“Austin College & TCU: The 1920 Roo Season in Review”
Chapter 1: Austin College vs. Durant Normal (SE Oklahoma State)
The story of the 1920 Austin College Kangaroo football season covers many topics. It’s a Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (TIAA) championship season with a conference title, and an historic victory by a 110-0 margin. It’s a year in which the Roos competed with the best the Southwest Conference (SWC) had to offer, and embarrassed one conference member on its home turf. It’s about an exceptional group of athletes, one of whom later formed a part of Murderer’s Row on the 1927 New York Yankees. It’s the beginning of a decade of Roo athletic dominance, a period when smaller Texas colleges consistently lost and larger Texas colleges were reluctant to schedule and suffer the same.
But mainly, the story of the 1920 Roos is about Texas Christian University (TCU).
Austin College & TCU have a lot in common. Both are old school, protestant denomination-affiliated private institutions. AC (1849) & TCU (1873) are two of only five Texas colleges established before the end of Reconstruction. AC (1896) and TCU (1896) are two of only five Texas colleges to participate in intercollegiate athletics in the 19th century. Both schools had humble origins in small towns. AC was born in Huntsville, while TCU was founded in tiny Thorp Spring. Both schools found permanent homes in north Texas, with moves to Sherman (1876) and Fort Worth (1910).
And that’s when the similarities began to diverge. The fates of private Texas colleges in the 20th century were linked to the metropolises in which they were found. Private schools in the small towns of Sherman, Waxahachie (Trinity), and Georgetown (Southwestern) remained small. Private schools in the rapidly expanding cities of Fort Worth, Dallas (SMU), and Houston (Rice) grew alongside them. By the 1930s, TCU, SMU & Rice were winning national championships at the highest level and regularly competing with those larger state schools in Austin and College Station. But the 1920s? They were different.
1920 TIAA membership included the following schools:
SMU (both a TIAA & SWC member)
Southwestern
Trinity
Daniel Baker (later merged into Howard Payne)
TCU
Austin College
The Horned Frogs and Roos were the elite and would defeat all other conference opponents in 1920. Both schools had dreams of SWC membership alongside their TIAA dominance, and sports writers during the year would mention the Roos with the same awe as the Frogs. AC & TCU battled for the title in 1920; that battle would end in dispute and controversy, which makes the story much more interesting 100 years later.
The 1920 Roos were coached by Ewing Freeland. A Vanderbilt man, Freeland’s coaching career already included a stop at TCU in 1915. By the end of his career, Freeland would lead SMU to its first SWC championship and would oversee the birth of Texas Tech athletics in Lubbock. The 1920 Horned Frogs were coached by William Driver, who played at Missouri before coaching in Texas. The 1920 TCU squad was Driver’s finest; it was led by a receiver/end named Dutch Meyer. Meyer would become a TCU icon, leading the Frogs to two national champions, coaching Sammy Baugh and Davey O’Brien, and administering TCU athletics well into the 1960s. A much-anticipated clash between the Roos & Frogs was eagerly awaited in Fort Worth early in the season by sports fans across the state.
AC kicked off their season on September 25th at home against non-conference opponent Durant Normal (S.E. Oklahoma State). Home in 1920 was Kidd-Key Field, located at the present-day Bearcat Stadium in Sherman. From “100 Years, 100 Yards: The Story of Austin College Football,” by Willie Jacobs:
“The Kangaroos’ second team played the entire second half in the first game of the 1920 season, a 62-0 whipping of Durant Normal in which (future All-TIAA member & AC Hall of Honor inductee) Lee Jones returned an interception 40 yards for the first touchdown.”
With the win, AC had let the conference know that it would contend for the title. The following week, TCU would host Durant Normal in Fort Worth and attempt to match the effort of the Roos. AC had another squad on its mind though the following week. Freeland’s Roos had a trip planned to Waco, to take on the Southwest Conference’s Baylor Bears.
