On to the Cotton Bowl HIG TAKES A RIDE: Penn State fans carry Coach Bob Higgins after the Nittany Lions roared to a 29-0 victory over Pittsburgh at Pitt Stadium Saturday afternoon. The triumph gave Penn State its State Conquers Pittsburgh ; Does City Little Damage Penn State took over the city of Pittsburgh last weekend both figuratively and literally. Yesterday the hotels paused to survey their damage but found surprisingly little. The Lion fans had made plenty of noise but con ducted themselves better than had been expected, hotel official:- stated. Hotels Slightly Damaged The Hotel William Penn, scene of most of the post-game cele bration, reported a broken window and a cracked elevator floor-indi cator. Downtown police had calmed two men who they said were squirting a fire hose down the 11th floor corridor, causing the major disturbance of the weekend. The hotel declined to prosecute. The Webster Hall in the Oak land section could only complain that bottles and glasses were hurled from windows onto a patio. The Hotel Schenley had the job of disposing of the Stadium goal posts which were dumped on the hotel's veranda. The celebrating started Friday night at the Smoker and Pep Rally held at the William Penn. Lion students, sensing that the Higginsmen would be able to Fans Cast Ballots Today For Year's Football Stars Football fans will begin bal loting today for their choice of the outstanding Lion back and lineman. The oricial ballot appears on Page 7. Only votes entered on the official ballot can be counted. Due to the extra vacation the balloting will be continued through next Tuesday. Another ballot will be printed in Tuesday's paper. Ballot boxes will be placed in most of the restaurants and Col lege dining halls in State College for the convenience of the Penn State students and State College fans, and at the Bob Davis sore. Pe Ro Dairy and Uhl's Smoke Shop in Bellefonte. Ballot boxes will also be at the Times of'ices in State College and Bellefonte. Any person in Centre County resident or student. is eligible to vote. and any member of the (CoLcinued on page three) first perfect season since 1912. By Ben French down the hapless Panil•nrs next afternoon, made their pres ence known to sleeping Pa Pitts burgh. It was a quiet evening for co captain John Nolan as he had dinner with his parents, who wer celebrating their 25th weddin anniversary by attending th , - game. Next day, by the time the gam was several minutes old, Licr rooters realized that the football team knew nothing of the Stadium jinx and let loose with cheers and screams on every play. A 30-foot long banner with the inscription, "Roar Lions, Roar," was unfurled from one end-zone Materials for the sign were pro vided by All-College Cabinet with Ferris Thompson painting the yard-high letters. (Continued on nape seven) Rally Draws 1000 Dowirour More than a thousand faithful tudent supporters rssembled in the rain be - ore Old Main noon yesterday to voice their enthiisils tic approval of the Perfect arid - ecord chalked up by Coach Rob i iggins and the Nittany squad. The impromptu Vicaory Rally .00nsored by Hat SocieVes Coup c:l, featured responses by the vet- N . an gridiron coach and Carl Schkt. dean of the school of phy '?al education. . Coach Higgins was wildly cheer ed when he referred to a tele nhnne crlt from Dallas. Texas. site of the Cotton Bowl grid lags . P c- au Schot . in his re (Canfinued on page three) Rooters Cheer Each Play 011 r Datil! VOL. 46—No. 36 TUESDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 25, 1947—STATE COLLEGE, PENNA. Students Call for Cotton Bowl Game As Nittany Lions Claw Panthers, 29-0 Penn Staters Endorse SMU As Ilex' Opponent By Allan Ostar "On to the Cotton Bowl" was the cry of the Penn State students who braved a cold rain yesterday noon to cheer coach Bob Higgins and the .first Nittany Lion football Leam to achieve a perfect sea ;on since 1912. Since the Pittsburgh news papers carried the news that Penn State had a very good chance of oeing invited to participate in the New Year's Day classic at Dallas, Texas, enthusiasm has reached a new high among the student body. The streets of the Smoky City reverberated until the early hours of Sunday morning as Penn State fans let it be known that they wanted to add Southern Methocust University to the Nittany Lion's string of nine victories. Some optimistic students went so far as to get timetables and transportation costs to Dallas from the travel agencies in Pitts burgh. It costs $167.44 for a round trip by air. The only thing missing is an official bid from the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association, and this will not be forthcoming until the Fowl officials hear in answer to t:ieir "feelers," that Penn State slight be receptive to such an c Ter. Yesterday afternoon Coach Hig- :Ins/called a meeting of the fool 1-all players and asked them if - ley would be willing to sacrifice '' , eir Christmas vacations to play post-season game. The Lion • idders were enthusiastic in in r '-ating their desire to play. Meanwhile Coach Matty Bell of southern Methodist said that his ' "am would have no objections to -l aying Penn State in the Cotton 'owl even though there are some N'egroes on its team. The SMU "Tidders, in a poll taken yester 'ay, indicated that they would be • - ery willing to play Penn State. Speaking of the