SPECIAL ST. MARY'S AUTOGRAPHED VERSION (Provided by generous donation of Mr. William Baker.)
Men against boys. Even though the boys were pretty good, so were the bigger, more worldly men.
Oklahoma A&M was a team that started seven war veterans, including fullback Jim Reynolds who flew 52 missions over Germany, and tackle Bert Cole who had been shot down over Yugoslavia and spent months among the Chetniks while making his way back to allied lines. In contrast, St. Mary’s was a lot like Alabama in 1945 with seven 17-year-old starters on a team with an average age of 18-1/2.
Also, A&M, the heaviest team to play in the first 12 Sugar Bowls at a 203-pound average, was man-for-man 15 pounds larger than the Sugar Bowl’s youngest team ever.
The Aggies’ Bob Fenimore led the nation in total offense for the second straight year. His two-season all-purpose yards average of 212.4 yards was better than those of recent Heisman Trophy recipients Frank Sinkwich or Tom Harmon or Glenn Davis.
