Red Blaik's Blues

All week long, West Point's Coach Earl ("Red") Blaik had been singing the blues. To hear him tell it, Penn State's Nittany Lions would gobble his hamstrung team in a single gulp. His backfield, if he could field one at all. would be an impromptu joke. Joe Cygler, Army's fleet left halfback, was out for the season with a snapped ankle. Dick Murtland, another halfback, was laid up with a charley horse. Bob Kyasky, the fastest back of all, was nursing a bad knee. Mike Zeigler had run afoul of Army discipline and was finished with 'football. Don Holleder, the All-America end who had been shifted to quarterback, still had to learn how to fire his lefthanded passes soft enough for the average man to hold them. For Coach Blaik. beating Furman 81-0 in the opening game was already a half-forgotten memory.

The game with Penn State at West Point's Michie Stadium had hardly started last week when Blaik's blues were drowned out by the clear sound of victory. Holleder was handling his T-formation chores like a veteran--although his job was doubly complicated because every time he looked, his backfield mates were playing a different position. Far too spry for a man with a gimpy leg. Halfback Murtland suited up and played right and left half with equal agility; Kyasky came in to limp through a touchdown drive; Fullback Pat Uebel started at left half, switched to right half and took his turn at the fullback slot besides. No matter who was playing where, Southpaw Holleder faked or ran, handed off or passed with the same precision. His passes were still a little hot for handling, but he eased up when it counted, and flipped a short one to End Don Satterfield for the first score. He called his running plays so skillfully that Penn State was always off balance.

On defense, Army's big line was gang-tackling with wicked exuberance; Penn State Star Lenny Moore could hardly get started. By the end of the first half, Army was in front, 21-0. Only for ten minutes in the third period did the Lions roar at all, and then they got only one touchdown. In the last quarter, Army all but pushed them off the field, scored twice more to finish the game in front, 35 to 6. His sad song over, Coach Blaik was already whistling up a new tune for this week's march into Michigan.

On Saturday's score card, Army's power was not the only surprise:

P:Sneaking up on Ohio State's highly touted team, Stanford's Indians scored in 13 Plays after they first got their hands on the ball, held All-America Howard ("Hop-along") Cassady helpless in midfield and upset one of the country's best teams, 6-0.

P: Demonstrating the spectacular sleight of hand that seems built-in in all Notre Dame quarterbacks, Paul Hornung led the Irish to a 19-0 victory over the stubborn Hoosiers of Indiana.

P: Using two different teams and alternating them each quarter, Oklahoma Coach Bud Wilkinson successfully held off the best Pitt football team in years, extended the country's longest winning streak to 21 games as his Sooners won, 26-14.

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