MORRISTOWN, N.J., Oct. 31, 2006 – As part of an on-going series throughout the fall, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame circulates in advance This Week in College Football History, which takes a look back at some of college football’s landmark moments over the last 138 years. During the season, many of these events are featured in a changing exhibit at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.
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Featured Moment:
November 11, 1955: Texas cheerleader Harley Clark struck it big with a simple hand gesture. With his forefinger and pinky pointed upward and his middle two fingers curled under this thumb, Clark flashed what would become the "Hook 'Em, Horns" sign at a campus pep rally – a symbol that has gained national notoriety for over 50 years.
"It's perfect," Clark, 77, said in a past interview. “It just says Texas." It might not have if Clark, a retired state judge living on a vegetable farm in Dripping Springs, Texas, had listened to friends who told him it would be "too corny" and that it would "never work." The Longhorns were in the midst of a 5-5 season in ’55, and Clark came up with the new hand sign before a home game with No. 8 TCU.
Other Notable Dates:
November 6, 1869: A game played in New Brunswick, N.J., between Rutgers and Princeton marks the birth of intercollegiate football. Rutgers won 6-4.
November 6, 1971: With 44 seconds left in the fourth, UC-Davis starts the first of two scoring drives to overcome a 29-14 deficit against Cal State Hayward. After closing the gap to 29-22 on a successful TD and two-point conversion, the Aggies recover a Hayward on-side kick attempt with only 15 seconds remaining. UCD’s Mike Bellotti, now head coach at Oregon, scores on the final play from scrimmage to make the score 29-28. QB Bob Biggs completes to Mike Everly, who dives for a successful two-point conversion to give UC-Davis the 30-29 verdict in “The Miracle Minute” game.
November 6, 1976: Purdue spoils No. 1 Michigan’s aspirations of a national championship in a 16-14 victory over the Wolverines. UM had not lost to a Big Ten team besides Ohio State since 1969.
November 7, 1925: TCU shuts out eventual Southwest Conference champion Texas A&M, coached by Hall of Famer D.X. Bible, 3-0 in Fort Worth, Texas. It’s the only loss of the ’25 season for Bible’s Aggies, who closed at 7-1-1 overall and 4-1 in SWC activity.
November 8, 1980: Georgia WR Lindsay Scott catches the most memorable pass in Bulldogs history and runs for a touchdown in the final seconds as the Bulldogs defeat Florida 26-21. The win and Georgia Tech’s tie with Notre Dame give Georgia their first No. 1 ranking since 1942.
November 9, 1912: Carlisle, paced by Hall of Fame RB and Olympic star Jim Thorpe, blows past Army 27-6. Black Knights’ defender Dwight Eisenhower, NFF Gold Medal recipient and future U.S. President, injured his knee and ended his football career while trying to tackle Thorpe.
November 10, 1984: Maryland, losing 31-0 at halftime to Miami (Fla.), defeats the Hurricanes 42-40 for the greatest comeback in NCAA history at the time.
November 10, 2001: Grand Valley State ends the season with a Division II scoring record, averaging 58.4 points a game. David Kircus of Grand Valley caught 28 touchdown passes in the season, an NCAA record.
November 11, 1939: Texas Tech and Centenary combine for an NCAA-record 77 punts (39 by Tech and 38 by Centenary) in a 0-0 tie in rain-deluged conditions at Shreveport, La.
November 12, 1894: 1969 College Football Hall of Famer Arthur Poe (the nephew of eccentric author and poet Edgar Allan Poe) pulls the ball away from a Yale running back and dashes 95 yards for the only score in a 6-0 Princeton triumph over the Bulldogs.
