Published Mar 22, 2009
Army Plebe Quarterbacks - A historical perspective
Mike Belter
Special to GoBlackKnights.com
Over the past
Advertisement
seven years, we have seen two instances where Army football has had two plebes
start games at quarterback – first in 2002, Zac Dahman started four games
(Rutgers, Louisville, Houston and Alabama Birmingham), losing all of them but
putting up a heck of a passing game against Houston.  Then in 2006, Carson
Williams started and lost four games (Tulane, Air Force, Notre Dame and
Navy).
The Army
media folks told us that Dahman and Williams were two of four plebes who had
started at quarterback – so you know what that means – I started digging to find
the other two plebes in the Army records – actually using the New York Times
archives and NewspaperArchive.com website for various newspaper
accounts.  I found three plebes who started in our current era, two plebes
during the Korean War, and then 12 more plebes who started during the 1900-1925
seasons.
Before I
start to tell you about these 17 individuals, let me caution you about looking
at quarterback play in the first-half of the 20th century.  First,
there was little coaching from the sideline, so the quarterback was the one who
called almost all the plays and more important, got the play started.  Second,
head coaches did not necessary play their best passer at quarterback, likely he
was playing halfback, fullback, sometimes end or tackle.  Glenn Davis led Army
in passing in 1943, playing from the fullback position is a fine example (and he
was a plebe too!).
Third, for
the seasons through World War I, all the games up to Navy were considered
preparatory and training to beat the Midshipmen, so head coaches played a
variety of folks through the season to reduce injuries – sometimes the Army
quarterback starting against Navy was starting his first game of the season. 
Fourth, to prepare for Navy game, Army would likely play one to two games a year
against very easy opponents and might play the whole game with their scrubs –
what we would call the third or fourth stringers or junior varsity.  Once in a
while, Army had to rush in the first stringers or it actually got upset by this
strategy.
Fifth, and
most important, was the subject of freshmen eligibility.  This subject was being
discussed from the 1880's onwards by Yale, Princeton, Harvard and other
institutions.  The NCAA emerged in the mid-1900's with guidelines not to play
freshmen, which were finally institutionalized after World War I.  However, Army
would continue to play freshmen until it finally agreed to the NCAA guidelines
in the mid-1930s.  World War II and Korea War offered a brief period for major
colleges to play freshmen.  The NCAA finally authorized the play of freshmen in
1972, but it was not until Head Coach Homer Smith in 1974 played my classmates,
including quarterback Leamon Hall, did Army resume playing plebes.
Oh, the
freshmen eligibility issue was the source of much bitterness and controversy
between Army and Navy as well as the policies on admitting Cadets and Midshipmen
with different maximum ages – and this cancelled several games between the foes.
Sixth, during
the 1947 through 1964 seasons, Army played platoon football, and the press
accounts of several games may be listing the defensive quarterback (safety)
player instead of the starting quarterback.  Finally, Army was much more
successful in recruiting former college football players, including several
All-Americans, to play at USMA.  This occurred during the early 1900 seasons,
and Head Coach Red Blaik repeated this during World War II.
The first
plebe to start at quarterback was Vaughn Cooper, who started the third
game of the 1900 season against the preparatory school De La Salle School of New
York City.  The Army scrubs beat them 11-0.  Cooper would start the Tufts game
in 1902.  Cooper graduated, was wounded in World War I and retired disabled as a
Lieutenant Colonel in 1932.
Football
season had hardly finished when word came down that a Congressman had appointed
Charles Daly, Harvard's All-American quarterback, as a USMA cadet.  Daly
started the first game of the 1901 season by beating Franklin & Marshall 20-0,
and then missed the next game while in the USMA Hospital with an abscess on his
hand.  Daly would then start at least five of the next eight games (no
information on two of the games), including being the starting plebe quarterback
against Navy, beating the Mids on the back of a 105 yard kickoff return for a
touchdown.  Daly would start three of the last four games of the 1902 season –
delayed from playing because of eligibility questions.  He became a student
coach during his final 1904-1905 seasons and never played for Army again. 
Charles Daly would go on to become Army's Head Football Coach for eight seasons
(58-13-3) and was admitted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.
Enoch Garey
started the fourth game of the 1904 season in losing 4-0 to Harvard, and then
started five of the next six games as a plebe, including beating Navy 11-0. 
Garey would go on to start a total of 15 games during his four seasons with an
8-6-1 record.  He served in World War I and became President of St. John's
College in Maryland.
Garey started
the first five games of the 1905 season, leading Army to a 2-3 record including
a 20-0 loss to Yale in the fifth game.  Plebe Ronald Johnson got the
start in the next game against Carlisle Indian School, losing 5-6.  Johnson
would lead the Cadets to a 2-1-1 record in the remaining four games, including a
6-6 tie in a dreadful Navy game at Princeton.  Johnson would start six more
games in the 1906 season, but never started during his final two seasons.  He
graduated and served in both World Wars, retiring in 1948 as a Colonel.
During the
1907 season, plebe Kenneth Kern started the eighth game against Syracuse,
a 23-4 win.  Kern would start one more game during the 1908 season.  He served
in World War I, but died at Fort Sheridan, Illinois at the age of 36 as a Major.
Army started
a plebe in its first game of 1908, though I do not know whether that got Head
Coach Henry Smither relieved from duty after the game.  The new Head Coach
Ernest Graves took over from Smither, and continued to start John Wood
for the first four games and a 3-1 record until he was injured in the Colgate
game.  Kern then started and tied against Princeton.  Then plebe Bob Hyatt
took over the starting quarterback job for the final four games, a 3-0-1 record
including a 6-4 win over Navy.  Wood would never start at quarterback again. 
