GOLDEN GOPHERS REBOUND

Transcription

1 PAGE 12 GOLDEN GOPHERS REBOUND By Ray Schmidt During much of the first four decades of the 1900s one of the traditionally outstanding football programs of that era was to be found at the University of Minnesota. Especially during the 1930s and through 1941, the Golden Gophers were characterized by some of the greatest teams and best players in college football history. Yet the experience of most gridiron observers of today is a recollection of mostly struggles for Minnesota football over the last four decades or so since Between these two eras there was a period of transition for Golden Gopher football. Between 1942 and 1959 Minnesota compiled ten winning seasons, highlighted by records in 1948 and 1949 under the legendary Bemie Bierman - on his second tour of duty as the head coach in Minneapolis - and another mark in 1954 under Coach Murray Warmath. Then after two dismal seasons in the latter including last place in the Big Ten - the Golden Gophers would reach the throne room of college football one last time in one of the most unexpected rebounds in gridiron history. Murray Warmath had arrived at Minnesota as the new head coach in 1954 with a lengthy background of experience in college football. He had played as a lineman at Tennessee from , after which he embarked on a long tour as an assistant coach at Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Army. His perseverance finally paid off when he was named the head coach at Mississippi State in 1952, where he served for two seasons before taking over the Golden Gophers. Warmath was considered to be a very conservative coach - which brought him frequent criticism and even a hanging in effigy in the late 1950s - often punting the football on third down and playing a game geared toward field position. After the disasters of most college football fans probably gave Minnesota not a single thought for the new season. Insiders knew that for 1960 Warmath had a team loaded with potential - although generally reckoned to be a year away from contending in the Big Ten - with no less than 22 returning lettermen, including eight regulars and a flock of promising sophomores. The strength of the team was considered to be its line on both sides of the ball, featuring an outstanding guard named Tom Brown who had been regarded as the best middle guard in the conference in Among standouts joining him would be Greg Larson, an excellent blocker, and Bobby Bell, who had come to Minnesota as a quarterback before switching to tackle where he was already attracting attention from pro scouts. To go along with his outstanding offensive line, Warmath also had a potentially very capable offensive attack with plenty of depth and versatility in the backfield, led by a braising 215-pound junior quarterback from Uniontown, PA named Sandy Stephens, a strong running back who had improved his passing during spring practice. In 1959 Stephens had scored nine touchdowns while completing 20 of 52 passes for 305 yards and two more six-pointers. Along with being the team s leading punter, he was also considered to be one of the best defensive safeties in the country. Joining Stephens in the backfield was junior right halfback Bill Munsey who had excellent speed and also played great defense. The Gophers offense also included a pair of very capable ends in Bob Deegan and Tom Hall, considered one of the best pass catching duos in school history. In spite of Minnesota s potential, the Associated Press pre-season poll gave the Gophers nary a mention, while they were tabbed for only fifth place in the Big Ten behind Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Iowa. No outsiders were aware of it, but in the team s final pre-season scrimmage in a closed stadium the starters had buried the reserves under eight touchdowns.

2 PAGE 16 In the post-season, Tom Brown won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football award as the Big Ten s most valuable player, while also being named a unanimous All-America selection at guard. Warmath - named Coach of the Year - called him the outstanding single factor in the amazing comeback made by the Gophers this year. Sandy Stephens was edged out for the Big Ten s First Team quarterback spot by Tom Matte of Ohio State, yet he was still regarded as one of the best triple-threat men the Gophers had featured since the 1940s. Stephens would return as a senior in 1961 to lead Minnesota to another Rose Bowl berth, while also winning the Silver Football and being named a consensus All-American at quarterback. Minnesota would have a couple more good seasons before Coach Warmath left after 1971, yet nothing has ever come close to that magical championship season of 1960 for the Golden Gophers.

