Steers, Ramblers Battle to 7-to-7 Tie
Dobbs' Great Passing, Punting Outstanding In Cotton Bowl Duel
1/2/1944
Proving that top flight service team football is equal to the best grade of the all-college variety, the determined veterans comprising the Randolph field Ramblers fought the dashing young University of Texas Longhorns to a 7-to-7 stalemate here Saturday afternoon in the eighth annual Cotton Bowl classic – the first tie in the spectacle's history. For the estimated 15,000 of 32,000 ticket purchasers who were willing to brave the incessant, chilling rain that fell throughout the struggle, it was quite a battle, one of the hardest fought wars of gridders ever staged on the local turf – an affair about as evenly matched as the score indicates. And this was one time that the sailors had nothing on the soldiers as water dogs. The Navy-trainee laden Steers had to come from behind to get a draw and after doing so they had fewer opportunities than the soldiers made for themselves to break the deadlock.
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All the scoring was crammed into about seven minutes, almost midway in the first half. Randolph Field clawed out the first touchdown on the closing play of the initial chapter, a pass from Quarterback Glenn Dobbs to Halfback Leslie (Tex) Aulds accounting for the last fifteen yards. Texas marked after six minutes of the second stanza on a thirty-five-yard aerial thrust. Halfback Ralph Ellsworth to End George McCall. Walter West, a hefty former University of Pittsburgh backfield mainstay, converted the extra point after the Rambler touchdown and J.R. Calahan, lend-lease back from Texas Tech, accounted for the tying point for the Longhorns. Both were on placement kicks.
From this point on, the collegians never made a serious scoring threat while the soldiers, a grimly determined aggregation inspired by the knowledge they were battling for the armed forces overseas listening to a short-wave broadcast of the game, twice again knocked at the door.
Randolph suffered severely by the very few rules infractions called in a clean, well-played contest remarkably free of penalties. Three times Dobbs, who not only was an All-American, but an all-timer as well, in the eyes of the fans who witnessed his remarkable performance Saturday, completed long passes only to see them nullified by assessments against his mates. Shortly before the half gun fired he whipped a bullet shot to End Leon Leinweber to the Texas 11-yard line and the play was called back because a Randolph lineman was offside. It would have been good for the first down but instead, the assessment bogged a Rambler drive and the Longhorns finally managed to take over on their 20 when Leiland Killian missed on a difficult angling attempt for a field goal from the 26-yard stripe and Texas held the leather the rest of the period.
Early in the third period Dobbs completed another long pass to Grover Keeton, a former Mustang wingman, from the Texas 37 and the receiver was apparently loose for a long ride but the Fliers again were off side. And near the end of the same chapter, a Dobbs' blue-darter to Keeton looked good for twenty-four yards and a firster to the Longhorns' 10, when the officials ruled the Randolph backfield illegally in motion. There were only twenty yards in penalties in the entire contest and all were walked off against the servicemen.
Aside from his fine passing, which the statistics fail to reflect because of these killing penalties, and some thrilling ball carrying he contributed, Dobbs earned generous accolades for one of the greatest exhibitions of punting ever seen on anybody's gridiron, wet or dry. On nine drives into the soggy pigskin, he had the amazing average of forty-four and one-half yards. His masterpieces were a fifty-nine-yard boot on the fly over the goal line, on which he was officially credited with only thirty-nine yards since it went for a touchback in the second quarter; a sixty-eight-yard boot from his own 27-yard line in the third period and a fifty-eight-yard line drive from his own 6 in the final canto.
Aside from Dobbs' great performance, the Parkers dominated the show. They were Walter, former All-Lone Star Conference flash at North Texas State running in the Randolph backfield, and the Longhorns' All-American end Joe. They had a whiz of a duel all of their own and there weren't many plays in which either didn't figure in a conspicuous role.