Nittany Lion's Negro players, Coach Bell de ^lared: "That's a problem for the Cotton Bowl officials. We have no objections ourselves. SMU has broken precedent before. We were the first school of the Southwest r!onference to play against Negroes in another section. After all, we're supposed to live in a democracy." Bell pointed out, however, that Triplett and Hoggard might have to stay in hotels apart from the terintmlied on naae six) Ashenielter 2nd, Karver 6th As Lion Harriers Win NCAA,s By ELLIOT KRANE They're thinking of changing "orate Ashenfelter's nickname :rom "Fearless Fos d i c k" to 'Hardluck Horace," and they've 'ready started calling the Penn 'tate cross countr y team Champs." Chick Warner's Nittany Lion i'.rriers won their second Nation- Colle - iate cross country cham nionship at Michigan State Col loge, East Lansing, Michigan in three inches of snow yesterday —orning. Ashenfelter led the pack to 'he three-mile mark and then took a wrong turn and went 20 yards off There's great joy in the N:ttany Lion's den. The reason: Penn State's mOuntain cat reached out with a predatory paw Saturday and crushed Pitt, 29-0, and the deep cleat-marks in the Panther's hide will burn and rankle for many moons. For Head Coach Bob Higgins and his once-in-a-lifetime grid aggregat:on, the nugget of victory had many facets: First, it overcame a Pitt jinx that had plagued the Lions for three years, transforming them into floundering kit tens, putty in the paws of Pitt's Panther. • Second, it was the final stage in a gridiron campaign that stamped the high-geared 1947 eleven as one of the greatest ever to don B'ue and White moleskins of Penn State. Third, it paved the way for a stream of post-season bowl offcrs, some of which have alrea 'y been received. Fourth. it climaxed the first nerfect nine-game foot ball season in the hfstory of the College. Ines From The hors.. . '`mar Gang: It's good to be back in this Nit ' any Valley lair and take our hoes off again, isn't it? My city cousin. the Panther. - ill never be the same. That hunk I took off his hide made `his the worst hunting season of ''is career. Have been checking the local •tores for a saddle and spurs for a possible trip to Dallas and a ittle bronc-busting assignment. I've never tasted mustang burgers, but Phineas tells me they're much like panther burgers. I'm looking forward to a scout :ng trip down to Texas and will have a picture taken for my pass port today. Meanwhile, I'll spend Thanksgiving at the Bronx Zoo visiting relatives. I am thankful for this great - eason and I want to thank the gang for feeding me so well. For the glory, The Lion Vacation Begins Thanksgiving vacation beains at noon today, said Wilmer Ken worthy, secretary to the acting president of the College. The 24-hour extension was granted as a "football holiday." Classes will be resumed Monday. De cember 1. the course; by the time he got back on the path he was third Jack Milne of North Carolina and Quentin Bre!sford of Ohio Wes leyan, defending titlist. passes: " -henfelter. Milne won the race in 20:41.1, 0 seconds off Brelsford's pace •last year, and 30 seconds off Greg Rice's record for the four-mile lat ri•n in 1938. BRELSFORD FALLS Ashen:e.ter finished second, aking over that position after Brelsiord had slipped and fallen in the snow. Ash's time was 20:45, three seconds better than Brels ford's who finiehed third. Jerry Karver, ace Lion harrier, By TOM MORGAN Fifth, it enabled the Lions to register the first undefeat ed and untied record in R 5 years of State grid competi tion. Nittany Valle' Sixth, it lowered the Nittany nen's phenomenal rushing defense mark to a record average ;if 17 yard s yielded per game to ol)non - ents' running attacks. This shat ters the national re-ord of 25.3 yards. registered by Santa Clara In 1937, and takes on adie- sig nificance in the [fight of the oi fensive key to which present-day football is pitched. Seventh, it marked the lions as one of the country's top 1947 football Titans, vieually sure bet to capture the Lambert Tr(phy, symbol of Eastern foot ball supremacy. Eighth, it transformed into reality Coach Higgins' .27-year.. old dream of skippering a colle giate football team through an undefeated and untied season. FOUR UNDEFEATED Ninth, it established State as tie of the nation's four major el evens b,oasting spotless records. None of the others—Southern Methodist, Southern California and Notre Dame—has finished its sehe'ule. The latter two clash Dee. 6. Befcre a throng estimated to be 53,000 (highest in the 47-game Pitt-State series), the Higgins men's powerful running attack churned out four touchdowns, with a field goal tacked on, to blast the hapless Pittmen. WILLIAMS SCORES After halfback Bobby Williams (Continued on pap. four, :ound the going rougher than his ea.mmate and finished in 6th dace, just ahead of Rhode Island :fate's Bob Black, 1947 IC4-A oss country champ. The Lions won the team tro phy with 60 points. Syracuse was next with 72, followed by Drake, three-time winner, with 133. 'Purdue and Indiana tied for fourth with 147 and Michigan State waq fifth wi`h 152. KARVER'S BEST Ashenfelter, who finished sec ond to Black in this year's !C4-A's, pulled a similar stunt last year in the Nationals and od 19th a e 'er h- rn wk. a (Continued on page eight) fIFT Ft
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers