★ ★ ★ Texas Aggie All-Americans * * *
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Joe Boyd
Tackle, 1939
Matty Bell
Bell, another line A&M coach
\vho could« be yiven the name
“All-American,” was head coach
from 1929 through 1933, won 24
games, lost 21, and tied three.
Dana X. Bible
Bible, A&M’s top coach, directed
athletics and the football team
from 1917, 1919-1928. In that
period his record was set with
72 wins, 19 losses, and 9 ties, a
percentage of .765 in 11 years of
coaching; the 1917, ’19 teams
were undefeated, untied, and un
scored upon.
Perfect Seasons In 1917, ’19
College Station, Dec. 5, 1917— College Station, Dec. 1, 1949—
[“Champions of the Southwest” is The Aggie Football Team has just
ithe title the fightin’ Aggie football
Iteam wears after defeating the
[last of their conference opponents
I to become football leaders of the
[ mtire Southwest.
With the defeat of their last con-
[lerence rival, Rice Institute, the eleven starred.
[ Aggies have ended their first un-
[ defeated, untied, unscored-on sea
son of conference football.
Led by the able coaching of D. X.
Bible, head coach, and D. V. Graves,
| assistant coach, the Aggies have
succeeded in piling up 38 touch
downs, 30 goals, and four field
goals for a grand total of 270
points for the season. This stands
as the most impressive scoring rec
ord ever made in the Southwest
; Conference.
Before the 1917 season opened,
the Texas Aggies had only four
“T” men returning to the squad.
Three of these were guards, the
other a halfback. A&M had been
placed as a third-rating team by
the sports writers at the begin
ning of the season.
Before the opening game with
Austin College, Coach Bible had
attained a great backfield made
up of R. G. Higginbotham, half
back; J. R. McCUntock, halfback;
Collins, halfback; H. B. Wier, quar
terback; K. C. Elam, quarterback;
and J. F. Mahan, fullback.
Coach Graves had assembled an
exceptionally fine line with M. H.
“Ox” Ford, tackle (Captain of the
team); J. B. McKnight, guard;
E. S. Wilson, guard; C. P. T. Grie-
senbeck, guard; C. B. Gouger, end;
Scott Alexander, end; J. D. Mc-
Murray, tackle; G. D. Anderson,
center; and L. M. Gilmore, center..
Others on the Aggie squad were
Garth, Martin, Wendt, Copeland,
Furman, Fabian, Boreski, McMil
lan, Egger, Sims, Wolston, Davis,
McHenry, Dinan, Williamson, Pa-
tillo, Sparks. Price, and Koly.
A&M 6(5 Austin College....0
A&M 98 Dallas U. 0
A&M 20 Southwestern ....0
A&M 27 L.S.U 0
A&M 35 Tulane 0
A&M 7 Baylor 0
A&M 7 Texas U 0
A&M 10 Rice 0
270 0
ended its second unscored on sea
son in the three football years
between 1917-1920 after emerging
victoriously over the Texas Uni
versity Longhorns 7-0, a game
in which every man on the Aggie
Coach D. X. Bible led his Texas
Aggies eleven to victory after vic
tory as they rolled easily through
the season. Their only serious
trouble came with Howard Payne
College when the Brownwood boys
proved they had a hard combina
tion to break.-
The Howard Payne eleven stood
their ground like a stone wall in
the face of drive after drive made
by the Aggies. Only in the fourth
quarter was the drive and stamina
of the Red and White to become ap
parent as the Aggies drilled on to
the goal line with the winning
touchdowns.
The Texas Aggie team of 1919,
headed by “Woodrow” Wilson
(capt.), included A. B. Knicker
bocker, Frank Murrah, C. R.
Drake, J. F. “Harvard Eddie” Ma
han, G. B. Gouger, Roswell Higgle,
Scott “Lumberfoot” Alexander, A.
S. Vandervoort Jr., John Pierce, J.
N. Askey, Carruthers, Davis,
Drake, Harrison, Martin, Scudder,
H. B. Wier, and Harrison.
Only once before have the Aggies
had such an impressive year on
the gridiron. In 1917 the Aggies
powered their way to the South
west Conference Championship and
A&M 28 San Marcos 0
A&M 77 Sam Houston ... 0
A&M 16 SMU 0
A&M 12 Howard Payne.. .0
A&M 42 Trinity U 0
A&M 28 Oklahoma 0
A&M 10 Baylor 0
A&M 48 TCU 0
A&M 7 Southwestern ....0
A&M 7 Texas U 0
Totals 275 0
piled up 270 points to opponents 0.
