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INTERCOLLEGIATE FOOTBALL RESEARCHERS ASSOCIATION ™ The College Football Historian ™ ISSN: 1526-233x Vol. 2 No. 1 Established: Jan. 2008 Tex Noel, Editor ([email protected] ) http://www.secsportsfan.com/college-football-association.html With this issue of The College Football games (now 8-10-1 after the Historian , we start our second year narrow loss in Ft. Worth). collectively known as the Intercollegiate Houston has played 63 years with 19 postseason contests Football Researchers Association —83 (same record now at 8-10-1) and members strong!! a tradition which includes over 60 first team All-America selections, 1989 Heisman Trophy 2008 Armed Forces recipient QB Andre Ware, and Bell Helicopter Bowl almost 100 alumni in the NFL Mirrored ranks since 1946. Recent Traditions of At that current rate the Academy Football Powers could sport as many as 33 bowl appearances in its first 100 years By Bo Carter, NFF of football while UH is on pace for 29 bowls by its 100th season. These numbers compare Air Force and Houston have favorably with three-century established themselves as football traditionalists such as national college football powers Arkansas, Georgia, LSU, in spite of probably playing just Michigan State, Missouri, and half as many seasons as tradition others. In many cases, the Air NCAA FBS universities. Force and Houston percentages are even higher. Amazingly, AFA and UH had played 18 bowl games each AFA has similar numbers in 36 before the Cougars' 34-28 standouts receiving some All- triumph on Dec. 31, 2008, at Ft. America mentions, 39 first team Worth's Amon Carter Stadium College Sports Information during the 18th game of the Directors of America Academic All- 2008-09 bowl season. America honorees and a New Year’s Day bowl appearance In just 54 seasons of (1959 Cotton in Dallas) in just intercollegiate football, the the fourth year of the program. Falcons had appeared in 18 bowl The College Football Historian-2- toppled Texas 24-16 in the 1985 Bluebonnet Bowl. The Falcons That 9-0-2 squad under dropped a 42-36 shootout to legendary head coach Ben Martin California in the 2007 Armed remains as the only unbeaten Forces Bell Helicopter Bowl and campaign in Falcons’ history, played at Amon Carter Stadium though the 1984 and 1998 teams for the third time in 12 months each closed at 12-1 and near Tuesday after falling at TCU in national championships. November. UH has the added distinction of Besides the team achievements, winning conference titles in three both the Falcons and Cougars different leagues – the Missouri sports loads of individual honors Valley and Southwest over the last 6-7 decades. Air Conferences as well as Force already features National Conference USA (most recently in Football Foundation & College 2006). The Cougars were within a Hall of Fame standouts Chad win of hosting the 2008 Hennings (a DFW Metroplex hero Conference USA championship with the NFL Dallas Cowboys), before falling to cross town rival fellow All-America lineman Brock and circuit foe Rice 56-42 in last Strom and veteran head coach November’s finale. Buck Shaw (34-year mentor at five colleges). It may be the grits or sleeping in their own beds until a few days Houston can cite the Heisman- before bowl kickoffs, but Houston winning QB Ware, the late 1976 teams have fared well in Rotary Lombardi Award recipient postseason contests in Texas. Wilson Whitley and ultra- From 1969-74 the Coogs successful head coach Bill competed in four Bluebonnet Yeoman (1962-86) among the Bowls at their then-home turf in College Hall of Fame heroes and the Astrodome and then trekked sports several future honorees. to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas for Classics in 1977, ’79 and ’80. The current editions for Air Force Some of UH’s most memorable and Houston contained many of victories came in the 1969 the modern-day stars of college Bluebonnet (36-7 over Auburn), football. Falcons’ quarterback ’77 Cotton (30-21 over Maryland) Tim Jefferson garnered Mountain and ’80 Cotton (17-14 over West Conference Freshman of Nebraska). the Year laurels (first Falcon so honored)) while senior DE Jake Air Force is no stranger to the Paulson nailed down first team Lone Star State in December and All-MWC laurels. January, either. The Falcons tied TCU 0-0 in the 1959 Cotton Bowl to stay undefeated while AFA mentor) and UH’s Kevin Sumlin The College Football Historian-3- (8-5 in his head coaching debut season) are two of the nation’s up-and-comers. Sumlin joined UH sported three 2008 major Yeoman in ’62 and current award