The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, December 01, 1995, Image 20

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The
Last Corps Trip
WRITTEN BY P.H. DUVALL '51
A FINE ART PRINT BY
BENJAMIN KNOX '90
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CORPS CENTER
By Wes Swift
The Battalion
For 21 years, Grant Teaff patrolled the
sidelines as the Baylor University head foot
ball coach. He lead the Bears to eight bowl ap
pearances and won more games than any
coach in the program’s 96-year history.
In short, Grant Teaff was Baylor football.
“I think Grant Teaff will be remembered as
one of the five or six best coaches ever in the
Southwest Conference,” Chuck Reedy, Teaffs
successor as Baylor head coach, said. “That’s
not just from a coaching standpoint, but from
his overall impact in the conference.”
Teaff came to Baylor in 1972 after head
ing the Angelo State University football
team for three seasons. The task ahead of
him was daunting. Teaff had to turn
around a program that had won only three
games in as many seasons.
Just as challenging was finding the players
who would turn around the program. Baylor
was a small school in Waco and had to com
pete with the conference’s powerhouses — the
University of Texas and Texas A&M.
Walter Abercrombie, an All-American run
ning back for Baylor from 1978 to 1981, said
Teaff made his biggest strides as a coach de
spite the lack of strong recruits.
“I think that he (Teaff) always played with
a lesser physically talented team at Baylor,”
Abercrombie said. “But he always had players
Courtesy of the Baylor Sports Information Department
Baylor running back Walter Abercrombie turns
up field in a 1980 game. Abercrombie is the
Bears' all-time leading rusher.
who were coachable and he used his motiva
tional skills — which I think were his biggest
asset — to make them play their best.”
The coach’s skills came through during his
first year at Baylor. Teaffs team went a sur
prising 5-6 in 1972. The team’s success earned
Teaff the SWC Coach of the Year Award, an
honor he would win five more times before he
retired in 1992.
It was in the 1972 campaign, Teaff said,
that he learned everything about Baylor and
SWC football.
“That’s when I found out a lot of interesting
things about Baylor,” Teaff said. “I learned
that there was a big rivalry between Texas
A&M and Baylor, but there wasn’t with Texas
because they had beaten Baylor so much.”
But Teaffs teams challenged Texas’ domi
nance. In 1974, Teaff led his squad, 4-3 at the
time, against the Longhorns at Floyd Casey
Stadium. Down 24-7 at the half, the Bears
stormed back in the second half to win the
game 34-24.
Abercrombie remembered watching the
game as a teen.
“I just watched him during an interview af
ter the game,” Abercrombie said. “You could
hear him talking about his coaches and saying
how he gave all the credit to his players. That
really made an impression on me.”
The Bears finished 8-4, winning the SWC
title and a trip to the Cotton Bowl. But Bay
lor’s best teams were still to come.
For Teaff and Baylor, though, hard times
came before the good. The team was near the
end of a 2-8 season in 1978, with only the
game against the nationally ranked Texas
Longhorns remaining.
The Texas game, however, proved to be a
turning point for the Baylor football program
and furnished one of the most intriguing sto
ries in SWC lore.
Before the game, Teaff told his team about
two Eskimo fishermen who were ice fishing.
The older Eskimo, a veteran ice fisherman,
was catching a horde of fish, while his younger
counterpart could catch nothing.
When questioned by the younger Eskimo,
the older said the secret to his success was to
keep the worms warm. He opened his mouth
to reveal a bunch of worms wriggling inside.
After telling the story, Teaff pulled out a
nightcrawler and told his players, “Today
men, I’m going to keep the worm warm!”
Then, Teaff dropped the worm into his
mouth and swallowed it.
Whatever Teaff’s motivations were,
Abercrombie said, they worked. The Bears
charged onto the field and slammed the
Longhorns 38-14.
“The locker room went crazy,” Abercrombie
said. “Guys were throwing trash cans and
banging their heads against the wall. I don’t
think anyone could beat us that day.”
Baylor Univer$it|
Enter league: May 6,1914
All-time SWC Record: 213-251-5
All-time Bowl Record: 8-8-0
Championships: 5 (1922, 1924,1974,
1980, 1994)
All-Time Coach: Grant Teaff 1972
All-Time 128-105-6, SWC 83-64-1
Top 5 Players:
1. Mike Singletary,
Linebacker
2. Walter Abercrombie,
Running back
3. James Francis,
Linebacker
4. Cody Carlson,
Quarterback
5. Santana Dotson, Defensive tackle
Top 5 Games:
1. Nov. 22, 1980: Baylor 16, UT0:Caps
perfect 8-0 SWC season.
2. Oct. 13, 1917: Baylor 103, Simmonst;
Most points scored ever.
