William Madison "Matty" Bell's future as a football coach looked bleak when Tex­as A&M fired him in 1933 after he went 24-21-3 in five years but only 8-14-3 in the Southwest Conference.

He served as an assistant coach at SMU in 1934. Then he was promoted to head coach for the 1935 season when Ray Morrison left for Vanderbilt, his alma mater.

Bell inherited an outstanding team. He recalled, "We had a great line and a great backfield, but only six or seven first-class subs." He also had the two of the finest tac­kles and the four best guards in the conference.

The Mustangs roared past their first 10 opponents, allowing only six points to each of three foes. That set up the showdown at TCU for the Southwest Conference champ­ionship and a shot at the national championship.

Dutch Meyer's second Horned Frogs team at his alma mater was also undefeated. So the winner of the clash with the Mustangs would not only claim the conference crown but also earn a trip to the Rose Bowl and a chance at the national championship.

Both SMU and TCU had outstanding passing attacks led by Bob Finley of the Mus­tangs and junior "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh of the Horned Frogs. Bell credited Morrison with showing him how effective passing could be during the 1934 season.

For one afternoon, Highland Park TX was the center of the football universe.

Grantland Rice, nationally-acclaimed sportswriter for the New York Sun, called the contest "The Game of the Century." He, along with numerous other sportswriters from around the country, overflowed the press box.

SMU was rated a slight underdog on its home field. Injuries to Mustang FB Harley Shuford and G J. C. Wetsel were a factor in the decision, although Wetsel played part of the game.

37,000 fans overflowed Ownby Stadium for the clash, which was the first Southwest football game to be broadcast nationwide. They saw an exciting game that lived up to its expectations.

The Mustangs scored midway through the first period on Bob Finley's 1y touch­down plunge. The 73y drive featured the line plunging of Finley and xxx Burt and the end runs of Bobby Wilson. Maurice Orr kicked the PAT. SMU 7 TCU 0

The first quarter ended with TCU on the SMU 16. But Baugh's fourth-down pass into the end zone fell incomplete to turn the ball over.

SMU proceeded to march 84y to double their lead. Wilson circled right end for 21y. Then Finley found a hole at left tackle for another 13. Then he threw a pass to Maco Stewart for a first down on the TCU nine. Wilson took a lateral from Finley and galloped around right end for the touchdown. Orr again kicked goal. SMU 14 TCU 0

The Frogs got a chance to put points on the board after Baugh's punt was downed on the SMU 4. Finley immediately tried to kick out of danger, but the ball traveled only to the 26. Scott McCall gained eight before Taldon Manton made a first down on the 15. Lawrence then took a "spinner" for a first down at the four.

Just when TCU fans expected a score, xxx Tipton smeared Lawrence for a 5y loss. Then Baugh's pass to Willie Walls in the end zone fell incomplete. Baugh's next pass was knocked down, but interference was ruled to make it first-and-ten on the three. The Frogs took advantage of the break when Lawrence drove through left tackle into the end zone. Walter Roach's kick was good. SMU 14 TCU 7

Midway through the period, Baugh threw to Walls for a first down on the SMU 30. But xxx Burt intercepted Sam's next pass to end the threat.

Late in the quarter, xxx Sprague intercepted a Finley pass and returned to the TCU 46. After two runs gained six, Baugh shot a short pass to Lawrence for a first down on the Mustang 43 as the quarter ended. SMU 14 TCU 7

Baugh again threw to Lawrence, who broke away to the 25. Then Walls snagged a pass and was downed in his tracks at the seven. Lawrence misfired on a pass into the end zone. Then Baugh flipped a flat pass to Lawrence as he ran over the goal line. Roach's PAT tied the score. SMU 14 TCU 14

But the Methodists wasted little time in regaining the lead. J. R. (for Jack Rabbit) Smith returned the kickoff 27y to his 47. Wilson gained four, and Smith got seven more to move the chains to the TCU 42. That set the stage for the play of the game.

On third-and-four, Smith called the play. The Mustangs set up in deep punt for­mation with the punter, Finley, set to receive the snap. He took the snap and started to punt. Then he suddenly began to backpedal and rear his right arm. Meanwhile, Wilson raced down the sideline. Finley uncorked a prodigious heave toward Wilson. When the closley covered intended receiver reached the three, he looked back, leaped high in the air, tipped down the football to control it, and hugged onto it as he scrambled into the end zone.

Wilson, one of the best backs in the country, recalled: "I looked over my shoulder one way, and the ball was thrown over my other shoulder. I turned fast and caught it on the other side. It wasn't a sensational catch. It was a routine job. The pass wasn't a thing of beauty, but it was there."

Wilson later said, "We had planned to use the play on Lawrence because he came up so fast on coverage, but it turned out he wasn't in there when we called it. ... I remember it as a pretty routine catch. All that whirling dervish stuff was a bunch of hooey."

