Gadzooks, Rummy-- Calm down and think about how good the turkey will taste.
After all my favorite Texas teams stopped being undefeated and out of the running for the big show, I kinda lost the taste for picking college games--
Yet today I think back and three games from the 1963 season stand out in my memory.
October 11, a Friday night as #5 Navy quarterbacked by Roger Staubach visits lowly SMU in the Cotton Bowl only to find themselves in a firestorm as the Ponies give them more of a game than they expected. On the short end of a 32-28 score, Roger The Dodger drove his team to the 7-yard line with 1 second to play, but his pass attempt was batted down in the end zone by SMU's Tommy Caughren.
I was a High school Junior at Lake Highlands in North Dallas down in Corsicana that weekend visiting my cousin Skip. We listened to the game on the radio and were so hyped that SMU had beaten the mighty Navy--
And on Thanksgiving Day, 1963, #1 Texas traveled to College Station to face my Texas A&M. The Teasips were down 13-9 with only minutes left when Aggies John Bortheron picked off a pass but he fumbled and the Horns recovered on the 44 to continue the drive. Duke Carlisle scored the winning touchdown with 1:19 left and the Longhorns won 15-13 to finish with a 10-0-0 record.
When January 1st rolled around I was living up in Gunnison, Colorado, a much hated Texan having moved there from Dallas a week after Kennedy was shot. Anyway, the whole high school was anti-Texas, so I sucked it up and rooted for them Godless Longhorns. After UT beat Navy soundly 28-7 in the game, in the back of our family car was placed a home-made sign saying "SMU & TEXAS, TOO!"
So, this Thanksgiving I hope my Ags beat LSU and then the next day, the Teasips get shellacked by TCU in their holiday game that replaced the old UT-A&M classic.
Corsicana... Home of the Corsicana Comet...
Happy Thanksgiving!