1971: Morrall Tosses 3 TD Passes as Colts Sink College All-Stars

The 38^th annual College All-Star Game in Chicago on July 30, 1971 featured the Baltimore Colts, defending champions of the NFL, against an All-Star squad coached by Blanton Collier, who had retired from the Cleveland Browns following eight years as head coach.

The Colts, under Head Coach Don McCafferty, started 37-year-old Earl Morrall (pictured at right) at quarterback due to the unavailability of long-time star QB Johnny Unitas, who suffered an Achilles tendon injury during the offseason. The offense was typically more effective through the air than on the ground while the tough defense featured DE Bubba Smith, linebackers Ted Hendricks and Mike Curtis, and safeties Rick Volk and Jerry Logan.

The All-Stars included quarterbacks Jim Plunkett, the Heisman Trophy winner out of Stanford, and Dan Pastorini of Santa Clara, FB John Brockington from Ohio State, Northwestern HB Mike Adamle, and WR J.D. Hill of Arizona State. The defense had hard hitters in DB Jack Tatum from Ohio State and DE Jack Youngblood of Florida, plus DT Julius Adams from Texas Southern, Grambling DE Richard Harris, and linebackers Jack Ham of Penn State and Isiah Robertson from Southern.

There were 52,289 fans in attendance for the Friday night game at Soldier Field, which had undergone renovation that included a new artificial surface. The contest’s initial score was set up thanks to a poor punt by Dan Pastorini in the first quarter. It gave the Colts good starting field position at the All-Star 45 to start their second possession of the game, and they made the most of it. Earl Morrall threw to FB Norm Bulaich on a swing pass that picked up 17 yards and to WR Ray Perkins, who outmaneuvered Kansas State CB Clarence Scott for a 24-yard touchdown. Jim O’Brien kicked the extra point.

On their next series, a holding penalty backed the Colts into their own territory and they were forced to punt. It looked as though the All-Stars would get nothing out of the ensuing possession when John Brockington was stopped for no gain on a third-and-one play at the Baltimore 40, but the Colts refused an offside penalty on the collegians, preferring to bring up fourth down. The All-Stars converted when Brockington ran for three yards to keep the series alive. Jim Plunkett connected with Mike Adamle for a 22-yard gain to the 15 and the collegians got another break when Plunkett threw for J.D. Hill and interference was called on CB Jim Duncan to move the ball to the one yard line. From there, on the third play of the second quarter, Brockington ran around right end for a touchdown. Pastorini added the point after to make it a 7-7 game.

The Colts responded on their ensuing possession with Morrall throwing to HB Tom Matte for a 15-yard TD. O’Brien again successfully converted. With Pastorini at quarterback, the All-Stars advanced from their own 30 into Baltimore territory and Bob Jacobs of Wyoming kicked a 40-yard field goal with just over two minutes remaining in the half. The Colts moved well in the remaining time as Morrall completed six of seven passes for 102 yards, but they came up empty when O’Brien missed a 26-yard field goal try. The score remained 14-10 at the intermission.

Baltimore’s lead was extended in the quiet third quarter when O’Brien was successful on a field goal attempt, this time from 22 yards. Early in the fourth quarter, the Colts appeared to take command when Morrall threw to TE Tom Mitchell for a 44-yard TD and O’Brien’s extra point put the pro champs ahead by 14.

Sam Havrilak, normally a halfback but being tried at quarterback, relieved Morrall and on his second play, he botched a handoff to FB Tom Nowatzke and Jack Ham recovered for the All-Stars and ran 47 yards for a touchdown. It narrowed the margin to seven points, but proved to be the last gasp for the collegians, who were kept in check offensively as Baltimore held on to win by a final score of 24-17.

The Colts had far more total yards than the All-Stars (403 to 150) and also had the edge in first downs (18 to 11). The collegians turned the ball over twice, to one suffered by the NFL champs.

