Felix "Doc" Blanchard was "Mr. Inside", 6'1", 210-pounds of rock hard
muscle who led his Bay St. Louis, Mississippi prep team to an undefeated
1941 season. Believing he could not conquer the rigorous academic demands of
the Academy that required graduation within three years due to the demands
of World War II, Blanchard eschewed their recruitment to instead enroll at
North Carolina. After his frosh year, he believed he needed to serve his
country and attempted to enlist in the Navy but was rejected due to vision
problems. Allowed to enlist in the Army, his father helped to secure an
appointment to the Academy. Glenn Davis was "Mr. Outside", a LaVerne,
California speed-burner who scored 256 points in the his senior year of high
school and who was named Southern California's top prep track athlete. Davis
traveled cross-country and played as a West Point plebe, only to leave in
December due to academic deficiencies. Determined to overcome this
disappointment, Davis boosted his grades at Pomona JC in California and
returned to the USMA. With both in the 1944 T-Formation backfield, the
results were devastating and both were outstanding defensive players, Davis
as a ball-hawking DB and Blanchard backing the line. During their three
seasons together, neither played in a losing game as Army compiled a 27-0-1
record, garnered the National Championship in 1944 and '45, and established
a true dynasty. Blanchard was a three-time consensus All American and in
1945, won the Heisman and Maxwell Trophies and was named the Sullivan Award
winner as the nation's top amateur athlete. Blanchard's active military duty
was marked by heroism and later, election to the College Football Hall Of
Fame. Davis too was a three-time All American, the 1946 Heisman Trophy
winner (having finished second in both 1944 and '45), and a College Football
Hall Of Fame member. With his Olympic-level track speed, he was a slashing
runner who thrilled crowds and frustrated opponents, the perfect compliment
to Blanchard's bull rushes. Davis had what was an NCAA record of 11.5 yards
per carry for the 1945 season and played for the Los Angeles Rams after his
active military duty but was limited by knee injuries. To this day, the
legacy of "Mr. Inside" and "Mr. Outside" lives on due to the magnificent
play and team success these two produced on the gridiron.
In 1947 All American guard Joe Steffy, a former Tennessee
stalwart, plowed openings for FB Rip Rowan and former Tulsa letterman Bobby
Jack Stuart to generate the majority of the Cadets' offense. Center and
ball-tackling demon was Bill Yeoman who had played at Texas A&M as a
freshman prior to his Academy appointment. A loss to Notre Dame and a tie
with powerhouse Penn was offset by Rowan's record 148 yards on only eighteen
carries to assure the 21-0 whitewash of Navy to finish the year at 5-2-2.
Slashing through the '48 schedule and standing at 8-0 as they entered the
finale against an 0-8 Navy, Army was ranked at number three. The rushing
attack led by HB's Stuart and Gil Stephenson and the deft ball handling of
QB Arnold Galiffa had carried the team all season and when the two runners
went down early in the game, Navy, who had dropped thirteen consecutive
contests, was rejuvenated. The 21-21 tie was the upset-result of the season
and dropped the Cadets to a final ranking of number six. End Dan Foldberg
and center Yeoman were the stalwarts up front and Yeoman of course went on
to great coaching success as the long time mentor at the University Of
Houston who developed the Veer Formation and is now a member of The College
Football Hall Of Fame. All American QB Galiffa and HB Stephenson paid Navy
back in '49, leading a 38-0 rout that was described as "not as close as the
score might indicate." End Foldberg was impressive the entire season on both
sides of the ball. Only their 14-13 victory over Penn was close as they
dominated every other opponent to finish at 9-0. Described after the season
as "the nearest thing to a paragon of perfection in the East..." Army roared
through 1950's schedule without anyone posing a challenge until defeating
Stanford in the season's next to last game. Facing Navy in the finale, the
Knights had to their credit, a team that had posted twenty-eight straight
games without a loss (26-0-2), and had a run of seventeen consecutive wins.
Seeking a fifth unbeaten season in six years, their 14-2 loss was a huge
upset although they maintained Eastern supremacy for the fifth time in seven
years. Guard Ray Malavasi, future head coach of the LA Rams fronted LB's Don
Beck and the aptly-named Elmer Stout to the tune of five shutouts and a
total yield of twenty-six points. All American end Dan Foldberg stood out on
an awesome offense and Blaik expected to repeat his success as 1951
approached.
