The Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 30, No. 25, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 12, 1944 Page: 3 of 4
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By Grover Noonan
Last week wherever a group of
football fans got together it was al-
most a sure bet that sooner or later
someone would bring up the ques-
tin, "Do you think Rice will be able
to come back after that Randolph
Field game?" And if the question
did happen to be raised, it was even
more of a sure thing that the answer
would be something resembling the
following: "Those kids got a pound-
ing that it will take them weeks to
get over, and I wouldn't be sur-
prised if they don't get started until
the end of the season." This was
the almost universal opinion, and
with flashing L. S. U. and powerful
Tulane looming large on the horizon,
to be followed in rapid order by S.
M. U. and Texas University (prob-
ably the Owls' chief rivals for con-
ference honors), the outlook was ad-
mittedly none too bright. But Sat-
urday those "kids" demonstrated that
they deserved another name by com-
ing back from not only the Flyer
defeat but also from a 13-7 deficit
with eight minutes remaining, to
register a great 14-13 win over the
L. S. U. Tigers that few who were
in the stands at the time will soon
forget. Yes, THE QUESTION was
answered.
Fieldhouse Bull
Saturday's game will serve warn-
ing to future oponents of the Owls
that it is going to be difficult to
fashion a defense to halt he Rice
attack. No less than six backs
looked ^ood out there, and any team
that plans on concentrating on one
or two of them is likely to find them-
selves chasing another across the
payoff stripe. . . . It's rumored that
"Cec" Grigg gave some of the team
a little talk this week about these
last-quarter one-point * victories —
something about a couple of gray
hairs he noticed while shaving the
other morning.
Saturday will be homecoming for
Freddie Brechtel at New Orleans,
where he was an all-state high school
performer . . . Racehoss of the Week:
Bob ftemir, the Navasota Nemesis.
Taking over right half when Dave
Parrish was forced out of action by
a sprained ankle, "Greek" came
through in fine style. His 35-yard
gallop set up the winning touch-
down, and all afternoon he was run-
ning so hard that you would have
thought the Tigers were trying to
feed him one of Mrs. Hardy's famous
dishes. . . . Our personal nomination
for the most overlooked player on
the team: Bob "Zorro" Zelsman. He
never makes the headlines (as is the
case of most linemen), and in a
seeming majority of cases students
tend to more or less overlook his
play. However, if you will look back
over this year's games and the last
few games of last year, you will re-
call that the opposition has never
had much success at running through
the neighborhood of Rice's right
tackle, and a large portion of the
credit for this record should go to
the consistently smooth performance
of Zelsman week in and week out....
Folks are wondering how George
Walmsley can run so low and still
stay off of all fours. You'd better
be thankful, Gorgeous, that the good
Lord didn't give you Nick's nose—
sixteen yards of plowing never made
anyone feel so good .. . Prexy Smith
was grabbing passes out there Satur-
day as if he thought they were
votes. Nice going, Bob. . . . Women
have been the downfall of many a
great team, but Rice partisans may
give thanks this week to the fairer
sex: Scruggs was tossing passes
around against those Cajuns like a
guy who has had experience. There's
no need to say Bill was all over the
field on defense.
Buck Sheffield played a grand de-
fensive game while he was in to go
along with his usual good kicking.
Wish you wouldn't take so long get-
ting those punts off though, Buck.
. . . Those slashing runs of Buddy1
Russ, such as the one that set up the
first Owl touchdown, are getting to
be a hahit with that freshman.
L.S.U. backs added an extra yard
nearly every time they carried the
ball by holding the pigskin out at
arm's length every time they were
tackled, and officials overlooked that
fact time * and agafn . % . Surely
wouldn't have liked to have been in
Frank (no choke) Lawrence's shoes
when he came in to try for that all-
important extra point with the score
tied. He did as neat a job of split-
ting the uprights as Bill Dudley did
on Frank's nose.
The schedule makers didn't do
right by the Owls this year: two of
their toughest conference foes (S.M.
