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University Daily Kansan Monday. Nov. 17, 1952
Kansas Shades Oklahoma A&M,12-7 KU Defense Stops Aggies in Clutches
By DON NIELSEN Kansan Sports Editor
Kansas' vaunted defense came through in the clutch to stop a jinxed Oklahoma Aggie team 12-7 Saturday before a somewhat skimpy crowd of 20.000 in Memorial stadium.
Twice in the second quarter, with the score 7 to 6 in favor of the Cowboys, the defenders stopped scoring threats. Again in the last quarter the Kansas line stopped a drive on their own 1-vard line.
The win marked the seventh straight victory over the Aggies and the eleventh straight win over non-conference opponents. The Aggies now have a 3-5 won-lost record, but the total of the winning margins scored against them is only 19. No Nine point wins more than seven points, and they have been beaten twice by two points.
The win gives the Jayhawkers a 7-2 won-lost record. The score was the lowest that the Kansans have rolled up this year. The Kansans offensive machine was at a great handicap due to the loss of several of its key offensive players, Charlie Hoag, offensive right halfback and Harold Patterson, offensive right both were out due to injuries.
Scoring started early. The Aggies took the opening kickoff on the 13-yard line and drove to the 29 before Orville Poppe recovered a fumble for Kansas. A quick pass from Gil Reich put Kansas in scoring position on the Aggie 17-yard stripe.
After running a few line plays for short yardage, Reich faded to pass. Then, finding a large hole staring him in the face, he drove straight ahead for the score. Don Hess kicked forward a taunt point, but the boot was blocked in massaske 0-1 after only four minutes of playing time had clapped.
The Cowboys rallied in a hurry. Less than four minutes of playing time later they moved ahead of the Javhawkers.
Ronnie Bennet took the kickoff for the Aggies on the 3-yard line and ran it back to the 29. The Cowboys moved on two plays to the Aggie 3-yard line when backhack Bernie Wilson broke into the Jayhawker secondary and went 42 yards to the Kansas 24.
Quarterback Don Babers of the Aggies tried a couple of line plays to no avail, then took to the air and connected. On a play beginning on the Kansas 17-yard line, Babers passed to end John Weigle who bulled over to put the score at a 6-3 deadlock.
What proved to be a very troublesome point to the Jayhawkers came from the toe of Bennie Davis, who booted the conversion that put the Cowpokes ahead 7-6.
In the rest of the quarter the play kept pretty much in the center of the field. In the second quarter the Aggies threatened twice to raise the score, but the Kansas defense held.
As the second quarter opened, the Aggies had possession of the ball and managed to drive to the Jayhawker 37 yard line on a series of short passes. Then a pass by Bobby Green was completed to Billy Halcomb on the 23. From there, Bennett charged through the middle to the Kansas 9-yard stripe.
Then Kansas dug in. Clyne Jones, A&M halfback, had faded for a pass and was caught for a loss. To add insult to injury, the Aggies were penalized back to the 24 for holding on the play. Then Babers tossed a pass that was broken up by Hal Cleavenger. Babers tried another pass but was caught by Don Bracelin on the 30-yard line. On the fourth down, with 30 yards to go, Jones pitched out to Minnick who made it to the Kansas 15 where the Jayhawkers took over on downs.
The Jayhawkers kicked out of danger then, but the trouble started again in a hurry. The Aggies drove to the Kansas 7-yard line this time before the Jayhawkers decided to hold.
With the ball on the Kansas 14.
Jones went around end to the 8-ward line. Then, on a handoff, Bennett tried the line and was stopped cold by Merlin Gish. On the next play, a Jones pass intended for Weigert was knocked down in the end zone by Jerry Bogue. On fourth down, Jones tried another pass, but Hal Cleavenger, Kansas' safety man, broke it up, and Kansas took over on downs.