Next Saturday: Chapter 2: Austin College at Baylor
“Austin College & TCU: The 1920 Roo Season in Review
Chapter 2: Austin College at Baylor
The 2020 Baylor Bears kick off their season next Saturday at home. Baylor is not only coming off a 2019 Big XII South title, the Bears also landed one of the top offensive minds in the country as their new offensive coordinator in the off season. Larry Fedora, an All-American receiver at Austin College, will be leading the Baylor offense at McLane Stadium. After nearly a century playing at venues throughout the city of Waco, the Bears recently returned home. McLane is a part of the Baylor campus.
The 1920 Baylor Bears kicked off their season on September 25th at home. The Austin College Kangaroos traveled south from Sherman and met the Bears at Carroll Field. This former home of Baylor football stood just west of the administration building & Carroll Science Hall. Before Carroll Field was outgrown in the 1930s, it witnessed two Baylor Southwest Conference championships in 1922 and 1924. The second SWC championship was accomplished without a single conference loss; the Longhorns, Aggies, Razorbacks, Mustangs, and Owls all failed to dislodge Baylor. There was one non-conference loss in 1924, however. To Austin College.
The 1920 Roos threw everything and the kitchen sink at their Southwest Conference opponents in Waco, but came up on the short end of a 9-0 loss. Two Baylor scores in the third quarter ended a 0-0 tie at halftime and allowed the Bears to earn a punishing win in their season opener. The press reported that the Roos were “every bit the equal” of their Bear opponents, and that “the visitors were expert in forward passes.” Like most SWC schools in the 1920s, Baylor understood that a tough victory against TIAA Austin College was the best to be hoped for.
Meanwhile, TCU was taking care of business in Fort Worth. Although the Frogs failed to match AC’s 62-0 win over Durant Normal (SE Oklahoma St.) in the previous week, TCU’s 20-0 win was dominant all the same. The victory set up what was being billed as a pivotal TIAA conference matchup the following weekend: Austin College @ TCU in Fort Worth. From the Fort Worth Star Telegram:
“On October 9th one of the strongest games on the Christians’ schedule is booked when the Austin College Kangaroos will journey to the Panther City. It is remembered that the Kangaroos had a team of big-league caliber last season, and from all reports have even better prospects this fall. Coach Freeland of Austin College is an early season conditioner and from all reports his men would be in shape for a game right now. The Kangaroos also have practically the whole of their last season’s team back, including such men in the backfield as Moseley, GoLightly, Barbere, and Sensabaugh.”
Jerry Sensabaugh was from Cisco, TX. 1920 was his senior year at Austin College. The Chromascope mentions that Sensabaugh was “big, powerful, hard to get off his feet, and could size up a play quickly and grab passes.” Sensabaugh and AC brushed off the loss to Baylor and returned to Sherman to prepare for the TCU game. Sportswriters agreed that AC-TCU would probably decide the conference title. The game would be the most memorable of the year. Also the most controversial, with the play of Jerry Sensabaugh front and center.
The 1924 Roos got revenge in Waco on behalf of their 1920 counterparts, defeating Baylor when no Southwest Conference opponent could do the same. The Baylor Bears then proceeded to endure 50 years of SWC championship futility, until Coach Grant Teaff’s “Miracle on the Brazos” season of 1974. Teaff is a Baylor icon who presided over Bear football for two decades. One of his last acts as Baylor Coach in the early 1990s was the hiring of a new assistant: Austin College Kangaroo Larry Fedora.
Go get ‘em Coach Fedora! Sic ‘em Bears! Austin College vs. TCU, the 1920 game of the year, kicks off next Saturday.
Next Saturday: Chapter 3: Austin College at TCU
Chapter 3: Austin College at TCU“
Next Saturday the Austin College Kangaroos, one of the fastest teams in the state, will face the Christians on Clarke Field [of] TCU. The Kangaroos displayed some high caliber last season, and the Frogs are working hard in preparation for this contest. Coaches Driver and McKnight are using every football tactic known in trying to whip together a squad that can be considered a leading contender for the TIAA championship.” – Fort Worth Record
Before Amon Carter Stadium’s dedication in 1930, the TCU Horned Frogs competed at Clarke Field. Now occupied by the Neeley School of Business, it’s the spot where TCU dreams of Southwest Conference membership were born. That dream was realized in 1923, around a group of TCU athletes who won the school its first conference title in 1920. That conference title is disputed and claimed by Austin College.
