The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-12-24

Minnesota, Stanford Surprised Grid World In 40
Shaughnessy's
 Job Makes Him Coach of Year
Fourth of six year-end sports
 reviews.
By DON SANDERS NEA Service Stan Correspondent

NEA Service stan Correspondent
 Five football teams emerged from the 1940 season the class of their sections.
 Four of these titans came through a tough schedule undefeated and united: Stanford on the Pacific coast, Minnesota in the midwest, Tennessee in the south and Boston College in the east.
 Texas A. &. M, beaten in the upset of the year by Texas, shared the Southwest Conference title with Southern Methodist and retained leadership of the section.
 Minnesota had the best claim to the mythical national championship, with one of the toughest schedules. An amazing renaissance put the Gophers back on top after a 1899 record of three victories, four losses and one tie.
 Even more surprising was Stan- ford under Clark D. Shaughnessy, coach of the year. Stanford won only one game in 1899 and Shaugh- messy had had several dismal sea- sons at Chicago.
 A tricky Indian team, using the old "T"' formations, rolled up vic- tories over all the Pacific coasts major teams, closest margin being a 7-6 win over Santa Clara.
 The Texas Aggies boasted the hard hitting John Kimbrough, oper- ating behind one of the best lines in the country. The Aggies' lone defeat came when Texas scored on a long pass and line buck in the opening minute of the game.
 BIG NINE ROASTED
 THREE STRONG TEAMS
 The Big Nine, dominated by Minnesota, boasted two other top ranking teams in Michigan and Northwestern. Both lost to the Gophers by only one point. and I Northwestern also lost to Michigan.
 The Wolverines had the player of the year, Tom Harmon, who amass- ed B touchdoTns in his college career to surpass the conference record formerly held by Red Grange. Harmon's three-year point total was 237.
 Nebraska was tops in the Big Six.
 Tennessee had frequent breath CTS, but boaSted a powerful team. Mississippi State was underfeated but tied by Auburn.
 Boston Colleges 10-game sweep of the east was highlighted by a vic- tory over Georgetown, previously undefeated in 9 games. That en- counter was one of the most drama tic of the year jewith B. C.'s Charley lO,Rourke taking an intentional safety in the last few minutes to clinch the game, 1918.
 | Lafayette went undefeated and luntied for the second time in the four-year regime of Hooks Mylin.
 Cornell. widely rated the na- tion's top team two-thirds of the way through the season, was toppled by Dartmouth, 80. in the most freakish incident of the gridiron year, the fifth down."
 Cornell relinquislsed on Monday the victory" it had won in the final play of Saturdays game when movies of the game showed the referee had allowed the Big Red five downs in 8 sequence.
 Cornell lost also to Penn, whose record was marred only by a de- feat by Michigan and a tie with Harvard. Fordham lost only to St. Marys. Navy won the annual service game with Army.
 Notre Dame and Ohio State were the years disappoinements. Generally speaking, college crowds in the history of the sport. An in- crease of 2A per cent over the 1889 attendance was estimated. BEARS RAN AWAY
 WITH PRO TITLE
 A continuing increase in interest was shown in the professional game as well. Attendance was low in Detroit-which had to compete with the World Series early in the season and in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. but the league as whole played to its biggest crowds.
 The two divisions were dominated by the Washington Redskins and the Chicago Bears, who dethroned the 1899 champion Green Bay Packers.
 Using the 'T'' offense on which Shaughnessy modelled his attack. the Bears pounded out 73-0 win over the Redskins-biggest score in the history of the league-to take | the title.
 Whizzer White took individual ground gaining honors with De- troit. Ace Parker was one of the years standout players although he played with a broken ankle early in the season. Banks McFadden of Jock Sutherland's rejuvenated Brooklyn Dodgers was the rookie of the year. .Davey OBrien set a batch of new league records, completed B passes in one game as he bowed out of football to be- come a G-maI1.