Hyatt would start a total of 18 games with a 13-3-2 record but he would never
again beat the Midshipmen.  Wood served in World War I and was 4th
Armored Division Commanding General during World War II.  Hyatt served in both
World Wars and retired as a Colonel in 1948.
The start of
the 1914 season saw the beginning of plebe Elmer Oliphant's career,
considered one of the best athletes to ever play at Army.  Oliphant probably
would have started the season at quarterback were it not for the presence of
senior Vern Prichard, who would start six of nine games that season in finishing
a 17-4 record with 21 starts.  Oliphant started against Maine and Springfield,
winning both.  He would start in other positions the remainder of his career. 
Oliphant would leave the Army in 1922 and then serve a long career in the
insurance industry.  He would be recognized in 1954 for entry into the College
Football Hall of Fame.
After
All-American Bob Neyland started at quarterback in the first game against Holy
Cross in the 1915 season (a 14-14 tie), Head Coach Charles Daly decided to start
plebe Hugh Murrill.  Murrill started five of the next games leading Army
to a 3-2 record, but junior Charles Gerhardt started the final two games,
including a 14-0 victory over Navy.  Murrill would start a total of 15 games
with a 13-2 record in his war shortened three seasons.  He served in both World
Wars.
Harry Barrick,
started and won one game as a plebe quarterback in 1917 against Villanova, then
beat Mitchel Field in the one game 1918 season.  Barrick did not even earn a
letter for his efforts.  He graduated as part of the Class of 1919 and served in
the Pacific in World War II, retiring in 1946 as a Colonel.
Head Coach
Charles Daly opened the 1921 season with a double hitter, with the first string
beating Springfield but the scrubs, lead by plebe starting quarterback Edwin
Johnson, were upset 7-10 by New Hampshire.  Johnson led the scrubs in the
next weekend's double hitter by beating Lebanon Valley 33-0.  Johnson would
start three more games, losing only to Notre Dame 0-22.  Johnson would start one
game during the 1922 season for a total of six starts.  Johnson would serve in
World War II and Korea, and retire as a Brigadier General in 1956.
Finally, the
final plebe starting quarterback in the early years was William Hall, who
started his only game against Ursinus during the 1925 season.  Army won 44-0. 
Hall served in World War II, transferred to the Air Force, and retired as a
Lieutenant General in 1961.
Head Coach
Red Blaik faced a depleted squad at the beginning of the 1951 season due to the
Honor Scandal that year.  He started turnback plebe Fred Meyers in the
first two games, but Meyers was injured in the first quarter in the second game
at Northwestern.  Plebe Pete Vann stepped in, and started at least the
next two games, losing 28-14 to Dartmouth and 22-21 to Harvard.  Junior Dick
Boyle is listed as starting the next three games, though Vann might have started
on the offensive platoon.  Meyers returned from his injuries, first as a
halfback, and then started against Penn (6-7) and Navy (7-42).  Meyers was on
the scout team as a plebe during the 1950 season, but had to repeat his freshman
year due to academics.  He transferred to halfback at the beginning of the 1952
season, but saw no action that season.  He left USMA sometime around 1953 due to
academic troubles.  Vann would have a total of 23 starts (15-8 record) during
his four seasons and set many passing records.  He graduated with the Class of
1956 and served until 1960, then had a long career in industry until his
retirement in 1999.
Head Coach
Homer Smith started the 1978 season with junior Earl Mulrane at quarterback with
senior Steve Smith as his backup.  Mulrane injured his ankle in the fourth game,
and quarterback Smith was not effective.  Enter plebe quarterback Jerryl
Bennett.  Army lost 0-31 and 7-31 the next week at Florida, with Smith
starting and Bennett showing some promise as a sub.  Coach Smith needed a spark,
and he decided to start Bennett against Colgate, and this led to a 28-3
victory.  Bennett started the next week against Air Force and another 28-14
victory.  Mulrane recovered and started the remaining three games.  Bennett
would start a total of 16 games with a 6-9-1 record over four seasons.  Bennett
served in the Field Artillery after graduating with the Class of 1982.
Bennett was
leading the Cadets against Air Force in 1980 in the third quarter when he got
hurt.  Plebe Bryan Allem entered the game and threw the touchdown pass to
help lead the Cadets to a 47-24 victory.  Head Coach Ed Cavanaugh decided to
start Allem against Pitt in the next game, a 45-7 loss.  Allem would start 10
games with a 3-6-1 record over the next three seasons.  Allem graduated with the
Class of 1984 and served in the Field Artillery.
1987 was not
a season to be a quarterback in Head Coach Jim Young's wishbone attack.  Senior
Tory Crawford, famous for his iron-man streak of not getting injured in prior
seasons, lasted through the first four games.  Junior Mark Mooney was followed
by junior Bryan Babb as the injury bug hit the quarterbacks.  Sophomore Morrell
Savoy was next, and sprained his ankle in the seventh game against Rutgers. 
Enter plebe Bryan McWilliams, the fifth-string quarterback at the start
of the season.  McWilliams started the next game against Temple, but dislocated
a finger on his throwing hand in the opening quarter.  Plebe Otto Leone, the
sixth-string quarterback, entered the game and guided the Cadets to a 17-7
victory.  Crawford was able to start the remaining three games, including a 17-3
win over Navy.  McWilliams would start a total of 22 games over his four seasons
(14-8 record).  He graduated with the Class of 1991 and served in the Field
Artillery.
The next
plebes to start at quarterback were Zac Dahman in 2002 and Carson
Williams in 2006.  Dahman currently holds many of Army's passing records,
including starting 34 games at quarterback with a 6-28 record.  Williams going
into his senior season has started 17 games with a 2-15 record.
Belter's Triva
Which Army
quarterback is second on the start list with 29 starts and a 16-12-1 record?