Tulsa Jolts Ole Miss
10/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 20, 1964
HOUSTON, Tex. - Marvelous Jerry Rhome, resourceful as well as talented, solved Mississippi's quick, blitzing defense with a mixture of running and passing Saturday, as Tulsa came from behind to upset the Rebels, 14-7, in the Bluebonnet Bowl.
Rhome plunged one yard for the tying touchdown in the second quarter and passed 35 yards to flanker back Eddie Fletcher in the third quarter for the score which gave Tulsa it biggest prestige football victory in history.
A top-coated crowd estimated at 52,000, plus a national television audience, saw Rhome prove he was no myth while climaxing a fantastic season in championship style.
Rhome completed 22 of 36 passes for 252 yards and gained 66 yards running, although Ole Miss wiped out half of that total by throwing him 37 yards in losses. He was a unanimous selection of the 35 working press men for the outstanding back.
Just as Rhome proved to the nation he was for real, his teammates emphatically proved this was not a one-man team, nor an unwound, pass-happy team as some unknowing critics suspected.
Tulsa was big league in all respects-running, defense, mechanical excellence, poise, effort and even out-kicked the Rebels. As it had all year, coach Glenn Dobbs' team played its best against the best and won convincingly. The heroes were numerous.
Tailback Bob Daugherty ran and caught passes in deluxe fashion before being injured in the fourth quarter. Flanker back Brent Roberts, making Ole Miss pay heavily for it's double-covering of Howard Twilley, had his best day with eight receptions for 108 yards.
And, the defense came through wonderfully, except for Ole Miss' 57-yard scoring drive in the second quarter, the Rebels penetrated TU's 40-yard line only one time. That was in the second quarter when safety Jeff Jordan saved Tulsa with a professional-like interception at the five-yard line. Jordan made a second a second interception in the fading minutes.
Up front, TU's linemen were hard-nosed and aggressive. Tackle Willie Townes, the 263 pound sophomore from Hattiesburg, Miss., played as he predicted and gave Rebel quarterback Jim Weatherly a harassing time. Townes was voted the outstanding lineman.
Guard Eddie Dukes and end Gary Porterfield also played solidly, as TU consistently penetrated the Ole Miss' backfield to keep heavy pressure on Weatherly and prevented the Rebels from getting outside. Weatherly completed 16 of 24 passes. But except for a touchdown drive, TU's deep backs restricted the passes to shirt gains and tackled crisply. Their pursuit was consistently good, sometimes outstanding.
The statistics reflect Tulsa's superiority. Tulsa had a 306-217 yard total offense margin. The Hurricane even out-rushed Ole Miss, 124-11, but the Rebels' swarming defense threw TU for 53 yards in losses and the net totals favored Ole Miss. 104-71.
Besides it's touchdown drives of 72 and 74 yards, Tulsa four times drove inside Ole Miss' 31-yard line. Time ran out on the Tulsans at the 18 in the second quarter and an earlier threat dies at the 23 when Tommy Luke intercepted Rhome's pass.
This was the first interception off Rhome in 204 passes. It was not a bad pass, Luke simply took the ball away from Roberts. (A second interception off Rhome was nullified by penalty in the fourth quarter.)
-- Game story published by The Tulsa World on December 20, 1964. Special thanks to the Tulsa World for permission to reprint this story.