Then Kansas started to march. Starting on their own 7, the Jayhawkers drove to the Aggie 11 before the drive petered out. At midfield, one of Jerry Robertson's passes was intercepted by Cowboy Dorsey Gibson, but the Jayhawkers recovered a fumble on the next play to keep the drive alive. After the push had stalled on the Aggie 11, Gil Reich came in to try a pass for the score. The pass was intercepted, however, by Gibson and taken to the 26. The Aggie return was stopped by the halftime gun.
The second half saw play starting slowly and staying that way during the third quarter. The tension kept mounting, however, and at the end of the third quarter, the Jayhawkers were driving. They had the ball on the Aggie 15 as the gun sounded.
At the opening of the third quarter, Galen Fiss plunged to the Aggie 10-yard line. On the next play, a backfield in motion penalty shoved the Jayhawkers back to the 15. A Jerry Robertson pass put the Jayhawkers on the Aggie 6. From there, Fiss drove to the 4. Then on a series of three plays, Bob Brandeberry bulled his way successively to the 2, to the 1, and then charged over on a quick handoff for the touch-down.
Halftime statistics showed the Aggies ahead of the Jayhawkers in rushing, (122 yds.-91yds.) passing, (77 yds.-10 yds.) and first downs (13-5).
Hess' kick was blocked again, and the Jayhawkers led by a score of 12-7.
The Aggies bounced back with a vigor in the last quarter in one last effort to score. A series of short-yardage running plays brought the ball back to the A&M 38-yard line when Bennett got away and ran to the Jayhawker 19-yard line. Then Babers passed to Halcomb who was run out of bounds on the 7. Babers tossed another pass, this time to Weigle, but it was knocked down. Bennett tried to get through the middle and went to the 1-yard stripe before he was stopped by Hantla and Gish. Then Halcomb tried the line, but was stopped by Reich at the line of scrimmage.
On fourth down, with pay dirt in sight, Bennett again tried the Jayhawk line and was stopped cold by Bracelin and Cleavinger. The Jayhawkers took over on downs, ate up time with a few quarterback sneaks by Jerry Robertson, and kicked out of danger.
The play slowed down for a while as the Kansas defense held in midfield and kept the Aggie scoring machine from moving. The Cowboys threatened mildly late in the quarter as they advanced to the Kansas 29-yard line on a series of passes, but the Jayhawkers broke up three successive passes to stall the last-ditch drive.
The Jayhawkers took over on downs with about 38 seconds left and ran a series of quarterback sneaks to stall out the ball game and down Oklahoma A&M 12-7.
REICH GOES OVER-Gil Reich evades Oklahoma A &M defensive halfback Dorsey Gibson (43) and center. F. A. Dry (50) as he sprints 10 yards in the first quarter for the first Kansas touchdown as KU defeated A&M 12.7-Kansan photo by David S. Arthurs.
Kansas Thinclads Win Track Title
The Jayhawker thinclads won the Big Seven conference crosscountry championship Saturday over the Mt. Oread three-mile course.
Kansas won the team title with the low score of $ 1 0 \frac{1}{2} $ points. Oklahoma finished second with 34 points, followed by Colorado with 43. Missouri with $ 66 \frac{1}{2} $ Iowa State with 69, and Nebraska with 92. Kansas State did not run.
Wes Santee won his fifth straight race of the season, covering the hill-and-dale jaunt in 15:08.1.
The meet was the first cross-country race for the conference since 1929. Since that time the schools have run two miles on the cinder track.
Santee's victory also gave the individual title to the Kansans for the sixth straight year. His mark was a conference record since it was the first race over the distance. It was not a course record, however.
The Jayhawkers missed the low score record they established last year by $7\frac{1}{2}$ points. Other Kansas finishes were Keith Palmquist, in a tie for fourth; Art Dallzell in a tie for Dick Wilson in 20th. Each entered five men with the first four counting in the scoring.
