It was one of the most exciting games ever at Louis Calder Stadium.
It was also the FIRST game ever at Louis Calder Stadium.
There are many small, good schools in the state of Texas. Why would I choose AC? Well, when you get the big things right, it comes down to the small things. Sherman had winters, a novelty for a south Texas boy. AC had a national championship caliber football program, something of interest for a kid whose high school experienced four losing seasons. And the school had places to live like Luckett Hall.
Luckett Hall was history. Built in 1904, it was cool in the 1970s when Claude Webb Jr. and others jammed in the basement. It was even cooler in the late 1980s because they had renovated the place. It was history AND it was all of a sudden a nice place to live. When I learned that it might be available to freshmen who enrolled early, I asked Linda Parrish to write that check. She still tells the story.
And I got in; I lived on the 3rd floor, east wing. To get to my pad, you’d head up the outdoor stairs to the 2nd floor main entrance, walk to the stairway in the back, and make your way up to floor three. Most of us lived on either the east or west wing, but a select few lived in rooms that faced south. AC second baseman Kevin Krause was one; he was one of the first people I ever met at AC.
I must have passed Krause’s room hundreds of times that year. As my social life began to gravitate towards my baseball heavy fraternity, I spent more time hanging out in his room and less time passing by. That was Luckett, a big ol’ mess of a dysfunctional, happy-go-lucky family. On Saturdays we’d stumble out of Luckett, stop by Slater’s, and then make our way to Louis Calder Stadium for the game. The whole trip took you from one corner of campus to the other, yet only lasted a few minutes. The journey from Luckett Hall to Calder Stadium may not have had the numbers of game day in my hometown of College Station, but what it lacked in fans it made up for in intimacy.
Old Luckett Field & Cashion Stadium had been located on campus, and had served AC well from the 1890s to the 1940s. But those venues were small. To remedy, AC football spent most of the post WW2 years playing at the larger and newer Bearcat Stadium in downtown Sherman. However, the desire to return to campus was just too strong during the Gene Babb years in the 1950s. Calder Stadium, named for a prominent small college benefactor from New York, became a reality in 1960.
AC had a great team that year, led by a senior All-American Quarterback named Charles “Bo” Miller. Miller was a dual threat. Like Larry Shillings, he could beat you with his arm or his legs. As a result, it’s no surprise that while he does not hold either the career passing or rushing yard marks, he does hold the career total offense record. From 1957 to 1960, Miller ran or threw for 6,068 total yards. It’s tops in AC history. 6,000 yards of career total offense is less impressive compared to the track meet game that is football today. But in 1960? It was an incredible number. By comparison, 1963 Heisman winner Roger Staubach compiled only 4,418 yards of career total offense at Navy. In 1974, Miller was inducted into the NAIA Football Hall of Fame.
Bo Miller’s senior year of 1960 brought him and Roo football back home to campus for the first time since the 1930s. After a season opening win on the road, the Roos traveled back home to Sherman for the first game ever at Louis Calder Stadium. The field was ready and the stands were built, but the press box was not yet complete. So, AC athletics staff and local press had to view the game with a tarp pulled over the press box floor. On September 24, 1960, the Roos faced Henderson State. Grayson County born Dwight Eisenhower was still President.
The Reddies of Henderson State are located in Arkadelphia, AR; their crosstown rivalry with Cliff Harris’s Ouachita Baptist Tigers is known as the Battle of the Ravine. Matchups between the Roos & Reddies date as far back as 1921 during the golden era of AC football. AC beat Henderson 17-7 that year, just a week after a Fair Park victory over SMU in Dallas. The win took place at Luckett Field on AC’s campus.
The Roos and Reddies were back on campus again in 1960, and things were not going well. Henderson State built up a 13-0 lead going into the fourth quarter. But the “fourth quarter belongs to the Roos,” and Bo Miller was determined that the first game ever in his new home would be a victory. He led AC on a long drive that included a 37-yard QB run. It culminated in a 16-yard scoring strike for a touchdown. The lead was cut to 13-7. The Roo defense held, and AC got the ball back. Miller trotted back on to the field for one final drive for the win.
Bo Miller methodically moved Austin College down the field as the clocked ticked down. Faced with a fourth down do-or-die, Miller connected for 16 yards and a first down. One gain after another rolled by, and there was little Henderson State could do to stop the inevitable. Eventually, the Kangaroos were on the Reddie one-yard line with just seconds remaining. Miller rolled out, spotted his target, and fired a bullet.
Interception.
Henderson State was elated. AC was despondent. Miller walked off the field slowly, and the first crowd ever at Calder resigned themselves to a “what might have been.”
But the redshirt defense was not going down without a fight. On what should have been the last play of the game, they miraculously forced a Henderson State fumble and recovered at the Reddie one-yard line. Roo fans cheered, and the offense raced back onto the field. Just like that, Miller and AC were given a second chance.
With the interception in the back of everyone’s mind, Coach Joe Spencer was taking no chances. He told Miller to call his own number. With seven second left, Miller received the snap, followed a blocker, and darted for the end zone. He would not be denied. Touchdown.
Final score: AC 14, Henderson State 13. The Roos were 1-0 lifetime at Louis Calder Stadium. Bo Miller and the 1960 Kangaroos finished that year with a winning season and a perfect 5-0 record at Calder.
The very next day, Gene Babb and the Dallas Cowboys faced the Pittsburgh Steelers 60 miles south in Dallas. It was the FIRST game ever in Dallas Cowboys history.
I’m unsure how Miller and the Roos celebrated that first victory at Calder stadium back in 1960, but I’m fairly confident it involved Ken Krause. Krause was a Miller teammate. He was also Miller’s Luckett Hall roommate. He is also the father of Kevin Krause, a Roo baseball veteran, friend, and one of the first guys I met at AC. Kevin Krause will be inducted into the AC Hall of Honor this summer.
Bo Miller passed away on Christmas Day, 2018. I learned about the news from Kevin Krause. From Miller’s obituary:
“Bo received his bachelor’s degree Cum Laude from Austin College in 1961. There, he led the Kangaroo football team as an All-American quarterback. Each year, the Austin College Athletics Department honors Bo’s legacy of athletic and academic excellence by awarding one man and one woman “The Charles Bo Miller Scholar/Athlete Award.”
Of Miller’s passing, Kevin wrote the following:
“Pops always talks about Bo, not only for his great football achievements but for the character he exuded. He was one that made you a better person for just being around him. A great man and ambassador for AC.”
Great ambassador for AC. You might say the same about the Krause family.
I plan to be in Sherman this summer to celebrate Kevin and the rest of the Class of 2019 inductees. I know Wayne Whitmire & John Talley will be there too; we were talking about it at City Limits just last week in Sherman. You may remember John Talley as the 1991 AC Quarterback who, like Bo Miller in 1960, led the Roos to a perfect 5-0 record at Calder. For me personally, it will also be a good opportunity to chat with Kevin’s father about AC football in 1960, his career, and the career of his Luckett Hall roommate. Maybe we’ll even talk about that 1960 comeback win.
My best to the friends and family of Charles “Bo” Miller. Hope y’all join us at Legends 2019 this summer. Krause family? We’ll see you there.
