Did You Know-Part IV

Our latest entry of Did You Know, will contain are usual rare tidbits, and we’ll also look at some of the snafu’s and Did You Know’s that Hollywood has brought to the wide screen.

Did you know that the first football game to be played indoors took place in 1889, when Rutgers faced Penn inside Madison Square Garden?  (This Rutgers bunch was in on a lot of these firsts.)

Did you know that the first West Coast Intercollegiate football game was played in 1892 between Stanford and Cal?  (Rutgers wouldn’t have qualified for that one)

Did you know that one of the student managaers for Stanford in that game was Herbet Hoover?

Did you know that the first outdoor night game was held in Des Moines, Iowa in 1900?  Drake defeated Grinnel 6-0.  However, because of poor illumination many of the spectators could not see the game.  (Hmmm, Drake and Grinnel…I guess those folks would have been considered the lucky one’s…huh?)

Did you know that in 1912, Army halfback Dwight Eisenhower rushed for 29 yards in a 27-6 loss to Carlisle?  A week later, a knee injury suffered against Tufts ended his football playing career.

Did you know that when Ga Tech defeated Cumberland College 222-0, the game was shortened by 15 minutes?  (Probably due to a severe number shortage for the scoreboard)

Did you know that the 1926 Army-Navy game played in Chicago, was the first college football game to attract over 100,000 spectators?  111,000 officially jammed Soldiers Field that afternoon.

Did you know that when Soon-to-be movie star of Florida State, Burt Reynolds raced 56 yards against Auburn, he was knocked cold at the end of the run by soon-to-be Govenor of Alabama, Fob James?

Did you know that the first play-by-play man of Monday Night Football, was college football’s legendary voice Keith Jackson?

Did you know that of all schools that have been to a minimum of 30 bowl games only 3 began playing football in the 20th century?  Those schools are, Florida, Florida State and Miami.

Did you know that when Florida State played Miami in 1987, there were a combined 57 future NFL football players dressed for that game?

Did you know that the winning TD in the 1971 Marshall-Xavier football game happened exactly as it was presented in the movie, “We Are Marshall?”

Did you know that in that same movie, when the Marshall coaches visit Bobby Bowden at West Virginia, although it wasn’t highlighted, but the reason that Coach Bowden greeted Marshall assistant Red Dawson, was because Bowden was Dawson’s position coach at Florida State when Dawson was a receiver and Bowden an assistant coach?

And another Did you know from that movie…The part of the Morehead State coach, although not a speaking part and only briefly appearing in two scenes not a combined 4 seconds in length was played by the REAL Red Dawson?

Did you know that the sack by “Rudy” on the Ga Tech QB, happened exactly as filmed?  But rest assured, no Notre Dame football player went to Coach Devine and offered to give up their jersey.

Did you know that in the movie, “Knute Rockne All-American,” it is fact that there was a Rockne, there were The Four Horsemen, and there is a Notre Dame, but everything else sort of “strayed” from actual fact?

And our final, Did You Know, of this edition…we’ll set off by itself.

 

Did you know that the entire starting line-up for the 1941 Montana State football team, gave their lives in defense of their country during World War II?  (As long as you know that and remember that, nothing else matters)

 

DID YOU KNOW-PART III

The more Did You Know’s, I uncover…the more fascinated I become with College Football.

Today we’ll continue with our traditional DYK’s and then close with a combination Did You Know/They said it.

Hopefully, it’s as interesting to you as it is to me.

Did you know that Ball State’s original nickname was Hossieroons?  (I have no idea what a Hossieroon is, and too be honest, I’m afraid to ask.)

Did you know that Army’s colors of Black, Gold and Gray signify the components of gunpowder?  (Anybody know if those colors also signify the blanks that they’ve been firing lately?)

Speaking of Army…Did you know that while it is still proper to call them “Cadets,” in 1999 they officially changed their nickname to “Black Knights?”

Did you know that between 1925 and 1970 Notre Dame would not accept a bowl invitation?  (Since 1993, we’ve discovered the reason why.)