The Roos traveled to Fort Worth and met TCU in what many sports writers considered the TIAA game of the year. The winner would surely be in the driver’s seat for the title. An epic matchup was expected. An epic match was exactly what the fans got.
The home team got off to a quick start, scoring a touchdown late in the first quarter. The conversion failed, and TCU took a 6-0 lead into halftime. That lead was widened to 9-0 after an early third quarter field goal. It appeared that TCU, not Austin College, was the team to beat in TIAA race of 1920.
But then the Roos caught fire.
Ray Morehart is arguably the most famous athlete in AC history. After his last baseball game in a Roo uniform in 1922, Morehart walked from the diamond to Luckett Hall, where he signed a Major League contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Trades eventually took him to the New York Yankees in 1927, where he was a contributor to the best team in baseball history. After an injury inserted Morehart into the starting lineup for six weeks that summer, this Austin College Kangaroo officially became a part of Murderer’s Row. Morehart was an expert at getting on base; Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were equally expert at sending the Roo home.
But that was 1927. In 1920, Morehart was the star of the AC football team. And in the fourth quarter of the game against TCU, Morehart exploded.
After a TCU three-and-out with 5 minutes remaining, AC had possession once again on its own 30-yard line. Morehart, already recognized as one of the fastest backs in the state, received a pitch, headed towards the sideline, broke a tackle, and turned up field. And he was gone. 70 yards later, AC was celebrating a dramatic touchdown in front of a shocked TCU crowd. The conversion was good, and the score stood at 9-7. There was just enough time for AC to get the ball back one more time after a defensive stop. They got it, forcing TCU to punt with just over a minute on the clock. Morehart was standing at midfield, ready to work his magic again.
Ray Morehart caught the ball at his own 40-yard line and sprinted right through the first wall of TCU coverage, he then turned it outside, found a lane, and headed for the corner of the end zone. He almost made it. A TCU defender dragged him down at the five-yard line. Lacking confidence in their kicking game during an era when kicks were no guarantee, Austin College had four chances to pound the ball into the endzone for a dramatic win on the road.
Morehart got the first carry; he forced his way to the two-yard line. He got the second carry as well and was stopped at the one-yard line. TCU was expecting Morehart to get the ball again on third down, and they were right. Morehart was stopped at the line for no gain. The Roos called their last timeout.Fourth-and-goal from the one with seconds remaining. Score and win. Fail and lose. TCU knew who would get the ball for this last attempt. The best running back in the state of Texas: Ray Morehart.
But AC Coach Ewing Freeland had other ideas. Freeland called a play which would use Morehart as a decoy on the strong side. Instead, Jerry Sensabaugh would get a pitch in misdirection and head for the corner of the end zone. TCU wouldn’t see it coming. And it worked.
Sensabaugh got the ball, saw a small bit of daylight, and headed for the corner of the end zone. One lonely TCU defender was on his tail and did reach Sensabaugh in time. But the AC back powered through the tackle, reached out for the goal line, and pushed the ball into the endzone. Touchdown. The Roo sidelines erupted in celebration. They had pulled it off, against the odds.
The refs didn’t see it that way.
Officials called Sensabaugh down at the one-inch line. AC coaches and players erupted in fury, calling foul and protesting the ruling. Because the clock did not stop after a change of possession in 1920, the refs called the game as the Roos were protesting, adding further to their frustration and anger. But there was nothing to be done. Officials declared that AC had come up short. By one inch.
The injustice in Fort Worth seemed to energize AC for the rest of the season. They knew that any stumble by TCU for the rest of the season would be an opportunity. The Roos planned to hang around to capitalize if that occurred. And boy did they. Over the next 5 conference games, AC would outscore their opponents 261-0. And the next opponent? Daniel Baker? Would endure the wrath of the Roos more than any other. AC’s 109-0 win after the painful TCU loss is today the third largest shutout in the history of Texas College football.