U. and Texas) come up on consecu-
tive weekends right in the big middle
of final exams and November leave
At Lot* of P.T
To everyone's profound regret,
G. L. (Laughing Boy) Hermance an-
nounced this week that P. T. was
suspended for all trainees during
tests and the week preceding. Tears
overcame the stalwart navy lads as
full realization of the meaning of this
message overtook them. To some it
meant no more touch football; or no
more volley ball. To some it meant—
and these really broke under the
strain — NO MORE BASIC. Our
physical training analyst has pre-
pared a bulletin explaining this an-
nouncement. It means, he says, tha'
for three weeks, from Wednesday,
11 October, to Friday, 3 November,
a total of twenty-four days, not a
single Jumping Jack will be per-
formed on this campus. And, he adds,
don't never forget it!
**
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. . . Flash! This department is proud
to present the biggest scoop of the
year: the best football squad in the
country is not at Randolph Field as
is the popular belief but at Rise
Poly of Indiana. Just ask Joe Van
Meter for confirmation . . . Johnny
Cox, former all-city flash at Junc-
tion, Texas, turned in another fine
exhibition, justifying the faith sports
eds of that metropolis placed in
him.
From the size of the hole Johnny
and Cholly Howard opened in L.S.-
U.'s line they must have thought G.
Jackson Ford was going to roll
through there . . . Seen in the stands
yelling his head off: good ole Cot-
ton Sims . . . Tate plugged enough
holes to rate the Dutch Medal of
Honor . . . Game seemed a little
strange without seeing Dave Parrish
get loose on one of his crazy-legged
jaunts. How one guy can go in so
many directions at one time is more
than a lot of people can understand.
How about you? ... In a more seri-
ous vein, however, the team can't
be praised too highly for the heart
and hustle they exhibited, and any-
one who thinks to the contrary will
find himself considerably in the
minority.
This Week
Every conference team with the
exception of T.C.U. will be busy
this weekend and some interesting
comparisons may be made if com-
parative scores have any value
(which they usually do not). Up in
Fayetteville Arkansas-' Razorbacks
are host to the Norman, Oklahoma,
Navy Zoomers while those rivals,
the Texas Longhorns and the Okla-
homa Sooners, meet in Dallas for
their annual spectacle. Of more di-
rect interest to Owl fans are the
S.M.U.—Randolph Field clash at
San Antonio and the Texas Aggie-
L.S.U. meeting over in Baton Rouge
since both games pit hot Rice rivals
against the last two teams the Owls
have faced.
The time comes in every column-
ist's life when it is necessary to state
his opinions of the next week's
games. This action is truly foolish
as nobody really cares what a sports
editor thinks anyway, and the fledg-
ling prognosticator usually ends up
with nothing more than a very red
face. But here goes nothing:
Tulane over Rice: This corner
would be the first to celebrate an
incorrect guess on this first effort,
but the Greenies have a veteran ag-
gregation featuring two great backs,
Jones and Renfro, who had so much
to do with last year's defeat of
Rice and should be favored. Also,
the Owls may be slowed down a
trifle by the long train ride. How-
ever, you won't find us giving any
points to those who lie to back their
selections with money,;
Randolph Field over SMU: need
more be said?
Navy Zoomers over Arkansas, L.
By virtue of a last quarter touch-
down drive sparked by the slashing
runs of "Gorgeous" George Walms-
ley and Robert "The Navasota Ter-
ror" Nemir, the fighting Rice Owls
pulled Saturday's L. S. U. game out
of the fire. The eighteenth meeting
of the Tigers and Owls was a great
game for the spectators but a trifle
too close |or the players, coaches, and
anyine who had money on it.
Rice started off like a race hoss
and scored in the first six minutes
of play, thanks to Buddy Russ' run-
ning and a fifteen-yard pass from
Bill Scruggs to Bob "You've Gotta
Be a Football Hero" Smith to make
the score, Rice 7, L. S. U. 0, as Frank
Lawrence converted. Shortly there-
after due to a couple of pass inter-
ceptions by Harold "Fire-eater" Tate
and Bill Scruggs, the Owls seemed
on their way to another score, which
might have turned the game into a
rout, but George Grininger dropped
"Strokey" Sheffield's long pass in
the end zone after a hard run and
L. S. U. took over on downs.
L. S. U., starting late, finally got
an offensive under way that carried
deep into Rice territory, but the Owls
braced and took over on another pass
S.U. to take the Aggies, and Texas
to trim the Sooners round out this
week's selections.