3. Oct. 21,1978: Baylor 24, A&M 6:
Walter Abercrombie, 207 yards rushing
4. Oct. 21, 1922: Baylor 60, Arkansas!]:
Wesley Bradshaw: 4 TDs, 30 pts
5. Oct. 9, 1993: Baylor 31, SMU 12
joe never throws a pass, Baylor runsfoi
482 yards.
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The thrashing of Texas began a Bayloi
naissance that was capped by a 1980 CoS
Bowl trip against the Alabama CrimsonTii
The Bears were led by Abercrombie,
ended his career as Baylor’s leading rusls
and All-American Linebacker Mike Sin;
tary. Both went on to play in the NFL,
more than 60 other Baylor players duri
Teaffs tenure.
After 1980, Teaffs teams continued topi
consistently, earning six bowl berths in
next 12 years. But frustrating lossesbe|
taking a toll on Teaff as the seasons worec:
“'The longer you coach, the wins d
as good, and the losses feel worse,” Teaffs
“I was one of the few men who had a cha
go out on top and live to tell about it,
speak, so I did.”
After the 1992 season, Teaff left the d
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Two-way star Walker did it all for Poriie
Southern Methodist
University
By Philip Leone
The Battalion
Join SWC in 1918
All-Time Record: 393-372-55
SWC Record: 212-243-32
Titles: 1923,26,31,35,40,47,48,66,81,82,84
Bowl Record: 4-6-1
All-Time Coach: 1922-34: 82-31-20
overall, 37-18-3 SWC
Top 5 Players:
1. Doak Walker,
Running Back
2. Eric Dickerson,
Running Back
3. Don Meredith, Quarterback
4. Jerry Ball, Defensive Lineman
5. Bobby Wilson, Quarterback
Top 5 Games:
1. Jan. 1, 1983: SMU 7, Pitt 3: Dickerson vs.
Marino, SMU finishes No. 2 in the nation.
2. Sep. 10, 1989: SMU 31, UConn 30: 1st
win since probation.
3. Nov. 1, 1947: SMU 14, Texas 13: Doak
Walker scores the winning TD as SMU goes
on to tie Penn State in the Cotton Bowl.
4. Oct. 16, 1982: SMU 20, Houston 14:
Eric Dickerson racks up 241 yards on 27
carries in the win.
5. Nov. 7, 1992: SMU 41, Houston 16:
Just three years after being destroyed 95-
21 by UH, the Mustangs turn the table on
the suddenly hapless Coogs.
Clear your head and think about Southern
Methodist University Football. What comes
to mind?
The “Pony Express” of Eric Dickerson and
Craig James? The “pay-for-players” scandal?
The NCAA-sanctioned Death Penalty in
1986?
Now travel back to the days when helmets
were leather and free of facemasks. Go back
to a time when football was played in “black
and white,” when young roughnecks played
the game on dirt fields with bloodied noses
and kicked-in teeth.
In the 1940s, when the Southwest Confer
ence was gaining momentum, a glow sur
rounded the “Hilltop” in Dallas as SMU foot
ball captured the nation’s attention with the
exploits of one remarkable player — Doak
Walker.
Put simply, Walker was “the man” for the
Mustangs from 1945 to 1949. No. 37 played
halfback, quarterback, defensive back,
punter and placekicker, and returned kick
offs and punts.
If that was not enough to prove his versa
tility, Walker was also a sub on the SMU
basketball team and played centerfield for
the school during baseball season. Walker
did it all and did it well.
Walker remembers fondly the wide-open
game of his college playing days, and said he
never minded the toils of two-way football.
“It was wild in those days because you
never knew what was going to happen out
there — you really had to keep your head
up,” Walker said. “We never minded playing
both ways. I guess we just didn’t have the
time to sit there and think about how tired
we all were.
Playing both ways did not slow Walker
down. In four seasons as a Mustang, the
three-time consensus All-American scored
288 points, picked off eight passes as a defen
sive back and had a 29-yard kickoff relt
average. With his speed and “helterskeltf
moves, Walker led his team to consecuti
SWC championships in 1947 and 1948.
After the 1948 season, Walker was a
ed the Heisman Trophy as the nation’sfe
college player. The honor was a great®
ment in Walker’s life, but he saysit*
something that simply added to the
times he had while attending SMU.
“The Heisman was more of an 1
award in my day, so it took awhile for me
truly appreciate what it meant,”
said. “It just added to all the other gi
periences I had. Playing for SMU was so®
thing special because Dallas didn’t have®
kind of professional team then, and we
the only football ticket in town.
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Courtesy of Baylor Sports Information Depart' 1
Former SMU running back Doak Walker pose
with the trophy which bears his name and is
awarded to the top running back in the nation
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