Next Saturday: Chapter 4: Austin College vs. Daniel Baker
“Austin College & TCU: The 1920 Roo Season in Review”
Chapter 4: Austin College vs. Daniel Baker
There’s an historic bell found in Wynne Chapel today. The bell was a present to the school from Sam Houston, one of the first Trustees of Austin College and the first President of the Republic of Texas. By tradition, the bell was rung for each point scored by the Austin College Kangaroo football team. That tradition ended abruptly in 1920.
Austin College, the best of the TIAA in 1920, gave Southwest Conference Baylor all it could handle at Waco in week #2. That same day, another TIAA member traveled to College Station to face the Southwest Conference Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. It wasn’t as close as the Roos-Bears game. In fact, it wasn’t close at all. In fact, it was an historic rout.
The Daniel Baker Hillbillies were not a good team in 1920. They went winless that year, and often lost by huge scores. They lost to a Mississippi Junior College by 13, to Texas State by 40, and got crushed by a Hardin-Simmons team scoring 54 points. But that was nothing compared to the beating endured at Kyle Field. A strong Aggie team was unstoppable and continued piling up the points as the first teams gave way to backups. By the merciful end, Texas A&M had defeated Daniel Baker 110-0. It was the biggest shutout in Texas college football history.
The Roos were furious about their “win” at TCU being taken away in unjust fashion. They were in no mood to be charitable when Daniel Baker paid a visit to Kidd-Key Field (now Bearcat Stadium) in Sherman. The Hillbillies would pay for that TCU “loss” and then some, as AC scored almost at will throughout the entire game. Although AC Coach Ewing Freeland did sit his starters in the second half and his second team in the fourth quarter, the third team Roos were instructed to continue fighting for yardage. After all, there was a record to catch: Texas A&M’s 110 points from two weeks earlier.
Ray Morehart, who would later star with Ruth & Gehrig on the 1927 Yankees, scored five touchdowns; it’s a Roo record that still stands. Eight other players also found the end zone, and as the fourth quarter began AC held an 81-0 lead. The scoring continued, as the Roos passed the century mark. One final touchdown gave AC a 109-0 lead, but they never got the ball back again. Austin College’s 109 points were the second biggest shutout in Texas college football history. The Aggie record had survived by a mere point.
The Sam Houston bell rang for an eternity that day against Daniel Baker. 7 times after the first touchdown. Then 14 after the second one. And on and on and on. By the time the Roos passed the century mark, the bell had been rung nearly 1,000 times. And then, on one of the last rings, it cracked. The bell gifted by the famed Texan of San Jacinto had withstood all it could, but had been rendered a Presbyterian version of the cracked Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Today, it hangs in Wynne Chapel and is only rung lightly on rare occasions. Such as the AC Convocation to mark the beginning of a new academic year.
The Daniel Baker game was a taste of things to come for AC’s TIAA opponents. Although the Roos would not come close to matching the 109-point output, they would put up big scores on all remaining conference foes and not yield a single point the rest of the way. A TCU stumble in the conference was still a possibility, but the Horn Frogs were leaving little to chance. While AC was scoring 109 points in Sherman, TCU defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks by 17 in Fort Worth.
AC Coach Ewing Freeland got the last laugh. To his frustration, the Roos had failed to match the Aggie shutout by one point in 1920; Texas A&M still held the record. But that changed in 1925, when Texas Tech was founded. Freeland was asked to coach the Red Raiders in their first season of existence. His Tech team could only manage a 3-3 tie against Austin College in Lubbock, when the Roos became the first team ever to score points against Texas Tech football. But they found their stride later, posting an incredible 125-0 win at home against Wayland Baptist. That 125-0 Tech win by the former Roo Coach remains the largest shutout in Texas college football history today. Texas A&M’s 110-0 victory? It’s now #2.
