Memorable Moments: The Miracle Rams of 1955

On Oct. 10, 2015, Jerry Callahan arrived at an alumni athlete's tailgate just before the Boise State game at Hughes Stadium. Callahan, a former assistant athletic director for CSU in the 1970s and quarterback of the 1955 football team at Colorado A&M, was joined by a few of his teammates and several of the 1990 Freedom Bowl alumni for a celebration.

There, on the table for the 1955 players, was a large trophy with a wooden base and bronze football player on top. It was the 1955 Mountain States Conference Championship trophy Callahan and his teammates won in a whirlwind season. Callahan looked at the trophy and said, "You know, I don't think I have ever seen that trophy. They didn't have it when we won in '55." He then picked up the trophy and proudly posed for pictures with the championship piece, holding it for the first time, 60 years after winning the conference championship.

Collegian sports editor Bill Hindman's pre-season story for the 1955 Skyline Conference race stated "A & M is Dark horse" in the title of his article. Utah and Wyoming led as the front runners to take the conference championship, as both had been tough teams in the past and both had plenty of talent. Coach Bob Davis felt he had a great team put together, but the early season predictors could only envision three wins for the Rams.

The Rams had 16 sophomores up from the freshman team, but also had Bob Weber, Callahan, Ron McClary and Jerry Zaleski who returned from military service. Gary Glick, a senior in 1955, also started in his final season. Although they had strong offensive might, they boasted a tough defensive team.

The 1955 season opened in Tucson against Arizona. The Rams came out with a lot of fight in the game, but an early injury to Larry Barnes kept them from the necessary defense needed to win. Davis did not worry too much since he could see the positives through the negatives and that the Wildcats did not compete in his conference.

The Rams opened the first Skyline Conference game of the season at home against New Mexico with a 25-0 rout. Then the defending conference champion Denver Pioneers arrived on Colorado Field for the second night game of the season. Denver had dominated the conference in 1954 and were the favorites to beat the Rams.

The Rams struck first with a three-yard plunge by Glick in the first quarter, but the Pioneers responded with six points of their own in the second as both teams missed their extra point. Then it appeared that DU could live up to the hype when Willy Frank made an 87-yard dash to put the Pioneers up 13-6. The nail in the coffin appeared to come when DU scored another touchdown to make it 19-6 in favor of the Pioneers.

The Rams mounted a comeback to help propel them into the great season of 1955. The A&M offense drove the ball 34 yards before Callahan passed 13 yards to Bob Lamson for the touchdown, and Glick made the extra point kick this time. Then Davis utilized an onside kick which Glick recovered. In 11 plays, the Rams drove 47 yards for the score to tie the game 19-all with 48 seconds left to play. Glick calmly kicked the extra point and the fans at Colorado Field went crazy with excitement after a win over the defending champions.

Before they could get too excited, the Rams had a tough foe to face in Laramie just one week after their nail biter against DU. Wyoming boasted a strong team with Joe Mastrogiovanni at quarterback and a slew of tough Cowboys behind him. Once again, another close game and the outcome of this tiebreaker for the conference championship lead went to Colorado A & M.

The Rams pulled out to a 14-7 lead late in the second half after Glick's touchdown from a Callahan lateral. With the lead in hand, the Rams fumbled and in 11 plays the Cowboys, behind Mastrogiovanni scored a touchdown to make the score 14-13 in favor of the Rams. Jerry Zaleski blocked the Cowboy's kick for the extra point and Colorado A&M came out on top for the win and undisputed first place in the conference.

Homecoming and another tough conference opponent in Utah State faced the Rams on Oct. 22. The game opened without Glick, their star player, and the Rams fell behind the Utags 7-9. Then Glick stepped off the sideline, still in pain and into the game to quickly help drive the team and pass a touchdown to Sanders. Utah State never scored again as the Rams became inspired by their star's return to the game.

The Rams then went 3-1 over the next four weeks, but the one loss was tough on the championship race. Davis and his A&M team lost big to Utah, giving Wyoming a tie with A&M in the conference race. A win over BYU and a 10-0 shutout over CU where Glick scored all 10 points and Colorado A&M finished their season with an 8-2 record. The Rams needed a miracle to win the championship.

Davis asked for one. What he got was DU's Dick Gupton and one of the most controversial games in the history of college football in the state of Colorado. The annual Thanksgiving Day game had been granted to Wyoming and Denver in 1955. With the co-championship on the line for Wyoming, they came to DU Stadium ready to beat the defending champions and spoil Colorado A&M's turkey dinner for a tied championship.

The game remained a scoreless tie until Wyoming's star quarterback Mastrogiovanni kicked a field goal to put the Cowboys on the board with just 7 seconds left in the game. With a win seemingly in hand, the Cowboys just needed to kick the ball off and run the clock out on the Pioneers. On the ensuing kickoff, Denver's Max Willsey received the ball and tossed a lateral to Gupton who ran the ball back 78 yards for a game-winning touchdown. However, Wyoming claimed they heard an official's whistle that ended the play when it was believed that Gupton's knee hit the ground before he reached the goal.

Wyoming Athletic Director Glenn "Red" Jacoby stated to the Denver Post that "One of the officials was lying." Game film showed one official, field judge Jack Moyers with his arms over his head which appeared to stop play. The other officials all said they never blew their whistle and Moyers claimed he only thought he heard another whistle that called an end to the play.

The controversy became headline news in the Denver papers for days afterwards because Jacoby submitted a protest to Skyline Conference Commissioner Dick Romney with what the Post described as circumstantial evidence a whistle had been blown. Romney said that the judgment of the officials stood, and he would not hear the protest. Six days later, the Denver Post reported that the Wyoming Band Major had admitted to a DU student he had blown his whistle in anticipation of the end of the game. Colorado A&M was the outright conference champion.

Today, 70 years later, Callahan, Glick and nearly all the 1955 Rams have passed away but looking back at the only Skyline Conference championship in school history, we honor those who won it for the Rams.

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