Earl Morrall, who played for a full three quarters, completed 20 of 30 passes for 329 yards and three touchdowns while giving up no interceptions. Norm Bulaich led Baltimore’s runners with 46 yards on 9 attempts. Tom Matte, who carried the ball 10 times for 18 yards, caught 5 passes for 63 yards and a TD, having great success on swing passes out of the backfield. WR Eddie Hinton also had 5 pass receptions, for 75 yards, and Tom Mitchell gained 95 yards on his four catches.

Jim Plunkett was successful on 6 of 15 throws for 65 yards and an interception and Dan Pastorini went two of nine for 13 yards and gave up an interception, although Pastorini led the All-Stars in rushing with 40 yards on two carries (Plunkett #16 and Pastorini #7 pictured below). John Brockington gained 27 yards on 12 rushing attempts that included a touchdown. Houston WR Elmo Wright, Mike Adamle, and J.D. Hill each had two receptions, for 25, 24, and 23 yards, respectively.

“They put a lot of pressure on me,” said Earl Morrall regarding the All-Star defense. “They were coming from a lot of directions. I couldn’t quite get a bead on what to do about it.”

The win for the Colts gave the pro champs a winning streak of eight games and a 27-9-2 edge in the series. It was the last of three College All-Star Game appearances for the club that reached the postseason again in 1971 as a 10-4 Wild Card but lost the AFC Championship to Miami.

1967: Unitas Passes for 401 Yards as Colts Defeat Upstart Falcons

On September 17, 1967 the Atlanta Falcons traveled to Baltimore to begin their second season against the Colts. Coach Norb Hecker’s Falcons had gone 3-11 as a first-year expansion team in 1966, but all three of the wins came late in the year to give the enthusiastic fans hope for ’67. QB Randy Johnson started as a rookie, and took his lumps accordingly, but showed promise. Ex-Packer HB Junior Coffey performed well running the ball, and another prize rookie, MLB Tommy Nobis, quickly established himself as the key player on defense.

The Falcons faced a formidable opening-week foe in the Baltimore Colts. Coached by Don Shula, they were typically one of the league’s better teams and coming off a 9-5 season. As he had been for a decade, 34-year-old QB Johnny Unitas (pictured above) was the key to the well-balanced offense. The defense was tough both up front – where they had made it even tougher by drafting Michigan State All-American DE Bubba Smith – and in the backfield.

There were 56,715 fans in attendance at Memorial Stadium. It looked easy for the Colts when, on the first play from scrimmage, Unitas connected with HB Tom Matte for an 88-yard touchdown. However, the Falcons tied the game quickly when DB/flanker Ron Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a TD. Both extra points were successfully added and the score stood at 7-7. Before the opening quarter was over, Lou Michaels kicked a 16-yard field goal to put the Colts back in front.

In the second quarter, the Colts put together a 76-yard scoring drive. Unitas passed to flanker Jimmy Orr for 18 yards and, following a three-yard gain on a running play, connected with Orr again on a 55-yard bomb for a touchdown.

CB Bobby Boyd picked off a Randy Johnson pass and returned it 30 yards for a TD to expand the margin to 24-7. The Colts weren’t done yet in the first half as Unitas passes to TE John Mackey set up a three-yard scoring run by FB Tony Lorick. Baltimore was up by 24 points at halftime and the lead appeared to be impregnable.

Atlanta began to rally in the third quarter. An 82-yard drive ended with Johnson throwing a pass to TE Tax Anderson for a 21-yard touchdown. Later in the period Wade Traynham booted a 48-yard field goal to narrow Baltimore’s lead to 31-17.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Falcons crept closer as CB Lee Calland intercepted a Unitas pass and returned it 77 yards for a touchdown. With the successful extra point, Atlanta was down by only 31-24.

The Colts, who had been quiet thus far offensively in the second half, responded by driving 82 yards capped by Matte (pictured at left) running 10 yards for a TD. The Falcons didn’t fold, however, and a big play got them back down the field quickly. Johnson completed a pass to Ron Smith for a 60-yard gain to set up his own 17-yard scoring carry. With another successful PAT, the Falcons had pulled to within a touchdown of the Colts with two minutes left.

