Rhode Island Rams (1955)

Our last post, on the 1969 Boston University team that reached the Pasadena Bowl, got me thinking about other New England teams that reached lower-level bowl games. I’ve already covered Maine’s 1965 Tangerine Bowl team, New Hampshire’s 1947 Glass Bowl team and UMass’ 1972 Boardwalk Bowl team. But what about the time Rhode Island — yes, Rhode Island, known more for basketball than football — made a bowl game, the improbably named Refrigerator Bowl, in 1955?

The 1955 Rhode Island Rams.

The history of Rhody football is one of struggle marked by a couple of bursts of excellence. The Rams won four Yankee Conference titles in the ‘50s, three more in the ‘80s and … that was it. Rhody’s only league titles and postseason appearances have been during those two periods. 

The Rams’ run of excellence in the ‘50s was guided by Harold “Hal” Kopp, who coached them in 1950, left for a year (guiding them in between was future Holy Cross coach Ed Doherty), came back in ’52 and grabbed three YC titles over the next four years. But 1955 was expected to a rebuilding year, especially when only 21 players reported to the first practice in September with the first game less than three weeks away. But more players filtered in as training camp went on, and the Rams tied Northeastern, 13-13 in the season opener. After a win over Maine and a tie over New Hampshire, the Rams won five straight games to complete the regular season at 6-0-2 and win the YC title with a 4-0-1 mark. 

The old Rhode Island yearbooks are LOADED with awesome cartoons
such as these, which hype the Refrigerator Bowl.

On Nov. 12, 1955 (the same day one Emmett “Doc” Brown cracked his head against the toilet and developed the concept for the flux capacitor, which of course makes time travel possible), Rhody destroyed arch-rival UConn 25-0 to clinch a spot in the Refrigerator Bowl in Evansville, Indiana, and presumably, a place in Gray’s Sports Almanac. (According to Wikipedia, which never lies, the game was named for the city’s status as the “refrigerator capital of the United States.”) 

The Refrigerator Bowl mostly featured smallish schools that went on to become either FCS schools or lower-level FBS schools (Kent State, Arkansas State, etc.). Rhody’s opponent, Jacksonville State (that’s Jacksonville, Alabama, not Florida), currently an FCS team, edged the Rams, 12-10, on a fourth-quarter touchdown to send Rhody to a final record of 6-1-2.

Rhode Island (white shirts) faces Jacksonville State in the 1955 Refrigerator Bowl.

Rhody placed six players — tackles Charles Gibbons and Robert Novelli, guard Paul Fitzgerald, center Charles Hunt, end Peter Dalpe and halfback Ed DeSimone — on the 12-member Yankee Conference first team (two centers are listed; I presume there was a tie). Gibbons also was named AP Little All-American, the first Rhody player to earn an All-American nod. Koop let after the season for Brigham Young University, where he lasted three years before he was forced out amid rumors of NCAA rules infractions. 

Three of Rhody's four captains also were all-conference selections.

Charles Gibbons, with the spoils of victory.

The helmets sported something new that remains a part of the Rhody ensemble to this day — ram horns! This early version lasted only a couple years and was a little busy, with a pair of stripes down the middle cluttering the landscape. The horns returned in ’62 and have (mostly) been on the helmet ever since, in seemingly countless color combos. (My personal favorite is the 1967-75 version.)

Rhode Island’s next YC title was in 1957, but its next postseason appearance wasn’t until 1981, when it began a run of three titles in five years.

Hal Kopp bids farewell for greener pastures. In the 1970s, he was the
coach of Bentley University's first football team.

Boston University Terriers (1969)

It’s been so long since Boston University dropped football (1997), it almost seems strange to think the Terriers even had a team. Whereas the University of Vermont’s lack of football remains a curiosity today (after all, how many D-I state flagship schools outside of Alaska don’t have football?), BU’s program seemed forgotten almost from the day it vanished (see also Northeastern). Maybe it’s because in New England we tend to judge the success of an athletic program by the quality of the hockey team (that’s an observation and certainly not a complaint), and football at many places is an appetizer for the icy main course.

But anyway, BU churned out some quality teams and players for many years: Names like Bill Brooks, Pat Hughes, Reggie Rucker and Bruce Taylor easily roll off the tongue of any long-time Terrier supporter. Oh yeah, and some guy named Agganis, who has a sports arena named for him AND a statue on campus. 

While BU won five Yankee Conference titles between 1980-93, it’s a team from before the YC era that raises an eyebrow: The 1969 bunch, which went 9-2 and played the first, last and only bowl game in its history.

Although the Terriers didn’t join the Yankee Conference until 1972, they played a de facto YC slate in ’69, facing every conference team except New Hampshire and going 4-1 (perennial power UMass was the only setback). While the wins were rarely blowouts, they kept piling up. One of the few routs was a 30-14 win on Nov. 15 over perpetual powerhouse Delaware, which itself went 9-2 and played in a bowl game. One week later, BU defeated Temple 21-3 (although an FBS team now, Temple was closer to a Yankee Conference-level team then) and earned an invite to play San Diego State in the Pasadena Bowl, held at the Rose Bowl stadium. The Terriers lost, 28-7. (Alas, I can’t seem to find many game details about this one, but according to this outstanding article, not everyone was crazy about playing one more game, even if it was in sunny California in front of 45,000 fans — a huge number for a second-tier bowl game.)

BU faces San Diego State in the 1969 Pasadena Bowl.
These photos are from the San Diego State digital archive, where
you can fine even more photos from this game and literally thousands
from the Aztecs' long illustrious history. 

BU’s stars that year included Hughes, a captain and linebacker who played 10 years in the NFL; defensive back Taylor, who spent eight years with the San Francisco 49ers; and fellow DB Fred Barry, who spent a season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. First-year coach Larry Naviaux guided the Terriers three more season before moving to UConn, where he won the Yankee Conference title in his first season. His career record was 37-45-1.  

Apparently the folks at Topps loved its 1973 Bruce Taylor
card so much, they recycled the photo for the 1976 version.

Pat Hughes' 1974 Topps card.

One small digression: San Diego State had some interesting names, too: Coach Don Coryell, who went on to a successful NFL career with the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Chargers; quarterbacks Dennis Shaw and Brian Sipe, who went on to NFL careers (Shaw was a bust; Sipe was a star for years with the Cleveland Browns and was the NFL’s MVP in 1980); and linebacker Carl Weathers, whose brief pro career didn’t pan out and went to star in some indy boxing flick. 😊

I’ve discussed BU’s unis in a much earlier post, but I’ll reiterate what I said then: I love ‘em. The interlocking “BU” reusables Baylor’s (which, according to Helmet Project, launched its “BU” helmet in ’69), and the jerseys, with “BOSTON UNIVERSITY” across the front in tiny letters, recall Michigan State’s from that era.

(One other thing: This is the first post with a new uniform template, which is why I haven’t been posting much as of late. Converting hundreds of uniform graphics takes time!)