Introduction From The Sports Time Traveler™
The Sports Time Traveler™ is a week behind in covering the 1963 football season.
I do intend to get caught up by next week so that I’m abiding by the official rules of sports time travel in which I will be following sports from exactly 60 years ago in the newspaper archives.
Last week I reported to you on key games from the end of October, 1963 in, “A Tale of Two October Takedowns.” You can read that article at this link:
A Tale of Two October Takedowns
In today’s article I am providing updates from the weekend of November 2 - 3, 1963.
NEW YORK - November 4, 1963
I’m basing myself in the New York area 60 years ago as I traverse the country virtually to cover the key football games in both college, the NFL and the AFL this fall.
Let’s start with a few brief college football updates from Saturday, November 2, 1963.
#4 NAVY vs. NOTRE DAME
Navy, the new #1 team in the east after their big win last week against Pitt, had to go to South Bend, Indiana to take on Notre Dame.
Even though the Fighting Irish have not been the powerhouse they were in the late 1940s when they won 3 national titles, they are still a formidable opponent at home where they beat both UCLA and USC in October.
For the Navy game on Saturday, there was a sellout crowd of 59,362. And the Irish responded.
At halftime the game was tied at 7.
And then Navy’s great quarterback, Roger Staubach, went to work.
The New York Times reported on what happened after the Irish fans were buoyed by the halftime tie, “But Staubach set such hopefuls straight almost immediately. In the first 4 minutes of the 2nd half he sparked a 69 yard drive to a touchdown that gave Navy a lead they never relinquished.”
Staubach led three 3rd quarter touchdown drives and Navy cruised over Notre Dame 35 - 14.
The Times reported that even though Staubach only threw 9 for 15 for 191 yards and only rushed for 23 yards, Roger “the Dodger,” “made life miserable for the enemy with his keeps and rollouts.”
Navy’s defense also held Notre Dame to just 137 total yards of offense, including just 28 through the air.
With the win, Navy, (6 - 1), held on to their #4 ranking and unofficial #1 rank in the east.
Roger Staubach
Roger Staubach now stands 2nd in the nation in total offense with a combined 1,420 yards passing and rushing.
But he is the only top 10 quarterback in the nation above 70% in pass completions. None of the others are above 62%, and Don Trull of Baylor, the only man with more total yards than Staubach, has a completion rate of just 57%.
Staubach is making the case for the Heisman trophy.
HIGHLIGHTS AMONG THE ELITE
Navy did not move up in the rankings after its victory over Notre Dame because the top 3 teams in the AP poll all won their games as well.
#1 Texas (7-0) won in a squeaker over SMU 17 - 12, a team with just a 2 - 4 record.
SMU trailed the entire game, but outgained Texas 291 - 252 in total yardage and held Texas to just 10 1st downs.
SMU has played well against some of the nation’s top teams. They are the only team to beat Navy this year, in a 32 - 28 game that ended when Navy’s Ed Orr juggled and dropped a Staubach pass in the end zone that would have been the game winner for the Midshipmen.
#2 Illinois (5-0-1) handily defeated Purdue 41 - 21.
#3 Mississippi (5-0-1) destroyed LSU 37 - 3.
And #5 Auburn (6 - 0) remained the only other undefeated, untied team with a 19 - 0 thrashing of the Florida Gators.
Joe Namath
And one other interesting game note from Saturday, #7 Alabama (6-1), came from behind on the running and passing and defense of quarterback Joe Namath in a 20 - 19 victory over Mississippi State.
Namath led Alabama on a 54 yard come from behind 4Q drive that culminated with Namath diving 1 yard for the go ahead TD.
Then Coach Bear Bryant inserted Namath as a defensive halfback as the Crimson Tide held on for the win.
The Birmingham News quoted Bear Bryant on Sunday, regarding the unusual move to put his star quarterback in to play defense, “I wanted him in on pass defense. Joe is a terrific defensive player, but we have been using him strictly on offense.”
THE AP COLLEGE FOOTBALL POLL
Here’s the AP Poll that came out on Tuesday, November 5, 1963
1 - Texas 7 - 0 - 0
2 - Illinois 5 - 0 - 1
3 - Mississippi 5 - 0 - 1
4 - Navy 6 - 1 - 0
5 - Auburn 6 - 0 - 0
6 - Oklahoma 5 - 1 - 1
7 - Alabama 6 - 1 - 1
8 - Pittsburgh 5 - 1 - 1
9 - Michigan State 4 - 1 - 1
10 - Ohio State 4 - 1 - 1
THE NFL
7 games were played in the NFL on Sunday, November 3rd. I’m going to focus in on 2 games in the Eastern Division as I’m following the Browns and their great running back Jim Brown. And I’m also watching the New York Giants.
Brown’s Rebound Game
Jim Brown had his worst game of the season last week when he gained only 40 yards in the crushing loss at home to the Giants.
This week the Browns went to Philadelphia where 60,671 fans packed Franklin Field.
In the Philadelphia Daily News, Larry Merchant wrote about the game Jim Brown had, “the great man was great as ever, running through around and away from the Eagles and making it look as easy as taking a walk in the park.
On the 4th play of the game Brown ran 62 yards for a TD. Brown gained another 161 yards on 27 other carries for a game total of 223, the 4th biggest game of his career.
The Browns needed it as the Eagles did a good job stopping the rest of the Browns and kept the game close in a 23 - 17 Browns victory.
