Colorado State University Athletics
This Week in CSU Football History -- “Red” White guides Aggies to victory over Utah
11/15/2017 1:03:00 PM | Football
Win helped Aggies win 1934 RMAC championship
by John Hirn
ColoradoAggies.com
November 17, 1934 – Coach Harry Hughes entered his 24th season as head coach of Colorado Aggies football with a slew of talented veteran athletes ready to defend their 1933 co-championship title. The season had seen many twists, most notably when the Colorado State College of Education (Northern Colorado) beat the University of Colorado in a conference game early in the season. By mid-November, the Teachers had only one loss, the Colorado Aggies' only conference loss was to CU and the Utah State Aggies were undefeated with one tie to the Colorado Aggies. It was anybody's guess which team could come away with the 1934 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship.
The Utes came to Fort Collins on homecoming day looking to spoil yet another Hughes championship hope. The Aggies had not beat Utah since 1927; Utah Coach Ike Armstrong had won or tied the conference title for the past six seasons. Hughes' Aggies had a chance to knock Utah completely out of the race, but knew it would not be easy.
Before a crowd of 5,165 fans (about ¾ the capacity of Colorado Field) the Utes took control of the game early and scored an early touchdown, missing the PAT. With the Utes in control for the entire first half, the Colorado Aggies struggled to get close to scoring anything. However, the Aggies defense, outweighed by the bigger Utes, held off their opponents to keep the game deadlocked at 6-0 until the fourth quarter.
Despite fumbling the ball at the Utah 1-yard line missing a touchdown in the 3rd quarter, the Aggies continued to fight hard with passes from halfback Wilbur "Red" White. White and quarterback Julius "Bud" Damman led a charge down the field early in the fourth quarter, fooling the Utes by passing on first down twice. The second pass on first down resulted in a 5-yard touchdown caught by sophomore fullback Lenny "Fire Chief" Volz. Damman's kick was good and the Aggies took the lead 7-6.
The Aggie defense dug in with the slim lead and Aggie end Jim Hartman recovered a Utah fumble at the Utes' 20-yard line. Two plays later, "Red" White passed to Johnny Maurice for another Aggie touchdown; the PAT was good.
With The Aggies up 14-6 and little time on the clock, Utah made one last effort to come back, but fell short when Floyd "Snip" Mencimer stepped in front of a Ute pass at the Aggie 18-yard line returning it to the 29-yard marker; final score Aggies 14, Utes 6.
Beating Utah meant the Aggies remained in a four-way tie in the conference with the Utah Aggies, Colorado Teachers and CU. The conference games on Thanksgiving Day would decide the title of the 1934 RMAC Championship. The Utes helped by eliminating Utah State and beating them for their only loss (the number of games played would lead to the Utags settling for second place by way of win percentage). The University of Colorado barely beat the University of Denver and the Colorado Aggies easily beat Colorado College 40-6.
By these turns of events, there was for the second year in a row a three-way tie for the championship, this time between Colorado, Colorado Teachers and the Colorado Aggies. It was the only time in state history three colleges from Colorado shared a conference football championship until 2016 when CSU-Pueblo, Colorado Mesa and Colorado Mines all tied for the RMAC Championship. Three years later the 1934 co-championship would be one of the main reasons the Mountain States Conference was formed and the RMAC left with smaller schools.
ColoradoAggies.com
November 17, 1934 – Coach Harry Hughes entered his 24th season as head coach of Colorado Aggies football with a slew of talented veteran athletes ready to defend their 1933 co-championship title. The season had seen many twists, most notably when the Colorado State College of Education (Northern Colorado) beat the University of Colorado in a conference game early in the season. By mid-November, the Teachers had only one loss, the Colorado Aggies' only conference loss was to CU and the Utah State Aggies were undefeated with one tie to the Colorado Aggies. It was anybody's guess which team could come away with the 1934 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship.
The Utes came to Fort Collins on homecoming day looking to spoil yet another Hughes championship hope. The Aggies had not beat Utah since 1927; Utah Coach Ike Armstrong had won or tied the conference title for the past six seasons. Hughes' Aggies had a chance to knock Utah completely out of the race, but knew it would not be easy.
Before a crowd of 5,165 fans (about ¾ the capacity of Colorado Field) the Utes took control of the game early and scored an early touchdown, missing the PAT. With the Utes in control for the entire first half, the Colorado Aggies struggled to get close to scoring anything. However, the Aggies defense, outweighed by the bigger Utes, held off their opponents to keep the game deadlocked at 6-0 until the fourth quarter.
Despite fumbling the ball at the Utah 1-yard line missing a touchdown in the 3rd quarter, the Aggies continued to fight hard with passes from halfback Wilbur "Red" White. White and quarterback Julius "Bud" Damman led a charge down the field early in the fourth quarter, fooling the Utes by passing on first down twice. The second pass on first down resulted in a 5-yard touchdown caught by sophomore fullback Lenny "Fire Chief" Volz. Damman's kick was good and the Aggies took the lead 7-6.
The Aggie defense dug in with the slim lead and Aggie end Jim Hartman recovered a Utah fumble at the Utes' 20-yard line. Two plays later, "Red" White passed to Johnny Maurice for another Aggie touchdown; the PAT was good.
With The Aggies up 14-6 and little time on the clock, Utah made one last effort to come back, but fell short when Floyd "Snip" Mencimer stepped in front of a Ute pass at the Aggie 18-yard line returning it to the 29-yard marker; final score Aggies 14, Utes 6.
Beating Utah meant the Aggies remained in a four-way tie in the conference with the Utah Aggies, Colorado Teachers and CU. The conference games on Thanksgiving Day would decide the title of the 1934 RMAC Championship. The Utes helped by eliminating Utah State and beating them for their only loss (the number of games played would lead to the Utags settling for second place by way of win percentage). The University of Colorado barely beat the University of Denver and the Colorado Aggies easily beat Colorado College 40-6.
By these turns of events, there was for the second year in a row a three-way tie for the championship, this time between Colorado, Colorado Teachers and the Colorado Aggies. It was the only time in state history three colleges from Colorado shared a conference football championship until 2016 when CSU-Pueblo, Colorado Mesa and Colorado Mines all tied for the RMAC Championship. Three years later the 1934 co-championship would be one of the main reasons the Mountain States Conference was formed and the RMAC left with smaller schools.
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