1937 Orange Bowl

How times have changed

Photo: James K. Hanna

How times have changed.

Did you watch any college football the last few days? There was no shortage of opportunity. While there is much to lament about the current state of big-time college football — NIL, conference realignment, transfer portal (isn’t that the thing Scottie operated in Star Trek?), corporate sponsorships (did you notice it’s no longer simply a kickoff, but “The Dodge Ram Truck Kickoff”?), coaches being paid million$ to QUIT, etc., etc., etc. — yet there is still a token of goodness in seeing a game-plan well-executed by stellar athletes, especially when the outcome is decided in the final minute or overtime like yesterday’s Michigan win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl (by the way, officially “The Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential”) in front of 96, 371.

So it’s hard to believe there was a time like New Year’s Day 1937 when little Duquesne, the Catholic Pittsburgh school founded by the Holy Ghost Fathers, defeated Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl in front of a crowd of 9,210.

Duquesne’s enrollment at the time was 1,300. Football scholarships? None.

The head coach was Notre Dame alum John P. “Little Clipper” Smith, a 1927 consensus All-American who played for coach Knute Rockne.

During the nine-game regular season the stifling Dukes defense gave up only 16 points and defeated local rivals Carnegie Tech 13-0 and the University of Pittsburgh 7-0. The victory over Pitt was noticed by the New York Times: “The valiant Dukes, representing a little school of 1,300 students on the city’s bluffs, set out to get their first victory in three tests against the Panthers - and did.”

The Dukes went on to the Orange Bowl, defeating the Maroon, 13-12; the winning score coming on a 72-yard fourth quarter pass from Boyd Brumbaugh to Ernie Hefferle. Hefferle received the game ball which is now on display at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh.

It was a long train ride from Miami to Pittsburgh for the Dukes but when the victors arrived they received a rousing welcome as reported by the school’s paper, The Duke: “Thousands of followers and classmates greeted the conquering squad on its arrival at Pennsylvania Station last night at 11:25 p.m. The Duke gridders, weary from the long train ride, were pleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic throng which greeted them on their return from Miami in tribute to their brilliant 13-12 triumph. Loyal followers cheered wildly and sang the school songs as the train bearing the squad pulled into the train shed a few minutes late. Radio announcers succeeded in detaining coaches and some of the gridders for a few hurried words to audiences of WWSW and KDKA.”

The following year the Dukes won six, but lost four, including a 6-0 defeat at the hands of Pitt. An interesting tidbit found in Joseph Rishel’s history of Duquesne: “Before the (1937) Pitt game, Father Thomas Jones, a philosophy professor at Duquesne, made a deprecating remark about the Pitt players at the pep rally, that ‘they play for their weekly paychecks.’ The University of Pittsburgh reacted with outraged indignation, and Father Jones was pressured to resign. Evidently, however, he harbored no ill will toward Duquesne - before leaving, he donated a large number of books to the university library.”

How times have changed.

A desperation 72-yard touchdown pass from tailback Boyd Brumbaugh to Ernie Hefferle spelled an end to Mississippi State’s upset hopes as Duquesne edged the Bulldogs 13-12. Source: orange bowl.org