Luckman vs. The Cadets, Part I

Luckman on the cover of Life, October, 1938

Game of the Day (Day 76)

October 11, 1936

Army 27 Columbia 16

After his first start on the varsity turned out to be a 34-0 tune-up win over Maine, sophomore Sid Luckman moved from Baker Field to Yankee Stadium to face the perennial power Army in front of 38,000 fans, (the crowd would have been bigger, but bad weather kept many away.

Early in the first quarter, Luckman made a quick impact. He returned an Army punt 15yards to the Cadets 24 and on the next play he tossed a 24-yard TD pass to Hubert Schulze for a 6-0 lead.

With the score still 6-0 early in the 2nd quarter, Luckman picked off a Monk Meyer pass at the Army 44 and returned it to the 26. But the Lion drive fizzled at the Cadets five and then the momentum started to shift. Meyer put together a nice drive for a TD and after a missed extra point, the Cadets defense netted a safety for the 8-6 lead.

Army scored another TD on a jump-ball pass grabbed by the Cadets' basketball star Frank Kobes for the 15-6 lead. The Lions almost scored before the half, but Schulze wasn't able to hold on to a last second pass from Luckman near the end zone.

Columbia resumed fighting in the 3rd quarter, and Luckman scored a 12-yard TD run after going back and faking a pass. The extra point made it 15-13 Army.

Some more brilliant passing by Luckman set up a field goal by Schulze and the Lions had the lead back at 16-15 late in the 3rd quarter.

But the Cadets started an impressive drive before the quarter ended, and early in he 4th they finished it for a TD and the 19-15 lead after another missed PAT.

Luckman made a nice return on the ensuing kickoff, but Army blitzed him hard on the next play and intercepted his pass. Army's eventual TD put the game away, but there was new respect for the Lions and the brilliant Luckman after the exciting contest at the Stadium that day.

Who could have guessed that Luckman's next two meetings against Army would be even more exciting?