Our next AC Roo story has been broken up into four chapters.
Chapter 1: The Huskers
Chapter 2: The Championship
Chapter 3: The Call
Chapter 4: The Aftermath
Chapter 1: The Huskers
All AC Roo stories should be dedicated to someone, right?. This one is dedicated to former AC Roo football player and Nebraska native Mr. Frank Tooley.
Nebraska Cornhusker football has few peers. 126 years of competition (6 more than AC ;)). 880 wins (5th all time). 5 claimed national championships (9 unclaimed). Three Heisman trophy winners. The Blackshirts. Memorial Stadium. Nebraska football truly is “The Big Red Machine.”
And the Huskers are known for something else as well. Trick Plays! Black 41 Flash Reverse vs. Oklahoma in 2001. The “Bounce Rooskie” vs. Oklahoma in 1982. The “Bummerooski” at Missouri in 1975. The “Flea Flicker” vs. Oklahoma in 1974. And the most famous trick play of all……………….the “Fumblerooski”.
The Fumblerooski is a designed play where the QB intentionally fumbles the snap, leaving the ball on the ground for a guard to scoop up and take off. Usually, the QB, backs, and line take off one way, while the guard lumbers (hopefully) unnoticed the opposite way. If it fails, it fails disastrously. If it works, it works very well.
Coach Tom Osbourne pulled out the fumblerooski in the fourth quarter of a close game against the Big 8 rival Oklahoma Sooners in 1979. On a third-and-long deep in OU territory, Nebraska scored on this trick play, leaving announcers Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles baffled. In the end, it would not be enough as OU would prevail 17-14. But the success of the play meant Osbourne would likely try it again.
And he did. Successfully. In the 1984 National Championship game against Miami in the Orange Bowl in 1984. Dean Steinkuhler’s touchdown run against the Hurricane is probably the most famous fumblerooski in history, because it occurred on such a prominent stage. Unfortunately for Nebraska, it would not be enough as the Huskers would fall to the Hurricane 31-30 in dramatic fashion.
Nebraska would execute the fumblerooski a third time in 1992, against Big 8 rival Colorado in Lincoln towards the end of the first half. Once again successfully. Once again catching the announcers by surprise. See video for all three NU fumblerooskis.
Nebraska is so associated with the play that when a fumblerooski allows Adam Sandler & Burt Reynolds to win at the end of 1995’s “The Longest Yard”, Chris Berman gives a shout out to Nebraska football.
Given all of this history, it would be rational to assume that the fumblerooski was created by Tom Osbourne & the Huskers in Lincoln, right? Right? Surely by now you should know the answer. Oh no, my friend. Oh no. 🙂
Burt Reynolds pulls a Dean Steinkuhler, and Chris Berman gives Nebraska some love.
Chapter 2: The Championship
All AC Roo stories should be dedicated to someone, right?. This one is dedicated to Mr. Frank Tooley
Earlier in this thread, Kevin mentions a 1924 AC 7-3 win over Baylor in Waco, and that the game ball exists in the “A” Room on campus. The Roos did indeed take down the Bears in 1924, one of many times AC beat Baylor back in the day. 1924 was legendary coach Pete Cawthon’s (more on him later) first year. Many of Cawthon’s boys would later go on to impressive coaching careers themselves.
One of those Cawthon stars was Henry Frnka (Freen-ka). In a preview of the game, the Waco News-Tribune featured Frnka as a “Real Star”, and warned that SWC member Baylor had better not take TIAA member Austin College lightly given past clashes. Yup. See attached article. Frnka’s solid career at AC ended after graduation, and he had one profession in mind: coaching.
He eventually landed the head football coach job in Greenville, TX, and began to quietly build a power. By 1933, the Greenville Lions were a title contender roaring through the Texas High School playoffs. A state quarterfinal matchup against a strong defensive San Antonio Brackenridge team awaited.
Scoring was likely to be a challenge. And when halftime ended with the score tied at 0-0, Frnka decided to go into his bag of tricks. On the second play of the half, Greenville ran the “hidden ball” trick, later known as the “fumblerooski”. Tackle Jim Rogers picked up the fumble and rumbled 68 yards for the games only touchdown. Final Score: Greenville 6, Brackenridge 2.
Greenville would eventually win the 1933 Texas HS state championship, topping Dallas Tech 20-14 in the state final at Fair Park in Dallas. It remains today Greenville’s only state championship.
Brackenridge was furious. They protested the legality of the play. They claimed the tackle’s knee touched the ground. They appealed the loss, and they came up empty. Frnka had earlier painstakingly discussed the play with the referee of the game, to ensure its legality. He also gave the referee a heads up to guarantee that he would be watching closely as the play commenced. The referee’s testimony sealed Brackenridge’s fate. Greenville would keep their title.
So all good right? All on the up-and-up? Eh, Probably. 🙂 Who was this mystery referee in the 1933 Greenville – Brackenridge state quarterfinal? Why, one Mr. Eddie Dyer. That’s right, Frnka’s former Austin College coach in the 1920s and future World Series winning Manager of the Cardinals in 1946. Well played Henry, well played. 🙂
Frnka’s fumblerooski at Greenville, TX is the first documented call of the fumblerooski ever. Frnka would be headed towards better opportunities later, and he would keep that play in his hip pocket just in case………………….
Frnka runs the “Hidden Ball” play against Brackenridge. Former AC Coach / HS football referee Eddie Dyer says it’s all good.
Chapter 3: The Call
All AC Roo stories should be dedicated to someone, right?. This one is dedicated to Mr. Frank Tooley.
Tonight’s Chapter is dedicated to Vandy Grad Todd Treible.
