The 1959 College All-Star Game
On
August 14, 1959, Otto Graham’s second All-Star squad, thinly manned to
begin with, took on the professional champion Baltimore Colts and their
star quarterback, Johnny Unitas. According to one account the All-Stars
“could not consistently withstand the heavy pressure of the huge
Baltimore line.” That assessment became evident when, during the first
quarter, halfback Don Brown of Houston went out for a hook pass and was
supposed to swing tight but was “clotheslined” when an opponent’s arm
hit him across the throat. For 12 minutes he lay on the field as
trainers and coaches worked over him. Witnesses state that he stopped
breathing at one point while on the field. The hospital to which he was
taken reported he had suffered a concussion. Many of the 70,000
onlookers (which included then Vice President Richard Nixon) felt the
frightening moment may have affected the rest of Brown’s teammates as
the game progressed. Bob Ptacek of Michigan and Nick Pietrosante of
Notre Dame were numbers one and two in the voting for Most Valuable
Player.
Scoring
for the Colts began in the first quarter when Dan James of Ohio State
passed the ball on a snap over the head of Dave Sherer of SMU who was
back in the endzone to punt. Following the 2-point safety, the Colts
drove 75 yards on 2 long passes and Unitas passed again to Ray Berry who
scored on a 3-yard play to make the score 8-0. As the second period got
underway, Unitas passed to Jim Mutscheller for 29 yards and a touchdown.
The Colts continued scoring in the second quarter after an 81-yard march
in 11 plays culminating with a 13-yard Unitas pass to L.G. Dupre for the
TD. Later in the second period the Colts’ Milt Davis intercepted a pass
from Buddy Humphrey of Baylor and returned it 36 yards for the last
touchdown of the game. There was no scoring in the third or fourth
quarters. Unitas had tied “the All-Star defense into knots with his
masterful direction of the Colts’ machine.” Baltimore convincingly won
this contest 29-0.