There was not to be a big upset, however. Atlanta got the ball back for one last try but LB Mike Curtis finally sealed the 38-31 win for the Colts with an interception at the Baltimore 40.

The Colts led significantly in total yards (508 to 303) and first downs (20 to 13) as two of Atlanta’s scores were not produced by the offense. The Falcons hurt themselves with five turnovers, which helped put them in their deep second quarter hole, as opposed to two suffered by Baltimore.

Johnny Unitas broke his own franchise single-game passing yardage record (397 in 1959) as he completed 22 of 32 passes for 401 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. It would remain his career high. John Mackey had 8 catches for 126 yards and, with the long scoring play, Tom Matte added 99 yards on his two receptions to go along with a team-leading 36 yards on 10 rushing attempts that also included a TD.

For the Falcons, Randy Johnson was successful on 18 of 29 throws for 217 yards and a TD but also tossed four interceptions. In addition, Johnson rushed for 39 yards and a touchdown on four carries, which also led the club. Junior Coffey was right behind as he ran for 38 yards on 13 attempts; he also caught 6 passes for another 20 yards. Ron Smith (pictured at right), with his one long reception, topped the team with 60 receiving yards. Added to his 139 kickoff return yards that included a TD and 22 yards on punt returns, Smith touched the ball 6 times for 221 total yards.

Following the high-scoring Week 1 battle, the fate of the two teams diverged significantly. The Colts were tied twice but didn’t lose until the last week of the season – although the loss to the Rams was enough to deprive them of the Coastal Division title and a spot in the postseason despite an 11-1-2 record.

The Falcons didn’t match their opening point total in any of their remaining games and, in fact, scored just 14 points in losing their next three games and the next time they met the Colts they lost 49-7. The final tally was 1-12-1 as Atlanta finished at the bottom of the division with the NFL’s worst record.

Johnny Unitas went on to receive consensus league MVP honors as well as being a first-team All-NFL and, for the tenth time, Pro Bowl selection. He led the league in completion percentage (58.5) and ranked second in pass attempts (436), completions (255), and yards (3428).

Ron Smith ranked fifth in the NFL in all-purpose yards with 1337, which included a league-leading 976 yards on kickoff returns. In the only season of his ten-year career in which he was used on offense, he caught 11 passes for 227 yards (20.6 avg.) and ran the ball 8 times for 42 yards. 

1965: Packers Prevail in Overtime Over Colts for Western Conference Title

The two best teams in the NFL’s Western Conference, the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Colts, met in a tie-breaking playoff at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field on December 26, 1965. The Colts, under third year Head Coach Don Shula, had gotten off to a 9-1-1 start before disaster struck in the 12th week against the Bears as star QB Johnny Unitas fractured his knee and was lost for the rest of the season. Backup Gary Cuozzo stepped in, but was also lost for the remainder of the year in the following game against the Packers with a separated shoulder.

Shula was down to his emergency quarterback, Tom Matte (pictured above). Matte had been a college quarterback at Ohio State under legendary Head Coach Woody Hayes, but that consisted of running the ball and passing only out of necessity. Matte had been converted into a halfback by the Colts, and was a good one, but had thrown only option passes in his four NFL seasons and was certainly underprepared – and lacked the arm strength – to put in significant action at quarterback. Baltimore made a desperation trade for 37-year-old veteran Ed Brown from the Steelers, who came in on obvious passing situations in the season finale; the Colts managed to defeat the Rams while throwing just seven passes (and completing three, all by Brown, including a TD) and end the regular season at 10-3-1.

Green Bay, under Head Coach Vince Lombardi, had won the first six games, lost three of the next five, and then won two (including the game against the Colts in which Cuozzo was injured). Going into the last game of the season, a win would give them the conference title, while a loss and a Colts win would put Baltimore over the top. Instead, they tied the 49ers at San Francisco, and with the Colts winning, found themselves even, also at 10-3-1.

