By Woodrow Carroll
College football has produced its share of memorable bowl games. That season-ending gridiron battle usually pits two quality opponents.
The 1948 Cotton Bowl was one such game, which matched Southern Methodist University (SMU) against Penn State. SMU was 9-0-1 with a late-season tie against Texas Christian University (TCU), The Nittany Lions of Penn State were unscathed at 9-0.
At the time SMU, based in Dallas, Texas, was a member of the Southwest Conference, which In the late-1940s, was composed of Arkansas and six Texas schools. Penn State was an independent.
The game was played in Dallas and the Cotton Bowl was SMU’s home field for big games.
Segregation was the way of life in southern states back then and that included Texas. Penn State had two black players in Wally Triplett and Dennie Hoggard.
The Southwest Conference had a strange rule back then that a conference team had to vote on facing an integrated team.
The Mustangs of SMU were No. 4 in the polls and the Nittany Lions, rated the top team in the East, were No. 5. Notre Dame and Michigan were the heavy hitters in college football! However, both SMU and Penn State each had sights on extra prestige and a bowl victory would do just that.
Earlier in the season, SMU beat host UCLA, 7-0, in Los Angeles. By then, UCLA had a history of black athletes at the school, such as Kenny Washington and Jackie Robinson.
SMU was promoting its stud player, running back Doak Walker. A bit of recognition would be helpful for Walker, who one year later won the Heisman Trophy.
Because of segregation in Dallas, the Penn State team stayed at a Naval training base. Seeking excitement, some of the Penn State players went into Dallas to some nightclubs. One club visited was the Carousel Club run by Jacob Rubenstein. Fifteen years later, Rubenstein, known as Jack Ruby, ended up gunning down Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of assassinating president John F. Kennedy in 1963.
The 1948 Cotton Bowl ended 13-13. A Walker pass and short run by Walker put the Mustangs ahead, 13-0 early. It was 13-7 in favor of SMU when Triplett scored late to tie the score. Each team missed on its second extra-point attempt.
Walker and Penn State’s Steve Suhey shared MVP honors.
Walker and the Mustangs were back in the Cotton Bowl in 1949. More successful this time, SMU defeated Oregon, 21-13. Oregon was led by future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Norm Van Brocklin. For six seasons, 1950-1955, Walker was a major factor in the Detroit Lions’ winning NFL championships in 1952 and 1953 and reaching the championship game in 1954.
Suhey did all right! He is probably best known in the Chicago area as the father of Matt Suhey, who played 10 seasons, 1980-1989, with the Chicago Bears. Steve Suhey, who played briefly in the NFL, was married to Ginger Higgens, the daughter of his Penn State head coach Bob Higgens.