Sixty years have passed since "the miracle at Phil Brown Field."

On Oct. 24, 1942, Rose Polytechnic Institute sophomore running back Eddie McGovern set the collegiate single game football record by scoring 43 points in a home game against Earlham.

On that autumn day, the former Wiley High School star crossed the goal line six times and kicked seven extra points as Rose won, 69-7.

Eddie's incredible game was not an aberration. As a freshman in 1941, he was the top Indiana collegiate scorer with 103 points during the Engineers' undefeated 7-0 season. On Oct. 31-- the week after his 43-point performance -- McGovern scored 35 points at Franklin with five touchdowns from scrimmage during the Engineers' 60-21 win. That's 78 points in two consecutive games!

Barely three minutes into the Earlham game, the 5-foot-8 McGovern intercepted a pass and skipped 55 yards to the end zone, and added the conversion.

The next time the Engineers had the ball, McGovern raced 33 yards around end to the Earlham 28. Rose Poly's "touchdown twin" Francis Hillenbrand -- cousin of Indiana University All America Billy Hillenbrand -- and fullback Dick Holthaus advanced the ball to the 12. McGovern scored from the three two plays later and, again, converted.

After the ensuing kickoff, Hillenbrand recovered an Earlham fumble on the Rose 47. Three plays later, McGovern exploded for a 32-yard touchdown run and split the goal post uprights for the extra point. Coach Phil Brown retired the starters for the rest of the first half, though McGovern kicked the extra point after teammate Harmon Rose scored.

On the Engineers' first possession of the second half, McGovern scored from 18 yards out after his 38-yard screen pass to Hillenbrand put them in scoring position. Hillenbrand scored on a 58-yard run the next time Rose gained possession. This time, McGovern's conversion attempt was blocked so the score was 41-0.

McGovern plunged for the score from the 1 after a sustained drive, alternating carries with Hillenbrand. His extra point made it 48-0.

While the regulars rested, the Engineers scored on quarterback Red Smith's 35-yard run. Smith also kicked the extra point. A few minutes later, Holthaus broke through the middle for a 30-yard touchdown scamper and McGovern added the extra point.

Late in the game, Coach Brown reinserted the first team after Rose recovered a fumble on the Earlham 35. On the first play, Jiggs Price threw a pass to McGovern for an easy touchdown. Eddie added his seventh conversion of the day.

McGovern scored four touchdowns in each of the Engineers final two games, victories over Hanover on the road and Principia at home, and added nine conversions.

For the season, McGovern had 165 points -- 23 touchdowns and 27 extra points -- in six games (27.5 points per game) to establish a modern collegiate season scoring record.

McGovern's 1942 touchdown total might have been higher. Two games were canceled when opponents dropped football due to World War II. In the first two games of the season -- a 41-7 victory over Evansville and a 14-13 loss to Wabash -- Eddie scored two touchdowns in each game, sharing the offensive limelight with the elusive Hillenbrand.

McGovern's most electrifying run of the season was a 97-yard kickoff return against Wabash. His longest run from scrimmage -- an 80-yard scamper against Hanover -- ended on the 2-yard line when he slipped in the mud and fell.

Not surprisingly, Eddie was selected the 1942 Little College Player of the Year and made several major All America lists. Hillenbrand scored 11 touchdowns and 67 points during the season, enough to lead most teams in scoring.

In 1943, McGovern transferred to the University of Illinois to play football and was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League. In May 1945, Rose Polytechnic presented him with a bachelor of science degree.

Many of McGovern's records have been superseded. In 1958, Rose Poly back Carl "Rocky" Herakovich scored 168 points to lead the nation in scoring and erase Eddie's single season national scoring mark as well as his school record. Herakovich scored 25 touchdowns and 18 extra points in eight games or 21 points a game.

Oklahoma State All America Barry Sanders holds the current NCAA record with 234 points in 11 games, set in 1988. That's 21.3 points per game, far short of McGovern's average.

The NCAA did not begin compiling college football statistics until the 1970s, but relied upon each college to provide data. According to an NCAA spokesman, two statisticians attempted to confirm previous marks, but arbitrarily decided to begin their major college search in 1937. Analysis of small college records -- more difficult to confirm -- began with the 1946 season.

As a result, McGovern's 1942 feats -- though documented in the "Official 1943 NCAA Record Book" -- are omitted from "official" college football history.

All America Jim Brown of Syracuse was the first to tie McGovern's 43-point single game record on Nov. 17, 1956, against Colgate. Junior Wolf of Oklahoma Panhandle scored 48 points in a 1958 game and no one has bettered Wolf's mark, though three have tied it.

McGovern's 27.5 ppg average has not been challenged. Herakovich is second behind Sanders in the official records. James Regan of Pomona-Pitzer College averaged 20.8 ppg (166 points in eight games) in 1997 to rank third.

Enshrined in both the Indiana Football Hall of Fame and the Rose-Hulman Athletic Hall of Fame, McGovern, now 80, resides with his wife, Wiley alumna Marian Davis, in Indianapolis. The McGoverns have raised nine children.