Sport: Best in the Land

By the verdict of U.S. sportwriters, the best football outfit in the U.S. through late October was unbeaten Southern Methodist. Last week the brawny line of the University of Texas threw the verdict out of court. In a roaring affair at Austin that seemed to settle the Southwest Conference championship, Texas not only gave the Methodist Mustangs their first defeat of the season (23-20), but tossed their running plays for a net loss of 68 yards for the day.

Meanwhile, at Philadelphia, unbeaten Army broke loose in the second half to overrun a powerful Penn team (28-13), stretch its undefeated string to 26 straight, and vindicate those who have been insisting all along that the Cadets are the best team in the land.

Other football winners last week: ¶ Unbeaten Oklahoma over Colorado, 27-18, for its 27th victory in a row. ¶ Unbeaten California over favored Washington, 14-7, to keep the Golden Bears rolling toward the Rose Bowl. ¶ Unbeaten Kentucky, on its record the top team in the South, over Florida, 40-6. ¶Unbeaten Princeton over Colgate, 45-7, for the Tigers’ tenth in a row. ¶ Ohio State, beaten only once this year, over Northwestern, 32-0, in a demonstration of the touchdown power (averaging 43 points a game) that has won Ohio a ranking as one of the best teams anywhere. ¶ Illinois over Michigan, 7-0, to become Big Ten favorite for the Rose Bowl (since Ohio State went last year, is thus ineligible this year to represent the Big Ten). ¶Columbia over Cornell, 20-19, in an ap-set revenge for last year’s 54-0 licking. ¶ One-victory Dartmouth over one-loss Yale, 7-0, in another Ivy League upset.