Section B
Friday,
University Daily Kansan
Nov. 5,1954
SPORTS
JOHN ANDERSON
BUD BIXLER
DON BRACELIN
DICK KNOWLES
BUD LAUGHLIN
GENE VIGNATELLI
Six Jayhawk Seniors to Play In Final Home Game Tomorrow
By ANN KELLY
Six Kansas seniors will be making their final appearances on the Memorial stadium gridiron tomorrow when the Jayhawkers meet the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the annual homecoming clash.
Two of the six seniors, John Anderson and Don Bracelin, are ends, Bud Bixler a center, Bud Laughlin fills the fullback slot, and Gene Vignatelli and Dick Knowles hold down tackle positions.
Bud Bixler, captain and largest man on the team, was unable to play this year because he rebroke his right collarbone in practice before the start of the season. Bixler switched to center from tackle, where he had started for the past two seasons. Entering med-school next year he still has another year of eligibility if he cares to avail himself.
Bud Laughlin returned to the University this fall after two years in the Army. Laughlin is one of the finest rushers in Kansas annals. After the K-State game he had a total of over 1,164 yards gained by rushing which ranks him in sixth place in KU history. Laughlin gained more yards by rushing in a single season than any Jayhawk fullback and has already been tagged by the San Francisco Forty-Niners of the National Football league.
Don Bracelin, a two-year letter man. was slowed down considerably at the start of the season with a knee injury which he received in
KU Baseball to Be Better
Dick Knowles, one of the few men on the KU line this season that weighs over 200 pounds is also the fastest lineman on the squad has earned a letter for the past two years when he was a regular offensive guard. Knowles and Vignatelli are the only married men to bow out this year.
the TCU game. Bracelin started eight games last year as a defensive regular and filled the bill as an all-around performer when he wrecked seven TCU sweeps to his side last year.
Gene Vignatelli who lettered as a reserve guard for the last two years moved into the position of tackle this season. Vignatellis has proved to be a capable starter since the first of the year and was pegged a sturdy battler in 1953 and has further established the fact in the past few months.
John Anderson switched from fullback to end in spring practice. Last year Anderson was the club's third ranking rusher and the conference's 16th ranking rusher with 331 net yards on 70 carries. Anderson is a good all-around player although he has not seen as much action this year as was expected.
The chances for a winning baseball team at KU this season are good, says baseball coach Floyd Tympe. The coach feels that the team should finish higher than fourth place, last year's result. The overall record of the 1954 team was 10 victories and 6 losses.
An interesting fact is that the
starting outfield will consist of three football lettermen. They are Bob Conn, John Handley, and Bob Allison who lettered in 1953. These three lettered in baseball last year and returning with them will be lettermen in every position except those of catcher, shortstop, and first baseman.
Play tomorrowVarsity, FroshPlay Tonight
By DICK WALT
Three new faces will appear in the varsity lineup, due to the graduation of co-captains Al Kelley and B. H. Born, and forward Harold Patterson. Returning starters are regular guard Dallas Dobbs and 3-year lettermen Bill Heitholt and Larry Davenport, who alternated as the other guard last year.
Jayhawk sport fans will get their first look at coach "Phog" Allen's rebuilt basketball squad tonight when the varsity and the freshmen square off for their annual game at 7 p.m. in Hoch auditorium.
The untried freshman will be shooting for the first victory in the history of the frosh-varsity game. Last year the yearlings went down 72-52, as Kelley and Born led the way for the varsity with 20 and 12 points, respectively. Pivot man Lew Johnson tossed in 12 points to pace the frush.
Either Johnson or Dick Warren, a 6-7 transfer from Moberley (Mo). Junior college will probably fill the vacant center slot. Returning forwards are Bill Brainard, who also saw a lot of action at center last year in spite of his lack of height, Jerry Alberts, Chris Divich, and Gary Padget. A pair of talented sophomores, Harry Jett and Gene Elstun, will probably augment this trio.
Both teams will be working with only five days of official practice, which hardly allows time for much organization. However, the same type of hustling, pressing defense and fast break offense that have characterized Phog Allen's championship teams of the past will again be displayed.
Homecoming Tilts Are Tough for KU
By BOB BRUCE
Through the years a certain tradition has evolved on almost every college campus in the United States. This tradition has become known as homecoming.
The University had its first homecoming game in 1912 with Missouri and won by 12-3. With the exception of the year 1918, a homecoming game has been played every year since then.
Beginning in 1928, the year the Big Six was formed, through 1953, the Jayhawks have a record of 8 won, 14 lost, and two ties. On a mathematical basis, KU has won 37.5 per cent of its homecoming games, but this figure is a poor representative of the quality of play, for in 10 games the winning margin was by seven points or less.
In their first homecoming appearance as a member of the Big Six, in 1928, Kansas lost to Oklahoma by 10 points. KU defeated KU, lv, the same score.
Although the team of 1930 had players such as Jim Bausch, Ormand Beach, and Elmer Schaake, it showed little power in losing to Nebraska 16-0. However, the Jayhawks rallied following this defeat, and went on to win their first Big Six title.
But the Jayhawks were not destined to lose homecoming games always. For in 1931 they defeated a dull, listless Tiger from Missouri 14-0. Matters again took a turn for the worst, and the following year KU was beaten by Nebraska 20-8. The main factor in the Kansans' defeat was George Sauer, the same Sauer who, 14 years later, coached the Jayhawks to the Big Six championship.
