University of Arkansas Monticello - Boll Weevil Yearbook (Monticello, AR)

Page 175 text:

HE Was A STRAIGHT A” | STUDENT IN ALK GRADVAETE WoRK-WAS NOMINEE FoR. RHODES SCHOLARSHIP — come ETED -D, DEGREE CONGRATULATIONS Qs. a COAC U CTC WA Q PROBABLY THE MOST ORGINAL COACH IN FOOT BALL-DOESN'T CARE WHETHER HIS TEAM e WINS OR LOSES. SO LONG AS His PLAYERS ENJOY THE GAME ARRANSAS A. AT. AND sald HE G S VA Carer Do you Mean { o0TSiDE oF By ScoRING THAT TOLDCH DOWN — AINATHING Don'T OI THAT ToDo! COACHES AS AN AVO CATION —1(5 ALSO DEAN OF MEN- HEAD OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION DEPT.— DIRECTOR OF STUDENT LABOR-EXTENSION PROFESSOR FOR UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS VISITING PROFESSA8R AT LS. tl. EACH HIS CAACHING AGREEMENT STATES THAT HE DOES Nov HAVE To WIN SINGLE GAME IN THREE Years WANDERING WEEVILS OF 1941 The 1941 Wandering Weevils were: ‘Fuzzy’ Watts, Paul Stegall, Charles Colvin, Benny Gaston, John ‘Scritch’ Scritchfield, William Bowers, Lawrence ‘Larry’ Lavender, Robert ‘Bob’ Potter, Frank ‘Buddy’ Carson, Lester ‘Yank’ Corwin, Oscar Dove, Ples ‘Pete’ McDonald, George ‘Bud’ Heroman, Eugene ‘Crack’ Jackson, Jim- mie ‘Twig’ Moore, Aurthur Isch, William ‘Wild Bill’ Owen, Rex Hoy. The Wandering Weevils visit with one of the U.S. Postmaster Generals. Athletics 171

Page 174 text:

170 Athletics THE WANDERING WEEVILS “YOU CAN'T LOSE THEM ALLY It's hard to imagine a football team trying to lose. But that’s just what the Arkansas A M Wandering Weevils did during their 3-year existence (1939-41). Under the direction of Dr. Stewart Ferguson, the Wan- dering Weevils traveled around the United States and made a habit of losing. They weren’t successful in all three years, however, as the squad ma naged to win three times in 33 games. A M became nationally known and drew crowds of large sizes at every contest. The Weevils played from coast to coast and audited classes at schools such as Southern Cal, Yale and Notre Dame while on the road. In toll, there were only five home games. Ferguson took over as football coach with the under- standing that his teams would not have to win a single game and would not have to play at home. He had been a successful winning coach at another college, but he was tired of the so-called high pressure college football. The Wandering Weevils didn’t set out with the intent to purposely try to lose, though some sports writers and opposing teams would argue. They just wanted to have fun and give some laughs. They were the Harlem Globe- trotters of football. Among the team members were a preacher, a barber and a former cheerleader. There were also some natural athletes, a couple of acrobats, gymnasts, and a pair of former collegiate wrestlers. They were good enough to win most of their 33 games, but they weren’t concerned with such. A M had to work hard to lose some of the games. Just when it looked as if the Weevils might score, the team would go into formation in which the punter would whirl around and kick the ball back downfield. The team could and did score touchdowns at times. In one of their plays, J.P. Leveritt, an acrobat turned half- back, walked on his hands, with the ball clutched be- tween his legs across the goal line. The team stooped to score occasionally but, as this incident indicates, it was all in fun. Another favorite antic dealt with substitutions, which took place whenever a different player wanted to play. Mss ate aA : L B a, ° sii Je eons fumesesemah |) eee The substitute would usually ride a bicycle onto the field and the replaced player would ride it off. The Weevils had one play that consisted of many laterals. Once they lateraled 19 times for a minus 80 yards. Sometimes, when it rained, the players even carried umbrellas onto the turf. On field goal or extra point attempts, the A M kicker would purposely miss the ball and appear to kick the holder. He, in turn, would turn somersaults to the side- - line, still holding the football. Opponents would often miss extra points against the Weevils, as the kicker would become bewildered when A M players would go into their ‘‘London Bridge Is Falling Down”’ play and all fall down on the snap. Though the team wore green or white at most of the games, it wasn’t unheard of for,them to dress in differ- ent colors, varying from purple to red to yellow. The Weevils would often cause confusion and infiltrate the opposition’s huddle by coming out after halftime wear- ing identical color jerseys as the opposition. The team would sometimes be gone for a month, but the players held class in their bus and gained cultural knowledge by visiting museums and art galleries. Fergu- son was a professor of biology, psychology, medieval history and physical education. He believed that the players ought to gain an education, and gain an educa- tion they did. The team won a game once in the first season against Northwest Mississippi College and embarassed them- selves by winning twice the following year, beating Northwest Mississippi again as well as the South Dakota School of Mines. Ferguson was able to achieve his goal of a perfect season, 0-12, in 1941 after adjusting his schedule, scratching both Northwest Mississippi and South Dakota. The team made money for the college, which is one of the hardest things to do as a football team. Ferguson's philosophy didn’t necessarily include losing, he just wanted his team to have fun acquiring an education. He wanted them to be entertained instead of having to face the usual ‘‘win or else’’ pressure. 14 1 f 1} ' |

