On the campus of the University of Texas at Austin last week, collegians braced themselves for an invasion from Waco. The strength of the invaders was fully documented: Baylor University's football team, made up of a jumbo line and backfield of brilliant performers, was unbeaten in six games, rated No. 3 in the whole U.S. Baptist Baylor, the experts agreed, had its finest chance in 29 years to win the championship of the Southwest Conference. Texas U. buffs were not dismayed. They passed the word: "Get out the red candles."
"The red candles" are the most potent whammy in Texas U. tradition—and nothing to be lightly invoked. Back in 1941, after some sorority girls got the tip from a fortune teller, red candles were lighted on the eve of,the Texas A.&M. game, and Texas U. broke an 18-year jinx by beating A.&M. on the enemy's home field. In 1950, Texas broke out the red candles for the second time, and upset Southern Methodist, the nation's No. 1 team. And once more, last week, the red candles burned in campus store windows, dormitories, classrooms and even in a few faculty offices.
In Waco, Baylorites got wind of the news and launched a counter-whammy: they bought up all the green candles in town and set them alight. Dr. William Richardson White, president of Baylor, a football hotblood himself, turned up at a feverish pre-game rally, reminded his listeners that Texas had spoiled Baylor streaks before, and promised: "This year it's going to be different."
On the football field at Austin at week's end, Baylor's backfield perfectionists (Waco nickname: the "Fearsome Foursome") put on an elegant demonstration of running, passing and blocking for each other. They also committed four fumbles (one each), all scooped up by Texas, and two of them led promptly to Texas touchdowns. Final score: Red Candles 21, Green Candles 20.
The Dwindling Undefeated
Notre Dame, aiming for its fifth national championship in ten years, almost misfired against fired-up Pennsylvania last week. Striking quickly, Penn scored in the first five minutes. Then Notre Dame's All-America Halfback Johnny Lattner (TIME, Nov. 9) went to work. He took the next kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown, minutes later dashed 32 yards with a punt return to set up Notre Dame's second touchdown, in the third quarter scooted for 56 yards to set up his team's fourth score. In the final quarter, with Penn driving 71 yards downfield for the touchdown that would put it within one point of the Fighting Irish, it was Johnny-on-the-spot Lattner who made a diving interception of a Penn pass on his own goal line. Final score: 28-20.
Lattner's one-man show left Notre Dame as one of a dwindling number of major undefeated, untied teams. The other two: second-ranked Maryland, hard pressed in the first half, which finally overcame stubborn George Washington 27-6; and seventh-ranked West Virginia, which needed a fourth-quarter touchdown to beat Virginia Tech 12-7.
In the Big Ten, once-tied Illinois kept rolling toward the Rose Bowl by downing Michigan 19-3; in the Pacific Coast Conference, Southern California threw the Rose Bowl race wide open when it edged Stanford 23-20 in the week's thriller, with a field goal in the last 13 seconds of play.
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