However, this was the last time the Jayhawks were to taste victory in a homecoming game until 1943, and they still beat Missouri, but this time only 7-6.
The 1933 game with Missouri was played on Thanksgiving day. This time the Jayhawks gave the fans something to be thankful for by romping over the Tigers 27-0.
During this period of drought, Kansas battled to two scoreless ties with the Tigers and lost a squeaker to Nebraska 3-0. Perhaps the most highly publicized game during this time was that of 1939. It was generally assumed that this game would develop into a passing duel between KU's ace, Ralph Miller, and Paul Christman of Missouri. But Christman upset the dope bucket by using a running attack, and as a result MU rolled to a decisive 20-0 victory.
The year before, in 1838, Nebraska beat the Jayhawks 16-7 in a contest that featured extremely rough play and one in which two players were ejected from the game. The games with KU lost in this long nightmare of defeats were; 26-0 to Nebraska in 1936, 13-0 to Oklahoma in 1940, 45-6 to Missouri in 1941, and 14-7 to Nebraska in 1942.
The 1944 season saw the Jayhawks defeat the Nebraska Cornhuskins in Lawrence for the first time since 1896. Even though the final score was only 20-0, the statistics tell the story of how completely the Cornhuskins were beaten by the Warrior team and Frank Patee and Dick Bertuzzi, Kansas crushed the hapless K-State Wildcats 27-0.
But again disaster struck at homecoming, and again it struck in the form of Kansas' perennial tormentor, the Nebraska Cornhuskers. After having outplayed a heavier and more powerful Nebraska team throughout the game, Kansas led 14-10 going into the final minutes, only to see the Cornhuskers convert an intercepted pass into the winning touchdown.
In 1947 the Jayhawks drove 96 yards in the closing minutes of the game to beat the Missouri Tigers 20-14. Spearheading the drive were the rampaging runs of fullback Forrest Griffith. This victory was an extremely important one, as it gave Kansas its first undefeated season in history. In 1948 Dick Gilman passed for three touchdowns as the Jayhawks rocked Nebraska by 37-7.
The seasons of 1949, '50, and '51 featured three of the wildest and wooliest games in homecoming history. In 1949, led by diminutive JimHook, Missouri staved off a
last-ditch rally by the Crimson and Blue to win 34-28.
In 1950 the Cornhuskers took advantage of a pass interception and went on to win 33-26. Kansas ran its highest score of the year in the 1951 Missouri game, outscoring the Tigers 41-28.
Last year's game was marked by vicious tackling and blocking and by a riot on the field before the game was over. Although KU lost 10-6, it was practically a moral victory, as the Tigers were four-touchdown favorites.
Glassford Holds 3 to 2 Margin Over Jayhawks
By HARRY ELLIOTT
The Kansas-Nebraska homecoming game will mark the sixth game of the series to be coached by Nebraska's James William (Bill) Glassford.
Now in his 18th year of coaching, Coach Glassford holds a 3-2 margin over Kansas in that portion of the long rivalry between the schools in which he has taken a part. His overall record at NU is 20 won, 25 lost, and 3 tied up to this year. Last year his team won three, lost six, and tied one, the outcome of the KU-NU game being in Nebraska's favor, 9-0.
Glassford is the 22nd coach Nebraska has employed in the history of the game there. He has a total of 24 years of coaching and playing experience behind him.
He entered the University of Pittsburgh in 1933 where he played guard for three years under the well-known coaching great, Dr. John Bain "Jock" Sutherland. In 1936, Glassford was elected All-American guard.
He graduated from Pittsburgh in 1937, and began coaching the same year at Manhattan college (New York) where he remained for three years He then went back to Pittsburg, where he worked as line coach for Carnegie Tech for two years. In 1942, he became line coach at Yale.
Between 1943-46, Glassford served in the Navy, during which time he coached the Miami Beach, Fla. Air station team. When he left the Navy, Coach Glassford became the head coach at New Hampshire university. While there, he piloted his team to the league championship in 1946. '47, and '48.
In 1949, he came to Nebraska where he has since remained. The future of his position was, however, in jeopardy at the end of the 1953 season at which time 35 of his players demanded his resignation because he was accused of creating what they referred to as an "element of fear" among the players. He refused to resign, however, and to all appearances has regained many supporters this year.
'54 Cage Schedule
Dec. 6    LSU*—here
Dec. 17    Tulsa*—here
Dec. 18    Rice*—here
Dec. 18-31 Big Seven Tournament at Kansas City
Jan. 4    *Missouri*—here
Jan. 10    *Colorado*—here
Jan. 15    *Nebraska*—here
Jan. 17    *Iowa State*—there
Feb. 8    *Iowa State*—here
Feb. 12    *Kansas State*—here
Feb. 14    Oklahoma A&M—here
Feb. 16    *OKlahoma*—here
Feb. 19    *Nebraska*—here
Feb. 22    *Colorado*—here
Feb. 26    Oklahoma A&M—there
Mar. 1    *Kansas State*—here
Mar. 5    *Missouri*—here
Mar. 8    *OKlahoma*—here
**Indicates conference game**
*Indicates conference game