Page 176 text:

UAM BETTERS RECORD A quick glance at UAM’s 1978 overall and conference football re- cord leads one to believe that the grid season was similar to those of the past decade. The Boll Weevils didn’t break the 10-year losing jinx, but the Monticello club did manage to eclipse 24 individual and team re- cords. The 5-6 overall mark was the best slate since the 1968 season. With 17 starters returning, predictors la- beled UAM as one of the best in the AIC, but early injuries and the lack of needed breaks saddled the Weevils with a 1-5 league slate. The game results resemble a see- saw as UAM posted two victories, dropped three, won once, dropped three more and triumphed twice. The Boll Weevils opened with a bang with easy wins over UA-Pine Bluff and Southwestern on the road. Losses to Tarleton State, Ouachita and Central Arkansas made things bleak before a shutout over Evangel put life back into the squad. It wasn’t enough, however, as Arkansas Tech, Harding and Henderson posted AIC wins. The team rallied in the final two outings to score large victories over Panhandle State and Southern Arkansas. UAM wasted no time in chalking UA-Pine Bluff Southwestern Tarleton St. Quachita Central Arkansas Evangel College Arkansas Tech UAM UAM UAM = UAM ) UAM UAM 26 UAM 14 up its first triumph against UAPB, thrashing the Golden Lions 26-0 for the fourth consecutive year. The of- fense, with Terry Alexander gaining enough yardage to break the all- time career rushing record, moved the football impressively in the opener and the defense stifled Pine Bluff at every threat. UAM had trouble hanging onto the ball against Southwestern, but the defense came up with four intercep- tions and Jerry Bingham cruised for 269 yards and four touchdowns to provide the spark. In his first colle- giate start, the junior tailback broke open for scores of 47, 12, 54 and 48 yards behind the fine blocking of the offensive line. The offense ended with over 400 yards while SAM gar- nered less than 130 and had eight turnovers. Tarleton State, one of the top NAIA Division II schools, left Cotton Boll Stadium with a hard-earned 10- 7 victory. Turnovers plagued the Boll Weevils tremendously as the of- fense couldn't get rolling against a tough Texan defense. Tarleton scored its points early and it stood up until Donald Harris’ 81-yard inter- ception return put UAM on the scor- eboard in the fourth quarter. All oth- er scoring opportunities were denied by the Texan defenders. Ouachita proved to be the better in the AIC opener as the Tigers romped to a 31-0 shocker. OBU, too, jumped to an early 10-0 margin and added three touchdowns in the second half. The Weevils could man- age only 56 yards rushing while the Tigers, paced by All-American Wil- liam Miller, gained 259. Three big passing plays provided the difference for UCA in its 17-7 win. After Benjie Timmons connect- ed with Rodney Franklin on an 83- yard touchdown pass to tie the game, the Bears took advantage of a questionable pass interference pen- alty and moved in for the go-ahead score. UAM completely dominated Evan- gel as the Weevil defense limited the Crusaders to a minus ten yards rushing. The offense got cranked up after a 3-0 halftime margin and put 23 more points on the scoreboard in the last half for the 26-0 blanking. Arkansas Tech pulled out a heart- breaking loss at Russellville as the Wonder Boys scored the winning touchdown on a fourth-and-six situa- tion with 34 seconds to play.“ UAM had erased a half-time deficit for a 14-10 advantage then Tech pulled it out. The Weevils had several scoring UAM 6 » UAM 15 Harding 22 Henderson 38 UAM 42 Panhandle St. 6 UAM 51 Southern Arkansas 13 conference games Tom Farmer clears the way for Benjie Timmons. 172 Athletics