"Boys, I am not to be addressed as 'Clark' or, especially, 'Soup.' To you, I am 'Mr. Shaugh­nessy' or 'Coach.' Nothing else. I am a professor of football. Now, I have a for­mation for you that, if you learn it well, will take you to the Rose Bowl."

With those words, Clark Shaughnessy introduced himself to his new squad at Leland Stanford University in April 1940. ("Soup" was a name a sportswriter hung on him be­cause he thought that's what Shaughnessy would be in at his new post.) The for­mation the coach referred to was the T, of which Shaughnessy was a chief developer.

After playing fullback at Minnesota from 1911-1913, Clark served as head coach at Tulane from 1915-1926, Loyola (New Orleans) 1927-1932, and the University of Chi­cago 1933-1939.

While in the Windy City, Shaughnessy developed a friendship with Chicaqo Bears head coach George Halas, whom he helped implement the T in the NFL. Halas thought so highly of Clark that he paid him $2,000 for his consulting services.

Chicago had been a member of the Big Ten Conference since its inception in 1896. Led by Amos Alonzo Stagg, Chicago fielded formidable football teams that won seven con­ference championships. But starting in 1925, the school administration, intent on keeping Chicago at the academic level of the Ivy League colleges, decided it did not want to make exceptions to its rigid admission standards for athletes. When Shaughnessy replaced Stagg as head coach, the Maroons never finished above .500 in his seven seasons as head coach. Eventually, the school shut down its football program after the 1939 season.

As is usually the case when a new coach takes over, Stanford had not done well in re­cent years. The Indians had finished 1-7-1 in 1939 running the standard single wing of the day under C. E. Thornhill. The team scored only 54 points, the lowest at Stanford since 1919.

Stanford made three straight trips to the Rose Bowl from 1933-1935. Those teams had been called the "Vow Boys" because they vowed never to lose to Southern California and didn't. But in the next four years, Thornhill became lax in his discipline, and the only winning record was 4-3-2 in 1937.

What Shaughnessy quickly discovered in watching films of the 1939 season and then working with his new team was that the players had talent but had been misused. He thought his new approach would allow them to maximize their potential.

Shaughnessy was not well received in some quarters at Stanford. "We just got the only coach in the world who had a worse record than Tiny Thornhill," said HB Hugh Gal­larneau, echoing the views of some West Coast sports writers.

Shaughnessy had provoked further derision from some writers when he announced he would implement the T in Palo Alto. "The T? The old-fashioned T that had gone out before nose guards and moleskin pants came in?" Others claimed that college players could not execute the complicated plays that the Bears used.

Legendary Coach "Pop" Warner, who headed the Stanford program before hand­ing the reins over to Thornton, proclaimed: "If Stanford ever wins a single game with that crazy formation, you can throw all the football I ever knew into the Pacific Ocean. What they're doing is ridiculous." Those words would later be used as an indictment of Pop to show that the game had passed him by.

Stanford T Jack Warnecke later admitted that he thought, "Shaughnessy killed off football at Chicago and now he's hired to kill the game at Stanford. Who in the world hired him, and why? What were they thinking?"

Shaughnessy hired his staff and went to work. "Marchie" Schwartz, an All-American HB at Notre Dame who had spent one year under Clark at Chicago before coaching Creighton for five years, would serve as backfield coach. The line coach would be Phil Bengston, an All-American tackle on Minnesota's 1934 national champions. Clark brought in former Bears QB Bernie Masterson to tutor Frank­ie Albert in the T-forma­tion during spring practice.

The new head coach first had to train his assistants in the T. In doing so, he established a demanding work ethic. When spring practice began, players noticed a difference imme­diately. Shaughnessy introduced a discipline and seriousness to practices that had been lacking. The staff found most of the players eager to improve. Within three days, Shaugh­nessy had his starting backfield picked out, and it would stay intact the whole season except for injuries.

The quarterback would be left-handed Frankie Albert, a junior. The 5'9" 170-pounder was ill-suited for the single wing. Shaughnessy: "He couldn't run or block worth writing home about. He was too slight, almost delicate. He was, however, a superlative ball hand­ler, a great kicker and passer, and he could really call signals." Frankie perfected the bootleg. He would often not tell the team he was going to keep the ball so that they would carry out their fakes better. In short, the T-formation was made for Frankie Albert and vice-versa.