Austin College had one last non-conference game before its remaining TIAA matchups, however. The Roos prepared for a trip to Austin, to face the mighty Longhorns of the University of Texas. The Austin American Statesman wrote about the upcoming game, noting “that Austin Colege has strength was shown by the beating it administered to Daniel Baker College Saturday with the score 109 to 0, thus coming within one point of the mark set by the Texas Aggies.” The Roos would face the Horns and try to figure out how to do what no team had yet done in 1920: Saw Varsity’s Horns Off.
Next Saturday: Chapter 4: Austin College at the University of Texas
“Austin College & TCU: The 1920 Roo Season in Review”
Chapter 5: Austin College at The University of Texas
The University of Texas began a major technology modernization in 2018. As an I.T. Manager with the University of Texas System, I was intimately involved. We held many of our meetings at the (Bill) Gates / (Michael) Dell Complex on campus, and I enjoyed going to every single one. Why did I enjoy those meetings? It wasn’t the “what.” It was the “where.” The Gates / Dell Complex sits on the site of the old Clark Field.
Clark Field was built for Longhorn Athletics at the turn of the century and was still used by Longhorn football in 1920. It was the site of two Roo-Longhorn matchups in 1912 & 1913, but the series ended for 7 years after that. That was until Robert Vinson decided to bring it back.
Robert Vinson was a Kangaroo, Class of 1896; he was also a veteran of AC football. His brother William Vinson, also a Roo, entered the legal profession and established the firm of Vinson & Elkins. Robert had his sights on academia however, and worked his way up to President of the University of Texas in 1916. By 1920, he had secured an agreement with Austin College. The Roos and the Horns would meet on the Clark Field gridiron for the next four years. Vinson would watch the 1920 game with divided loyalties.
The Roo football team arrived by train in Austin, and were greeted by friends. Alumni were numerous throughout Austin and within the University of Texas. In addition to President Vinson, Thomas Currie (Roo football veteran of 1905) was President of U.T.’s Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Kangaroo George Butte, who would later run for Governor in 1924, was the President of U.T.’s law school. From the Austin American Statesman:
“When the Austin College football team arrived in Austin on the Texas Special from Sherman Thursday evening, it was received by a number of Austin residents who formerly were students at Austin College. Sixteen former students of Austin College composed the Austin receiving committee, and following the game with Texas University this Friday afternoon there will be a reception to the Austin College team at the Texas University this Friday evening, any Austin citizen desiring to attend being invited.”
The Statesman also noted that “the Austin College eleven is reported to be unusually strong this season, and its members are coming to Clark Field determined to score on the Longhorn defense.” Hopes were high among Roo football, but Longhorn football in 1920 was special. The game was not close.
Longhorn football went 9-0 in 1920, securing a Southwest Conference championship and outscoring opponents by a collective 282-13. AC was one of its many victims, falling by a 54-0 score. Undaunted by a loss to one of the best Longhorn teams in history, Roo football returned to Sherman to continue their mission. To stay on TCU’s heels and earn a TIAA championship. TCU wasn’t making it easy; the Horn Frogs beat TIAA rival Trinity 20-7 that same day.
Robert Vinson enjoyed four matchups between his Roos & Longhorns between 1920 & 1923, but it was clear that the University of Texas had outgrown little Clark Field. Vinson began meeting with UT alumni and donors with one goal in mind: the creation of a state-of-the-art stadium for U.T. football. By 1924, it was a reality when Texas Memorial Stadium (now DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium) was born. DKR today seats over 100,000 people and will soon be the largest stadium in the state of Texas when renovations are complete. This icon of Texas football is the work of a Roo.
The modernization project that resulted in my meetings at the Gates / Dell Complex in 2018 continues today. They were and remain a part of my University of Texas career. In those meetings, we discussed a wide variety of technical topics. But I’ll be the first to admit. At times it was hard to concentrate. More than a few times I found myself thinking “the Roos faced the Horns RIGHT HERE!!!”
After their battle with the Longhorns deep in the heart of Texas, AC returned home to Sherman to face Hendrix in another TIAA matchup. After the Horns game, they would not lose again. In fact, they would not give up a single point again. And because of a TCU controversy about to explode statewide, they’d soon lay claim to a championship.