Many sports writers said that
there would never be another team
like the 1917 eleven. They have
been proven wrong already, so it
is left up to you—Will the Aggies
or anyone else be able to surpass
the records set by the Fightin’
Aggie Football Teams of 1917-
1919?
.
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John Kimbrough
All-American Fullback, 1939-40
Homer Norton
Norton replaced Bell in 1934 and
through 1947 was head coach.
His teams won 83, lost 70, tied
11; he produced a “National
Champion” team in ’39, four All-
American, and two bowl cham
pions.
Art Harnden
II. S. Olympic Team, 19IS
Marshall Robnett
Guard.' 1940
A&M Football Bowl Teams
Dallas, Jan. 2, 1922—Had Walter
Camp been here today he would
have witnessed his mythical All-
American eleven, in the form of the
Texas Aggies, defeat the “Praying
Colonels” from Center by a score
of 22 to 14. This test on the grid
iron marked the climax to a hard
fought season in which A&M
emerged the victors of football in
the South.
September came, and with it
Anniversary
Edition
The Battalion
Sports
Section
Thurs., Nov. 9, 1950
I). X. Bible Returns
Home From France
came football. At Texas A&M
Coach Dana X. Bible and his very
able assistant C. J. Rothgeb were
faced with the lack of experienced
men. Among those who played on
former Aggie teams were Mur
rah, Carruthers, and Dieterich who
could ably fill the center portion |
of any line while Wilson and Smith
stood out at the end positions.
Calling signals was Morris who j
was joined by Weir and Sanders |
i at the halves. This sparsely pop
ulated backfield was supplemented
by returning Freshmen from last!
| year’s team and a sizeable number j
| of prospects from all-company |
| teams.
The lack of experience on this |
Aggie team was balanced with the
! brilliant coaching of Bible and the
i Aggie spirit and determination.
A&M 14, Tulane 13
1940-
Athletic Council Fails
To Recognize Tennis
Totals
W. J. Bryan Kissed
The Battalion, Oct. 28, 1908—
(Dateline: New York) When W. J.
Bryan entered the Astor gallery at
the reception of the Women’s Dem
ocratic club at the Waldorf-Astoria j
Monday he was kissed by two worn-1 Captain Sargent has agreed to
March 6, 1907—Prof. Campbell
states that the Athletic Council has
not yet recognized tennis as a
branch of Athletics under their su
pervision. The Council, however,
has not had a meeting this year
to consider tennis; and it is prob
abel that they will soon list it as
one of the regular college sports.
en in the presence of nearly 700
others and narrowly escaped the
embraces of a third. Mrs. Bryan
was present. Mr. Bryan displayed
some embarrassment.
excuse the six best tennis players
from drill and retreat, so that they
may play every morning. It is ex
pected that a team will be sent to
Waco.
First A&M Football Team
-
ife
Among the members of the 1924 football team were Mule Wilson
and Barlow “Bones” Irvin; the first man on the left is unknown
but is also a member of the same team. Irvin is now the Athletic
Director of A&M.
April 2, 1919—The recent
news that D. X. Bible has re
turned to the U. S. from
Prance will cause no little per
turbation in the rival football
camps of the Southwest. Coach
Bible is one of the most populat
men who ever handled an A&M
squad and Farmer supporters and
students are earnestly hoping for
his early arriving.
Next, year will see several new
faces when the football season
drifts in. News comes that “Wood-
row” Wilson, Captain elect of the
’18 squad and an all-Southwestern
guard will be back with his 220
pounds of Agg-ie pep.
Horses, and many of them, could
not keep “Eddie” Mahan, star full
back away, and there is some ru
mor of the return of McMurry and
Greisenbeck. Enough of this year’s
team is slated to return to give
the Farmers a top-notch eleven,
and if there is any staff of coaches
in the country “D. X.” is especially
remembered as having , produced
what was probably the most re
markable football team ever seen
in the Southwest, the 1917 unscored
upon Champions.
