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University Daily Kansan Monday, Oct. 27, 1952
Jayhawkers Tame SMU
Bv BOB LONGSTAFF
Cotton Bowl, Dallas—Shifting the offensive machine into high gear and with the defensive platoon making two goal line stands, the Jayhawkers romped over the Southern Methodist Mustangs 26-0 here Saturday.
Charlie Hoag showed great all-American form as he ran, passed and made circus catches that would have turned an acrobat green with envy. He lugged the leather 16 times to gain 79 yards which brings his all-time total to 1,847 yards.
But the after-game festivity was more serious in tone because of an injury to Galon Fiss. Fiss, in making one of his usual bone-crushing tackles on the last play of the game, suffered a dislocated shoulder.
Coach J. V. Sikes has not decided yet as to how he will shift positions to fill in for Fiss who may be out the rest of the season.
Kansas' first score came midway in the first quarter. After taking the opening kickoff, the Jayhawkers were stalled by SMU and punted. Five Mustang plays later, Fiss intercepted a SMU pass on the KU 42-vard line.
With Hoag, Frank Sabatini and Bob Brandeberry carrying on the ground and Jerry Robertson to Jerry Taylor through the air, Kansas moved to the 14-yard line. From 14 yards out, Hoag broke through the line, cut beautifully through the secondary and went over for the six points. His attempted conversion was wide.
The Mustangs quickly found out that the single wing formation was ineffective against the Jayhawkers' stout defense and turned to the spread with triple threat Jerry Norton in the tailback slot.
SMU posed a definite scoring threat as it moved to the KU 7-yard line before the Jayhawker defense buckled down. Duane Nutt, SMU sophomore sensation, passed to Benton Musslewhite for two yards on first down. A Nutt pass intended for Roy Pace in the endzone was broken up by Fiss and Gil Reich.
Nutt tried a run through center on third down, but Dick Rossman stopped him at the line of scrimmage for no gain. On the fourth and final down—still five yards away from pay dirt—Nutt tried another running play. Rossman and Hal Cleavinger rushed in to throw him for a yard loss and end the threat.
The Jayhawkers drove from their 21-yard line for the second tally. Most of the yardage was picked up on passes by Robertson. Reich stepped in for Robertson late in the drive and threw his only pass of the game to Bob Brandeberry for the TD. The play started on the SMU 13-yard line. Reich hit Brandeberry about eight yards in the endzone. Hoag made the point after touchdown attempt.
Kansas opened up in the third quarter to score two touchdowns in five minutes which featured Hoag's circus catches. The first pass play covered 32 yards and set the Jayhawkers in scoring position.
Robertson passed from the KU 38-yard line to the SMU 30 where Hoag was waiting. With two defenders on him, Hoag jumped into the air and snared the pass. A few minutes later, Sabatini bucked over for the TD from the 3-yard line. Hoag's kick was blocked.
Merlin Gish played an outstanding game in his right linebacker slot. Big George Mrkonic, Bob Hantla and Bud Bixler turned the game into a virtual track meet chasing the SMU backs. They made the vital tackles when they were needed. Rossman and Harold Patterson, playing his first game in defensive halfback position, turned in a great afternoon of play.
On the second play after the kickoff, SMU fumbled and Reich recovered for Kansas. The Jayhawkers drove to the 13-yard line. From there, Hoag passed to Paul Leoni in the endzone for the score —the first Leoni has scored. Hoag's kick was good.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COACH—Coach J. V. Sikes has a happy smile of victory as he congratulates his team on its 26-0 triumph over SMU Saturday. The team figured it was a good birthday present for the Jayhawker mentor whose birthday was last Wednesday. Quarterback Jerry Robertson, (10) playing before a hometown Dallas crowd, gained 112 yards through the air lanes. Co-captain Charlie Hoag (21) and Oliver Spencer helped lead the Jayhawkers to victory over the highly regarded Mustangs. It was the third straight win over a Southwest conference team in two years for Coach Sikes. Picture is courtesy of the Dallas Times Herald
Better Than Georgia Tech, Duke,' Mustang Coach Praises Jayhawkers
By BOB NELSON
Kansan Sports Writer
Cotton Bowl, Dallas—"Better than Georgia Tech or Duke," was the way SMU Coach Rusty Russsell praised the Kansas football team following KU's impressive 26-0 shutout victory over his highly regarded Mustangs here Saturday.
Southern Methodist opened its season here by losing to Duke, 7-14. A week later, powerful Georgia Tech, who hasn't tasted defeat in 17 games covering the 1951 and '52 seasons, scored a 20-7 victory here over the Mustangs.
Coach Russell's statement that Kansas is better than either Georgia Tech or Duke is indeed a fine tribute to the Jayhawker football team and its fine coaching staff.
In last week's AP grid poll, Georgia Tech rated the No. 5 spot. Duke followed the Yellowjackets in the No. 6 position. But underrated Kansas ranked no better than 15th after losing to 3rd place Oklahoma by a misleading 42-20 score.
Paced by Charlie Hoag, KU's all-America halfback candidate, the Jayhawkers rolled to a four touchdown victory over SMU—two better than Georgia Tech and a three better T.D. margin than the Duke Blue Devils.
Still shocked by KU's sound trouncing given his SMU team, Coach Russell had nothing but praise for Coach Jules V. Sikes Jayhawkers. "Kansas is indeed a truly great team." Russell said, "and in Hoag, KU has one of the finest all-around backs in collegiate football.
"That boy (Hoag) is terrified." Coach Russell said as he tried to sum up just what happened to his Mustangs after SMU looked so impressive rolling past Missouri 25-7 and Rice 21-14 the past two weekends. "I thought we had a real good chance of beating KU, but we just weren't any match against Kansas with that Hoag leading the way with his great running, passing and pass-catching.
FULL SPEED AHEAD—Charlie Hoag (21) bursts into the endzone for the first Kansas score Saturday against the Southern Methodist Mustangs. The play began on the 14-yard line as Hoag plunged offback and then cut expertly toward the center. George Helmstadter (61) moves up to give the Oak Park, Ill. senior some blocking. Val Joe Walker (20), SMU defensive back, looks on as the hard-running halfback scores. Pictures by courtesy of the Dallas Times-Herald.
"Hoag did an almost unbelievable job in pass receiving and when he runs, he just never stops spinning, twisting and digging in for that extra yardage." Russell added with a puzzled look.
And it marked the second straight week that the Oak Park, Ill., running wizard did the almost unbelievable with the football. Against Oklahoma last week, Hoag turned in what Coach Sikes termed "his top single-game performance as a Javhawker."
Hog's great all-around performance against SMU was definitely all-American in every phase of offensive football. We thought it was the greatest game of his colorful gridiron career.
Continued improvement by Hoag and the KU team has moved both
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Just arrived—many new belts in a wide range of color and style. Belt sketched $6.95