Next Saturday: Chapter 6: Austin College vs. Hendrix
“Austin College & TCU: The 1920 Roo Season in Review”
Chapter 6: Austin College vs. Hendrix
For the first time ever, AC football is scheduled to play in the month February. COVID has pushed a full Fall 2020 season into a limited Spring campaign. The Roos will travel to Arkansas to face Hendrix college at the height of Winter 2020-21. AC also faced Hendrix during the 1920-21 season.
The Razorbacks are the team to beat in the state of Arkansas. 100 years ago, little Hendrix College gave it a go. The Warriors had a fine football team in October of 1920 when they traveled to Fayetteville to face Arkansas. Their goal was a daunting one: defeat the Southwest Conference member on their home field.
The Razorbacks dominated the game statistically, as they moved the ball at will. But each time Arkansas approached the goal line, the Hendrix defense stiffened. Fumbles, missed field goals, and turnovers on downs frustrated Arkansas the entire game. When the officials called the game in the late afternoon, Hendrix celebrated. They had fought the mighty Razorbacks to a 0-0 draw.
Later that month, Hendrix traveled to Sherman to take on the Kangaroos of Austin College. The outcome would not be nearly as pleasant. AC was led by what Texas sports writers called the “fastest backfield in the state of Texas”. The star of that backfield, Ray Morehart, was nearly unstoppable. Against Hendrix, Morehart notched three touchdowns. By the time the merciful final whistle blew, AC had defeated the Warriors 61-0. Little Austin College had shown Razorback nation how it’s done.
AC was a TIAA roll they would never relinquish. There were hopes that the Roos would be able to catch TCU in the conference race, but the Horn Frogs kept winning. During AC’s victory over Hendrix, TCU notched a victory over Phillips College (then an SWC member) of Oklahoma. Where AC was led by the running of Ray Morehart, TCU owed its outstanding season to the work of the speedy Allen Rowson. Rowson was difficult to bring down in the open field.
Rowson was a Houston native who had chosen TCU over schools closer to home. As the season progressed however, the whispers began and a scandal grew. The word on the street was that the Horn Frog star did not enroll directly at TCU. Though Rowson denied it, some were convinced that Rowson had in fact spent one year at Texas A&M before transferring to the Fort Worth school. Conference rules required a player to sit out a season after transfer. Which meant that if Rowson had been enrolled at A&M, he would be ineligible to play at TCU. And the fine for an ineligible player on the field? A forfeit of the game. The question of Rowson’s eligibility would dominate the TIAA race for rest of the season.
The 2020-21 Roos will head to the state Arkansas in February, a place they know all too well. In addition to Hendrix, AC football has also competed against Ouachita Baptist, Henderson State, and Harding. They’ve also gone toe to toe with the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville. Good luck in February AC, on what has to be the most unique campaign in Roo football history.
Next Saturday: Chapter 7: Austin College vs. Southwestern
“Austin College & TCU: The 1920 Roo Season in Review”
Chapter 7: Austin College vs. Southwestern
Conference opponent Southwestern visited AC in Sherman the following week, and attempted to do what Hendrix had failed the week before. The Pirates, however, had no answers for the Roo defense. Four different Roos found the end zone in the 28-0 AC win at Kidd-Key Field (now Bearcat Stadium); all four TD scorers sit in the AC Hall of Honor. The Houston Post reported on the game, noting that “the Austin College Kangaroos victory over Southwestern here Thursday by the score of 28 to 0 makes the local team one of the strongest contenders for the TIAA championship.”
That TIAA championship seemed unlikely to occur without a TCU stumble, but the Frogs simply refused to lose. That same weekend, the Baylor Bears visited TCU in Fort Worth for another edition of the emerging “Revivalry.” TCU came away with a hard fought 21-9 win to remain undefeated. With only two games left against Southwestern and Simmons (now Hardin-Simmons), the Horned Frogs could anticipate their first conference title in school history. With a TIAA championship, surely a future in the larger Southwest Conference awaited.
A.C., however, still had a hand to play.
