It was a heartfelt Hilltop reunion Monday afternoon whenco-chairman of the SMU Heritage Hall Committee Gerry York,interviewed two of the three remaining members of SMU’s 1935National Championship football team for his ongoing series”Classic SMU Games,” which air on SMU TV.
Harry Shuford, a fullback on the team, and Maco Stewart, anoffensive and defensive end, chuckled as they reminisced aboutnicknames of old teammates, their trips to Los Angeles and theirexperience playing in what some still call “The Game of theCentury.”
“In 1935, SMU was 9-0 going into the 10th game of theseason against TCU,” York said. “With the game drawingnational interest, NBC proceeded to broadcast the game, the firstSouthwest Conference game ever aired coast-to-coast. With thisexcitement, about 42,000 people eventually packed into TCU’snew stadium, which was only supposed to hold 30,000. Tickets whichhad a face value of $1 were supposedly being scalped for $100, anastronomical sum for that time.”
The game, Wilson continued, featured SMU’s halfback BobbyWilson and TCU’s All-American quarterback”Slingin'” Sammy Baugh.
“Wilson was the greatest running back I ever saw,”Shuford said. “He did some kicking and he threw some passes,but boy could he run.”
Shuford, York said, wasn’t a bad runner either. Localcommunity youth often looked up to the fullback. One young man inparticular, looked up to Shuford so much that it influenced him tocome to SMU and play for the Mustangs. The boy’s name? DoakWalker, a former running back and the university’s onlyHeisman Trophy winner.
“I knew Doak since he was four years old,” Shufordsaid.
SMU came out victorious in Ft. Worth that day, winning a gamethat to this day is still mentioned in some polls as one of the top10 greatest college football games ever played. With their recordstanding at a perfect 10-0 during the regular season, the teamearned a trip to the Rose Bowl to face Stanford. Four chartertrains would run from Dallas to Pasadena for the Mustangs’trip out west, with over 4,000 students and fans packed into therail cars.
“Even Peruna made it out to the game. The band must havebrought him with them, I guess,” Stewart said. The two formercaptains laughed as they remembered the Mustang band.
Stewert said that the band stole the show and had stayed in LosAngeles for a week, playing at clubs.
“No one had ever heard a college band play jazz,”Shuford said.
As the interview continued, the two former SMU greats seemedtaken back to their playing days as they watched classic film reelsfrom their games, and remembered the two former head coaches underwhich they played.
“Both Coach Morrison and Matty Bell were great men,”Shuford said. “Morrison was a great offensive mind, and Bellwas smart enough to keep us all together.”
After the interview, York honored both men by presenting themwith a copy of the banner commemorating the 1935 football season,the same banner that now hangs in Heritage Hall, located in thePaul B. Lloyd All-Sports Center.
The interview will be playing on SMU TV throughout the week.
