1936: Southern Methodist, 0 vs. Stanford, 7

Although the Stanford “Vow Boys,” now seniors had kept their freshmen promise to never again lose to USC, it was another vow that ruled on New Year’s Day in 1936 when they beat Southern Methodist, 7-0, to win their first Rose Bowl Game.

“You might call the Stanford team a wow but it would be more appropriate to say it was a vow,” wrote Jack Singer in the next day’s Los Angeles Times. “Now it can be told. Stanford’s so-called ‘laughing boys’ solemnly clasped hands before yesterday’s Rose Bowl date with Southern Methodist and made one New Year’s resolution – never to lose another game in the Rose Bowl.

“They didn’t.”

This Rose Bowl Game was certainly highly anticipated, if the ticket sales had anything to say about it. Organizers added 310 temporary seats to push the capacity to 84,784, which was gone in a week. An additional 200,000 requests were turned down, and Southern Methodist traveled 4,000. Although it was half the amount they wanted, the Texans had to add nine special trains to the schedule to accommodate the mass migration.

The game’s only scoring came in the first quarter. The scoring drive can be partially attributed to great starting field position, the result of a Paulman “quick-kick.” The kick fortuitously bounced and rolled and ended up at the Mustang 10-yard line. Forced to punt, the Mustangs gave Stanford the ball back on SMU’s 42-yard line.

From there, “Bones” Hamilton took a reverse and connected with Jimmy Coffis on the SMU 19-yard line. Then, outstanding Stanford fullback Bobby Grayson, who had run for a record 152 yards two years earlier in the Rose Bowl Game, picked up 6 more around the end. Hamilton brought it to the 1-yard line, and Paulman kept it for himself, much to the chagrin of a SMU defense that expected and keyed on Grayson, and went over the opposite side for the score: 7-0, “Vow Boys.”

But what people soon forget is the three quarters of football that came after it – Stanford had to hold an SMU offense that had scored 288 points and gone 12-0 that season. That, and the Mustangs had a substantial air attack – Stanford’s wounds from the Alabama team that had passed for 214 yards and two touchdowns the previous year were still fresh.

Not this time.

“Never has a Rose Bowl team tackled with the devastating fury displayed by Stanford yesterday,” wrote Braven Dyer in the Los Angeles Times. “I give that great Stanford line full credit for the victory, while adding a generous helping of praise for Bill Paulman and the other backs who stifled what was supposed to be one of the best passing attacks of the year.

“The amazing reversals which football can produce were never better illustrated than by virtually the same Stanford team that stood around handcuffed a year ago when Alabama filled the air with footballs.”

The mood in the Stanford locker room after beating the Mustangs was a cathartic release of two straight Rose Bowl Game losses, one a heartbreaker, the other a rout.

Bobby Grayson sang “I’ll be riding a white Mustang when she comes,” and Paulman and “Horse” Reynolds, Singer wrote, “put their heads together and tortured the song: ‘Give me my boots and saddles.’”

Attendance
84,784

Weather
68 degrees

Scoring
First Quarter
Stan – Paulman, 1-yard run (Moscrip kick good)

Coaches
Southern Methodist: Matty Bell
Stanford: Earl “Tiny” Thornhill

Fun Fact
The 1936 game will go down in history as the beginning of the Rose Bowl Game sellout era that still exists today. All 84,784 seats were filled with a large portion of them occupied by fans who traveled from Texas to watch their Mustangs play.

Individual Stats
Rushing
Stan: Grayson 17-28; Hamilton 15-23; Coffis 7-12; Paulman 7-11; Williams 5-11
SMU: Wilson 11-23; Shuford 5-12; Finley 4-10