Ed Brown would not be available for the playoff game, so it was all up to Matte, using a wristband that contained the plays that Shula listed for his use in a simplified offense (Matte’s backup was CB Bob Boyd, another non-passing college QB at Oklahoma). Lombardi was determined to keep Matte boxed in by his defensive ends, and had the defensive backs play shallow since long passes were out of the question.

However, it was the Colts getting a huge break on the very first play from scrimmage. Green Bay QB Bart Starr passed ten yards to TE Bill Anderson, who was hit hard by Baltimore CB Lenny Lyles and fumbled. Colts LB Don Shinnick picked up the loose ball and ran 25 yards for a touchdown. Along the way, Starr attempted to tackle Shinnick but was hit by Colts safety Jim Welch and suffered bruised ribs. He would not return to the game.


Zeke Bratkowski (pictured at right) replaced Starr at quarterback, and while he was an accomplished backup, the Colts largely stifled the Green Bay offense during the first half. Their 5-1 defense proved highly effective against the tough Packer running game. The closest they came to scoring prior to their last possession of the half was a missed field goal attempt from 47 yards out by Don Chandler.

Meanwhile, the Colts scored again in the last three minutes of the second quarter on a drive that started on their own 25 yard line. Matte completed a crucial screen pass to HB Lenny Moore on third and eight for a first down at the Green Bay 39 and made it to the eight yard line before the Packers held fast. Lou Michaels kicked a 15-yard field goal. While Green Bay managed to get inside the Baltimore one yard line on their ensuing possession, the Colts stopped them short, with FB Jim Taylor fumbling on fourth down. Baltimore went in at halftime with a 10-0 lead.

The Colts, who had played conservatively out of necessity in the first half and had also avoided mistakes, made a big one in the third quarter. Punter Tom Gilburg bobbled a high snap and attempted to run; he was quickly brought down for a loss at the Colts 35 yard line. The Packers took full advantage as Bratkowski threw 33 yards to flanker Carroll Dale, and shortly thereafter HB Paul Hornung burst over on a one-yard touchdown run.

The Colts clung to their 10-7 lead, stopping two Green Bay drives with interceptions by Boyd and strong safety Jerry Logan. Finally, with time running down in the fourth quarter, Green Bay moved the ball downfield and set up for a 22-yard field goal attempt. The angle was not a favorable one, and after the kick sailed high above the left upright, Chandler shook his head in disgust. But the officials signaled that the field goal was good, and the game was tied with 1:58 remaining.

The contest proceeded to “sudden death” overtime. On their second possession, the Colts got the first scoring opportunity, but due to a bad snap the 47-yard field goal attempt by Michaels missed. Bratkowski then drove the Packers downfield, throwing back-to-back 18-yard passes to Anderson and Dale. At 13:39 into overtime, Chandler booted the game-winning 25-yard kick (no controversy this time), and Green Bay won the hard-fought contest, 13-10.

Tom Matte drew plaudits for accomplishing the most that could be expected in his play as the emergency quarterback – he completed 5 of 12 passes for 40 yards, and while he didn’t throw any scoring passes, he also didn’t give up any interceptions. The Colts ran the ball 47 times for 143 yards, with Matte leading the way with 17 carries for 57 yards; FB Jerry Hill also accumulated 57 yards on one less attempt. The five pass completions were made by two players: TE John Mackey, with three receptions for 25 yards, and Lenny Moore with two catches out of the backfield for 15 yards.

Playing in place of the injured Bart Starr, Zeke Bratkowski completed 22 of 39 passes for 248 yards with two picked off. TE Anderson led the receivers with 8 receptions for 78 yards. The Colts held the Packers to 112 yards on 39 carries, a 2.9-yard average for a team that had a 3.4 average during the regular season. Jim Taylor led the club with 60 yards on 23 carries.

The Packers defeated the defending champion Cleveland Browns the next week to win the NFL Championship. The Colts came up empty in the postseason for the second consecutive season, but considering the situation at quarterback, they could hardly be faulted for getting as far as they did. Their consolation was to beat up on Dallas in the Playoff Bowl, 35-3, with Matte tossing two touchdown passes to complete his stint as a quarterback (he played seven more seasons as a halfback).