Did you know that the University of Washington’s first nickname was Sun Dodgers?  (I bet the Seattle Chamber loved that…huh?)

Did you know that Tulane lost their first-ever football game to the Southern Athletic Club 12-0?  (Don’t shake your head like you don’t care…there’s more)  Did you know that Tulane’s coach, T.I. Bayne, played in the game…For the Southern Athletic Club.  (Talk about a conflict of interest…)

In 1926 Notre Dame was cruising along with an 8-0 record.  They had outscored those eight foes by a combined 197-7.  Their 9th game was a contest vs Carneige Tech, to be played in Pittsburgh.  Did You Know, that Irish Head Coach, Knute Rockne decided to attend the Army-Navy game in Chicago rather than go with his team to Pittsburgh?  Notre Dame lost that afternoon 19-0.  (Funny, but I don’t remember that part being in the movie)

Did you know that during Oklahoma’s 31-game winning streak between 1948 and 1950, Sooner School President, Dr. George Cross, said, “We’re trying to build a University that our football team can be proud of?” (Ya gotta love an honest man)

Did you know the actual sequence that enabled tiny Slippery Rock University to become the darlings of College Football for the past 70 years?  The annual post-season debate was in full swing in 1936 trying to determine whether Minnesota or Pittsburgh be called mythical National Champions.  Well one sports scribe who grew weary of the debate made an indepth study of both schedules and announced that neither one deserved to be #1.  That honor belonged to Slippery Rock State Teacher’s College. (Which is what it was known as in 1936)  Using common sense and logic he very skillfully pointed out that

Slippery Rock beat Westminister

Westminister beat West Virginia Wesleyan

West Virginia Wesleyan beat Duquense

Duquense beat Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh beat Notre Dame

Notre Dame beat Northwestern

Northwestern beat Minnesota

(Kinda sounds like a BCS formula…doesn’t it?)

Did you know that there is one sure-fire way to determine if a Coach is a legend?  Mention him to your friends but only use a first name and see if they know whom you are speaking of…examples…”Bo”  “Woody”  “Bear”  “Bobby”  “Knute”  “JoePa”

Ahhhh, JoePa.  Did you know that there was a time when an Ivy League coach got the last word on the Penn St legend?

It happened in 1970 and the villian was Bob Blackmon of Dartmouth.  The Big Green had just completed a 9-0 season and had been awarded the Lambert Trophy, which signified Eastern Major College Supremacy.  Well, JoePa argued that his 7-3 Nittany Lion team should have been the winner.  He then challenged Dartmouth to meet his Lions in a post season game.

Blackmon was immediately notified of the Penn St challenge.  He told scribes that Ivy League rules forbid any league school from participating in post-season play.  Then he added, “but if they would allow us to play, I would prefer to play a team with a more deserving record.”  Touche’

Did you know what happened, when the President came calling on a Michigan practice?  Gerald Ford was running the show in D.C. and the former Michigan center and co-captain, decided to visit practice while he was in Ann Arbor.  After speaking with Bo and the team, the President decided to stay and observe a portion of the practice session.  Well, Bo called a play and when his team lined-up they noticed that a Secret Service Agent was standing where the play was going to be run.  The players, nervously looked back at Bo.  Bo acknowledged and asked the agent to move back.  The Agent refused.  Bo turned to his team and shouted…”Run the play and if he’s in the way…run his ass over.”  The agent moved just in time.

Bo would later write…”Nothing, I mean nothing…interferes with practice.”

You know in the world of the politically correct, these coaches are one of the very few breath’s  of “fresh air.”

Following the 1999 National Championship game, during the celebration in the Florida State locker room, Bobby Bowden was informed that the President of the United States was on the phone.  Down home Bobby, picked up the phone and said, “Hey Buddy, how come you’re not working tonight?” (Refreshing…simply refreshing)

And speaking of being blunt.  We close with a Woody Hayes story.  Ohio State had scored in the final minutes of their 1968 battle with Michigan and led 48-14.  Woody shocked the stadium crowd and stunned a national TV audience when he ordered his offesne back onto the field and they went for two.  The conversion was good and the Buckeye lead ballooned to 50-14.  The game ended seconds later and at the post-game press conference, the first question to Woody was…”Coach why did you go for 2?”