As the 1951 season neared, the staff expected to again place a national
power on the field, but Blaik, the Academy, and the entire nation were
horrified by the news of August 3, 1951 that ninety cadets were being
dismissed from West Point. Of the ninety, sixty were varsity athletes,
thirty-seven of them football players and the toll included the coach's son
Robert, President of The Second Class (a junior in civilian institutions)
and the team's QB. In almost every case, the infraction of the Honor Code
involved tipping off others about the subject matter of a test, not copying
results or carrying illegal notes, and no actual classroom cheating was
noted. Still, at West Point, this type of violation was of the utmost
concern. All involved were otherwise considered to be outstanding officer
candidates. On June 8, it was first recommended by the Tactical Board Of
West Point that all of those charged be dismissed, in part due to a lack of
cooperation on the part of the cadets. After the deliberations of the
Secretary Of The Army and a special board of judges and officers, the
decision was made to dismiss all who were charged. Among these were Ray
Malavasi who transferred to Mississippi State and became the head coach of
the Los Angeles Rams and Gene Filipski who transferred to and became an All
American at Villanova and then played with the Giants in 1956 and '57. With
assistant coaches Vincent Lombardi and Murray Warmath (who won the National
Championship at Minnesota in 1960), Blaik was considered to have done his
finest coaching job with this squad. Taking an entirely new team of Plebes,
junior varsity players, and walk-ons, and beginning work with them on
September 1 with just a few weeks available to piece together a competitive
squad, the team went 2-7. Led by QB Fred Meyers who may have been the only
player capable of playing on "the real" Army team, the 42-7 loss to Navy was
not unexpected.
Continuing to battle back from the scandal, '52's 4-4-1 record was marked
by solid wins and terrible losses but they fought Navy to the limit, coming
out on the short end of a 7-0 score. Of the '53 squad, many of whom began as
the rag-tag bunch of fill-ins in 1951, it was written, "They came up the
hard way, and there probably has never been a squad with a finer spirit."
OT-LB Bob Farris was the inspirational leader, QB Pete Vann the slick
ball-handler and Tom "Train" Bell and big-play man Pat Uebel the often
unstoppable rushers. Army surprised everyone with a resurgent 7-1-1 mark and
a 20-7 thrashing of Navy. As a first-year man, end Don Holleder marked
himself as a definite star of the future. 1954's season finale loss to Navy
in a 27-20 shoot-out cost Army a top five National ranking and dropped their
record to 7-2. QB Vann often aimed his long passes at Holleder, a runaway
All American, and FB Uebel provided the punch. The defense took a hit when
Captain Bob Farris detached a retina in the '53 Navy game and could no
longer play and end Bob Mischak was called upon to fill the defensive void.
Don Holleder was the story of the '55 squad. His receiving statistics for
1953 and '54 ranked him near the top in Army's long line of great players
and he was chosen for a number of All American teams. Giving up all personal
glory to learn the QB position in order to help the team, he selflessly did
so without hesitation and did it in a manner that so inspired his teammates
that he was elected to The College Football Hall Of Fame. Leading a weak
supporting cast, Army remained a strong rushing team but tough, consecutive
losses to Michigan and Syracuse left them at 6-3. The season was salvaged by
defeating an excellent Navy team, led by George Welsh, in a come-from-behind
14-6 slugfest. Holleder died heroically as a Major in Viet Nam at the battle
of Ong Thanh, attempting to save others escaping an ambush. The Holleder
Center on the USMA campus that houses the basketball and hockey
facilities is named in his honor. As the 1956 season opened, once again
there was no QB on campus that appeared to be able to run Blaik's offense so
oft-injured HB Bob Kyasky was converted to the position, later moved to FB
and Dave Bourland took the helm. C-LB Jim Kernan led the charge up front but
so much time was spent practicing the defense that the Cadets fumbled forty
times, losing half that number to their opponents. Eight fumbles were made
against Michigan leading to the 48-14 deficit. 5-3 going into the Navy game,
a 7-7 deadlock gave the Knights a final mark of 5-3-1.
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