The rumors were true. TCU’s best player, Allen Rowson, had indeed enrolled at Texas A&M in 1919. His transfer to TCU in 1920 required the star running back to sit out one year. Rowson did no such thing, however, and was scoring nearly at will for the TCU offense. In the mind of AC Coach Ewing Freeland, Rowson was ineligible. The Roo Coach filed a formal petition of protest to the TIAA to take action before the Hendrix game. By the time of the Southwestern win, the TIAA ruling committee had rendered a decision. Rowson was ruled ineligible to play for the rest of the season. But the TIAA committee went even further. Because of Rowson’s ineligibility, all wins by TCU in which Rowson had participated were immediately vacated.
And just like that, Austin College was first place in the TIAA.
TCU was outraged and protested. They launched an appeal, which the TIAA announced they would consider. The appeal would last the remainder of the season, as both teams wrapped up their conference schedules. Overnight, AC realized that the school’s first conference championship would be theirs……….if only the Roos could get by SMU in Dallas and a season ending Thanksgiving Day matchup against rival Trinity in Waxahachie.
Defeating SMU would be a tall order. The Dallas school was only 9 years old, but the city already had its sights set on Southwest Conference membership for the Mustangs. SMU was good too; their 1919 season was a winning one that included a victory over Austin College at Armstrong Field (now the SMU soccer/track stadium) on campus. The outcome of that 1919 game was not close; SMU crushed the Roos 42-0.
The 1920 rematch between the Mustangs and Roos would have many similarities. Similar coaches. Similar players. A similar location in SMU’s Armstrong Field. Even the final score would be exactly the same.
But the winner? That would be different.
Next Saturday: Chapter 8: Austin College at SMU
“Austin College & TCU: The 1920 Roo Season in Review”
Chapter 8: Austin College at SMU
SMU. I grew up watching SMU in my hometown of College Station.
SMU was the SWC elite. The Pony Express. Eric Dickerson & Craig James. In 1982, the Mustangs didn’t lose a game; only a tie prevented a national championship. In 1983, I watched the Aggies almost knock off SMU at Kyle Field; the 10-7 loss was considered something of a moral victory. In 1985, Texas A&M did defeat SMU at home on a dramatic last second field goal. It was a turning of the tide in Aggieland.
Then came the tales of excess and scandal; a two-year NCAA death penalty soon followed. There’s a Hobbesian choice for private schools in large Texas cities who try to compete with the big boys down in Austin & College Station. Either endure a lot of losing, overlook transgressions to maintain parity, or both. Had Austin College moved from Huntsville to Dallas in 1876, it’s likely the Roos would have suffered the same.
When I enrolled at Austin College, the entire concept of AC competing against SMU was foreign. But AC didn’t just play SMU a century ago, AC often won. And in the year 1920, Austin College dominated the Mustangs of Southern Methodist University.
The 1920 game was held at Armstrong Field, now the home of Mustang track and soccer. SMU, a Southwest Conference member at the time, was crushed by the Roos by a score of 42-0. The 42 points scored by AC was more than the 1920 efforts of Texas, Texas A&M, Rice, and Arkansas combined. From “100 Years, 100 Yards:”
“During the week before the SMU game, the Kangaroo team set a goal to beat SMU as badly as the 42-0 licking AC had taken the year before in Sherman. And the score ended exactly the same. Only the winners and losers were reversed. Coach Freeland left his first team in the game until AC scored its 42nd point early in the fourth quarter. The Kangaroo goal was threatened only once the entire game.”
With the win over SMU, only one game remained for AC to clinch the TIAA championship: the annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry against Trinity. The 1920 matchup was scheduled to take place in Waxahachie. A victory would secure AC its first conference title in history.
But events were conspiring to introduce uncertainty into the race for the TIAA title. TCU appealed the decision to have their TIAA victory over AC vacated. Their argument? Star fullback Allen Rowson was technically ineligible to play for Texas A&M, in spite of his enrollment in College Station.
After defeating Southwestern in Fort Worth, TCU received news of their appeal verdict: The TIAA did agree to allow Rowson to play for the remainder of the season. However, the conference refused to undo the vacating of the TCU losses to AC and other conference opponents. Austin College remained in first place. A win over rival Trinity would leave the school with an undisputed championship.
