Coach Bernie Moore

Coach John Barnhill

Clyde "Smackover" Scott

Wren Worley

Walter "Piggy" Barnes

Ray Bullock

Mel Lyle

Fred Land

Dale Gray

Carroll Griffith

Gene "Red" Knight

Clyde Lindsey

Aubrey Fowler (43) of Arkansas defends against a pass to Jim Cason on the last play of the first half. (NEA Photo)

Zolllie Toth

Jeff Adams

Holly Heard

The 1946 LSU roster included twelve players who would play in the NFL or AAFC. And HB Joe Glamp is not one of them. After lettering in 1942, he entered the military. When he returned from the war, he surveyed the talent Bernie Moore had assembled and decided he had a better chance to make the Pittsburgh Steelers, the perennial doormats of the NFL. His choice proved wise as he started for three years for the Steelers.

LSU's Season

• In 1946, the Tigers, loaded with military veterans as well as young talent, finished 9-1. The veterans could attend school without a football scholarship because of the "G.I. Bill." That freed money for the youngsters.
• The loss came to Georgia Tech in the fourth game, 26-7 at Tiger Stadium. Unfortunately, that defeat cost the Tigers a share of the SEC crown as Wally Butts' Georgia Bulldogs defeated Tech 35-7 in the annual finale to finish 10-0. John Ferguson, the radio voice of the Tigers, said the loss to the Yellow Jackets was "just one of those games." Two late INTs were returned for TDs. (Ferguson rated the '46 contingent as the best LSU team of all time.)
• The Tigers won all four non-conference games: Rice (7-6 in Houston), Texas A&M (33-9), Miami (20-7 in Florida), and Fordham (40-0).
• The Tigers were led by junior QB Y. A. Tittle, a member of the United Press All-SEC team, and a deep corps of RBs led by Jim Cason and Dan Sandifer. G Wren Worley made the AP all-conference eleven while T Walter "Piggy" Barnes earned a spot on sportscaster Bill Stern's All-American team.
• LSU ranked #8 in the final AP poll, which was conducted before the bowl games.

The Opponent

• John Barnhill finished his first season as Arkansas coach with a 6-3-1 record.
• The 16th-ranked Razorbacks went 5-1 in the Southwest Conference to share the championship with Rice. UA's lone loss came at Texas 20-0. With the 8-2 Owls accepting a bid to the Orange Bowl, Arkansas took the conference's Cotton berth.
• The Hogs also fell to Ole Miss 9-7 in Memphis and at Tulsa 14-13. The tie came at Oklahoma State 21-21.

Pre-game Prospects

• Coach Moore had a problem motivating his team for the Cotton Bowl, which guaranteed LSU $62,000. First of all, the players had their hopes set on a shot at Georgia in the Sugar Bowl to show that they were better than the SEC champions. But the Crescent City bowl chose North Carolina and its star HB "Choo Choo" Justice as the Bulldogs' opposition.
• Before practice could begin for the bowl game, Moore and AD Skipper Heard had to deal with an insurrection by the older players, who wanted $600 each to play in Dallas. When the administration flatly denied the request, the squad met before practice and took a vote on whether to play in the Cotton Bowl. When a close vote favored striking if their demands weren't met, the players refused to practice and returned to their dorm, expecting someone from the athletic department to come and talk to them. Tittle, who opposed the plan, recalled, Nobody came to us. They just let us sleep on it. Eventually, a counterproposal appeared: $100 a man if LSU won the Cotton Bowl. That was enough to end the walkout. None of this story made the newspapers at the time. (Marty Mule recounted it in Tiger Rag 4/22/14.)
• The Tigers worked hard on their passing game since the Arkansas defense had been vulnerable to air attacks.
• Moore announced a change in the original travel plans. Instead of arriving in Dallas December 26, the Tigers would wait until the 29th. Whether the players' insurrection contributed to the delay is anyone's guess.
• The Tigers flew to Dallas on four separate flights. Moore, who preferred to stay earthbound, made the trip by automobile. Newspaper stories focused on E Clyde Lindsey, who got married the day before the team left for Dallas. Not distracted, Clyde would play all 60 minutes New Year's Day.
• On the eve of the game, Moore admitted knowing little about Arkansas.

  We not only didn't scout each other but have little Information from others who saw our teams in action. One fellow wrote from Oklahoma that he could give me the lowdown on Arkansas, but I didn't know him so I didn't take advantage of the offer.

• Bernie knew that Arkansas had a fast team led by the running of sophomore Clyde "Smackover" Scott and the pass receiving of big Alton Baldwin, a four-year letter winner and second-team All-American E.

I remember as a boy in the 1950s seeing the sign "Entering Smackover, Arkansas, home of Clyde Scott" as we drove to visit dad's relatives.

• Seven Tigers looked forward to the Cotton Bowl with extra anticipation - the players from Arkansas: Ends Ray Bullock, Sam Coots, and Mel Lyle, T Fred Land, G Worley, HBs Dale Gray and Carroll Griffith.

Dan Sandifer, Y.A. Tittle, Ray Coates, Jim Cason, Rip Collins, Al Heroman

• The oddsmakers installed LSU as a 10-point favorite. Both squads reported no significant injuries.
• A UP article the day before the game proclaimed: "Weather forecasts were that it would be cold and cloudy but that no rain or snow was expected." Unfortunately, that prediction didn't pan out. The game day report said:

Sub-freezing temperatures and a blanket of snow today furnished a frigid setting for the 11th Cotton bowl football game ... The condition of the field remained an unknown quantity until the huge tarpaulin protecting it from Tuesday's snow was removed shortly before the kickoff.

