No one would have mistaken Jack McDowall for a football star when he showed up as a freshman at the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering in 1924. He was tall and skinny, weighing no more than 160 pounds, and wore thick glasses to help with poor eyesight. One observer jokingly described him as \u201c4F,\u201d a familiar Selective Service designation in the years after World War I that indicated someone was not physically or mentally fit to serve in the military. He was a face in the crowd, one of 1,200 students at State College. None of them saw the young man from Rockingham, N.C. (and before that, Gainesville, Fla.) as the football hero that State College was desperately seeking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon enough they would realize, though, that they had found their hero. But even in their wildest dreams, State College students and fans could not have imagined how good McDowall would be on the football field\u2014or on the basketball court, the baseball field and in track and field, for that matter. Time and again, McDowall\u2019s passing, running, tackling and kicking led Wolfpack football teams to victory, including their first win over UNC-Chapel Hill in years and their first Southern Conference championship, in 1927. Sports writers struggled to find new superlatives to describe McDowall\u2019s play, which seemed to reach new heights with each game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the time his college days were over in 1928, McDowall was widely acclaimed as the best athlete to ever play for State College. Some might argue that he still is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
State Struggles to Keep Up<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
College football was experiencing something of a heyday in the 1920s, led by the likes of Knute Rockne and his powerful offense at Notre Dame and the excitement that surrounded the annual Army-Navy game. The war was over, and fans welcomed the diversion that sports offered. Reforms in the early part of the century, led in part by President Theodore Roosevelt, had saved college football from itself by making the game safer after 22 players had died during the 1905 season. \u201cFootball weekends epitomized undergraduate social life, as raccoon coats replaced buckskins as the clothing of adventuresome youth,\u201d Bill Beezley wrote in his 1976 book, The Wolfpack . . . Intercollegiate Athletics at North Carolina State University<\/em>. \u201cThe radio brought games to those thousands whose crystal sets served as a key to the fraternity of football fans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At State College, though, the football program had struggled to find consistent success since a handful of students (and, apparently, a few nonstudents) had formed a football team and used their own money to travel to Oxford, N.C., in 1890 to earn the college\u2019s first athletic victory against a prep school called Horner Academy. State College\u2019s athletic teams had been hampered more than those at other schools during the war when the Department of the Army decided that students in its officer training programs \u2014 at places like State College \u2014 could not participate in college athletics. The Navy, which had training units at UNC-Chapel Hill, allowed its men to continue to play college sports. But the football woes at State College continued after the war was over, prompting the college to bring in a consultant from the Carnegie Institute to suggest areas for improvement. Those recommendations called for the creation of a Department of Physical Education that would provide some institutional oversight for intercollegiate athletics while ensuring that all students received physical training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As football season approached in 1925, expectations were not high. State College had lost more than half of its 17 lettermen from the previous year, and new head coach Gus Tebell was not sure what his starting lineup would look like. Athletics Director J.F. Miller had implored students to try out for the football team if they had any experience or \u201ca physical make-up.\u201d \u201cEvery Freshman should enter college with one idea in mind, that is, to do anything and everything in his power to represent State College in her competition with other colleges,\u201d Miller wrote in the Technician.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s McDowall, With an \u201cA\u201d<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
McDowall had played well the year before for the freshman team, which won two of its four games. But he was barely mentioned in preseason stories about the varsity team. When his name was mentioned, it was often misspelled as \u201cMcDowell,\u201d with an \u201ce\u201d instead of an \u201ca.\u201d It was a mistake that would occur throughout his playing days. (And later, for that matter. He was incorrectly listed as \u201cJack McDowell\u201d for years at the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McDowall gave his coaches little indication of his potential before the season started, rarely working hard during practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\nJack McDowall \u201928 was also a star for the basketball team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMcDowall’s college letter sweater is on display at the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame at the N.C. Museum of History. Photograph courtesy of the N.C. Museum of History.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
It didn\u2019t take long, though, for McDowall to give the team\u2019s fans (and his coaches) something to cheer about. The Wolfpack won its season opener against Richmond 20-0, and McDowall was an immediate sensation as a halfback who could run, pass and \u2014 in a time before specialists \u2014 kick the tar out of the ball. Substitutions were rare, with players typically playing on offense and defense. \u201cMcDowall, the fast-stepping half from Rockingham, was the star of the game,\u201d read an account of the Richmond game. \u201cHis work of passing, punting and running was brilliant. His longest run of the game for 75 yards was made only after he had sidestepped and dodged many of his would-be tacklers.\u201d Despite his lean frame, McDowall was also one of the hardest tacklers on the defense and had a powerful throwing arm. One of his coaches surmised that McDowall must have had wire in his muscles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
State College fans, desperate for football success, wasted no time in speculating about what the team might be able to do with a star like McDowall. A limerick in the school newspaper even raised the possibility of \u201cchampionship aims\u201d for the long-suffering football team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But McDowall missed the second game of the season after being treated for blood poisoning in his right arm caused by scratches and bruises he had suffered during the game against Richmond. The rest of the season brought the sorts of highs and lows that were familiar to State College fans. Led by McDowall, the team beat Duke and Wake Forest. But State College lost to teams from VMI, Davidson, Washington and Lee and, yet again, UNC-Chapel Hill. When the Faculty Athletic Committee met on Nov. 3, 1925, the last item on the agenda was the \u201cMorale of the Football Team.\u201d Later that month, Miller, the athletics director, issued a statement to the student body, encouraging them to form a booster club and root for the school\u2019s athletics teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Star in Other Sports<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
