Nov. 1, 1963 - Houston Oiler coach Frank “Pop” Ivy stood on the sidelines and admitted he was in shock. He should have been. He had just witnessed the complete demolition of his team by a club he was supposed to shellack, as the Boston Patriots went on a record scoring spree to win the season’s biggest game, 45-3, in rain-soaked Fenway Park tonight. From early in the first period until the dying seconds, the revivified Patriots, slated for humiliation by the experts, staged their best game for their best crowd and put themselves right back in the AFL championship race. Never before had the Patriots come through in the real big one and, after recent proceedings, there wasn’t much reason to believe they would. But there were 31,185 believers sitting in the rain, and the record crowd was treated to a host of record performances. Twice they were treated to runbacks of interceptions, a 98-yard zoom down the sidelines by safety Bob Suci, who used to play for Houston, and a 79-yard effort by tackle Jim “Pickles” Hunt (left with safety Ron Hall). Never before had Boston converted two pass grabs into scores. For the night, the Boston defense intercepted six Houston passes, another team record. And the 45 points was the largest amount Boston has ever scored and was the worst shellacking Houston ever has taken. The mighty Oilers, supposed to win the division title again, were simply manhandled. Twice interceptions robbed them of sure touchdowns as safety Ross O’Hanley and linebacker Tom Addison stole passes in the end zone. And every march except one lone field goal was thwarted. Ivy admitted he was in shock. He should have been.
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