winners from Conference Baylor coach Art Briles in 2003 USA in Offensive Player of the as the only UH head coaches to Year QB Case Keenum and go bowling in their initial Defensive Player of the Year campaigns. DE Phillip Hunt along with C- USA Freshman of the Year RB The added attraction is that the Bryce Beall. The Cougars and teams had met once in 2008 in Falcons sport enough young the Metroplex at SMU’s Ford talent to keep league and Stadium with Hurricane Ike national contention for years to bearing down on the Texas Gulf come. Coast on Sept. 13. Air Force built * * * * Coaches Troy Calhoun (17-9 with back-to-back bowl appearances in his first two years as Falcons’ a 31-7 cushion and then held on march to Rose Bowl by its fingertips to win 31-28 victory. despite a fourth quarter rally by the Coogs. That also is the only By William Weinbaum other meeting historically between the schools. (Part 2 of 3) The Cougars' comeback victory in Fort Worth marked the 17th time Upstart ‘Cats Low-key that teams had played in in California rematches of regular-season games in bowls (first was in 1943 By edict of Voigts, the and '44 Sugar Bowl when LSU Northwestern players were and Texas A&M tussled twice in the same season), and the team to avoid their press which lost the first encounter has clippings, pro or con. “He come back to go 13-4 in bowls - didn’t want us to spend any including the two 2008 time reading the newspapers rematches between Navy and because of all the negativity Wake Forest and UH and AFA. toward little old Northwestern,” says tackle Return of the ’49ers Bill Forman. The story behind the 1948 football team’s memorable The L.A. Times ran a The College Football Historian-4- comparison of the ’Cats’ set of twin brothers from Mason Regardless, their portrayal City, Iowa: guard “Fatso” as the underdogs was Day and safety Loran “Pee neither a secret nor without Wee” Day — Fatso effect. “That did an awful lot outweighed Pee Wee to 185; to get our motors running,” Fatso was a lefty, but Pee says tackle Steve Sawle. Wee was a righty; and Pee Forman says the team’s big- Wee was married, but Fatso game experiences had the was a bachelor. players very upbeat to begin Newspapers also kept track with and Voigts reinforced of the players away from that as New Year’s Day drew practices and the team near. “He was perhaps more hotel, the luxurious relaxed in California for that Huntington. “They followed game than I had seen him in us around a great deal, and other situations,” Forman I won’t comment on what says. “He was very cool and they caught us doing,” says confident, and he expressed Forman amid guffaws. But that to us.” he adds, seconds later, Predictions of a mismatch “They published pictures of didn’t deter paying some of the men having a customers. According to the beer in a bar. I thought that Dec. 22, 1948, L.A. Times, was kind of a low blow at 3,000 people waited in line the time and I still do.” all night to buy tickets. The Perricone explains, “We had newspaper also said an afternoon off. We were in Northwestern had 3,000 the Brown Derby having a alumni on the West Coast, beer, not carousing. We and “all want to be inside were out a total of an hour- the Rose Bowl.” and-a-half, and it was Voigts instructed his team reported much bigger.” not to speak with the press, but that didn’t stop stories from flowing freely leading up to the game. The College Football Historian-5- in a Rose Bowl, according to the Intercollegiate Football The out-of-towners received Researchers Association. celebrity treatment in other ways. “We went to a play Pee Wee had a first-quarter none on the West Coast, interception, the first of two with 18 players from Illinois for him and four for the and 10 from Indiana. Wildcats. Tom Worthington had the other two — no One development, however, other team or game in Rose gave Northwestern a comfort Bowl history has had two of home. “We were proud of players with two wearing dark jerseys that interceptions. day because of the flip of a coin,” Perrcione says, “and In the opening quarter, the we always seemed to play ’Cats struck first. better when we wore dark Aschenbrenner took jerseys.” quarterback Don Burson’s handoff on what started as a When the Wildcats entered simple off-tackle run to the the stadium filled with right. By the time he 93,000 fans, the atmosphere stopped, the speedy was “pretty electrifying,” halfback had a 73-yard says Nemeth. Forman says touchdown, setting a record what comes to mind first that stood for 44 years as about that moment and the the longest run in any Rose whole day is the size and Bowl.