THE HISTORY of SMU FOOTBALL 1910S on the Morning of Sept
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OUTLOOK PLAYERS COACHES OPPONENTS REVIEW RECORDS HISTORY MEDIA THE HISTORY OF SMU FOOTBALL 1910s On the morning of Sept. 14, 1915, coach Ray Morrison held his first practice, thus marking the birth of the SMU football program. Morrison came to the school in June of 1915 when he became the coach of the University’s football, basketball, baseball and track teams, as well as an instructor of mathematics. A former All-Southern quarterback at Vanderbilt, Morrison immediately installed the passing game at SMU. A local sportswriter nicknamed the team “the Parsons” because the squad was composed primarily of theology students. SMU was a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association, which ruled that neither graduate nor transfer students were eligible to play. Therefore, the first SMU team consisted entirely of freshmen. The Mustangs played their first game Oct. 10, 1915, dropping a 43-0 decision to TCU in Fort Worth. SMU bounced back in its next game, its first at home, to defeat Hendrix College, 13-2. Morrison came to be known as “the father of the forward pass” because of his use of the passing game on first and second downs instead of as a last resort. • During the 1915 season, the Mustangs posted a record of 2-5 and scored just three touchdowns while giving up 131 Ownby Stadium was built in 1926 points. SMU recorded the first shutout in school history with a 7-0 victory over Dallas University that year. • SMU finished the 1916 season 0-8-2 and suffered its worst 1920s 1930s loss ever, a 146-3 drubbing by Rice. The Mustangs were The 1920s brought the first two Southwest Conference football The Mustang football program continued its rapid ascent outscored, 455-27, by their opponents while managing ties championships and a new stadium to the Hilltop. After Rix to national prominence during the 1930s. SMU won its first against Austin College (0-0) and Southwestern (9-9). Ray led the Ponies to a combined 4-11-3 record in the decade’s national championship in 1935 after posting a 12-win season Morrison left SMU following the 1916 season to work with first two years, Ray Morrison returned as coach in 1922 and under the guidance of first-year head coach Matty Bell. Known the Army YMCA at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., as Director of Sports guided SMU to the first of 10 consecutive winning seasons. as a player’s coach, Bell brought discipline to his team, and and Recreation. He returned to SMU in 1920 to organize a Sportswriters billed the Mustangs the “Aerial Circus,” in he spent time listening and talking to his players. Fullback Department of Physical Education. reference to Morrison’s passing offense. At a time when most Harry Shuford and tackle Truman “Big Dog” Spain were two • J. Burton Rix became the second head football coach in teams threw the ball five or six times per game, SMU passed prominent players on the national championship team. A tri- 1917 and guided SMU to its first winning season (3-2-3). between 30 and 40 times per contest. The Mustangs recorded captain, Shuford was the Mustangs’ best running back during • In 1918, SMU became a member of the Southwest a perfect 9-0 mark and won the school’s first conference title the 1935 season, but injury forced him to miss the season’s Conference, joining Baylor, Rice, Texas, Texas A&M, one year later in 1923. most critical contest. Arkansas and Oklahoma A&M (which later became Oklahoma State). In 1926, Ownby Stadium was built, named after SMU alumnus The Mustangs, ranked No. 1 in the country, played second- and strong supporter of athletics Jordan C. Ownby. SMU ranked TCU and its star quarterback, Sammy Baugh, for the Record for the decade: 14-21-6 defeated North Texas State Teachers College, 42-0, Sept. unofficial national championship and the right to play in the 24, 1926, in the first game at Ownby. Quarterback Gerald Rose Bowl Jan. 1, 1936, against Stanford. Bobby Wilson Mann, known as “The Little Red Arrow” because of his strong, scored two touchdowns to give SMU a 14-0 lead before accurate passing, was a member of the first Mustang team to Baugh rallied the Horned Frogs to a 14-14 tie. Early in the play in Ownby Stadium and, as part of his scholarship chores, fourth quarter, Bob Finley connected on a long pass to Wilson helped plant the grass on the stadium playing field. SMU after the Mustangs faced a fourth down at the TCU 39. Wilson steamrolled over its first three opponents that year, shutting out caught the ball at the five and rolled into the end zone as the North