This Week in Texas History
by BARTEE HAILE
Bill Rives, the Dallas Morning News’ pigskin prognosticator, presented his picks for the upcoming Southwest Conference season on Sept. 18, 1949.
The veteran sports editor predicted an historic three-peat for the SMU Mustangs. With Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker back for his senior encore and versatile Kyle Rote heading up a strong supporting cast, he believed Southern Methodist had the talent and experience to become the first SWC team to win three consecutive championships.
For the role of runner-up Rives chose Rice Institute (the name would be changed to University in 1960) coached by stone-faced Jess Neely. “Rice has a dream team,” he raved. “The Owls’ squad is loaded with seniors, experienced hands all.” The passing of Tobin Rote, running of Bobby Lantrip and All-American play of end Froggie Williams made Neely’s tenth team the best bet to challenge SMU for the title.
Rives picked Texas Christian to come in third and Baylor to finish fourth followed by Texas and Arkansas. Bringing up the rear in last place would be Texas A&M, winner of just one conference game in the past two years.
Neely talked his former team, the Clemson Tigers, into making the long trip to Houston for the scheduled opener on Sept. 24. The Owls mopped Rice Field (mammoth Rice Stadium would not be ready until 1950) with the visitors to the tune of 33 to 7.
SMU had a harder time with another southeastern school but survived Wake Forest 13-7.
The home-and-away arrangement with Louisiana State sent the Owls to Baton Rouge the following Saturday, the first in October, and the Mustangs played host to Missouri in the second of eight games in the Cotton Bowl. Walker, Rote & Company eked out a one-point victory over the Tigers, but LSU turned a fourth-quarter fumble recovery into a tie-breaking touchdown that clipped the Owls’ wings.
SMU’s less than impressive performances and Rice’s Cajun Country upset took some of the drama out of their conference opener on Oct. 15. (The Ponies had taken the intervening weekend off, while the Owls vented their frustration on hapless New Mexico 55-0.) Nevertheless, there were many in attendance at the Cotton Bowl who believed the outcome would decide the SWC title holder.
To the delight of the partisan crowd, the Mustangs jumped out to an early 14-0 lead but a pass from Rice’s Rote (Tobin and SMU’s Kyle were cousins) to Froggie Williams cut their advantage to seven points before halftime.
After the Owls knotted the score at 14 in the third period, a second Rote-to-Williams lightning strike put the “Boys from the Institute” ahead 21-14. Then Speedy Roberts intercepted a Doak Walker pass and ran it back 80 yards for a touchdown.
The never-say-die Mustangs mounted one of their exciting comebacks, but the determined Owls matched them point for point. When the final gun sounded, the Cotton Bowl score board read: Rice 41, SMU 27.
The Mustangs never seemed to recover from the heartbreaking defeat. With Walker hurt more than healthy, they tied the lowly Aggies and lost back-to-back games to Baylor and TCU to finish 2-3-1 in conference and 5-4-1 for the season.
Rice may have been in the driver’s seat, but the Owls sure did not look like it for the first 30 minutes in Austin the next Saturday. The Texas defense held them to one first down, as the offense put up nine points.
The third quarter was more of the same with the Longhorns padding their lead to 15. The Owls at last started moving the ball and capped a long drive with a TD and PAT to close the gap to eight points.
After a pass interception on the Texas end of the field, Rice wasted an opportunity to pull even closer by turning the ball over on downs at the Horns’ one yard line. But UT was forced to kick from its own end zone resulting in a pitiful 15-yard punt. This time the Owls needed just one play to tally and improved the score to 15-14.
In the closing minutes of the hard-fought contest, Rice retook possession on their 22. As the clock ticked down, the Owls marched into enemy territory. With only ten seconds left, Froggie Williams kicked a 17-yard field goal to end what sportswriter Rives called “one of the wildest football games ever played in Memorial Stadium.”
After the close call with Texas, Rice got down to business. On three successive Saturdays, the Owls did not give up a single point in wins over Texas Tech, yet to be admitted to the SWC, and conference foes Arkansas and Texas A&M.
TCU put up a good fight before going down 20-14, and Baylor fell to the Owls 21-7. Gordon Wyatt ran for 117 yards in the finale to earn the conference rushing crown.
Finishing the competition that counted with a perfect 6-0 record, Rice was the first team since the national champion Aggies of 1939 to run the conference table. For the Owls, ranked fifth in the Associated Press poll, the Cotton Bowl proved to be an anticlimax as they easily beat North Carolina 27-13 in a dream ending to a dream season for the “dream team.”
Bartee Haile welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions at [email protected] or P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549. And come on by www.twith.com for a visit!