Senior FB Norm "Chief" Standlee was a bruising runner with the speed to go outside. Shaughnessy built his offense around Standlee who was as great a blocker as he was a runner.

Junior HB Pete "Jackrabbit" Kmetovic fit Shaughnessy's man-in-motion position because he was dangerous in the open field, especially when catching a pass in the flat. At 5'8" 170, he had been another one who was useless in the single wing, where he was required to block and pass.

The other halfback would be senior Hugh "Duke" Gallarneau, 6-0 190. He was even faster than Jackrabbit, with a 9.6 seconds 100y dash to his credit. Wasted at blocking back by Thornhill, Duke became "my secret weapon" according to Shaughnessy because Albert and Standlee would draw the opponent's attention.

The "Wow Boys," as the 1940 Indians came to be known, won all nine of their regular season games. The closest call was a 7-6 victory over Santa Clara October 12.

Pacific Coast fans were spellbound by Stanford's sleight-of-hand faking, brush blocking, tricky passing formations, and off-guard fullback plunges, all of which caught defenses off guard.

As champions of the Pacific Coast Conference, Stanford gained the host spot in the Rose Bowl. The opponent would be 8-1 Nebraska, champions of the Big Six Conference. Biff Jones' fourth Cornhusker team ranked #7 in the Associated Press final poll. Their only loss was 13-7 in the opening game of the season against #1 Minnesota, which could not go to the Rose Bowl because of the Big Ten's prohibition of bowl games. The Corn­huskers had to petition the other members of the Big Six Conference to waive the league ban against postseason play. When permission was granted, the sports editor of the Omaha World-Herald proclaimed, "It's the greatest thing that has happened to Nebraska since William Jennings Bryan ran for the presidency." The game quickly sold out.

When the euphoria died down, Jones and his staff set to work learning what they could about Stanford's innovative T-formation attack. As part of his preparation, the Nebraska coach attended the NFL championship game between the Chicago Bears and the Wash­ington Redskins. What he saw must have dismayed him because Chicago slaughtered the Redskins 73-0. After traveling to Chicago to help the Bears prepare for the title game while his Stanford players had two weeks off to rest and study for final exams, Shaughnessy returned to California and was not present at the contest.

Nebraska's team was a home-grown lot. 43 of the 44 players hailed from the state, the odd man being from adjacent Kansas. Six of Jones' charges had been selected to the All-Big 6 first team. Two of those, G Warren Alfson and T Forrest Behm, made All-American. Four more Cornhuskers made the conference second team.

Jones obtained films of Stanford's game against Washington. But films could only help so much. After the Rose Bowl, Nebraska HB Allen Zikmund remarked, "It was far different when we saw it firsthand."

With snow and cold weather limiting practice in Lincoln, Jones took the team to Phoe­nix. 10,000 fans gathered to send off their heroes on December 19. Biff held twice-a-day practices in Arizona behind locked gates at a high school. New York Giants coach Steve Owens stopped by to give Jones some pointers for stopping the T formation. Jones was also aided by the fact that his line coach, Link Lyman, had played for the Bears in the early 1920s when they started using the T.

Oddsmakers established Stanford as an 11-5 favorite.

91,500 attended the 26th Rose Bowl on a postcard-perfect Southern California winter day. Four days before the game, Los Angeles Times columnist Dick Hyland, a Stanford alumnus, predicted that the Indians would start slowly because of the long layoff, lack of physical contract because of illness and injury, and poor weather. He proved to be right on.

Nebraska took the opening kickoff and drove 53y in seven plays to take a quick lead. The big gains were an 18y fake reverse by Vike Francis to the Stanford 35. Then Francis ran up the middle to the 23 before handing to Butch Luther who ran down the sidelines to the nine. Three plays later, Francis drove into the end zone to give the Huskers a quick 7-0 lead.

The 10,000 Nebraska rooters in the jam-packed stands went wild while the Stanford backers were dumbfounded by the ease with which Francis ate up ground and scored. Had the Cornhuskers found Stanford's Achilles heel?