3 PAGE 13 The season opener for 1960 came on September 24 as the Gophers were on the road to face Nebraska, a very average team that had edged Texas the week before. But the Comhuskers had few answers on this day as Minnesota took a 13-0 lead at halftime after a second quarter when Stephens scored on a twoyard run and then a short time later rifled a 23-yard TD pass to Dave Mulholland. In the third quarter a fumble and an interception set up two more Gopher tallies - the latter coming on a 42-yard return of a pass theft by Munsey to extend the lead to Nebraska scored a pair of late touchdowns to finish off Minnesota s impressive opening game win. The second week of the season brought Minnesota s home opener on a cool and cloudy day as an impressive audience of 53,725 turned out at old Memorial Stadium. The opposition was provided by Indiana, yet 1960 was a worse season than usual for Hoosier football. The NCAA had placed Indiana on a four-year probation for recruiting violations, and then the Big Ten had compounded things by suspending the Hoosiers from conference competition for 1960; the scheduled games would still be played but they did not count in the conference standings. So for the Gophers it was essentially a non-league game, and after a scoreless first quarter they tallied six pointers in both the second and third stanzas - the latter on a 46-yard scoring pass from Stephens to Dick Larson to cap off a 67-yard drive to open the second half. Minnesota exploded for four touchdowns in the final quarter, including one on a short run by Stephens and another on a 6 8-yard interception return by Jerry Annis. Indiana never threatened in the game, and the Gophers coasted to a 42-0 victory. Week three brought the first serious test of 1960 for the Golden Gophers as they played host to a dark horse Northwestern team that was led by quarterback Dick Thornton and halfback Albert Kimbrough. This was a windy day dominated by the defenses that soon settled into a punting duel between Stephens and Thornton. The two teams were still locked in a scoreless struggle late in the third quarter when Munsey returned a punt 29 yards to start the Gophers at their 41. What followed was a bruising eight-play drive - the big play coming on a pass completion from Joe Salem to Bob Deegan, good for a 40-yard gain. Four plays later Stephens plunged in from less than a yard out for the TD. In the final quarter the Minnesota defense held off the Wildcat comeback attempts by intercepting three of Thornton s passes while also sacking him twice to preserve the hard-fought 7-0 victory that moved the Gophers into the #10 spot in the next Associated Press national rankings. The following Saturday brought a major showdown for the Gophers as they hosted an Illinois team that had been ranked #5 nationally in the pre-season AP poll, but had been easily dumped the previous Saturday by Ohio State. It was Homecoming with 63,641 fans on hand, and in a battle between two powerhouse lines Stephens ran for three touchdowns in leading Minnesota to a major victory with

4 PAGE 14 national implications. But it certainly wasn t easy as the Illini jumped ahead early in the first quarter after a 94-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead. Yet this was a tough Gophers outfit, and they bounced right back after the following kickoff with a 66- yard march of 13 plays that was capped off when Stephens rolled out and then slashed over left tackle on a nine-yard TD run. The Illini took the lead back at 10-7 by halftime with a field goal, and the teams then fought through a scoreless third quarter. Then at the start of the fourth quarter Minnesota got a break on field position after a bad Illini punt. What followed was an eight-play drive of 43 yards that Stephens finished off with a one-yard plunge for the touchdown. A short time later the Gophers started from their 26 yard line after a punt with just 5:24 left to play. On the second play of the drive Stephens lofted a long pass completion to Deegan for a gain of 41 yards to the Illini 31. Four plays later from the 18, Stephens rolled out to his right, sprinted past two defenders and then dragged two others into the end-zone for the TD with 2:50 left to play. After the Gophers hard fought win that elevated them to #6 in the AP rankings, sportswriter Dave Condon of the Chicago Tribune said that they had flashed that golden tinge of a gone-by era this sun splattered Saturday. Next up was a trip to face Michigan in the Little Brown Jug game. This quickly turned into a defensive straggle, helped along by Stephens suffering a hip injury in the first quarter that severely limited his effectiveness as shown by his rushing for just nine years on eight carries. Yet Michigan did even more to keep this a low scoring affair. The Wolverines lost five fumbles and two pass interceptions for the day, while the Minnesota defense, led by Bobby Bell and Julian Hook, sacked quarterback Dave Glinka eight times for losses totaling 49 yards. So all the Gophers needed was a two-yard TD run by fullback Jim Rogers in the first quarter and his 22-yard field goal in the fourth to escape with a 10-0 victory. With standouts Stephens and lineman Tom Brown nursing minor injuries and so used sparingly, Minnesota stepped out of the conference for a tuneup and handed a mediocre Kansas State team a 48-7 trouncing at Memorial Stadium. This extended the Gophers record to 6-0, their best start since the great season of Then came the game of the year in the Big Ten on a cold and windy November 5 as #3 ranked Minnesota played host to #1 ranked Iowa, a fast and experienced team that was led by quarterback Wilburn Hollis, along with running backs Larry Ferguson and Jerry Mauren. The Gophers got an early break when an Iowa snap sailed over the punter s head to set them up on the 14. Three plays later Stephens rolled out to the left and rifled a seven-yard TD pass to Munsey for a 7-0 lead just five minutes into the game. But the Hawkeyes fought back with a second quarter field goal and a 19-yard TD run by Joe Williams to take a 10-7 lead early in the third quarter. Minnesota came right back though after the following kickoff and marched 81 yards in 12 plays; highlighted by a pass to fullback Roger Hagberg for 28 yards, an 18-yard gallop up the middle by Hagberg, and Stephens plunging in for the touchdown to regain the lead at Early in the fourth quarter Iowa lost a fumble on its 42 yard line, and on the next play Hagberg bolted up the middle and raced all the way to the touchdown to make it After the following kickoff, a big pass rash by the Gophers forced another fumble by Iowa at its 19. Four plays later Joe Salem plunged one yard for the touchdown that wrapped up Minnesota s convincing victory over Iowa. In the aftermath of the great showing the sportswriters continued linking the 1960 Gopher outfit to the school s great past, Wilfrid Smith of the Tribune writing that Minnesota s men marched with the power and determination of former years, while Dave Condon called the Iowa game the most rousing victory in the Gophers modem football history.