Eagles defensive tackle Ray Mansfield was playing in his first NFL game and had this to say about Jim Brown in the Philadelphia Daily News, “It was quite an indoctrination. I gave him my Sunday punch. I hit him square a few times. And it didn’t stop him.”
Jim Brown now needs just 333 yards in the last 6 games of the season to top his single season rushing record of 1,527 yards in 1958.
Brown’s league lead in rushing is astounding. After just 8 weeks he leads all NFL running backs by a margin of 555 yards. The 2nd best rusher in the league, himself one of the all-time greats, Jim Taylor has just 639 yards to Jim Brown’s 1,194.
Jim Brown appears even more dominating when looking at yards per carry. Brown is averaging an incredible 7.3 compared to Taylor’s 4.1.
Here are the leading rushers as of November 4, 1963:
Jim Brown 1,194 yards - average 7.3
Jim Taylor 639 yards - average 4.1
Dick Hoak 498 yards - average 3.2
Timmy Brown 495 yards - average 4.3
Tom Moore 467 yards - average 5.1
Battle for 2nd Place in the East
The Giants and the Cardinals, both 5 - 2 coming into Sunday, met to determine who would take over sole possession of 2nd place. The game was in Busch Stadium in St. Louis and was broadcast on Channel 2, WCBS in New York at 2pm ET.
Giants head coach Allie Sherman deviated from his offensive strategy from the prior week in which the Giants delivered a bruising 33 - 6 win over the Browns with runs and short passes.
Yesterday he went back to the long pass. He told the St. Louis Dispatch, “The Cardinals play very tight and tough on defense and we had to loosen them up.”
The Giants player that loosened up the Cardinals was quarterback Y.A. Tittle. Tittle completed just 14 passes on 19 attempts, but he threw them for 246 yards.
The dagger was a 40 yard bomb to Del Shofner early in the 3rd quarter that put the Giants up 31 - 7. From there it was elemental. The 37 year old balding Tittle sat out the 4the quarter to give the youngster, Glynn Griffing, a turn at QB as the Giants cruised to a 38 - 21 win.
Cardinals coach Wally Lemm praised Tittle’s performance. “He has wonderful poise. Any other quarterback under the pressure we put on Tittle would have had to eat the ball or throw it away, but Tittle completes passes under those conditions.”
William Wallace, who covered the game for the New York Times, was even more effusive about Y.A. Tittle, “Those who are watching him are probably seeing the best operation any quarterback has ever had in pro football, Sunday after Sunday, in this year of 1963.”
The Top Teams in the West
The NFL’s Western Division has already been drawn down to a battle of 2 great teams - the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. Both are 7 - 1 after last Sunday’s games. The Packers rolled over the Steelers 33 - 14. And the Bears bullied Baltimore 17 - 7.
No other team in the Western Division is above .500.
The Packers have the league’s top scoring offense with 241 points for an average of just over 30 a game. While the Bears have the league’s toughest defense allowing just 82 points in 8 games.
Chicago won their first head-to-head match on opening day with a 10 - 3 win. And the Bears were undefeated until week 6 when they inexplicably lost to the league’s worst team, the San Francisco 49ers. It remains the only win for the 49ers this season.
NFL STANDINGS AFTER NOVEMBER 4, 1963 GAMES
EASTERN DIVISION
Cleveland 7 - 1
New York 6 - 2
St. Louis 5 - 3
Pittsburgh 4 - 3 - 1
Philadelphia 2 - 5- 1
Dallas 2 - 6
Washington 2 - 6
WESTERN DIVISION
Chicago 7 - 1
Green Bay 7 - 1
Detroit 4 - 4
Baltimore 3 - 5
Minnesota 3 - 5
Los Angeles 2 - 6
San Francisco 1 - 7
AFL
It’s still the early days of the old AFL back here in 1963. The league is in just its 4th season. Games are played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. And with just 8 teams in the league there are only 4 games each weekend.
Here were the scores from this past weekend Nov 1 - 3, 1963:
Boston 45 Houston 3
San Diego 53 New York Jets 7
Oakland 10 Kansas City 7
Buffalo 30 Denver 28
The New York Jets game, which was played on Saturday in the Polo Grounds, drew just 18,336 fans, despite the fact that a win would have put them in 1st place in the Eastern Division.
The Jets were marred by injuries, which are a major issue in the AFL because the league only allows 33 players per team.
And in the AFL only 3 players may be put on the injured deferred list, and they must stay there for a minimum of 2 games, to allow you to bring up someone else.
In addition, only 3 players may go on the reserve list for players that are out for the season.
Jets head coach Weeb Ewbank complained about the 33 man limit in a New York Times article on November 7, 1963, “It simply isn’t enough. It forces you to play men who would be better off resting.”
Here are the standings as of November 4, 1963:
EASTERN DIVISION
Boston 5 - 4
Houston 5 - 4
Buffalo 4 - 4- 1
New York Jets 3 - 4 - 1
WESTERN DIVISION
San Diego 6 - 2
Oakland 5 - 4
Denver 2 - 5- 1
Kansas City 2 - 5 - 1
Some teams have played 8 and some 9 games due to quirks in the scheduling of AFL games in which some teams have bye weeks.
That’s all for this week.
Coming soon will be the results of games from the weekend of November 9 - 10, 1963.
Thanks for reading.
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