Shaughnessy explained later: "Our defense had been seet up to stop Butch Luther, whose reverses gained most of Nebraska's yardage during the regular season. Apparently Roy Petsch, their quarterback, quickly sized up what we were doing and had Francis simply fake a hand-off to Luther, then keep the ball and run through big holes inside our tackles. I avoided sending in instructions to change the defense, thus preventing the crowd from blaming the boy who would have to be replaced. So I sweated it out. After Nebraska scored, it gave me the chance to substitute Clem Tomerlin for Stan Graff at end with instructions to alter the defense, stop Francis, and take a chance on Luther's reverses." Francis gained only 20 more yards the rest of the game.

As the teams lined up for the kickoff after Nebraska's touchdown, Stanford QB Frankie Albert swung by Stanford's bench and yelled to Shaughnessy, "Don't worry, coach. We haven't had the ball yet!"

After an exchange of punts, Stanford started from their 42. On the second play, Pete Kmetovic went in motion to the right and, when the defensive end didn't move with him, Albert threw a long lateral to him, and Pete galloped for 20y. Another swing pass Albert-to-Kmetovic moved the ball to the 23 as Stanford's speed again burned Nebraska. But a turnover abruptly ended the march. After Albert slipped down for a 5y loss, FB Norm Standlee burst up the middle only to fumble. C Bob Burruss recovered for the Huskers at the 24.

After gaining 50y rushing on the opening drive, Nebraska would gain only six the rest of the way. The Indians soon had the ball back on the Huskers 47. Stanford drove from there to the tying score.

Albert faked to Gallarneau and handed to Kmetovic over right tackle. Pete veered to the outside and down the sideline to the 18. Gallarneau lost two, only his third losing carry of the season. Albert then handed to Kmetovic again over right tackle to the 11. Facing a five-man line, Albert faked right, pivoted, and handed to Gallarneau who ran the counter into the end zone. Albert's conversion tied the score with 1:45 left in the first period. Nebraska 7 Stanford 7

On the scoring play, Stanford benefitted from its own mistake. Albert recalled: "Apparently our tackle, Bruno Banducci, forgot his assignment, which was to take out Clarence Herndon, their defensive tackle. So Herndon, on Vic Lindskog's snap of the ball, raced into our backfield just as I handed he ball to Gallarneau. Hugh went one way while Herndon, less than six inches away, was charging in the opposite direction."

Stanford almost got an opportunity to take the lead against the Huskers' second team, which played the entire second period. On third-and-five, Herman Rohrig tried a quick-kick, but Vic Lindskog blocked it. Nebraska recovered back on the 15.

Rohrig punted on fourth down to the Stanford 34, Albert returning to the 45. Frankie led an advance that bogged down on the nine. He then badly missed a field goal.

The Indians continued to stuff Nebraska's offense. However, a miscue gave back the momentum to UN. On 3rd-and-nine, Rohrig's quick kick barely escaped the rushing Lindskog. With the sun in his eyes, Kmetovic misjudged the ball, and it sailed over his head. As Pete received the ball over his shoulder, he fumbled, and Allen Zikmund recovering for Nebraska on the Stanford 33.

On the first play, Rohrig escaped rushers all the way back to his own 40 where he threw the pigskin to the nine where Zikmund pulled it in two steps behind Gallarneau. Zikmund carried Hugh into the end zone with him. Taylor broke through to block the PAT kick to keep the score 13-7 Nebraska.

Albert pulled some tricks out of his bag to gain the lead. After Rohrig's kickoff went out on the 35, Albert pulled back from center without the ball, which was hiked directly to Norm Standlee who passed to Gallarneau for 10y. On third-and-nine, Albert faked a pass and followed blockers around left end for a first down at the UN 47. With help from assistant coach Jim Lawson, Albert exploited the Huskers 5-2-2-2 defense which had no one playing deep in the middle. On second-and-eight, Gallarneau went in motion to the left, which pulled in a defensive back to guard against a sweep. On the snap, Hugh raced downfield into the gap in the secondary. Albert hit him in stride at the 18, and he outraced Rohrig and Zikmund into the end zone. As his receiver crossed the goal line, Albert looked up to the press box and waved a "Thanks, pal" to Lawson. Frankie's kick gave Stanford its first lead of the day, 14-13.

