The Battalion
PAGE 2
College Station (Brazos County), Texas
Thursday, August 23, 1956
A&M Grid Wars
Began Back in ’93
Texas Aggie football history be
gan in 1893 when the Maroon and
White team was organized but no
games with out-of-town teams
were played. In 1894 the Aggies,
then the Farmers, played road
games including the first of the
traditional battles with the Uni
versity of Texas Longhorns, then
the Varsity.
The late Dean Emeritus Charles
Puryear, who had joined the faculty
in 1888, was the first manager and
one of those responsible for foot
ball being established at the col
lege. Dean Puryear died at his
campus home in July, 1940, living
long enough to see his Aggies win
a National Championship in 1939.
The Ags played no out-of-town
games in 1895, but resumed a re
gular schedule in 1896 and have
continued since.
A&M’s first undefeated season
was 1902, a year in which the
Cadets won seven and tied two.
The Farmers were champions of
Texas in 1909 and 1910, but in
1910 lost a 5-0 decision to Arkan
sas, and battled TCU to a scoreless
tie. Despite a 13-10 loss to Kansas
State in 1912, that eleven was hail
ed as “Champion of the South.”
A&M was a member of the Tex
as Intercollegiate Athletic Associa
tion from the time of its founding
until the Souhwest Athletic Con
ference was founded in 1914.
Original members of the SWC
were A&M, Baylor, Oklahoma
A&M, Rice, Southwestern, Arkan
sas, Oklahoma and Texas.
The Aggies have won the con
ference football title 7 ] /2 times—
1917, 1919, 1921, 1925, 1927, 1939
and 1941, sharing the crown with
SMU in 1940. In 1939 the Ags were
rated number one in the nation and
won the Sugar Bowl Classic from
Tulane. On January 1, 1941, A&M
defeated Fordham in the Cotton
Bowl.
The Cadets were undefeated,
untied and unscored upon in 1917
and 1919, and undefeated and
untied in 1939. In 1940 UT broke a
19-game winning streak that cost
A&M it’s only loss of the season.
In 61 seasons of gridiron com
petition, A&M has met 79 teams
from 24 states and hold an all-time
record of 317 wins, 180 losses and
38 ties. The Aggies have scored
9,442 points to 4,580 for their op
ponents.
A&M has the edge on all op
ponents which have been played a
number of times with the exception
of Centenary, Oklahoma, Arkansas
and Texas. Centenary has won six
of nine games and Oklahoma holds
a 7-5 edge. Texas, oldest Aggie
rival, has captured 41 to A&M’s 16
with five games ending in a tie.
Arkansas boasts a close 14-12
margin over A&M.
Staff One of Best
Jr,
40
M
rcfkm
Seven Assistants
Aid Coach Bryant
No modern, big - time football the Senior bowl affair. He co
team is strictly a one-man coach
ing show, and this is as true at his senior year.
A&M as any of the other major
colleges in the nation.
Coach Paul Bryant is ably as- Owens joined the Bryant staff at
AGGIE COACHING STAFF FOR 1956—(left to right) Jerry Claiborne, Tom I ipps, I at
James Willie F. Zapalac, Phil Cutchin, Elmer Smith, and Jim Owens will assist Coach
Paul (Bear) Bryant for the Aggie cause during 1956.
sisted by one of the country’s
finest staffs with seven former
gridders aiding the head man.
Beginning his third season at
Aggieland, and his fifth under
Bryant, is line coach Jim Owens.
Owens gained his initial football
recognition at the University of
Oklahoma, where he was named
All-America end in 1949. Owens
played four seasons of regular end
for the Sooners under Jim Tatum
and Bud Wilkinson and was a
member of the College All-Stars.
He played in two Sugar Bowl
games, one Gator Bowl contest and
The Aggies have won 52 openers,
lost but six with two ending in ties.
Openings game losses were to:
Houston University (not UH
Cougars) in 1897; Howard Payne
in 1922; LSU in 1942; Villanova
in 1948 and 1949; and Texas Tech
in 1954.
A&M has played against teams
from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas,
California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa,
Kansas, Kentucky, Lousiana, Mary
land, Michiga, Mississippi, Mis
souri, Nebraska, Nevada, New
Mexico, New York, Oklahoma,
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas,
Utah and Washington.
Welcome
les
Make Ouz Store Your
Headquarters tor Regulation
Uniforms - Clothing - Sports -
wear - Shoes and Hats
V
I IM
k
Hyde Park Suits
Michaels - Stern Suits
Crickateer Sport Coats
Manhattan Shirts
Manhattan Sport Shirts
Manhattan Pajamas
Dobbs Fine Hats
Bostonian and
Mansfield Shoes
Swank Jewelry
Enro Sportswear
Circle S Jackets
Catalina Sweaters
Conway Sr Co
“YOUR CLOTHING STORE"
103 North Main — Bryan
Ags Open On Kyle Field
With Wildcats Sept. 22
Picked at the top of the SWC
race by the sportswriters in their
preseason guesses, A&M runs into
one of the lightest non-conference
schedules in years.
Coach Paul (Bear) Bryant’s
talented eleven opens their third
season under his leadership against
downtrodden Villanova University
on Kyle Field September 22. The
Wildcats hold a 2-1 edge over A&M
in a spasmodic series that began
in 1939.