• The Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, 278 miles south, was postponed for four days because of the sleet storm that moved across the Lone Star State. Mike the Tiger, on his way to Dallas in his cage, hibernated in a storage garage in Shreveport.
• Nevertheless, the Cotton Bowl went on as planned. 38,000 of the 45,000 ticket holders showed up. They sloshed through foot-deep snow in the aisles and sat in a misty rain to watch what came to be known as "The Ice Bowl" 30 years before Dallas's own Cowboys played in another "Ice Bowl" in Green Bay for the NFL Championship. Some spectators set fires in the stands to keep warm.
• Moore sent trainer Jules Roux to the store to buy long underwear for the players and several charcoal heaters, which were placed on the sideline. For the only time anyone could remember, the LSU linemen all wore gloves. LSU procured several oil drums, filled them with charcoal, and started a fire to produce heat on the sideline. AD Heard brought in 25 bales of hay to spread in front of the bench to keep the players' feet warm. Assistant coach Harry Rabenhorst remembers that "the cold brought tears to everyone's eyes. I went up to Bernie one time and, sure enough, the tears had frozen on his cheeks."

The Game

• Never before or since has an LSU team so dominated its opponent, yet failed to win.

Category	LSU	Ark.
First Downs	15	1
Yards Rushing	255	54
Passing	5-17/16y	0-4/0y
Total Yards	271	54
Fumbles Lost	2	3
Penalties-Yards	8-50	1-5
Punts-Average	9-30.4	11-36.0

• In the only statistic that counts, LSU and Arkansas tied 0-0. The Razorbacks stopped the Tigers inside the 10 three times.
• A major reason Arkansas gained only one first down is the poor field position they constantly faced. Even in good weather, coaches in that era preferred to punt the ball on first or second down from deep in their own territory rather than risk a fumble or INT.

Quarter-by-quarter summary:

• Q1: Midway through the period, a quick-kick by Aubrey Fowler died on the LSU 3. Gene "Red" Knight immediately punted back, Fowler returning to the Tiger 37. However, the Razorbacks could go no further than the 29 and punted into the EZ. At that point, Arkansas had gained 36y rushing, mostly by freshman FB Leon "Muscles" Campbell. Little did anyone know that Arkansas had achieved its deepest penetration of the game and would gain only 18 more yards that afternoon. As one writer put it, "The rest of the game found the Porkers too busy warding off Tiger thrusts to even think about putting on a drive." Sandifer, Ray Coates, and Rip Collins combined for two first downs to the Arkansas 49, but Tittle fumbled on fourth-and-1, and John Hoffman recovered on the Razorback 42. But Hoffman fumbled right back, Tittle recovering at the LSU 48 as the period ended.

• Q2: Cason, Al Heroman, and Knight pounded the line for a first down on the UA 38, but the Hogs forced Knight to punt. But Barnhart didn't want the ball deep in his own territory. So Fowler quick-kicked to the LSU 40. Knight plunged for 16y, but again Arkansas threw the Tigers back, and on fourth down Charles Lively blocked Knight's punt with Baldwin recovering on the LSU 44. The Razorbacks couldn't take advantage of the good field position they had achieved because Scott fumbled the frigid pigskin, and Lindsey recovered for the Tigers on the 45. After three plays failed to gain a first, Knight kicked to the 18. Tittle intercepted Fowler's pass and returned it to the 16. After two running plays netted 9y, Tittle chose to pass twice unsuccessfully, and Arkansas took over. Cason ran Fowler's kick back to the 19. The half ended with LSU on the 14.
• Q3: After a punt exchange, the Bengals surged from their 7 to the Arkansas 18 with Coates and Sandifer pounding out most of the yardage. But on fourth down, LB Bill Thomas batted a pass out of Sandifer's hands at the goal line. After Fowler kicked out, Zollie Toth cracked the line for a first down to the UA 47. But Cason fumbled, and James Minor recovered for UA. The Razorbacks couldn't gain, and Fowler kicked yet again, this time to Cason who ran it back to the 26 as the period came to a close.
• Q4: Toth plowed over RG for a first down, but then a penalty for offensive interference forced LSU to punt. Arkansas kicked right back, Coates making a fine return to the UA 42. The Tigers drove to the 4 where, on third down, Tittle flipped a pass to Jeff Adams, but Scott drove him out of bounds on the 2. On fourth down, Toth was stopped for no gain. Fowler kicked out, but Dale Gray ran the ball back to the 31. Gray and Willard Landry led a surge to the Arkansas 9, but three tries netted only 3y. With time expiring, Holly Heard lined up a FG at the 15, but Coates fumbled the snap. Heard picked up the pigskin but was downed on the 16, a fitting ending to a frustrating afternoon for LSU.

Recap

• Coates gained more yards than Arkansas as he romped for 61 on 7 carries. Sandifer added 56 on 9 tries, with Tittle racking up 38 on 7 runs. Campbell topped Arkansas with 21 on 7 attempts.
• The media selected Tittle as LSU's outstanding player, with Baldwin top Razorback.
• At the banquet for the teams that night, Barnhill won the coin toss and departed Dallas with the Cotton Bowl Trophy. LSU would have to wait for a duplicate to be ordered and shipped to Baton Rouge.
• Despite the weather, the game was expected to gross the largest gate in the gridiron classic's history, more than $150,000. So each school could expect to get the $60,000 it was promised.