5 PAGE 15 The win over Iowa jumped the Gophers up to #1 in the nation ahead of Missouri according to the AP poll. And so Minnesota sat atop the Big Ten with just two more games left. Then, on a gray and gloomy day at Memorial Stadium, it all came tumbling down around the Golden Gophers as they faced a so-so Purdue team that had just a 1-4 mark in the conference. The Boilermakers took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards in 18 plays to a score, and they never looked back while limiting Minnesota to just 62 rushing yards for the day. Purdue built a 17-0 lead before the Gophers got on the scoreboard with a 27- yard TD run by Munsey and a three-yard scoring plunge by Hagberg to pull within three. But that was as close as they could get, and a Purdue score in the game s final seconds wrapped up the stunning loss for Minnesota. The Gophers managed to pull themselves together for their regular season finale, as they traveled to Wisconsin and handed the Badgers a 26-7 defeat after a much tougher game than the score indicated. A pair of Wisconsin fumbles in the first quarter both led to Minnesota touchdowns - Stephens scoring both on runs of eight and three yards. The Gopher quarterback continued to lead the offensive attack and on defense came up with two pass interceptions in the fourth quarter; returning the second one 51 yards. Minnesota s victory pulled them into a tie for the Big Ten title with Iowa with records of Asked about a possible Rose Bowl invitation - for which the Big Ten no longer had an automatic contract - Coach Murray Warmath told reporters: We ve climbed over the first step. We ve made ourselves eligible; now it is in somebody else s hands. After the loss to Purdue, the Golden Gophers had dropped to #4 in the AP rankings; with Missouri, Iowa, and Mississippi holding the top three spots. While Minnesota was beating Wisconsin, Missouri lost to Kansas, Iowa defeated Notre Dame, and Mississippi was idle. This led to a strange bit of voting that jumped the Gophers all the way back to #1 with Iowa and Mississippi at #2 and #3 despite not losing a game. A week later came the final Associated Press poll naming Minnesota the mythical national champion by a narrow margin over Mississippi, with Iowa at #3. United Press would also vote the Golden Gophers as national champions. The issue of an invitation to the Rose Bowl was far from a done deal as the Big Ten contract with the Pacific Coast schools had ended after the January 1960 game. Washington had earned the right to represent the West Coast, and despite some sentiment for inviting Navy, and Minnesota s facultycontrolled senate being in opposition to post-season play by Big Ten teams, an offer was finally tendered to, and accepted by, the Golden Gophers for the New Year s Day game. They probably should have declined the chance to play the speedy Washington team; basically the same outfit that had destroyed Wisconsin in the previous Rose Bowl game. The Huskies, in what writer Francis J. Powers of the Chicago Sun-Times called the most important game in Gopher history, jumped out to a 17-0 lead by halftime. Yet despite an 18-yard touchdown run by Bill Munsey in the third quarter, the Gophers could never contend with Washington s superior overall speed and deception, up in the line in particular. The 17-7 defeat closed out Minnesota s 1960 season with an record.

6 PAGE 16 In the post-season, Tom Brown won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football award as the Big Ten s most valuable player, while also being named a unanimous All-America selection at guard. Warmath - named Coach of the Year - called him the outstanding single factor in the amazing comeback made by the Gophers this year. Sandy Stephens was edged out for the Big Ten s First Team quarterback spot by Tom Matte of Ohio State, yet he was still regarded as one of the best triple-threat men the Gophers had featured since the 1940s. Stephens would return as a senior in 1961 to lead Minnesota to another Rose Bowl berth, while also winning the Silver Football and being named a consensus All-American at quarterback. Minnesota would have a couple more good seasons before Coach Warmath left after 1971, yet nothing has ever come close to that magical championship season of 1960 for the Golden Gophers.