Texas State, Trinity and Centenary by a combined score Mustangs held on to win, 20-14, and earned a trip to the Rose of 127-0. Missouri was the only roadblock for the Mustangs in their 8-0-1 season, managing a 7-7 tie. • In 1922, end Gene Bedford and back Logan Stollenwerck were named first-team All-Southwest Conference, becoming the first Mustang players to achieve that honor. Bedford became the first player from SMU to play professionally when he played for the Rochester Jeffersons in 1925. • The Mustangs made their first bowl appearance in 1924, playing against West Virginia Wesleyan in the Dixie Classic on New Year’s Day. The game, played at Fair Park Stadium in Dallas, was the predecessor to the Cotton Bowl. WVW spoiled SMU’s 18-game unbeaten streak with a 9-7 victory. • In the spring of 1926, Morrison decided that it would be important to find a left-handed quarterback for the upcoming Southwest Conference season. Gerald Mann, who was the Mustangs’ right-handed quarterback, told Morrison that he would have his left-handed quarterback before the season began. Not eager to lose his duty as signal-caller, Mann reported to fall practice ready to throw left-handed. • Guard Choc Sanders became SMU’s first All-America player in 1928. Sanders was also the Southwest Conference's first All-America selection. Tackle Marion Hammon became the Ray Morrison was SMU's first football coach Mustangs' second All-American one year later. and also coached the basketball, baseball & track teams on Matty Bell led SMU to the 1935 National Title and later the Hilltop Record for the decade: 56-22-16 coached Doak Walker to the Heisman Trophy 2019 SMU FOOTBALL n PAGE 130 OUTLOOK PLAYERS COACHES OPPONENTS REVIEW RECORDS HISTORY MEDIA • After playing their home games since 1926 at Ownby Stadium, the Mustangs moved to the Cotton Bowl in 1948 and remained there for 31 years. For almost a half-century, the last game played at Ownby was Oct. 2, 1948, when SMU defeated Texas Tech, 41-6. Because of his immense popularity, the Cotton Bowl became known as “The House That Doak Built.” • Following the 1947 and 1948 seasons, SMU played in back- to-back Cotton Bowls. The Mustangs were matched against Penn State in the 1948 game, tying the Nittany Lions, 13-13. Walker threw a 53-yard touchdown pass and scored on a two-yard run, but Penn State’s Elwood Petchel matched Walker by tossing scoring passes of 38 and six yards. The 1949 Cotton Bowl paired SMU with Oregon and its star quarterback, Norm Van Brocklin. The Mustangs won 21-13. SMU and Stanford fans packed the 1936 Rose Bowl Record for the decade: 58-46-10 Bowl. Despite entering the game as heavy favorites, the Ponies 1940s were upset by Stanford, 7-0, with quarterback Bill Paulman While the 1930s established SMU’s position on the national scoring the game’s only touchdown on a first-quarter run. While football map, the 1940s ensured its permanent inclusion. 1950s the loss constituted the only blemish on a 12-1 season, SMU A conference co-championship in 1940 served as a solid After playing alongside Doak Walker the previous two seasons, was able to pay off its 10-year debt on Ownby Stadium with the beginning to the new decade, but was followed by six Kyle Rote was given his chance to be the featured back in check the University received from competing in the Rose Bowl. consecutive losing seasons from 1941 through 1946. World 1950. Rote, who led the Southwest Conference with 777 War II resulted in the loss of Bell for three years (1942-45) when yards rushing in 1949, was named an All-American following • Prior to becoming the head coach at SMU in 1935, Matty Bell he left the Hilltop to join the Navy reserves. Bell returned to the 1950 season. served as the head coach at TCU (1923-1928) and Texas SMU in 1945 and took on an additional role as the University’s A&M (1929-33). Bell arrived at SMU in 1934 and served one athletic director. The 1947 season brought new hope and the As the Walker-Rote era came to an end, so began a new season as the line coach. emergence of a legend in Doak Walker. The only three-time period of Mustang gridiron greats including Fred Benners, • Three SMU players earned All-America status in 1935: tackle All-American in SMU history, Walker led the Mustangs to Forrest Gregg, Raymond Berry and Don Meredith. One Truman Spain, guard J.C. Wetsel and back Bobby Wilson. consecutive Southwest Conference championships in 1947 of the most prolific passers in Mustang history, Benners Wilson, who scored all three Mustang touchdowns in the and 1948. Over the course of his career at SMU, Walker rushed completed 109 passes in 108 minutes played in 1950.