 25,000 at the Polo Grounds. They finished 5-3-2, the worst record in 11 years. Things would get worse both on and off the field for the Orange long before they would get better.
The Hoodoo continued….
