SMU vs. TCU: Through the Years - 1948
Editor’s Note: SMU and TCU meet for the 102nd time at 11:00 a.m. Saturday at Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth (FS1). During this week leading up to the game, staff writer Kevin Lonnquist reveals five prominent games in this storied rivalry.
Game: 1948
Result: SMU 7, TCU 7
National Implications: SMU was looking to go without a blemish in Southwest Conference play and improve its national championship hopes, despite a loss earlier in the season to Missouri. TCU enjoyed playing spoiler.
How it Happened: It could be debated that the 1948 Mustangs were better than the 1947 Mustangs. That team went undefeated at 9-0-2. As SMU’s Doak Walker was putting together his enormous season en route to the Heisman Trophy, the Mustangs averaged 25.4 points per game in their nine wins. Pretty good for that era. This SMU team had seven players taken in the 1949 NFL draft led by Walker who was drafted by the Boston Yanks with the third overall pick and eventually traded to the Detroit Lions. Late Dallas Mayor Bob Folson (1976-81) was selected by Green Bay in the 19th round. For this grudge match with the Horned Frogs at the Cotton Bowl, these teams were going in opposite directions. The Horned Frogs had lost four consecutive games and averaged about nine points per game. Following that loss to Missouri, the Mustangs had won six straight including road wins at Texas and at Arkansas.
However, rivalry games take on a different persona. The Horned Frogs held a 7-0 lead into the fourth quarter until the Mustangs tied it. That’s how it finished.
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How 1948 ended: SMU defeated No. 9 Oregon in the Cotton Bowl, 21-13, as Walker, Kyle Rote and Chicken Roberts collected the touchdowns. Matty Bell’s Mustangs completed the campaign at 9-1-1 and ranked No. 10 in the nation. TCU finished 4-5-1.
Bonus Game: When SMU won the 1947 Southwest Conference Championship it also played TCU to a 19-19 tie at Amon Carter Stadium. Like 1947, the Mustangs scored late to even the contest. However, the frustration for the Mustangs in that game was Walker missing what would have been the game-winning extra point. That No. 3 SMU team wound up in a 13-13 tie with Penn State in the Cotton Bowl. The 1947 and 1948 SMU-TCU meetings marked the only time in this series there were consecutive ties. The last of the seven ties was in 1961, a 28-28 deadlock at Amon Carter Stadium.
This series continues Thursday with another selected game.
