Members of the old guard are gathering Friday in Colorado Springs to reminisce about the 0-0 tie in the 1959 Cotton Bowl game between Air Force and Texas Christian.
Their gathering is a prelude to Saturday’s 1 p.m. Mountain West Conference game at Falcon Stadium, with 21st-ranked TCU (6-1, 4-0 MWC) looking to maintain its lead and Air Force (3-4, 2-3) playing the role of spoiler. This is just the fifth meeting between the schools. Two of the first four were important parts of AFA football history.
When they most recently met in 1998, TCU defeated the Falcons 35-34 in Fort Worth, the only loss of the season for Air Force, which finished 12-1. That Air Force team was trying to become only the second unbeaten squad in school history, joining the 1958 team that battled the Horned Frogs in the Cotton Bowl and finished 9-0-2.
“You don’t forget games like that,” said Blane Morgan, the Air Force quarterback in 1998 and now the team’s receivers coach. “Undefeated seasons don’t happen that often, for any team.”
Nose guard Russ Mitscherling is hoping this year’s AFA team can make its own history.
“They’re the team to beat this year in the conference and we’re on the bottom end. Nobody is going to expect much out of us,” Mitscherling said.
About 23 members from the 1958 Air Force squad are expected to attend the reunion, including former lineman Brock Strom, Air Force’s first All-American, along with 10 to 15 former TCU players.
“The 13-13 tie with Iowa was a pivotal game of our season,” said George Pupich, a halfback on the Falcons’ 1958 team. “But the bowl game captured national attention and brought some focus to Air Force.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