Woody’s reply…”Because they wouldn’t let me go for 3.”  (Ya gotta luv it)

That’s it for this edition…Later.

DID YOU KNOW-PART II

This latest edition of Did you Know, will be somewhat more indepth.

Many in the college football community were shocked by the game-ending brawl that took place at the close of the Clemson-South Carolina game a few years back.  However, a precedent had already been established in that long-heated rivalry.

Did you know that the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry in the early years was played on the State Fairgrounds in Columbia, South Carolina?  It was called Big Thursday.  The 1902 game ended with South Carolina defeating their rivals from the west 12-6.  The cadets from Clemson who had bivouacked on the fairgrounds, weren’t pleased with the result.  After the contest, the Cadets from Clemson fixed bayonets and marched on the South Carolina campus.  Needless to say a riot ensued and the series was suspended.  The two teams did not play again until 1909.

Not to be outdone…A similar story took place, deep in the heart of Texas.  Following the 1926 Baylor-Texas A&M match-up a brawl erupted between fans from the rival schools.  During the melee a Texas A&M student was killed when hit by a flying chair.  The A&M cadets became so enraged that the next day they loaded a howitzer onto a flatbed rail car bound for Waco.  Their intent was to shell the Baylor campus.  Luckily, Texas Rangers were alerted and they chopped down trees to block the tracks.

Ohio State vs Michigan…hmph!

Speaking of Texas A&M, Did you know they are somewhat responsible for the naming of the University of Texas’ mascot?  It seems that in 1916, an enterprising student collected enough money to buy a longhorn steer to become UT’s mascot.  That’s where the story gets interesting.  It seems that the steer was a tad bit ornery.  Texas students had to keep him penned up until they could figure out something to do with him.  Enter the Aggies.  Texas A&M stole the longhorn, but just for a few hours.  Long enough for them to brand the steer “13 – 0″…the score of the 1915 game.  Obviously, the score had to go, so after some debate Texas students came up with a different branding iron to place over the brand scorched into the steer.  They lengthened and combined the 1 and the 3 to make a B.  They turned the hyphen into an E.  They added a V.  And they left the O…and all of a sudden, the steer had a name…BEVO!

The Florida State dynasty between 1987-2000 is well-documented.  14 consecutive years of being ranked in the top 5.  14 consecutive years of winning at least 10 games.  14 consecutive years of never losing more than two games in a year.  A 14 year culmative record of 152-19-1.  Did you know that two schools  surpassed one of those marks?

It appears that Princeton went 30 years and never lost more than 2 games, while compiling a record of 209-18-11.  That ain’t nothing…The leader is Yale.  Yeah, the Bulldogs never lost more than 2 games in any one season for 43 consecutive years.  Their overall record during that time span…357-26-25.

While we are speaking of the Ivy League, it appears that a genuine act of sportsmanship occured during the 1940 season.  Cornell was riding an 18 game winning streak but were trailing late in the contest with Dartmouth 3-0.  A fourth down pass was batted away and the Big Green had upset Cornell…or had they.  The officials had lost track of the downs and on fifth down, with just seconds to play, Walt Scholl completed a pass to Bill Murphy for the winning score and Cornell’s unbeaten streak had been preserved…or had it.

Two days later after reviewing game films, Cornell officials wired Dartmouth, and announced that they had indeed been given an extra down and conceded defeat 3-0.  (“Yoo-Hoo…Colorado…Missouri is waiting for the telegram!”)

Everybody knows that Princeton and Rutgers played in the first college football game.  Did you know that Columbia was the third school to play college football?  The Lions began a year later in 1870, and they set a precedent that follows them to this day…They Lost 6-3.