In Fort Worth, however, the TIAA appeal was received differently and creatively. TCU celebrated the renewed eligibility of Rowson. But they did more than that. The Horned Frogs also decided to pretend that the conference had ruled that the vacated victories had been reinstated after all. In the minds of TCU, the Horned Frogs (and NOT the Roos) were just one win away from a conference title. If both schools were to win their season finales, then the TIAA championship would be a disputed one.
SMU is the premier University of Dallas. It’s the home of Heisman winner Doak Walker, son of an AC Kangaroo. It’s the owner of a football national championship in 1935, nearly duplicated in 1982. It’s the story of Pony Excess, which defined my youth in College Station before I headed to school in Sherman.
And it’s the site of a lopsided football game in 1920:
Austin College 42, SMU 0.
Next Saturday: Chapter 9: Austin College at Trinity
“Austin College & TCU: The 1920 Roo Season in Review”
The Austin College-Trinity rivalry is the Division 3 equivalent of Texas-Texas A&M. AC & Trinity have been competing since time began. Before WW2, these two Presbyterian schools always met on the gridiron on Thanksgiving Day. Just like the Longhorns & Aggies.
UT defeated Texas A&M on Thanksgiving Day 1920 to secure the SWC championship. If Austin College were to defeat Trinity that same day, the Roos would earn a TIAA championship and be mentioned in circles as candidates for future SWC membership. AC left no doubt. Austin College dominated the Tigers, winning 21-0. On the train ride back to Sherman, AC celebrated their first conference championship in school history.
As far as TCU was concerned, however, the Horned Frogs were just one win from that same TIAA championship. Still pretending that the conference had reinstated its controversial victory over AC when in fact it had not, TCU dominated Simmons (now Hardin-Simmons) by a score of 31-2 in Fort Worth. Both schools celebrated the exact same conference title on the same weekend; both schools still do so today, 100 years later.
The 1920 Kangaroos were one of the most dominating teams in school history. They outscored their opponents 330-72. They outscored their conference opponents 323-9. And if you honor the TIAA decision to disqualify TCU for use of an ineligible player, the Roos outscored their conference opponents 316-0. Now that is a championship team.
There was no AC athletics during the fall of 2020. It’s unfortunate, but the Roos will be back soon enough. AC has been suiting up forever, and there’s no reason to believe that will ever end. Even by 1920, Austin College had already been competing for nearly three decades. I’m already looking forward to 2021.
Journey to Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, and you’ll read about the achievements of TCU football. On one wall you will find a list of Horned Frog conference championships. The most recent one? That’s 2014, when TCU went 12-1, earned a Big XII title, and beat the Longhorns and Sooners along the way. The first one? That’s 1920, when AC was robbed of a win in Fort Worth in a game later vacated by the TIAA conference in Austin College’s favor.
One day you might find yourself attending a TCU football game in Fort Worth. When you walk by that 1920 conference title plaque at Amon Carter stadium, be sure to remember the incredible 1920 Austin College Kangaroos, touch the plaque, and quietly utter in honor of those long-forgotten Roos:
“Nope!”
Roo Tales: The Seasons of Austin College Athletics was published earlier this year. It’s a book of long-form stories highlighting noteworthy Roo individuals, careers, and seasons from AC’s athletic past. There are two more books still to come:
Roo Tales: The History of Austin College Roo Tales: The Rivals & Legends of Austin College Athletics
“Rivals & Legends” is a collection of short stories divided into two sections:
(1) AC & Rival Colleges (2) Legends from the AC Hall of Honor
Colleges in the “Rivals” section include Trinity, SMU, Rice, Texas Tech, Baylor, Texas A&M, & the University of Texas. This story about the 1920 Roo football team will be a new addition to the book, filed under “TCU.” See the Table of Contents for both books in the comments.
Hope you enjoyed this Roo Tale of the 1920 AC football team. Let’s lick this pandemic, get this country moving again, and see y’all at the Larry Kramer Outback soon.
