Eleven Good Men & True

Ole Miss had a 6-ft., 183-lb. halfback, Chunkin' Charley Conerly who, from all accounts, was the greatest ever. Mississippi rooters wanted the noise to be heard far away, so those fellows up in New York would be sure to put Charley on their All-Americas.*

Last week, living up to his press notices, Chunkin' Charley completed 20 passes against little Chattanooga in the first half of the game. His season's total jumped to 120--a new national record. Most of Charley's passes went to ex-West Pointer Barney Poole, who is just two shy of the record for catches. Charley was certainly a good All-America bet.

On the Tongue, or Out. All over the land last week, sportwriters were primping and smoothing the cowlicks on their local heroes, like a roomful of jealous mothers trying to get baby elected No. 1 at a baby show. Obviously, no bad player would make All-America. The difficulty, except in a few obvious choices, was in distinguishing among the good, and arbitrarily conferring greatness on a few. The campaigning was already about over. Said one All-America committeeman last week: "If a guy isn't on everyone's tongue after the first six games, then he's out."

What makes an All-America player? To be a sure shot, he must play on a winning team which has a major schedule. If he is a standout player, that helps too. But great talent on a poor team will get a man almost nowhere. And the pickers could not be blamed for that: the fairest way of measuring an All-America was to judge his feats by the quality of his opposition.

A savvy college publicity man looks around to see what positions are sewed up before he starts building up a candidate. This season, with Notre Dame's great Quarterback Johnny Lujack in circulation, it was not much use ballyhooing another quarterback. Weeks ago, the West Coast boys began beating drums for a U.C.L.A. end, Tom Fears. When Fears was injured, the drums suddenly stopped throbbing. It was almost too late in the season to proclaim another hero, but U.C.L.A. is now doing its manful best to boost Guard Mike Dimitro. The surest West Coast bet is another end, Southern California's 195-lb. Paul Cleary. Coach

Jeff Cravath has helped by calling him "the best end U.S.C. ever had."

On the Line. Local pressagents and sports editors find it easier to put across a lineman than a backfield star: there is no easy way to measure a tackle's talents or accomplishments statistically. And who can say whether Pennsylvania's 220-lb. Charles Bednarik is a better center than Kentucky's Jay Rhodemyre? The most celebrated tackles were Notre Dame's George Connor and Ziggy Czarobski, Georgia Tech's Bob Davis. Davis' team was upset last week by Alabama, 14 to 7, but he was still a hero in Atlanta.

In the East, Penn State was the only big team still unbeaten and untied. Their leading candidate for All-America: Steve Suhey, a guard. Another contender: Columbia's End Bill Swiacki.

In the Southwest, the headlines had sought out two: Halfback Doak Walker of Southern Methodist and Quarterback Bobby Layne of Texas. Unbeaten S.M.U.'s Walker was the likelier candidate. Last week, though favoring a sprained ankle, 20-year-old Doak Walker scored one touchdown, kicked two extra points as his team rolled over Arkansas, 14 to 6.

There are two crack halfbacks on Michigan's unbeaten team, which ran wild last week against Wisconsin (40 to 6) to win the Big Nine Championship and a ticket to the Rose Bowl. Bump Elliott is good on both offense and defense, but trigger-armed Bob Chappuis (TIME, Nov. 3), a specialist, is more spectacular. The only trouble with a backfield made up of the nation's four most touted backfield stars--Lujack, Conerly, Walker and Chappuis--is that there isn't a fullback among them.

*For a sample locomotive, see LETTERS.

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