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University Daily Kansan Friday, Oct. 15 1954
Nation's Top Team Is Here Tomorrow.
Mighty Oklahoma Heavy Favorite To Extend Big Seven Victory Skein
The power laden Oklahoma Sooners, No. 1 football team in the nation by unanimous choice, invade Memorial stadium tomorrow afternoon to play a thin Kansas team, which is riddled almost beyond imagination by injuries to half a dozen key players. The Sooners, hot on the trail of their ninth consecutive Big Seven trophy, will be opening their league season. Kansas, already down by two conference losses, will be meeting a loop foe for the third time in the still young campaign. Kickoff time for the game, which is expected to attract some 28,000 persons, is 2 p.m.
Coach Bud Wilkinson's team comes into this game as the nation's top team with good reason. Consider the conditions under which the Sooners clipped archrival Texas, 14-7, last Saturday. They fell behind one of the nation's most powerful clubs, 0-7, in the opening period. They fumbled five times to the Steers. They played without Gene Calame, their regular sliding-T quarterback, and lost Don Brown, their first-string left tackle, after four plays.
Yet they won widely in the statistics, though narrowly on the scoreboard against a robust squad, with it h manpower speed and heft.
That is the Goliath confronting embattled K an s a s. Oklahoma faster and quicker than ever on the dive-tackle, keeper, and pitchout plays. Oklahoma, who can gang the middle and still react so swiftly it holds the fleetest backs to short yardage on the wide stuff. Oklahoma, ever alert for the game-winning extras of pass interception and punt return. Oklahoma, who shatters granite defenses with its turt-searing rushing, then kills them with a sudden scoring pass.
These are the modern Sooners, resourceful and eager. And, if skillful execution isn't enough, they simply pull back the throttle to the last ounce of playing passion, a happy infection that has expanded into an epidemic tradition at Norman.
Kansas players who will probably miss the game are centers Dick Reich and Frank Black, halfbacks Rex Sullivan, John Handley, and Bobby Conn, and tackle John Drake. Sullivan, Handley, and Drake all have leg injuries of one sort or another. Reich is suffering from bruised ribs, Conn with a sprained neck, and Black with glandular fever.
Oklahoma is seeking its 42nd game without defeat in conference play. Only two ties—13-13 with KU in '47, and 21-21 with Colorado in '52 — mar the all-victorious skein. Wilkinson, succeeding Jim Tatum in '47, never has seen his club lose a league game. Kansas was the last team to humble the Sooners, winning, 16-13, here in 1946, on Paul Turner's stunning 34-yard field goal in the mud and rain.
OU defeated California, 27-13, in its first start of the season and wiped out a 7-16 four quarter deficit to nip Texas Christian, 21-16, in its second start. The Sooners now have won 11 straight since Pitt tied them, 7-7, in the second game of the 1953 season.
In contrast, Kansas now is in the throes of a 10-game losing streak, the last four of which have been handed the Jayhawks this season by TCU. ULA, Colorado and Iowa State.
However, the apparent mis-match has been almost as wide in other years. Oklahoma was heavily favored in '46, when Turner's toe wrote a championship tie. In '49, the Hawkers lost three of their first four then scored four times at Norman before going down, 48-26.
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Probable Starting Lineups
OKLAHOMA
Carl Allison (190) LE Don Martin (199)
Cal Woodworth (202) LT Gene Vignatelli (217)
Bo Bolinger (210) LG Don Pfutzenreuter (155)
Kurt Burris (207) C Norman Redd (190)
Cecil Morris (224) RG Bob Hubbard (193)
Ed Gray (207) RT Gene Blasi (203)
Max Boydston (207) RE John Anderson (221)
Jim Harris (168) QB Bev Buller (168)
Buddy Leake (185) LH Ralph Moody (193)
Bob Herndon (170) RH Dick Blowey (178)
Billy Pricer (189) FB Bud Laughlin (207)
By JACK LINDBERG Kansan Sports Editor
There is absolutely nothing involved in picking football winners. The first week this was tried, 12 of 13 games were picked correctly, the second week 18 of 22 were chosen correctly, the third week and last week 16 of 22 will probably be the first time history that anyone misses more than 50 per cent of their predictions.
A new system of selecting the winners was invented this week, so there is a good chance the average might go up. All the names of the teams that are scheduled to play tomorrow were placed in a hat and the winners selected by chance. The first selection came out UCLA over Vermont, but because those teams are not playing each other this season, another game was selected. And here we go . . .
Nebraska over Oregon State: No particular reason for this choice except we like the Big Seven conference better than the Pacific Coast conference.
Oklahoma over Kansas: If spirit, hustle, and determination paid off the Jayhawkers would win, but the Sooners have some of this and manpower, too.
Colorado over Iowa State: The Cyclones proved that they had a pretty good team last week, but it was hard to show it for four straight games.
Kansas State over Tulsa: Ditto.
The rest of the top games: Ohio State over Iowa, Wisconsin over Purdue, Minnesota over Illinois, Duke over Army, Heidelberg over Capital, UCLA over Stanford, Notre Dame over Michigan State, Michigan over Northwestern, Alabama over Tennessee, Georgia Tech over Auburn, Texas over Arkansas.
Missouri over Indiana: For the same reason.
A&M Tops KU In Dual Meet
A string of 27 KU dual cross-country meet victories that stretched back over seven seasons was shattered here yesterday by an Oklahoma A&M team which had three Scandinavian imports as its nucleus. The Aggies won the meet 14 to 24, low score winning.
Jayhawk Capt. Al Frame kept the defending NCAA champions from being completely routed by capturing first place in the fine time of 15.21.7, considering that the course was muddy and the weather cold and windy. He finished about 20 yards ahead of runner-up Fredrik Eckhoff of Norway.
It was the first encounter of the season for the young Kansans, who number two juniors and three sophomores. For the Aggies it was victory No. 2 this fall.
Frame moved into the fore at the gun and never was headed. Several of his teammates stayed close through the initial mile of the three-mile race, but the European imports soon pushed to a position challenging Frame, a junior.
Rice over SMU, Florida over Kentucky, TCU over Texas A&M, Baylor over Washington, Oklahoma A&M over Houston, Navy over Pittsburgh, and Mississippi over Tulane.
omorrow at Memorial stadium.
Mather Pleased After Practice
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The last heavy football practice position on punts and point-after-was held yesterday as the Kansas touchdown plays. Tackle Ray Bower Jayhawks prepared for their game with the strong Oklahoma Sooners has also been working at center this week.
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Coach Chuck Mather was again pleased with the practice session and said afterwards that the "boys are still working hard, and the spirit is very good."
Coach Mather said six players are still on the doubtful playing list. They are: halfbacks Rex Sullivan, John Handley, and Bob Conn, centers Dick Reich and Frank Black, and tackle John Drake.
Mather said he might try Reich at center for a few plays, but not for most of the game. John Anderson is expected to be at the center
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