Baugh, who was playing defensive back on the play but was not covering Wilson, said TCU was not expecting a punt.

"We knew what they were going to do. The rule then was that if you pass in(to) the end zone on fourth down, it's just like a punt if it's incomplete. You bring it to the 20. When you'd get to about the other team's 40, you'd go ahead and throw the ball in the end zone. It's just like a damn punt if it's not complete."

When Wilson scored earlier in the game, a "slightly lubricated" SMU fan stood and declared to those around him, "The two greatest people in America are Bobby Wilson and President Roosevelt."

When Wilson scored the go-ahead touchdown, the same man rose again and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, you may scratch President Roosevelt from the list."

There was plenty of time for Baugh & Company to score, and many SMU pessimists must have worried they would lose the game 21-20.

TCU's next possession was curtailed by a clipping penalty on the kickoff. After three incompletions, Baugh boomed a 67y punt that rolled into the end zone.

SMU made one first down to run some clock. Then they made a decision that makes no sense from today's perspective. They punted on second down! Baugh returned 20y to the TCU 40.

On third down, Sammy hit Manton for 15y to enter SMU territory at the 41. Another completion to Meyer gained nine. Baugh then threw a long pass toward Vic Montgomery in the end zone. As Mustang fans held their breath, the ball fell incom­plete. On fourth down, Wilson knocked down Baugh's pass, and SMU took the ball.

The Mustangs moved to the TCU 26. Then Wilson fumbled, and Melvin Diggs recovered for the Christians on the 25.

Wilson on his rare mistake: "Matty sent me back into the game late with in­structions not to carry the ball because I was tired. But I ignored it and fumbled the ball at about their 18 yard line. ... I had no business fumbling the ball. I was on the sideline, and I was sure the ball was going out of bounds, but it went the other way. It really scared us when they started to move the ball right after."

Wilson and Baugh formed a mutual admiration society. "He was one of the great runners in the Southwest Conference," Baugh said. "The Southwest didn't get much publicity except in our area. But he was a great runner and a fine football player."

Wilson on Baugh: "He was the only man I ever saw who could throw the soft pass and the hard pass. He had control of the ball whenever he threw."

Passing on every down, Baugh misfired on a long one to stop the clock, then found Montgomery for a first down on the 39. Then he hit Montgomery again to the 47. Staying hot, Sammy found L. D. Meyer to the SMU 35 as the game ended with Baugh having completed only 16 passes in 41 attempts for 184y.

  FINAL SCORE: SMU 20 TCU 14

TCU had the edge in yardage (362-315) and first downs (25-17).

Grantland Rice wrote this for his column the next day: "This was one of the great­est games ever played in the sixty-year history of the nation's finest college sport. In the most desperate game this season has known from coast to coast, Southern Methodist ... carved a clearcut highway right into the middle of the Rose Bowl beyond any argument ... a swirl of action that no other section of the country could approach ... the climax game of 1935.

Five members of the two teams made various All-American teams: T Truman Spain, G J.C. Wetself, HB Bobby Wilson, C Darrell Lester, and QB Sam Baugh.

Baugh later said, "I thought SMU deserved to win. I'll give 'em this—they really set a good defense for us. They closed he gaps in the throwing lanes and basically took away the short pass, which was mainly what we relied on. We had to go to the medium pass, and the reason I was throwing the ball so hard is because they had closed gaps, and I had to throw hard to keep it from being intercepted. But I threw it so hard, the receivers couldn't catch it." (The receivers dropped nine of his passes.)

But receiver J. D. Meyer didn't agree that Baugh's passing cost TCU the game.

"He was throwing those balls right in there on the money, and if you're a receiver, it's your job to catch those balls, no matter how hard they're thrown.

"I think the real problem was the pep talk Dutch gave us before the game. He nor­mally didn't do a lot of that, but this time he was really trying to get us fired up, and he told us the winner would go to the Rose Bowl. We were mostly just a bunch of country boys, and this was the biggest thing that had ever happened in our lives.

"By the time we went out there, we are all tied up in knots, and Dutch always admitted that he thought he made a big mistake."

Baugh didn't agree with J. D. Instead, he said the biggest mistake TCU made was on the fake punt.

"The thing that galled us is that they won on a play we were expecting. We just didn't stop it. It was reported as a daring gamble, but it was actually a routine play for that era."

Wilson's catch of the winning touchdown pass is arguably the biggest play in SMU football history. The score led to SMU playing in the Rose Bowl, where they lost to Stanford 7-0. SMU owed $85,000 on its new stadium, and the Athletic Director bor­rowed money from a bank to pay off the note. The Rose Bowl brought in the revenue he needed to repay the loan. So Wilson's winning score became known as "the $85,000 Touchdown."