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Featured Moment: November 16, 1940
In a matchup of future
Hall of Fame coaches Earl "Red" Blaik of Dartmouth and
Carl Snavely of Cornell, the Big Red was a 7-3 winner when time expired,
but subsequently
relinquished the victory to Dartmouth in an historical act of honor.
(Graphic courtesy of the
NFF)
This report researched
and written by College Football Hall of Fame Curator and Historian Kent
Stephens
Published by Bonesville on
Nov. 10, 2012
FEATURED MOMENT
November 16, 1940:
With No. 2 Minnesota having defeated No. 3 Michigan the week before,
top-ranked Cornell fell to second in the national poll. To remain in
national championship contention, the Big Red would have to go on the
road to defeat Dartmouth. In a matchup of future Hall of Fame coaches,
Cornell’s Carl Snavely and Dartmouth’s Earl "Red" Blaik, the game became
a defensive struggle. Dartmouth’s Bob Krieger kicked a 27-yard field
goal to give the Big Green a 3-0 lead with more than four minutes to
play. Cornell then drove inside the Dartmouth one when confusion arose
after a Cornell penalty on a fourth down play. When the teams lined up
for a fifth play in the series, those in the press box could only guess
that there had been offsetting penalties on the previous play. The Big
Red then scored on a pass from Walt Scholl to Bill Murphy with two
seconds on the clock for the apparent 7-3 Cornell win. On Monday,
Snavely viewed the films and realized that his team was incorrectly
awarded a fifth down on the final drive of the game. Cornell President
Rufus Day sent a telegram to Dartmouth and relinquished his school’s
claim to the victory. It is the only time in college football history
that a score has been reversed. Ironically, President Day was a
Dartmouth graduate.
OTHER NOTABLE DATES
November 12, 1966:
One of college football’s all-time greatest backfield duos starred in a
37-21 Syracuse victory over Florida State. Hall of Fame running backs
Floyd Little and Larry Csonka produced the lion’s share of a 337-yard
rushing effort in front of their hometown crowd. Little scored three
touchdowns, gained 193 yards and set a new school career rushing record.
Csonka contributed to the day’s scoring on a one yard blast.
November 13, 1993:
In a matchup of the nation’s top two teams, No. 2 Notre Dame and future
Hall of Fame coach Lou Holtz seemingly halted No. 1 Florida State’s
national title run with a 31-24 win in South Bend. Trailing by 14 points
in the fourth quarter, FSU scored to draw within seven points. The
Seminoles made a final drive to pull even, but a pass by future Hall of
Fame QB Charlie Ward was knocked down at the goal line. The Seminoles
were back in the title hunt a week later when Notre Dame was upset by
Boston College. The season would conclude with the Seminoles winning the
Orange Bowl and Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden earning his first
national championship.
November 14, 1959:
In Athens, No. 12 Georgia upset No. 8 Auburn to secure their first SEC
Title since 1949. Hall of Famer Ed Dyas made two long field goals,
giving Auburn a 13-7 lead. But with 30 seconds to play, Hall of Fame
Bulldog quarterback Fran Tarkenton connected with Bill Herron for the
tying score. Durwood Pennington kicked the winning extra point for
Georgia.
November 15, 1980:
In Provo, Brigham Young quarterback Jim McMahon led his No. 13 Cougars
to an easy 45-14 win over visiting Colorado State. The Hall of Famer
threw for five touchdowns and 441 yards. His performance set four NCAA
records and tied two others. He set records for career passing yards,
total offense for a season and extended his record of nine consecutive
300-yard passing games and five 400-yard passing games.
November 17, 1990:
While the finish to the 1982 California-Stanford game is still the gold
standard for final play dramatics, the Big Game of 1990 is worth
remembering as well. With 12 seconds to play, Stanford scored to cut the
Cal lead to one point. When the two-point conversion failed, thousands
of Bear fans ran onto their home turf to celebrate. A delay of game
penalty on the Cal fans put the kickoff at midfield. The Cardinal
recovered the on-side kick. A roughing the passer penalty then moved the
ball to the Cal 22, where John Hopkins kicked the game winning field
goal with no time left on the clock to give Stanford a 27-25 win in
Berkeley.
November 18, 1939:
The 1939 Heisman race as well as the front runner for the 1940 trophy
may have been decided on this day. Playing at home in Iowa City, No. 15
Iowa defeated No. 20 Minnesota behind the exceptional play of halfback
Nile Kinnick. For the sixth consecutive game, Kinnick played all 60
minutes for the Hawkeyes. Trailing 9-0 in the fourth quarter, Kinnick
threw 45 and 28 yard touchdown passes and added an extra point as Iowa
took a 13-9 lead. He then sealed the win with an interception in the
game’s final minute. In Philadelphia, Michigan beat Pennsylvania 19-17
on a 63-yard touchdown run by Wolverine halfback Tom Harmon. On the
carry, the eventual 1940 Heisman recipient reversed the field five
times. When asked if he was surprised by the spectacular improvisational
play, Michigan coach and Hall of Famer Fritz Crisler remarked, “I don’t
know why, it was exactly as I had diagramed it.”
11/09/2012 10:56 PM |