Did you know that Sewanee University played 5 games in 6 days in 1899, vs Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, LSU and Mississippi?  They won them all by a combined score of 91-0.

Did you know that the University of North Carolina has had 24 different players rush for a 1,000 yards in a season?  An NCAA record.

Did you know that North Texas has used 5 different shades of green as its school color?  (Eventually, they’ll get it right)

Did you know that North Carolina St has had 3 color schemes?  Pink and Blue, Brown and White and Red and White.  (Too bad North Texas used up all the greens)

That’s it for today…more on the way…Later.

Whatever Happened to “Did You Know?”

Why do the good things vanish?  How come we are deprived of those itty-bitty tidbits of information that make us all seem smart?

There are so many “Did you Know’s” in college football.  Learning the background of the “Did you Know’s” only makes the sport more inviting and intriguing than what it already is.

Come with me as we begin an endless walk through the wonderful world of the “Did you Know’s” of college football

The Trophy games…The Old Oaken Bucket, The Little Brown Jug, Paul Bunyan’s Axe But Did You Know what the oldest Trophy is:  The Territorial Cup!  (Was that a collective “huh?” I just heard)  The Territorial Cup began in 1899 and is awarded to the winner of the Arizona-Arizona State game.

Did You Know that tiny Bowdoin College in Maine has only one official school color?  Yep, and it’s WHITE!  (And here y’all thought Penn State’s uniforms were boring?)  I wonder how the numbers are distinguished on the uniforms…braille?

Did you know that the oldest interstate rivalry west of the Mississippi is…Colorado State vs Wyoming?  (No comments please…this is a Did you Know column, not a Do you Care article)

Did You Know that the first two point conversion was made on September 13, 1958 by Florida State in a 22-7 win over Tennessee Tech.  (I don’t know why they went for two, but they did…maybe they wanted to be first, personally I would have been happy with a couple of Field Goals vs Miami)

Speaking of the ‘Noles…Did You Know that Florida State has played in the inaugural game of four different bowls.

1956 Bluegrass Bowl, 1968 Peach Bowl, 1971 Fiesta Bowl and the 1990 Blockbuster Bowl.  They won the Blockbuster Bowl, but lost the others.

Any Seminole buffs out there…that 1968 Peach Bowl is a Did You Know in itself.  Ya Buddy…Did You Know that the 1968 Peach Bowl is the only game in Florida State history where the Seminoles wore Garnet Helmets?

Did You Know that between 1896 and 1934 UCONN did not have an official school nickname?  For those 38 years they dubbed themselves either Statesmen or Aggies.  (I’m trying to figure out how they got Huskies out of Statesmen and Aggies…Hmmm, I guess that would also be a Did you Know…huh?)

Did You Know that even though Ga Tech was unbeaten in 1916 they won a game where they didn’t even make a first down?  Correct…that was the game where they beat Cumberland College 222-0.  (I wonder if Cumberland lists that as one of their records?  LEAST FIRST DOWNS ALLOWED IN ONE GAME:  0 vs Ga Tech 1916)

Did You Know that the first Homecoming Game was held on October 13, 1910 when Illinois hosted Chicago.  (And the phone has been ringing at La-Monroe ever since)

Did You Know that Maryland QB Frank Reich led the Terps to the biggest comeback in College Football history when they rebounded from a 31-0 halftime deficit to defeat Miami 42-40?  That ain’t nothing…9 years later, Frank Reich came off the bench to lead the Buffalo Bills to the greatest comeback in NFL history.  He entered the contest early in the third quarter with the Bills trailing the Houston Oilers 35-3 and led them to a 38-35 win.

While we’re discussing Maryland, Did You Know that the University of Maryland is the only school with four official school colors?  Red, White, Black and Yellow.  (Anybody out there know what the Crab State has against blue and green?)

Did You Know that Syracuse wore Pink Uniforms in their first season of football?  (Considering the current state of football in the dome, I believe they should break out the throwback uni’s for a game or two…what do you think?)

I love the Did You Know’s…Got about a thousand more…but not today…Later!