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Jayhawkers Cast As Giant Killers Against Frogs
Kansas' Jayhawks will find themselves casted in the role of giant killers Saturday afternoon when they take on the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University in the season's opener for both teams.
The Texas team, which tromped the Jayhawks 47-13 at Fort Worth last fall and went on to cop the Southwest conference championship, is supposed to be the strongest team in the school's history. This comes as no surprise to football followers since the Frogs are ranked sixth in most national gridiron polls.
Led by All-American halfback Jim Swink, who smashed all sorts of records last fall as a junior, the experienced heavy Texas are expected to successfully defend their conference title and perhaps surprise the experts by climbing higher than sixth in the national ratings.
Should Kansas pull an upset Saturday they will quickly be pushed into the national limelight. Not only are the Jayhawks 20 point underdogs, but in the 13 meetings between the two schools. TCU has won nine, Kansas two. Two games ended in 0-0 ties. The last time a KU team managed a victory over the Frogs was a 13-0 victory three years ago.
Led Ev All-American
TCU Coach Abe Martin is optimistic about the 1956 season and well he should be since 24 lettermen return off last year's crack squad.
Besides Swink, who writers and coaches all over the nation pick to repeat on this year's All-American team, the Frogs can also shout praises about Buddy Dike, fullback. Jim Brock, TCU sports publicity director, in a recent luncheon at Kansas City, said the coaches had to call Dike off because he was hurting too many boys.
Friday. Sept. 21. 1956 University Daily Kansan
Other Top Players
Dike is currently running on second string because of a lad by the name of Vernon Hallbeck, who reported to be the better all-around player. Brock said that Dike is the harder runner of the two, but that Hallbeck has tremendous speed and is heralded by Coach Martin as the best fullback he ever coached.
Braves Need Rally To Win
Youth may be served someday, but it will have to stand aside tonight while the Brooklyn Dodgers and Milwaukee Braves put their hot pennant race in the hands of "old folks" pitchers Sal Maglie, 39, and Warren Spahn, 35.
By United Press
Now that the Dodgers are leading by one full game as a result of Milwaukee's pressure-packed, 2-1, 10-inning loss to Pittsburgh yesterday, both clubs know the flag could be riding on each pitch.
Braves In Spot
The plain fact is that this defeat has put the Braves in a tough spot, even though manager Fred Haney rightly insisted that his club has only "a bad cough" and isn't dead yet by a long shot. If the Braves win now, it will have to be uphill—the hard way.
That's because the Dodgers' lead is all in the vital "lost" column. Each team has won 88, but Brooklyn has lost only 57 to Milwaukee's 59.
It all adds up to—The Braves must win 'em all, or pretty near all, unless Brooklyn suffers a major collapse.
Braves Need Win Streak
Maglie carries two streaks into tonight's game: six straight wins this year and six straight vs. the Pirates, the team against whom he has the best personal record of his career (21-4).
A BIRD KILLER—Expected to lead the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs to another Southwest conference football title and repeat as an All-American selection is Jim Swink, halfback. In early drill this fall, Jim Brock, TCU sports publicity director, reports that the first seven times Swink carried the ball in scrimmage he scored touchdowns. Swink then had to be flanked out wide so the Frogs could have a scrimmage session.
KU Faces Tough Texas Christian
PROBABLE STARTERS
Texas Christian Wt. Po. Wt.
John Nikkel (225) LE (212)
Norman Hamilton (220) LT (215)
Jay McCullough (210) LG (158)
Joe Williams (210) C (208)
Vernon Uecker (210) RG (212)
Don Cooper (211) RT (220)
O'Day Williams (190) RE (188)
Chuck Curtis (200) QB (190)
Jim Swink (185) LH (179)
Ken Wineberg (190) RH (190)
Vernon Hallbeck (210) FB (164)
Chuck Mather's Jayhawk football team meet an acid test Saturday when the 1955 Southwest Conference champion, the Texas Christian Horned Frogs, pull into Memorial Stadium for the season's opener for both clubs. A crowd of 20,000 to 25,000 is expected to be on hand at the 1:30 p.m. kickoff time.
Led by All-American Jimmy Swink, top scorer in the nation last year, the Frogs from Fort Worth are 20 point favorites. Besides Swink, seven other regulars return from last year's team that finished with a record of 9-1-0.
With another year of experience under the belts of several members of Mother's squad, Kansas isn't figured to fall by as wide a margin as last year. With depth their strongest factor, the Hawks will use alternating squads of near equal strength in an effort to stop the speedy Frogs. The units will alternate at five to eight minute intervals throughout the game.
KU Lost Last Three
The Jayhawkers have lost three straight years to the Frogs, last year by a score of 47-13 and this year TCU admits that they may have the best team in history.
KU's hopes lay in the arms of halfback John Francisco, one of last year's Big Seven ground gaining leaders, end Jim Letcavits, center Galen Wahmeier, and quarterback Dave Preston who engineered victories against Oklahoma A & M and Missouri to close out last year's season.
The strongest team since Mather started Kansas' rebuilding program three years ago, the Hawks also have their roughest schedule. The Frogs are only one of three of last year's teams the Hawks meet.
Outweighed, not as deep, and not as experienced, the Hawks have only their home field in their favor. Everything else is on the Frogs' side of the ledger.
Francisco Leads Hopes
Kansas' 1951 Jayhawks tallied 316 points during 10 games compared to 93 last year.
Kansas
Don Martin
Frank Gibson
Don Pfutzenreuter
Galen Wahlmeier
Bob Kraus
Jim Hull
Jim Letcavits
Dave Preston
John Francisco
Bill Horn
Homer Floyd
TCU's Swink—Poison
Jimmy Swink of Texas Christian, one of the most highly-regarded and best-publicized football players in the nation, returns to the spot where he first won fame this Saturday.
Bv UNITED PRESS
It was just two years ago that a modest young sophomore played in his first college football game and electrified the crowd at KU with his dazzling running.
Until the final 15 minutes of that game, Sept. 18, 1954, young Swink, James Edward, was just another name on the TCU football roster.
But with Texas Christian leading Kansas, 14-6, Coach Abe Martin sent in his second unit, made up entirely of sophomores.
Swink promptly scored two touchdowns and kicked a pair of extra points that gave TCU a 27-6_win. He went 10 yards off right tackle for the first one and fled 67 yards on the Frogs' next possession for the second. He ended up with 78 yards on just three carries.
Texas Christian humbled Kansas 47-7 at Fort Worth last year, with Swink breaking a Frog record with an 80-yard touchdown run. He also intercepted a pass and ran it 47 yards to score.
Swink ended the season averaging 8.2 yards a carry, and being named an All-American by the United Press.
Wineburg A Frog Threat
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TCU right halfback Ken Wineburg, running mate of All-American Jim Swink, has done almost as well against KU in the past two Jayhawk-Froggie games as Swink himself. Last year at Fort Worth, the Odessa, Tex. senior scored on runs of 51 and 5 yards. Two years ago, in Memorial Stadium he scored on a 22-yard pitchout. Swink has scored on KU with runs of 67, 10, 80, and 46.
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