About this item
Highlights
- In 2002 ESPN rated football's shift to the modern T-formation offense as the second best sports innovation of all time--just behind baseball's free agency.
- About the Author: James W. Johnson is a professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Arizona.
- 220 Pages
- Sports + Recreation, Football
Description
About the Book
The story of the 1940 college football season when unheralded Stanford went undefeated, and Coach Clark Shaughnessy's T-formation offense revolutionized the game of football.Book Synopsis
In 2002 ESPN rated football's shift to the modern T-formation offense as the second best sports innovation of all time--just behind baseball's free agency. The story behind the move to the T-formation is also the story of a season unparalleled in the annals of college football--the year Stanford's new coach, fresh from seven dismal seasons with the University of Chicago, deployed an out-of-favor offense to take a team of talented underdogs to a Rose Bowl victory.The Wow Boys (the title refers to the nickname the team earned at its very first game) chronicles Stanford's miraculous 1940 season, from the surprise hiring of coach Clark Shaughnessy and his marshalling of the previously untapped talents of left-handed quarterback Frankie Albert, runners Hugh Gallarneau and Pete Kmetovic, and fullback Norm Standlee, to his reintroduction of the T-formation and its profound and enduring effect on football. James W. Johnson gives a game-by-game rundown of this dramatic season as well as an in-depth account of Shaughnessy's accomplishment in the face of overwhelming criticism and skepticism. This story is one of tenacity, character, and radical ideas prevailing against formidable odds--a sports revolution engineered one play at a time.
Review Quotes
"[The Wow Boys] concerns the inauguration of the T formation in modern college football. . . . This well-researched, well-written book from UA professor emeritus Johnson explains it all to you."--Arizona Daily Star
-- (1/7/2007 12:00:00 AM)
About the Author
James W. Johnson is a professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Arizona. He is also a longtime newsman who worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Oakland Tribune, and the Oregonian, among other newspapers. His most recent book is Arizona Politicians: The Noble and the Notorious.