Sept. 14, 2012

FRIDAY FLASHBACK rewinds to some of the memorable Ole Miss games from this week's all-time series. This week features the Rebels' 39-7 win over Texas in the 1958 Sugar Bowl, which capped a 9-1-1 season for Coach John Vaught's Ole Miss team.

24th Annual Sugar Bowl Classic: #7 Ole Miss 39, Texas 7

Recap excerpted from the book "Sugar Bowl Classic: A History" by Marty Mulé, who covered the game and the organization for decades for the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

That chilly, 47-degree afternoon, was a day to be remembered, for the Sugar Bowl, for Ray Brown.

The diagnosis of fourteen years before was hard to believe at the Sugar Bowl, where Brown was a starting quarterback-defensive back.

Ken Kirk recovered an early Texas fumble at the Longhorn 33, leading to a one-yard Brown touchdown; In the second quarter he threw a three-yard scoring pass to Don Williams; coffin-cornered a kick out at the Texas 7, then intercepted a pass at the 20 which led to another Rebel touchdown.

It was 19-0 at the half, and things seemed to get worse for the Longhorns, falling under a 26-0 deficit.

As the game wound down, ballots were passed out in the press box for the vote on the Most Valuable Player. All 116 media voters placed Brown as their choice for his quadruple-threat performance. Raoul Carlisle, an Arkansas newspaperman who had covered every Sugar Bowl, commented to Pie Dufour as Brown dropped into his end zone to punt. "He's the greatest performer in Sugar Bowl history." Pie noncommittally answered, "He certainly is one of the best."

As they talked, Brown took a high snap and, before he could boot the ball, saw a Texas end boring in unopposed. Brown bolted, circled right end and began steaming for the Longhorn goal 103 yards from where he had been standing. "I was weary, so weary that I thought about asking for a replacement to do the punting," Brown said. "I told the fellows, `I don't know if I can kick that ball 20 yards I'm so tired. You'll have to get downfield in a hurry...I didn't know I was in the clear `til I looked back near midfield and saw all those blue shirts around me. And I kept hearing (teammate) Jackie Simpson yelling, `Lateral, Ray, lateral.' I knew if he wanted the ball there wasn't anyone else around but us Rebels."

"That proves Brown's the best," Carlisle was screaming in Dufour's ear to make himself heard over the din of the crowd. Ole Miss scored another, meaningless, touchdown after a Texas fumble with 12 seconds remaining.

But everyone, Rebel and Longhorn alike, was aware they had witnessed a special individual performance. Brown's 92-yard run from scrimmage had pushed his rushing figures to 157 yards on 15 carries, a 10.5 average. Several of his passes were dropped in the cold, but he completed three of eight for 24 more yards. He averaged 34.7 yards on four punts, specializing in out-of bounds rolls.

He scored two touchdowns, passed for another, and was brilliant on defense with three interceptions. Brown also saved an early touchdown by catching George Blanch after the Longhorn had galloped 46 yards.

Coach Johnny Vaught chuckled about the long run and insisted, "We called that one from the bench." The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Brown was elated when he was awarded the Miller Memorial Trophy, then being informed he was the first unanimous selection.

"Say, if nobody has ever won it that way before," he said with emotion, "that means I have a chance to make the all-time Sugar Bowl team. Oh, man, I'd like that."

How Ole Miss and Texas Met in the 1958 Sugar Bowl

Even the Southeastern Conference began putting the squeeze on the Sugar Bowl. With northern and western teams virtually unobtainable for New Orleans, Auburn emerged in 1957 as the New Year's most desirable trophy.

The undefeated, untied War Eagles were the season's national champion but were ineligible for bowl competition because of NCAA probation. Mississippi, which missed a share of the SEC title because of a final game tie with Mississippi State, was a solid second choice. Ole Miss was still embarrassed over its previous Sugar Bowl appearances against Georgia Tech and Navy, and wanted a New Orleans stage again.

"Jimmie-nee! I have a special desire to win this one. That's what we're going down there for - to try to win," said Rebel Coach Johnny Vaught.

Getting a suitable opponent was a man-sized job. From the season's beginning, Texas A&M was in the corner of every bowl's eye. Bear Bryant's Aggies started fast and finished slow while young Darrell Royal's Texas Longhorns came off a disastrous 1956 and a slow 1957. The Longhorns rode a season-ending surge that battered A&M on national television, as well as Cotton Bowl-bound Rice and TCU. The Sugar then took Texas, which finished 6-3-1 and wasn't in the Top 10.

Royal later said, "We shouldn't have been in a bowl to begin with. We were kind of a Cinderella team even with that record. The year before we were 1-9, so we received a lot of notoriety. But the truth of the matter is we weren't that good of a football team."

Ray Brown, who quarterbacked the sixth-ranked Rebels and led the team with a better than five-yard-per-carry average, was the story of the 1958 Sugar Bowl. Ole Miss had a superb defense, headed by Gene Hickerson, and a top-ranked offense. But it was Brown who was the team's soul.

When Brown was a child, a small friend pulled a wagon from under him. "We thought it was just another fall," said his mother, "but Ray ran a high fever..." Doctors in Memphis diagnosed osteomyelitis; they had to operate and scrape the bone. It looked doubtful that he would walk again.

"They used tractions on my right leg,"...said Ray. "That saved me from being crippled...after I showed doctors I could walk, well, then I started running...and then I went out for high school football..." He kept going until he became the ignition of Vaught's high-octane offense.