Santee again had no real competition as he finished 100 yards ahead of Bruce Drummond of Oklahoma who took second. The other finishes: Malquist, KU; 5, tie; Art Dalez, BU; 5, two; John Creighton, CU; 9, Clayton Scott, NU; 10, Koby, KU;
11. Ronald Reed, OU; 12. Jerry Piper, MU; 13. John Williams, IS;
14. Gerald Smith, OU; 15. Leroy Clark, CU; 16. George Eastburn, IS; 17. Doug Kirkmeyer, CU; 18. Eugene Hart, IS; 19. Bill Gavite, CU; 20. Wilson, KU; 21. George Gilmour, OU; 22. James Eash, IS; 23. Stan Petrick, IS; 24. Bob Lindquist, MU; 25. Donald Roeder, MU; 26. Forrest Doling, MU; 27. Bill Bradshaw, MU; 28. Bob Rutz, NU, and 29. Don Wilcox, NU.
By DON NIELSEN Kansan Sports Editor
Yer darn right we were worried! Those Aggies were good. Too good for comfort. If it hadn't been for some sterling defensive play it would have been a much different story Saturday.
But I guess we shouldn't have worried too much—those Aggies are a jinxed team. They get beat by skimpy margins every time they lose a game.
In the opening game of their season the Aggies dropped a 22-20 decision to Arkansas, a week later they lost to Texas A&M by seven points, their largest margin of defeat. Then the Cowboys dropped a 10-7 decision to Houston. A week ago, the Aggies lost another tough one to Tulsa by a 23-21 score.
This week's loss to the Jayhawks by a 12-7 score gives the Aggies an unenviable record. They have won three games and lost five, but in so doing have rolled up a total of 132 points to their opponents' 115.
The sad thing about it, to the Aggies, is the fact that the total of the winning margins scored against them is only 19 points. Which means that they get beaten by an average of 3.8 points per game—when they lose.
-KU-
Saturday's contest saw the last home game play for several of KU's senior gridders. Several other seniors, who were out with injuries, saw their last home game last week against Nebraska.
Charlie Hoag, co-captain of the Jayhawk football team, played his last home game against Oklahoma. Although he may be ready for the game with Missouri it is very doubtful if he will play much.
Among the offensive starters who saw their last home action Saturday are Oliver Spencer, co-captain and tackle, Jerry Robertson, sharpshooting passer and quarterback, Bob Brandeberry, right half-back, and Galen Fiss, Kansas' starting fullback.
With the loss of Hoag, Brandeberry, Robertson, and Fiss, this year's whole offensive backfield will be lost.
Defensively, Kansas will lose the services of starter Duane Unruh end; Dick Rossman, guard; Merlin Gish, center; Gil Reich, quarterback and defensive linebacker; Arch Unruh, linebacker, and Hal Cleavinger, safety. And with them goes most of the strong Kansas defense.
George Mrkonic, one of the strongest spots in the Kansas defense has seen his last play in the Memorial stadium. He was injured in the Nebraska game and is also a doubtful starter for the Missouri game. Pat Murphy, defensive left halfback, is another player who, due to injuries, has probably seen his last action.
New York—(U.P.)—The Big Ten and Pacific Coast conference races were thundering today toward a Saturday showdown with four pressure-packed games to decide both league titles and the coveted bids to the Rose Bowl.
The PCC crown will be settled in one glamorous, nationally televised game—the long-adapted struggle at Los Angeles between UCLA and Southern California, the two perfect-record titans of the West.
Big 10, Pacific Coast Loop Races Unsettled
Four team still are in contention for the Big Ten title as one of the hottest races in that league's history
comes down to the wire—Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Purdue. And Michigan definitely has the inside track, for it's the only team in the group that can clinch simply by winning its game Saturday against Ohio State.
Each of the other three Big Ten contenders needs a combination: Wisconsin can win by beating Minnesota, if Michigan loses. Minnesota can win by beating Michigan and Purdue lose. Purdue can tie for the title by beating Indiana, if Michigan loses and Minnesota beats Wisconsin-
sin.
Two of the other big bowls are all set: it's Mississippi vs. Georgia Tech in the Sugar Bowl at New Orleans and Texas vs. Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl at Dallas.
Two other conference races are likely to be decided this week—the Big Seven, where Oklahoma needs only a win over Nebraska to nail down its seventh straight flag and the Southern conference where Duke can pick up all the marbles by whipping North Carolina.