In 1922, Henry Frnka and the Roos traveled to Dallas and took down SMU 10-7. It must have made quite an impact on first year head coach Ray Morrison. Morrison, a Vanderbilt grad, would coach the Mustangs for 12 more years, before landing the head coaching job at his alma mater in Nashville in 1935.
A head coach has to have assistants. Who better than Henry Frnka, who whipped SMU in 1922 and won a HS state title in Greenville in 1933? Frnka was hired as Morrison’s assistant, and made the jump to SEC football during FDR’s first term.
In 1937, Vanderbilt had an SEC contender, and raced out to a 3-0 record. Up next? A trip to Dallas against SMU. After the Mustangs? The undefeated, unscored upon, and SEC favorite LSU Tigers. The Tigers had not lost an SEC game since 1934.
On the train ride from Nashville to Dallas, Vandy passed through Greenville. And Frnka, concerned with putting points on the board against the Tigers, had an idea. Why not run his hidden ball play? After much initial reluctance, Morrison finally agreed. While Vandy’s defense was solid, they had to figure out SOME way to score. So Frnka went to work in secret with his starters for the week leading up to the big game.
Game day arrived. Just as in Greenville, Frnka gave the referees a heads up. This time, however, Vandy ran the hidden ball play on the second play of the game. The play call in the Vanderbilt huddle was “Henry Frnka”. Everyone saw what occurred next, except Coach Morrison. “Tell me when it’s over”, he told an assistant.
Touchdown, Vanderbilt.
Commodore tackle Greer Ricketson went right, while all of Vandy went left. By the time LSU realized what happening, it was too late. No one got within a mile of Ricketson as he strolled into the end zone. Vandy played inspired defense the rest of the way, and ended LSU’s SEC win streak by a score of 7-6. Vanderbilt would finish a strong season at 7-2.
After the game, Morrison was asked about the big play that ended LSU’s SEC run. “Talk to Henry”, he said.
Morrison would spend two more years in Nashville, before moving on to 9 seasons coaching at Temple. The success of the play would prove beneficial for Henry Frnka. Coach Frnka would lead Tulsa to five straight winning seasons in the early 1940s, and would later enjoy a successful stint as head coach of Tulane. His last season with the Green Wave was in 1951.
Frank Broyles was a 13 year old Southern kid and football fan when Frnka ran his famous play. Later, he would lead Georgia Tech as QB against Frnka’s Tulsa teams in both the 1944 Sugar and 1945 Orange Bowl. After graduation, Broyles would join the Baylor Bear coaching staff and face off once again against Frnka’s Tulane Green Wave in 1948. Broyles knew former AC Coach Henry Frnka well. And when Nebraska dusted off this Austin College special against OU in 1979, Broyles was calling the game. Everything started to come flooding back……
All AC Roo stories should be dedicated to someone, right?. This one is dedicated to former AC Roo football player and Nebraska native Mr. Frank Tooley.
Because of the Corpus Christi background of Creighton, today’s chapter is dedicated to Corpus native Wayne Whitmire.
For Broyles, it all came flooding back. In 1979, Nebraska had just pulled to within 3 points of the Sooners late in the game, on a wild play. And later in the broadcast, Broyles would eventually remember:
“The craziest thing I ever saw. It was the old hidden ball trick. I think it’s the same one Henry Frnka used years ago with Vanderbilt to knock Alabama out of the Rose Bowl.”
LSU not Alabama. But pretty close coach. 🙂
Today, the fumblerooski is not a legal college football play. The NCAA banned plays with intentional fumbles back in the 1990s, just as the NFL had done decades before. Variations still remain, from the bummerooski to the puntrooski. But all variations involve the ball never touching the turf.
We can definitely say Frnka’s 1933 play in Greenville is the first documented use of the play. But when was the play first run according to legend? We have anecdotal evidence that suggests that the answer might be good ol’ Luckett Field on the campus of Austin College. Frnka himself says that he recalls the play from his playing days in Sherman. And there’s corroboration of Frnka’s recollections.
Jimmy (Snuffy) Creighton played football at AC from 1919 to 1923 and was a teammate of Frnka. In 1967, he wrote a book about his experiences in Sherman (football included) entitled “Once Upon A Time”. Creighton was a coach, teacher, historian, and legend at Corpus Christi Miller high school for most of his career. After a local team ran the fumblerooski in 1964, Creighton wrote to the Corpus Christi Caller Times to provide some historical reflections of his own.
According to Creighton, Frnka’s inspiration for his 1933 play came straight outta AC football. In 1919, Coach Ewing Y. Freeland drew it up, and Freeland’s 6’4″ 220 pound tackle Shem Cunningham carried it out. Fumblerooski. Touchdown. Austin College. Nearly 100 years ago.
Shem Cunningham’s name might be familiar to some Roos already. The AC Cunningham Lectures were established by a gift from 1920 grad Shem Cunningham and his wife in order to promote academic discussions of faith.
In addition to recognizing the football genius of AC alums, Broyles is also famous for leading Jerry Jones, Jimmy Johnson, and the Arkansas Razorbacks to the college football national championship in 1964. Arkansas clinched that championship with a win in the 1965 Cotton Bowl against ……… the soon-to-be fumblerooski fanatic Cornhuskers of Lincoln, NE.
The starting offensive linemen on that 1964 Husker team played too early to enjoy any fumblerooski glory. But one of them would have his own story to tell. Tackle Larry Kramer would soon begin his own coaching career, the highlight of which would be a 1981 NAIA Division II National Championship at the helm of the Roos of Austin College.
But that, my friends, is ANOTHER story. Oh what a tangled web we weave, Roos & Huskers.