Villanova holds two of the Ag
gies’ six opening-game losses, win
ning in 1948, 34-14, and again in
1949, 35-0. A&M took the first con
test, 33-7, on Kyte Field and will be
out to revenge their two loses this
year. This marks the second
straight season that the Wildcats
have opened against SWC opposi
tion, having dropped a 19-2 count
to Baylor before 90,000 in Phila
delphia’s Municipal Stadium in
1955.
With only left end and captain
Don Holcomb departed from his
starting eleven and an undefeated
frosh squad to supplement 27 re
turning lettermen, Coach Frank
Reagan is looking to his 1956 team
to return Villanova to its place of
prominence in Eastern football cir
cles. Winners of only a single
game last yeai - , the Wildcats are
counting on depth and speed to
spell the difference in Reagan’s
third season at the Villanova helm.
A host of speedy backs led by
returnees Davey Parr, John Bauer ber 6 against the team that put a
and Rick Sapienza plus a trio of
quarterbacks including veterans
Bill Magee and John Ferruolo and
soph hopeful Jim Grazione, should
put teeth in the Wildcats’ T-attack.
Up front, dependable Don Luzzi
and senior guard Ron Wood anchor
a robust line of proven upperclass
men and eager sophs.
One week later—September 29-—
the Aggies travel to the swamps
of Louisiana to do battle with the
formidable LSU Tigers. In 1955
A&M crushed the Bengals, 28-0, in
Dallas, but it could be rough in
Baton Rouge.
Strongest point on the 1956 Tiger
team is the line from tackle to
tackle—where all the starters re
turn. Outstanding lineman is Earl
Leggett, a 265-pound tackle who
was a unanimous all-SEC choice
last fall and is the pre-season pick
as the best offensive and defen
sive lineman in the league.
Three of the four top ends are
gone, as well as all but one of the
four top halfbacks and two full
backs of a year ago. Quarterback
is solid with M. C. Reynolds, who
held down the starting post as a
sophomore last year, and return
ing letterman Win Turner.
Top newcomers who could fill
in the halfback and fullback jobs
are junior college transfers Jimmy
Taylor and Olin Renfroe and sopho
more J. W. Brodnax.
A&M moves into Dallas on Octo-
damper on Bryant’s first Aggie
game—Texas Tech.
The Red Raiders became the first
new member of the SWC in 31
years at the May, 1956 conference
meeting, but will not be able to
compete for the football champion
ship until 1960 due to conflicting
schedules.
Coach Dewitt Weaver’s West
Texans mauled A&M on opening
day of the 1954 season by a 41-9
score, but the Aggies hold an 11-3
series edge.
The defending champions of the
Border Conference will field 19
lettermen this fall, the smallest
number of returning lettermen
since Weaver’s first year at Tech.
The men to watch are quarterback
Don Williams, guard Ray Howard,
halfback Ronnie Herr, guard Hal
Broadfoot and tackle Bill Kilcullcn.
Rounding out the Aggies’ pre-
SWC schedule, and their third
straight game on the road, is the Augusta ^Virginia Military Acade-
University of Houston in Houston
October 13.
(See NON-SWC, Page 3)
captained the Oklahoma team in
After playing professional ball
in 1950 with the Baltimore Colts,
Kentucky where he developed two
all-Americans in Howie Schellen-
berger and Steve Meillinger. Dur
ing World War II, the 29-year-
old assistant served in the Air
Force. Married, Owens is the father
of two daughters—Kathy, 4, and
Leslie, 1.
One of the backfield coaches who
works with the quarterbacks, is
Phil Cutchin, former quarterback
for Kentucky and a member of
Bryant’s staff since his return from
the Korean war in 1951. Cutchin is
a 1943 graduate of Kentucky who
served in the infantry during
WW II. 1
After playing his- final season in
1946, Cutchin was an assistant at
Ohio Wesleyan from 1947 until
his recall into the service in 1950.
He is married and has one daugh
ter, Melinda, 3Vs.
Elmer Smith, former head coachat
Southern Arkansas State College
of Magnolia, has been an Aggie as
sistant since 1954. His Magnolia
teams in eight years established a
54-27-2 record and won state titles
in 1951 and 1952.
A graduate of Danville, Ark.,
high school, Smith was a four-year,
four-sport letterman at Hendrix
College of Conway, Ark., graduat
ing in 1931. He served as assistant
at Hendrix until 1936 when he
went to Centenary.
After 1 serving in the navy during
WW II where he reached the rank
of lieutenant commander, Smith
moved to Magnolia. Smith and his
wife, Sybil, have no children.
Jerry Claiborne, an end and
safetyman at Kentucky during his
college career, is one of the Aggie
line coaches who works with the
ends. He starts his third year with
the 1956 season.
Assistant at Kentucky for two
years, the 27-year-old father of
two boys was one of the nation’s
top pass interception artists and
played in the Orange Bowl game in
1950. He was head coach at
my in 1950-51. His two sons are
David, 4, and Jonathan, iVs-
(See COACHES, Page 7)
How the Aggies Will Travel
Leave, Return, Destination, Travel, Headquarters
Sept, 28, Sept. 30, LSU, Baton Rouge, Plane, Heidelburg Hotel
Oct. 5, Oct. 7, Texas Tech, Dallas, Plane, Melrose Hotel
Oct. 12, Oct. 14, Houston, Houston, Bus, Shamrock Hotel
Oct. 26, Oct. 28, Baylor, Waco, Bus, Roosevelt Hotel
Nov. 9, Nov. 11, SMU, Dallas, Plane, Stoneleigh Hotel
Nov. 28, Nov. 29, Texas, Austin, Bus, Commodore Perry Hotel
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