With Bible to tutor the backfield
and Coach Graves to produce his
usual impregnable line the next
year’s team will not fail through
any lack of coaching.
Both football and basketball
prospects for next year appear to
be the very best. The only thing
to say about the latter is that all
of this year’s team, with one, ex
ception, will be back next year.
If there is a man who can handle
material better than Bible, Graves
and Edmondson the Battalion has
not yet been notified of its exist
ence.
Choices From ’08 to ,48
Bible’s Quintet
Brings 2n<l Title
College Station, Spring 1921—
Coach D. X. Bible, with five re
turning lettermen from last year’s
undefeated team, fashioned a bard-
wood quintet that brought to Ag-
gieland the second consecutive
Basketball Championship. Return
ing players were Captain Forbes,
Hartung, Williams, Dwyer, and
Ehlert.
The Farmers started the season
without Captain Forbes by defeat
ing the Baylor Medics on two oc
casions. Dwyer and Ehlert starred
while Hartung picked up bench
splinters nursing a sore knee.
Forbes, who had been in the hos
pital, returned to lead the Aggies
in a double win over Simons Col
lege, Captain Forbes and Ehlert
pushed in all the Aggies’ points in
the first game, Forbes making 13
and Ehlert 4. In the second game
the Farmers eased by with a 17
to 12 victory.
A&M Football Games
gains time and again.
Late in the second quarter the
Rams worked their way deep into
Aggie territory and when passes
failed to click, the old statue of
liberty play was called on for tli'e
try. Noble took the hand off aiifi
raced far around his left end and
down the side line. Conatser
charged over from out of no
where and threw a block on Noble
that will long be remembered by
those sitting close to the play. ’
A&M 21, Alabama 29
Dallas, Jan. 1, 1942—The Texas
Aggies returned to the Cotton
Bowl as hosts to the .University
of Alabama, and with them return
ed football fans from far and near
to see one of the finest games ever
played in the Cotton Bowl. The
Aggies played a catch-up game all
.the way to the end and had there
been more time the results. might
easily have been in favor of the
Aggies, as it was the Aggies end
ed up on the short end of a 29 to
21 score.
A&M 14, LSI! 19
Miami, Florida, Jan. 1, 1944—
Too much Van Buren and the loss
of Marion Flannagan to the Aggies
proved the difference here today
as the Tigers from L.S.U. defeated
the Aggies bv a hard-earned score
of 19 to 14.
College Station, Jan. 6,
It was bfore some 73,000 yelling,
bellowing, gayly dressed, football-
hungry fans that the Texas Aggies
kept their undefeated and untied
record clean by defeating a great
Tulane team 14 to 13 in the Sugar
Bowl classic, the now number one
bowl game of the world..
The visitor left the Aggies with
undisputed possession of the title
1 ■Nati ona 1 Ch a mpions. ”
It was John Kimbrough, the
greatest fullback that has ever
pulled on a cleated shoe, who cross
ed the Tulane goal twice, and it
was Walemon Price, playing his
last and greatest game, who coolly
stood back and booted two perfect
extra points; but it was the entire
Aggie squad that helped make this
possible. It was little Herb Smith
who swept in and blocked the last
try for conversion by Tulane, a
fete that may have won the game.
Tulane had a great team and a
worthy team. They played the, , . , .
Aggies the best game of the year, !fT s , havc ? P®* S™yance; the
but they were playing a team that ™ 1( ^ abohsh-
refused to be beaten and with that
New Rules Are
Very Unpopular
Oct. 17, 1906—In reading the
accounts of many of the northern
games, one is impressed with the
fact that the.new rules are decid
edly unpopular. Every player
they had two strikes against them
before they started.
A&M 13, Ford ham 12
ed and line bucking practically so,
for it is not .often profitable to
waste, by hitting the line, a chance
of making a good end run; the
ends, because their work has been
made harder and they claim, more
Dallas, Jan. 4, 1941 — Closing | dangerous. It is up to them to
many great football careers and!stop nearly all the plays, and the
two seasons of record breaking ball j frequent punting also adds to their
for a Southwest Conference team,!work. The linemen, too, say that,
the Texas Aggies Wednesday turn-lowing to the distance between the
ed back the Fordham Rams, 13 to scrimmage lines, it is harder to hold
12, in the fifth annual Cotton Bowl
classic.