Since this column will not appear
again until next term and Rice has
two very important tilts in the in-
terim, let it be said at this time
that we look for the Owls to take
S.M.U. and Texas into camp and get
off to a flying start in this year's
conference title chase. S.M.U. fea-
tures a versatile, experienced back-
field quartet working behind a line
which is more or less an unknown
quantity, while T.U. finds itself
faced with a converse situation—A
rugged fox-ward wall and an offense
built chiefly around Bobby Layne.
With these facts in mind and we
are counting on general all-around
class and spirit to start the team
off on the right foot Go get 'em
you guys!
Straying from the gridiron for a
moment, we should like to issue a
warning to Chicago hotel managers
to secure all chandeliers when the
end of November rolls around, for
about that time Rice's own Bill Hen-
ry, the Mezzanine Goon, will
stilt his way into town to play with
the College All-Stars against the
Fort Wayne Zollingers, the national
professional basketball champs. Bill j touched. \Y ith the "score tied, Frank
will leave about November 24 in or- I Lawrence came in for Walmsley and
der to get in some practice before j calmly booted the extra point which
the game, which is scheduled for De- ; ',eat 1- S. U., 14-13.
cember 1. j Beat the hell outa Tulane^!
interception. The half ended, Rice 7r
L. S. & 0. Between halves, Andy
Anderson, veteran scribe *>f the
Houston Press, was overheard to re-
mark that Rice played as good a de-
fensive game in the first half as he
had even seen a Rice team play and
Andy's seen 'em all! He was refer-
ring of course, to the manner in
which the line, from end to end. rose
up to smother nearly every running
play L. S. U. tried, forcing the Tigers
to take to the air and pitch their
passes into the eager arms of Bill
Scruggs, George Walmsley, and Har-
old Tate. Rice started the second
half in great fashion as they drove
deep into L. S. U. territory on a great
35-yard jaunt down the side lines by
George Walmsley and runs by Buck
Sheffield and Bob Nemir. However,
the Owls choked and L. S. U. took
over after two incomplete passes.
Then the Bengals started their fire-
works and really took over the play.
Using hand offs, statue-of-liberty's
and every kind of spinner and re-
verses, L. S. U. drove to a quick
touchdown and only an attempted
conversion which hit the upright and
bounced back saved Rice's win. Rice
7, L. S. U. 6.
L. S. U. kicked off but Rice
couldn't go and was forced.to kick
back. The Tigers took over deep in
their own end and crashed to the
hardest fought touchdown of the
game. Time and again, it looked as
if our line would stiffen, but L. S. U.
would make a first down with inches
to spare and drove on toward the
Rice goal. A gallant goal line stand
failed as L. S. U. scored on a fake
pass which looked to be stopped be-
fore it hit the goal line but evidently
not, as it cost us six points. This
time the kick was good and L. S. U.
led, 13-7.
The Bengals kicked off and Rice
started its touchdown drive with a
beautiful return of the kick by "The
Terror" up to Rice's 40-yard line.
Performing a complete about face,
the Owl line, which was pretty good
as a whole during the third quarter,
tore the L. S. U. wall to shreds with
Nick Nichols, Johnnie Cox. Bob Zels-
man, and Cholly Howard laying 'em
horizontal. The Rice drive seemed
about to stop near midfield but
again, with the third and six, "The
Terror" broke loose and slashed to
the Tiger 15 where he was picked
up and laid down.. On the very next
play George Walmsley took a hand
off from Bill Scruggs and raced off
left guard and into the end zone un-
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The Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 30, No. 25, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 12, 1944, newspaper, October 12, 1944; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth230630/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.