--- title: Cotton Bowl, 1960: When Syracuse Whipped Texas for the National Title description: Photos from the bitterly fought -- and racially charged -- 1960 Cotton Bowl, when Syracuse whipped Texas for the national title. canonical: https://time.com/3878581/cotton-bowl-1960-when-syracuse-whipped-texas-for-the-national-title/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-01-02T17:51:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:48.302Z og:title: Cotton Bowl, 1960: When Syracuse Whipped Texas for the National Title og:description: Photos from the bitterly fought -- and racially charged -- 1960 Cotton Bowl, when Syracuse whipped Texas for the national title. og:url: https://time.com/3878581/cotton-bowl-1960-when-syracuse-whipped-texas-for-the-national-title/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6e36f1ba9270e0c/69884b082dce01ec379e32cd/140103-life-1960-cotton-bowl-4.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Cotton Bowl, 1960 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cotton Bowl, 1960: When Syracuse Whipped Texas for the National Title twitter:description: Photos from the bitterly fought -- and racially charged -- 1960 Cotton Bowl, when Syracuse whipped Texas for the national title. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6e36f1ba9270e0c/69884b082dce01ec379e32cd/140103-life-1960-cotton-bowl-4.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # LIFE at the 1960 Cotton Bowl: 'Battle of the Hard-Noses' by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jan 2, 2014 5:51 PM UTC  Syracuse (in white) vs. Texas in the 1960 Cotton Bowl. Syracuse won the game, 23-14. Syracuse (in white) vs. Texas in the 1960 Cotton Bowl. Syracuse won the game, 23-14.Robert W. Kelley—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jan 2, 2014 5:51 PM UTC In 1960, an undefeated (11-0) Syracuse football team throughly whipped Texas, 23-14, in the [Cotton Bowl](http://college-football.si.com/2013/12/31/cotton-bowl-preview/) to win the 1959 college national championship. The Syracuse team featured at least one genuine star: eventual Heisman winner Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the trophy, who would score twice in the Cotton Bowl and was voted the game’s MVP. Both teams, it turns out, were as tough as any that have ever played for the national title. As LIFE magazine noted in its Jan. 11, 1060, issue, in an article titled “A Brawling Battle of the Hard-Noses”: --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- But LIFE also reported that “as the game moved back and forth on the field and the normal tensions of the players were increased by the body-crunching fury of the play, an ugly undercurrent of racial bitterness began to spread — with shocking results.” --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- Much of this back-and-forth was dramatized in [_The Express_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469903/), the largely fanciful 2008 film about Ernie Davis’ life. (Davis died of acute monocytic leukemia in 1963, at just 23 years old, before getting a chance to play in the NFL). Both Syracuse and Texas players have noted that quite a bit in the film was pure fiction, and many Texas players have stated in the years since that there was little racial animus on display during that long-ago Cotton Bowl. A number of Syracuse players, meanwhile, [respectfully disagree](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%5FExpress#Historical%5Finaccuracies) with their Longhorn counterparts’ version of the game — even as [Brown himself long-argued](http://www.chron.com/entertainment/movies/article/The-Express-stretches-the-truth-1783470.php) that many of the racially charged scenarios depicted in _The Express_ were embellished, or even wholly made up.  Syracuse (in white) vs. Texas in the 1960 Cotton Bowl. Syracuse won the game, 23-14. Robert W. Kelley—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Syracuse coach Floyd Benjamin "Ben" Schwartzwalder and eventual Heisman winner Ernie Davis (#44) during the 1960 Cotton Bowl against Texas. Robert W. Kelley—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Syracuse vs. Texas, 1960 Cotton Bowl. At left is the great Ernie Davis (#44) -- the first African American to win the Heisman. Robert W. Kelley—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Syracuse player John Brown (in white jersey) in fight over alleged racial insult from Texas player Larry Stephens during 1960 Cotton Bowl. Robert W. Kelley—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Syracuse coach Benny Schwartzwalder on the field during the 1960 Cotton Bowl against Texas, trying to break up a fight. Robert W. Kelley—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Fight between Syracuse and Texas players during the 1960 Cotton Bowl Robert W. Kelley—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Syracuse coach Benny Schwartzwalder talks to his players during their Cotton Bowl victory over Texas in 1960. Robert W. Kelley—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Cotton Bowl cheerleaders, 1960. Robert W. 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