Throughout the first half of the
game the Aggies were playing de
fensive ball and were forced to play
hard to stop the attack of the
Rams. With floating passes the
Eastern team threatened large
their men. However, it may be
that as the new game becomes
better understood, more may be
gotten out of it than out of the
old-style play. But we certainly
used to enjoy seeing the guards
carry a whole team along in the
old guards hack play.
All Hail King Football—A&M
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!
ptip
Nov. 4, 1908—On Saturday aft
ernoon before a large crowd of
i T.C.U. students, Baylor boys and
! people from Waco, on the Universi
ty Campus, Texas Christian Uni
versity met their second defeat
j this season. Contrary to the nat-
! ural order of things, for T.C.U.
! beat Baylor and Baylor beat A&M,
i A&M won the game by a score of
13 to 0. From start to finish the
j game was hotly contested and there
was not a moment of monotony
[ during the whole time. The field
was level and the weather fine. . . . |
From 14 minutes after 4 o’clock till i
| ten minutes after 6, with a few j
minutes between halves, the game |
I was carried on and when time was j
j called for the last time it was al- |
! most, too dark to play.
Down TU Twice
Clark Field, Austin, Texas, Dec.
5, 1909—Texas A&M defeated the
| University of Texas for the second j
i time this season today before the }
largest crowd in the history of 1
| Clark Field. A&M won the contest ■
| 5 to 0 scoring on a pass from Louie
, Hamilton to “Choc” Kelly.
Varsity won the toss and elected
to play with their backs to the '
i wind. The first half was thrill— I
| packed but resulted in no score,
j Near the close of the half Hamilton .
j took the ball on his own 20 yard |
' line and made a run of 90 yards
only to have it brought back be
cause he had stepped out of bounds.
Varsity kicked off to A&M to
start the second half and forced a
punt. However, A&M recovered
the punt and on the next play,
Mike Balenti, A&M halfback, made
a forty yard run that set up the
ball on the Varsity 10 yard line,
to set the stage for Hamilton’s
game-winning toss.
Tim A&M line with C. E.
“Doggie” Ward and William Gor
lin at ends, George Barnes and
Roger Hooker at tackles, W. A.
McDonald and Caesar “Dutch”
Holm at guards, and T. E.
Thompson at center, held the
Varsity to a standstill on the
ground. A & M’s crackerjack
backfield led by the redoubtable
Hamilton and Kelly and with
Balenti and Dan Rugel soundly
outplayed the vaunted Varsity
starters.
Credit must be given to A&M
coach “Uncle Charley’ Moran whose
brilliantly coached team, besides
its two victories over Varsity, went
through the season undefeated,
scoring 130 points compared to 11
for the opposition and have only
an early season tie with TCU to
mar the otherwise perfect record.
In compiling this record A&M holds
decisions over Austin College, Has
kell Institute, Baylor, Holy Trini
ty, and Oklahoma University.
r Ags Capture No. 4
Dec. 7, 1925—The solemn oath, I
| “Heaven, Hell, or a Championship,” |
taken by every member of the
A&M student body on College
i Night of 1925 has held spirits high !
j through the hectic football season, [
I and the Aggie's now boast another
| Southwest Conference Champion
ship.
Conference championships are
nothing new to the Aggies or to
Coach D. X. Bible, who has led
j the Farmers to four such cham-
j pionships in his years of college
football leadership.
The 1925 season produced foot
ball stars who will rank with those
of bygone days, for there were
four men whose names appeared
on the Mythical Eleven with the
immortal Dansby as Captain, while
two others were given All-Confer-
! ence mention. Along with Dansby,
j All-Southwest guard, were: Cap
tain Wilson, All-Southwest Full
back; Captain-Elect Dieterich, All-
Southwest Tackle; Hunt, All-
Southwest Halfback; Bcutel, end,
All-South west Mention; and Ber
ry, quarterback, All - Southwest
j Mention. Backing these Aggies
were the remaining greats of the
’25 team; Kishi, halfback; Irwin,
tackle; McGuire, halfback; Ochter-
! beck, guard; Speed, guard; Price,
(See HUNT, Page 7)
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