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1944 Cotton Bowl: Texas 7, Randolph Field 7
The Ramblers entered the contest with the nation’s top passing attack, while UT fielded the country’s top-ranked defense. The game was supposed to answer the question of which team held the superior weapon. However, the weather that Longhorns head coach Dana X. Bible described as the worst he had seen in 30 years of coaching kept that question from being answered. The game started under unseasonably cold temperatures, which was then followed by a steady rain. The harsh conditions led to only 10 first downs, 260 total yards and 18 punts in the contest. Randolph Field scored first after recovering a Longhorns fumble on the UT 26-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Glenn Dobbs, playing in his third consecutive bowl game, connected with Tex Aulds on a 16-yard touchdown pass. Walter West tacked on the extra point to give the Ramblers an early 7-0 lead. The lead stood for only one frame, as Texas answered in the second quarter after recovering a fumble on the Ramblers’ 42-yard line. Just as Randolph Field had done one quarter earlier, UT needed only two plays to produce its first touchdown. Quarterback Ralph Ellsworth hooked up with George McCall on a 35-yard scoring strike and J.R. Calahan kicked the PAT to knot the game at seven heading to halftime. Both teams had opportunities to take the lead in the second half, but the defenses benefited from the cold, wet conditions and the game ended in a 7-all tie. Joe Parker was named Texas’ Outstanding Player, while Dobbs and Martin Rudy shared the honor for Randolph Field. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||