The Right Way And The Wrong Way
Roy Riegels picked up a fumble in the 1929 Rose Bowl, got turned around, and ran toward his own goal before his teammates tackled him on the one-yard line. “Wrong Way” Riegels was not the first or the last to make that mistake, only the most famous directionally challenged runner.
Surely someone ran south when they shoulda run north before W. G. Mack did so for Colgate in 1894, but he’s the first one I know of (thanks to reader, Christopher Haack). Mack, Colgate’s left tackle, evaded all pursuers, ran the length of the field, and crossed the goal line before placing the ball on the ground, thereby presenting rival Syracuse with a safety. Thankfully, the Raiders prevailed 32-8 that day, so Mack’s 2-point gift did not affect the game’s outcome, but some future ball carriers who confused north and south were not so lucky.
Turnabout was fair play in 1902 during the WashU varsity-alumni game. WashU had the ball on its 42-yard line and was punting on third down when the alums broke through to block the kick. The ball bounced back more than 25 yards, where alum right halfback Arthur Birge scooped it up on the 15.
All alone and only 15 yards from a touchdown, Birge saw even more open territory going the other way and chose that option. He only made it 20 yards before his teammates convinced him to stop, though his error didn’t matter since the alumni won going away, despite Birge running the wrong way.
Four years passed before right guard E. R. Cyphers of Penn State added to the trend on a wet Yale Field. With both teams wearing muddy dark blue jerseys, Yale attempted a punt from its 35-yard line when the Lions of Nittany blocked it. Cypher recovered the ball and ran toward Yale’s goal line but began doubting himself and stopped at the 10-yard line to collect his bearings, where the Yalies tackled him.
Although Cyphers does not appear to have run the wrong way, his stoppage in play had a similar effect. Penn State failed to move the ball on the next two plays, and when Yale blocked Penn State’s field goal attempt, its chance to be the first team that season to score on Yale disappeared. Army’s touchdown two weeks later was the only score on the Elis that season.
And who will forget Snooks Dowd’s boner?
Dowd’s incident occurred in 1918 during the Spanish Flu. As a freshman quarterback at Lehigh, Dowd was supposed to play second fiddle to an upperclassman. However, the starting quarterback left campus to register with the Selective Service in his hometown and upon his return, Lehigh’s campus was quarantined, and he could not reenter.
Soon thereafter, the League Island Marines of Philadelphia’s Naval Yard were looking for a game, and the Lehigh authorities allowed them on campus and banned spectators. Dowd’s boner occurred on the opening kickoff, though the exact details are hard to know, since the story became embellished over the next decade.
Something resembling the truth is that Dowd received the opening kickoff and started up one sideline until several Marines appeared in front of him. Dowd reversed course, running back toward his own goal and across the field. That happened once or twice before the Marines finally tackled him. Some versions suggest he took the ball all the way for a touchdown, while the local paper says Dowd scored on a pass to end the opening drive. Dowd’s story got better over time, including a 1925 cartoon suggesting he score on the play.
There were a few others along the way, including in the NFL. The Chicago Bears’ Oscar Knop ran 35 yards the wrong way against the Columbus Tigers forty years before Jim Marshall did so in 1964, though Knop corrected himself and did not score a safety for the bad guys like Marshall did.
Of course, the most famous turnaround of all was by California center Wrong Way Roy Reigels, whose error came in the 1929 Rose Bowl.
Early in the second quarter, Georgia Tech had the ball on the 22-yard line, lining up in short punt formation. Thomason, the Wreck’s quarterback, took the snap and ran to the right before cutting back, gaining seven yards, before he was hit, and the ball popped into the air. Cal center Roy Reigels caught the ball and was hit, spinning him around, and when he spotted an opening, he took off. Reigel’s teammate, Bennie Lom, caught up with him at Cal’s 45, yelling at Reigels to stop, but Reigels was focused on the goal line and ignored his teammate. Lom finally grabbed him at the Cal 3-yard line, at which point several Georgia Tech players swarmed him.
The video should start at 14:20 where Reigels’ problems begin. If not skip ahead.
The officials spotted the ball at the 1-yard line, and soon thereafter, Cal tried to punt from its own end zone, but Georgia Tech blocked it, earning a safety that proved the difference in the 8-7 game.
Wrong Way Reigels became known nationwide for the wrong thing, but Reigels showed that life allows for redemption. His teammates trusted him, named him the team captain for the 1929 season, during which he earned All-American honors.
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Impressed that you were able to track down the name of the Colgate wrong-way player! Always interesting.