Monday, Dec. 3, 1956
University Daily Kansan
Page 9
—(Kappa Alpha Mu photo)
THIS ONE GOT AWAY — This KU pass eluded the reaching arms of KU end Bill Bell (83) and Missouri halfback Charles James to go for an incompletion in Saturday's MU-KU game.
Faurot Gets Last Win- A 15-13 Gift From KU
Bv MALCOM APPLEGATE
(Assistant Sports Editor of The Daily Kansan)
The Missouri Tigers overcame several costly mistakes, which included two pass interceptions and two lost fumbles, to gain a 15-13 Homecoming victory over the KU Jayhawkers Saturday in Columbia.
Chuck Meher, senior left tackle on the MU alternate unit, broke through to nail Bobby Robinson in the KU end zone with 39 seconds left to score a 2-point safety for the Tigers and give them their margin of victory.
For Coach Don Faurot it was a fine way to end a brilliant career at Missouri. It enabled the Tigers to gain third place in the Big Seven standings and evened the series with KU at 29-29-7. It was also Faurot's 101st victory at Missouri.
KU Gamble Starts It
The sequence of plays that led to the winning margin started when the Jayhawkers gambled on a fourth and three situation on their own 32 with 2.28 left in the game. Homer Floyd tried to sweep Missouri's left end for the necessary yards but was tackled by Joe Wynn and Bill McKinney for no gain.
Missouri took over, and on the first play Ken Clemensen tried a long aerial that was intercepted in the end zone by Wally Strauch, quarterback to give the ball to the Javhawkers on their own 20.
On the first play, Strauch faded back to pass and was smeared on his own four. Mehrer nailed Robinson in the end zone on the next play for the winnings safety.
Kansas scored the only touchdown in the first half on a 84-yard drive which featured the sharp running of Charlie McCue and Homer Floyd and the passing of Wally Strauch. With only 45 seconds remaining in the half Strauch hit McCue in the end zone from 22 yards out. Straugh's attempted conversion was wide and the Jayhawkers jumped into a 6-0 halftime lead.
Tizers Go Ahead
The Tigers went ahead with 2:15 remaining in the third period when Dave Doane plunged over from the four to cap a 58-yard Tiger drive.
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Charles Rash converted to make it 7-0. The key play came when Glen St. Pierre caught a Doane pass on fourth down from the 17 to give the Tigers a first down by inches on the KU 13.
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Kansas came right back by taking the kickoff and driving 77 yards in 15 plays for a TD. A fourth-down spinning jump pass from Strauch to Jim Letecavits gained the final three yards and the touchdown. Strauch's conversion was good and the Jayhawkers led 13-7 with 10:20 left in the fourth period.
Offense now was dominating the game as the Tigers took the next kickoff and marched 73 yards for the tying marker. The Tigers had a first and ten yards to go for a touch-down, but KU pushed them back to the 14 on three plays, and it looked as if the Jayhawkers might stop the drive. On fourth and 14 situation Larry Plumbe pulled down a Doane pass among three Kansas defenders in the end zone. A bad pass from center left the score at 13-13 with 3:12 left, to set the stage for the late MU score.
The statistics KU MU
First Downs 15 20
Rushing Yardage 207 263
Passes 6-14 6-15
Passing Yardage 79 59
Passes Intercepted by 2 0
Punts 6-37 5-37
Fumbles 1 5
Yards Penalized 55 45
Mather Admits Anxiousness Cost Jayhawkers The Game
Coach Chuck Mather admitted that it was his over-anxiousness to win instead of settle for a tie that cost the Jayhawkers their last minute defeat at Columbia Saturday.
"It was my fault we lost." Mather said after the game. "We should have played to tie, but I was too anxious to win."
The play that cost Kansas the game was to have been a "statue," or fake pass, but it resulted in Bobby Robinson being trapped in the end zone for a safety which gave the Missourians the victory with 39 seconds left.
Mather thought the Jayhawkers played as well as they had all season. He regretted that KU did not pass more in the second half when their ground game was slowed by the Tigers.
Good MU 2nd Half
Missouri's second half play drew praise from the KU coach. "They just ran over us in the second half," he said. "They drove much
harder and were definitely much quicker."
The KU players had little to say about the defeat. For most of them it seemed hard to realize that an apparent victory, then tie, had been pulled from their grasp so quickly.
Wally Strauch, Kansas quarterback who engineered the Kansas drives brilliantly, said that he definitely wanted to go for a long play when the Jayhawkers got the ball on their own 20 after the interception. "After the game I realized that we should have settled for a tie," he said, but things happened so quickly in the last few seconds that I guess we just didn't realize the risk of shooting for the long scoring play.
"I really feel sorry for the boys on our team who ended their collegiate career today," he said. "They have really been an asset to our team this year and have helped us a great deal through the entire season."
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