Sport: The Unbeatens

In the nation’s big concrete stadiums, the news at the mid-season mark was that the top football teams seemed unbeatable. Perhaps it was the unlimited-substitutions rule that favored the big teams. Lesser teams might talk about how they held back the giant for a quarter or two, as many of them did, but by the final gun the team with superior reserves of talented specialists (either offensive or defensive) won. In the Midwest, there seemed no end to the invincibility of Notre Dame and Michigan, both unbeaten since 1946. Only slightly less impressive were North Carolina and Army. The pity was that none of these four would play each other, so that comparisons were at best guesswork, and at worst a matter of local patriotism.

Last week’s big games:

¶ At Iowa City, rugged Notre Dame beat Iowa, 27-12.

¶ At Minneapolis, Benny Oosterbaan’s tricky Michigan team beat Minnesota, 27 to 14, and just about clinched another Big Nine championship.

¶ At Ithaca, unbeaten Army, led by Gil Stephenson, took the steam out of unbeaten Cornell, 27-6.

¶ North Carolina’s Tar Heels, with Choo Choo Justice’s help, beat L.S.U. 34 to 7.

On the West Coast, where by old stand ards college football has recently ranged from pitiful to deplorable, California demanded the right to be rated among the nation’s best. In rainy Seattle, the Rose Bowl-bound Golden Bears made it five straight this season by rubbing Washington’s nose in the mud, 21 to 0. California’s highly advertised Fullback Jack Jensen couldn’t seem to get untracked, but Halfback Jack Swaner, a superior mudder, had a big day, scoring all three touchdowns.