The end of Hillsdale's 34-game winning streak
Steve Casai recounts the 1957 football game that ended Hillsdale's record 34-game winning streak. Hillsdale's streak remained unbroken for 50 years until Grand Valley stole it Oct. 20, 2007 by defeating Northwood 51-20.
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: Sports
What a day Tuesday, Nov. 26, 1957, turned out to be at Hillsdale College! Fifty years ago Hillsdale's head football coach Frank "Muddy" Waters received word the Holiday Bowl committee had selected the Hillsdale Dales to play for the Holiday Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla., Dec. 21, against the Gorillas of Pittsburgh State Teachers College, located in Kansas.
Hillsdale cancelled classes and students attended a 3:30 p.m. pep rally. Waters told the rally the exciting news and students rang Hillsdale's Victory Bell for an hour and a half.
A beautiful and sunny Saturday afternoon, Hillsdale played Pittsburgh at Stewart Field before a packed house of 9,000, which included many Hillsdale students and fans.
Seven million watched the game on CBS television with telecasters Joe Boland and Red Grange, the former great college halfback.
During the first 10 minutes of the game, Pittsburgh embarrassed Hillsdale. They jumped to a 20-0 lead by capitalizing on three Hillsdale mistakes: a short punt, interception and fumble, all occurring during Hillsdale's first three possessions.
Why did Hillsdale get off to such a terrible start? In a 2002 interview by his writer, coach Waters, who died 2006, gave two reasons: nerves and playing on national television. He noticed in the locker room before the game the team seemed unusually tense. He said he tried but failed to help them relax.
Hillsdale fought back. They scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and one in the third to tie the score 20-20.
The Dales finally caught up, but the Gorillas, showing they were more than a team capitalizing on Hillsdale's mistakes, came back immediately. A Pittsburgh receiver made a spectacular catch in the end zone, capping a drive of seven plays. Pittsburgh made the extra point.
With about a minute left in the game, the Dales scored a touchdown when their halfback made a diving catch into the end zone. A Pittsburgh player, however, deflected the kick for the extra point, preventing Hillsdale from tying the score again.
After recovering an onside kick on Pittsburgh's 46-yard line, Hillsdale drove to Pittsburgh's 25-yard line.
The Dales, however, used up all their time outs. With time for one more play, Hillsdale threw a "Hail Mary" pass in the end zone. Pittsburgh intercepted.
Hillsdale lost 27-26, ending their 34-game winning streak - the longest winning streak at the time in NCAA Division II football.
Following the game, both teams attended an awards dinner. At one point, the entire Hillsdale team stood and applauded Pittsburgh. Hillsdale had not lost since the second game of the 1954 season. Only five players of the 1957 team played on the '54 team. Before losing to Pittsburgh, the rest of the Dales had never experienced
losing a Hillsdale football game.
Hillsdale's remarkable comeback received national praise.
"A lot of kids who were just pretty good football players before the game crossed the frontier to manhood during that desperate bid for a victory that would have been a minor sports miracle," said St. Petersburg Times writer Warren Walworth.
The Dales received over 100 telegrams from football fans all over the country.
"As one of your unseen audience may I congratulate your team and your coach on a championship performance … despite the difference of one point against you," wrote a fan from Doylestown, Pa. "A team that shoulders a 20-point deficit and then proceeds to unlimber a dazzling and varied attack and sterling defense such as we witnessed today wins my admiration. As an unbiased spectator, my opinion is that you have the best team in its class in the United States."
Pittsburgh won the 1957 Holiday Bowl, but Hillsdale won the hearts of the nation's football fans.
Hillsdale College Collegian 2007
Hillsdale cancelled classes and students attended a 3:30 p.m. pep rally. Waters told the rally the exciting news and students rang Hillsdale's Victory Bell for an hour and a half.
A beautiful and sunny Saturday afternoon, Hillsdale played Pittsburgh at Stewart Field before a packed house of 9,000, which included many Hillsdale students and fans.
Seven million watched the game on CBS television with telecasters Joe Boland and Red Grange, the former great college halfback.
During the first 10 minutes of the game, Pittsburgh embarrassed Hillsdale. They jumped to a 20-0 lead by capitalizing on three Hillsdale mistakes: a short punt, interception and fumble, all occurring during Hillsdale's first three possessions.
Why did Hillsdale get off to such a terrible start? In a 2002 interview by his writer, coach Waters, who died 2006, gave two reasons: nerves and playing on national television. He noticed in the locker room before the game the team seemed unusually tense. He said he tried but failed to help them relax.
Hillsdale fought back. They scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and one in the third to tie the score 20-20.
The Dales finally caught up, but the Gorillas, showing they were more than a team capitalizing on Hillsdale's mistakes, came back immediately. A Pittsburgh receiver made a spectacular catch in the end zone, capping a drive of seven plays. Pittsburgh made the extra point.
With about a minute left in the game, the Dales scored a touchdown when their halfback made a diving catch into the end zone. A Pittsburgh player, however, deflected the kick for the extra point, preventing Hillsdale from tying the score again.
After recovering an onside kick on Pittsburgh's 46-yard line, Hillsdale drove to Pittsburgh's 25-yard line.
The Dales, however, used up all their time outs. With time for one more play, Hillsdale threw a "Hail Mary" pass in the end zone. Pittsburgh intercepted.
Hillsdale lost 27-26, ending their 34-game winning streak - the longest winning streak at the time in NCAA Division II football.
Following the game, both teams attended an awards dinner. At one point, the entire Hillsdale team stood and applauded Pittsburgh. Hillsdale had not lost since the second game of the 1954 season. Only five players of the 1957 team played on the '54 team. Before losing to Pittsburgh, the rest of the Dales had never experienced
losing a Hillsdale football game.
Hillsdale's remarkable comeback received national praise.
"A lot of kids who were just pretty good football players before the game crossed the frontier to manhood during that desperate bid for a victory that would have been a minor sports miracle," said St. Petersburg Times writer Warren Walworth.
The Dales received over 100 telegrams from football fans all over the country.
"As one of your unseen audience may I congratulate your team and your coach on a championship performance … despite the difference of one point against you," wrote a fan from Doylestown, Pa. "A team that shoulders a 20-point deficit and then proceeds to unlimber a dazzling and varied attack and sterling defense such as we witnessed today wins my admiration. As an unbiased spectator, my opinion is that you have the best team in its class in the United States."
Pittsburgh won the 1957 Holiday Bowl, but Hillsdale won the hearts of the nation's football fans.
Hillsdale College Collegian 2007
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