West Virginia University - Monticola Yearbook (Morgantown, WV)

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irljmoni) ®lme;5-Bispatrh RICHMOND SPOILS HOPES Starting one hour later than usual, West Virginia was favored to break an eight-game losing streak at the expense of Richmond at Mountaineer field. The last victory was one of the school ' s all-time greatest, the 23-15 upset of Pitt last season. Such a victory would give the Mountain- eers a start in their big rebuilding program under Coach Gene Corum. He was using about 40 players per game to provide ex- perience for the future, and confidence pre- vails that the system will pay off. Ordinarily ihe Mountaineers would have already had a victory under their belts, but the caliber of the most arduous schedule in the University ' s football history makes for the current situa- tion. It was a schedule that West Virginia ieams could have handled a few years ago and should be able to meet on balanced terms soon. Last season saw the closest game in the series between these two Southern Confer- ence rivals, West Virginia preserving its un- defeated status against the Spiders by the score of 10-7 on Johnny Golden Toe Thackston ' s last-period field goal. Richmond graduated a majority of Its squad, which was good enough to tie conference V.M.I.. while the Mountaineers, despite the record (0-3). was rated an Improved team. Richmond was described by scout and Coach Charles Chick Donaldson as a good first team, lacking In depth. Apparently the Mountaineers ' three units had the oppor- tunity to wear this foe down. This was Band Day at Mountaineer Field, always a colorful affair. Majorettes pranced all over the field at halftime while the Uni- versity band and dozens of high school bands performed en masse from the stands. This was a bright spot In a cloudy, dreary day. Richmond came out the second half l o spoil and down the hopes, temporarily, of winning a ball game. The two teams fought to a seven-to-seven tie. 29

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(I] xm00 Jall Utihrnut lllini Annihilate Mounties 33-0 Illinois University wra + hfully displayed it ' s characteristic Midwestern power as they rolled over West Virginia Varsity. Fortu- nately, this was only after an almost even first half. In their first-half effort, the Mountaineers lost the services of four men. hlowever only a shoulder injury to first-string center Charlie Lanasa proved to be serious. In addition to holding the Niinl to only one touchdown In the first two stanzas of play, the Blue and Gold varsity locked the door to their goal three times. To accom- plish this, the Mounties took the ball on downs twice after the Big Ten Power had driven Inside ihe 25-yard line. It was only after the Mounties coughed up a costly fumble In their own territory, that the lllini cashed In on a couple of passes. These aerials put the ball on the f ve-yard marker where fullback Bill Brown tucked the pigskin between his arms and plunged over. When the second half started, the fans saw two new teams on the gridiron. A flred-up Big Ten Conference Team and an injury- riddled, weary Southern Conference power. It wasn ' t long till the National Honors aspir- ant made the Mounties even more weary. Joe KrakowskI eluded the entire team and rambled 53 yards for an lllini touchdown. A few minutes later the Illinois varsity carried the ball 4 times for 61 yards, culminating with colorful Marshall Starks scoring from 25 yards out. In the last stanza, the fighting lllini again drove 61 yards for their fourth touchdown of the afternoon. After Mountaineer quarterback Dale Evans bobbied the ball Inside his own ten- yard line, he got off a short hurried kick to the 27-yard line. Illinois used five plays in driving back down the field for the score. The Mountaineers, still trying to escape a whitewash, drove to the Big Ten team ' s 29-yard line. After the referees called a 15- yard penalty, the Mounties could not make a first down and thus went down to a shutout defeat.

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•m »§■ The Pittsburgh Press Pitt Claws Mounties 42-0 The young big team left their home io play arch-rival Pitt in their own backyard. The Pitt-West Virginia football version of the World Series took over sports-mad Pitts- burgh in the fifty-second renewal of a rivalry that has the overtones of a crusade for the young Mounties. The underdog had won six of the last eight games. West Virginia had won four of those games and they were all considered upse+s. Last year ' s victory, 23-15. over a Pitt team that defeated Penn State, Notre Dame, and others, happens to have been the last time West Virginia won a game. The Panthers held a weight advantage at every startinq position but two, a-fourteen- pounds-per-man edge in the line and ten pounds over-all. Pitt had the big, powerful and fast C boys, Fred Cox, Bob Clemens and Jim Cunningham, In the backfleld, which was quarterbacked by Jim Traficant and Ed Sharockman. Back in 1952, a stumbling West Virginia football team, which had suffered three years without a winning season, came to life with one of the greatest victories In Its history. The fuzz-faced Mountaineers thumped old rival Pitt 1 6-0 to ring in the University ' s second golden era In football — a record of 29 triumphs in 33 games. With two wins In the last three Panther gridfests. West Virginia looked to that bleak Saturday In familiar Pitt Stadium as another great opportunity to play the game to remember a lifetime. The biq-city dwellers had other ideas and they transferred those ideas into reality. That dark, dismal afternoon, the C boys with Mike DItka. All-American end, ran and passed circles around the young, Inexperienced men from the Mountain State. After the dust had cleared and the blood was wiped from the field, the scoreboard told, that Saturday, West Virginia had succumbed to the superior Pittsburgh team 42-0. 30