8:45
Some of them emulated professional tramps , and `` rode the beams , '' but most of them started out walking , trusting that kind-hearted motorists would pick them up and carry them at least part way to their destination . Although the distances were sometimes great , and although many motorists are not kind , there is no record of any man who ever started for a game not arriving in time for the referee 's first whistle . Somehow , by hook or by crook -- and it was often by crook -- the boys got there , and , what is more astonishing , they got back . On Monday morning at 8:45 they were in chapel , usually worn and tired , it is true , ready to bluff their way through the day 's assignments , and damning any instructor who was heartless enough to give them a quiz . Some of them were worn out from really harsh traveling experiences ; some of them had more exciting adventures to relate behind closed doors to selected groups of confidants . Football ! Nothing else mattered .