Nebraska had a chance to score before the half. Zikmund made a fine return of the kickoff but paid the price. Taking Albert's boot on the 15, the little halfback returned all the way to the Stanford 39 where Kmetovic and Albert knocked him out of bounds, injuring his left ankle. On first down, Graff dropped Zikmund for a 14y loss. Zikky then went to the sidelines where Coach Jones asked him if he could run. The halfback ran along the sidelines with no problem but couldn't turn to come back. "Coach, I'm sorry. I can run straight ahead, but I can't turn." He missed the rest of the contest with a fractured ankle. Meanwhile, the Cornhuskers moved to the 30 where George Knight attempted a field goal, which fell short of the goal posts, which were on the goal line at that time.

Halftime score: Stanford 14 Nebraska 13

Nebraska's first unit started the second half. Stanford couldn't do much with the kick­off. So Albert boomed a 58y quick kick all the way to the end zone. Afterwards Shaughnes­sy said, "There had been criticism of the T on the ground that we couldn't quick kick, and Albert asked permission to demonstrate that it could be done." Nebraska couldn't move either, and Albert returned Hopp's punt 14y to the 23.

Albert drove his troops all the way to the one. The big play was a 43y run by Kmeto­vic. Pete also took another lateral pass from Albert at the 17 and rambled to the one where Luther stopped him. But the sure Stanford touchdown didn't come to pass as the Huskers staged a gallant goal line stand. Two quarterback sneaks gained nothing. Hoot Armstrong's plunge didn't penetrate the goal line, and another thrust by third-string FB Rod Parker was repelled to send the 15,000 Big Red fans into a frenzy. Albert later rued the absence of bigger backs Gallarneau and "Big Chief" Standlee during the goal line series.

Nebraska won the battle but lost the war because of what happened next. Hopp punted out of the end zone on first down to Kmeto­vic at the UN 39. Behind what Shaughnessy called the most savage blocking he had seen on any football field college or pro, Kmetovic started left, reversed his field, and headed down the right sideline. Red shirts were "sent flying like rag dolls." Dick Palmer belted Francis into a backward som­ersault that knocked him unconscious. At the five, Luther had a last chance to tackle Pete, but Meyer knocked him off balance to allow the ball carrier to cross the goal line. Albert's PAT made it 21-13, the eighth point being crucial because the two-point con­version was 25 years from entering college football.

Jones said, "I don't believe I saw a Nebraska man on his feet when that Kmetovic made his touchdown run against us." UN backfield coach Glenn Presnell, an NFL vete­ran, called it "the greatest play I've ever seen."

The fourth quarter proved anti-climactic. The Huskers got out of their own territory only once and that was by only 2y. The most significant play in the final quarter was made by Stanford LT Ed Stamm. George Abel intercepted Albert's pass to Kmetovic and set sail down the left sideline. Stamm knocked Abel out of bounds at the Nebraska 38. Lindskog blocked another Rohrig punt, and Stanford took over on the 15. However, they went backwards, and UN reclaimed the ball on the 20.

FB Bob Crane intercepted Rohrig's pass and returned it to the 31, but Stanford couldn't move. The end result was a scoreless final period and an undefeated 10-0 season for the Indians.

FINAL SCORE: STANFORD 21 NEBRASKA 13

After the final gun, Coach Jones told Shaughnessy, "I'll buy you 120 acres of fine cornland if you'll tell me where I can get a Frankie Albert. That boy had too much pass, too much kick, and too much noodle for us. What a job he did out there!" Shaughnessy agreed, saying, "If Frankie isn't an All-American, I've never seen one."

Stanford ran 73 plays to Nebraska's 47 and outgained the Huskers 352-128. Nebraska completed only three-of-14 passes with four interceptions, half as many as they had the entire regular season. Kmetovic was selected the Most Valuable Player, receiving a $75 wristwatch and a kiss from actress Jean Parker.

Biff Jones had nothing but praise for Stanford, reminding the sportswriters that his team had played Minnesota also. "I'll pay scalpers' prices to see the Indians play the Gophers next week. See if you can fix it up."

Shaughnessy also had kind words for the Cornhuskers: "Great club, the toughest we met this year."

After Stanford demonstrated its effectiveness on football's largest stage, the T formation quickly took over college football. By the end of World War II, the vast majority of colleges, including mighty Notre Dame, were using the T formation.