With football season over, McDowall turned to other sports. He quickly became a starter on the basketball team, known then as the Red Terrors, as a guard who was noted more for his ball-handling and defense than for his scoring. But when State College played Duke in January 1926, McDowall demonstrated his knack for making big plays in big moments, be it on the football field or the basketball court. Duke was leading by one point late in the game at Frank Thompson Gymnasium when McDowall grabbed the ball at one end of the floor, dribbled to the center of the court and, with seconds to play, launched a shot that went \u201csquarely\u201d through the basket and won the game for State College. \u201cThe whistle blew while the ball was in the air and the most exciting game of the season was at an end,\u201d read the account in the Technician.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
McDowall, who also played baseball and was a member of the track team, was one of three finalists his sophomore year for the Norris Athletic Trophy, an award given annually to the best athlete at State College. But before students got a chance to vote on who should receive the award, McDowall withdrew his name from consideration. He asked that students instead vote for two brothers, both seniors, who were on the football and baseball teams. Meanwhile, McDowall\u2019s athletic accomplishments continued to pile up. The next month, McDowall \u201csmashed\u201d the Southern Conference record in the high jump and finished second in the broad jump. He was the second leading point earner for the track team that year, and one of only two State College athletes to compete in that year\u2019s Southern Conference track-and-field meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seeking Football Success<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
In 1926, McDowall\u2019s junior year, the football team continued to struggle. McDowall performed well, switching at times to quarterback and right end because of injuries to other players or Tebell\u2019s efforts to generate some offense. A 7-3 loss to Clemson was typical of the games that season. \u201cHe played a very brilliant game throughout,\u201d a writer said of McDowall, \u201cand gained the admiration of the small crowd which witnessed the game. Jack tried in vain to complete passes, but State ends failed to hold them.\u201d When State College played UNC-Chapel Hill, McDowall missed most of the game due to an injury and UNC-Chapel Hill notched another win in the rivalry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
But McDowall gave fans reason to hope before the season was over. He ran for two touchdowns, threw for another touchdown and kicked two extra points in a 26-19 win over Duke. One of the touchdown runs stood out, even by McDowall\u2019s standards. \u201cIn the second quarter he received a Duke punt on the 5-yard line and, by stiff-arming, brokenfield running, and good interference, he staggered almost exhausted across the goal line for a touchdown,\u201d read the account in the Technician<\/em>. McDowall would later describe the 1925 and 1926 teams, which had gone 3-5-1 and 4-6, respectively, as \u201ctwo of the worst football teams ever heard of.\u201d But no one held McDowall accountable for the poor showings. Following another season as a starter on the basketball team, and splitting his time between the track team and the baseball team, McDowall won the Norris trophy his junior year as the best athlete at State College. But the best was still to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Senior Year to Remember<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
As the 1927 football season approached, expectations among State College fans were uncharacteristically high. Not only was McDowall back for his senior season, but Tebell had several other promising players on the team. \u201cWe\u2019ve really got a team that can\u2019t be stopped,\u201d read a story in the student newspaper. That certainly appeared to be the case in the season opener, in which State College defeated Elon 39-0. That was followed, though, by a disheartening 20-0 loss to Furman. Then McDowall took over, leading his team to an 18-6 victory over Clemson and a decisive 30-7 win over Wake Forest, which a newspaper headline declared as the \u201cbest game of his college career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Never before has State College seen her favorite athlete strut her stuff in such a manner. He can do anything, from run to tackle. His forward passes are brilliant. His punts are marvelous. His running is of such a caliber that the opposition almost break their backs trying to stop him.<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The team\u2019s fans could barely contain themselves. \u201cJack McDowall was in his prime,\u201d wrote one sports columnist. \u201cNever before has State College seen her favorite athlete strut her stuff in such a manner. He can do anything, from run to tackle. His forward passes are brilliant. His punts are marvelous. His running is of such a caliber that the opposition almost break their backs trying to stop him.\u201d A columnist for the Technician<\/em> suggested that the team should win the so-called state championship, the informal honor given to the college team in North Carolina with the best record. \u201cStudents, this is our golden opportunity,\u201d read the column.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Up next was one of the toughest games on the Wolfpack schedule \u2014 the University of Florida, a traditional football powerhouse. It would be the first time the two schools had met in any athletic contest, and fans were alternately excited by the opportunity and nervous about the possible outcome. For McDowall, the game had special meaning. He had been a high school football star in Gainesville, Fla. \u2014 home of the University of Florida \u2014 before moving to Rockingham, N.C., for his final year of high school. But the coaches at the University of Florida had not been interested in McDowall, saying he was too small for their team. This was his chance to show them they had made a mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The game, played in Tampa, started slow. Neither team scored until the fourth quarter, when a long pass from McDowall took the Wolfpack to the 3-yard line. State College ran the ball three straight times, but each time the Florida defense stopped them short of the goal line. On fourth down, McDowall threw a short pass for a touchdown, putting State College ahead 6-0. But, as a Florida sports writer noted, McDowall was not done. With Florida scrambling to score a touchdown, McDowall intercepted a pass and took off on \u201ca breath-taking, eye-twisting dash of 75 yards.\u201d State College won 12-6, giving McDowall his win over Florida. His teammates gave him the game ball for his efforts. \u201cAfter a few days, I wrapped up the ball in a neat package and mailed it to the athletic director at Florida as a souvenir,\u201d McDowall recalled years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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