No list of the stars could be confined to this small group, however. Martin Ruby, the former Texas Aggie all-conference, seemed to revel in the opportunity to finally play in a game against the Longhorns without winding up on the short end of the score and he was one of the chief reasons why the Texas running attack was good for only seventy-three yards, as compared with Randolph's ninety-nine. He has as great a day as he ever experienced in college and the Rambler guards, Delbert Davis and Joe Vaughan, weren't far behind him, while Walter West and Mike Yaremko gave Dobbs and Parker splendid support in the backfield. Jim Plyler and Charlie Phillips at the tackles shared honors with Joe Parker in the Orange line, while Calahan, Ralph Park and Ralph Ellsworth gave a creditable account of themselves in the backfield.
Loss of Joe Magliolo, stellar blocking back, early in the game no doubt worked a serious handicap on the collegians. Breaks Pave Way for Scores.
Fumbles paved the way for both touchdowns. After Dobbs had kicked the Steer deep into their own territory late in the first quarter, Walter Parker pounced on a slick ball that slipped out of Calahan's hands and gave Randolph possession on the Texas 26. Dobbs, himself, wheeled out a first down by half a yard on a quick spurt through right tackle after a fake pass. On the next play he hit Tex Aulds over the line of scrimmage with a pass and the elusive former professional baseball player who had no college grid experience eluded the Longhorn secondary with a feint and quick swing to the right, scoring standing up. On this play, End Leinweber, who already had crossed the goal line as a decoy, came back and blocked two Longhorns, including Calahan, out of any chance to get to the scorer.
After two kick exchanges in the second period, Dobbs committed a fumble while trying to squirm through a crack in the line and Phil Bolin, reserve guard, fell on the ball for the Steers on the Ramblers' 42. Killian broke up one pass from Calahan and Ruby stopped the big Texas fullback after two yards on a smash through the middle. Then, after an off-side penalty against Randolph on the next play, Ellsworth whirled a long pass straight down Main Street over Defense Back Walter Parker's head to End George McCall, who snared the pigskin on the 2-yard line and rambled across for the touchdown.
Shortly after this score, Dobbs' excellent toe work put the Steers back into a hole from which they could not extricate themselves and the rest of the half was mainly a matter of defense for the Orange. Late in the frame, one of Calahan's kicks was killed on his own 39 and a pass, Dobbs to Parker, turned out a first down to the 23. It was in this series of downs that an offside penalty nullified another first-down pass and Texas took over after Killian's futile attempt at a field goal. The Longhorns gained six yards on three running plays before the half expired.
Play was in Texas territory throughout the third quarter and again, thanks to Dobbs' great punting, the Ramblers gave the Longhorns another spine-crackling scare. Dobbs returned a Calahan kick nine yards to the Texas 28 and Walter West picked up twenty more yards on two identical running plays through the middle, which at their inception looked like they were going to blossom into passes with Dobbs unlimbering his pitching wing. After penetrating the Steers' 10-yard marker, the Rambler attack hit a snag and Texas took over on downs on its own 9. Shortly afterward, Ralph Park quashed another menace by intercepting a heave intended for Keeton.
At the start of the fourth period, a nineteen-yard gallop through the middle by Dobbs after a fake pass gave Randolph another first down on the Texas 21, but an interception by Ellsworth halted this march. The fleet Steer halfback was about to go places after flagging this heave when Parker bore him to earth with one of the most terrific blocks ever seen on the Cotton Bowl grid.
Neither team made another serious threat and Dobbs' long kicks kept Texas battling to get off its own goal line for two series of downs.
While no one who braved the pneumonia weather to attend the spectacle regretted taking the risk, it was evident to all that the Ramblers and Longhorns would have been good for one of the most thrilling and most wide-open, whirlwind shows in the history of the stadium had they been brought together in favorable weather. There's still room for a lot of argument on the question of who had the better team for a dry weather test, but it's also true that the Ramblers would poll a lot more votes now than they would have last week.
The gridiron Saturday was slippery and soggy from the start, largely because officials of the State Fair of Texas refused to put the protective tarpaulin over the field when requested in midweek. They gave the excuse they wanted to give the winter rye grass a chance to grow, and it wasn't until early Saturday morning, after the ground had already soaked up several hours' rainfall, that Athletic Director P.C. Cobb of the Dallas high schools was able to get his own crew on the job to unroll the canvas.
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