In a conference room, the board of regents for Yale University tries to decide on what team to play in a charity football game the week before the big Harvard game. Although the University of Texas is chosen, the much smaller Texas State University is mistakenly invited. After two years without a win, Texas State hires a new football coach, Slug Winters, from the East. Slug arrives, but it becomes quickly obvious that his wife Bessie wears the pants and has the brains in the Winters' household. After accepting Yale's invitation, which they assume was offered on account of their new coach, the students rally around the team. Yale, unable to rescind the invitation, sets its publicity man, Sparks, loose, selling the game as the Eastern Goliath versus the Western David. Bessie, learning that the football team is made up of star basketball players, has her husband abandon the standard football running attack for an aerial one, led by star tailback Biff Bentley. The team quickly becomes a huge success, racking up three consecutive wins. At a football rally, Bessie, drunk on a bottle of confiscated gin, accidentally breaks Biff's leg. Desperate for a new tailback, Bessie goes to Fort Smith, Arkansas, to recruit a player, only to learn that he is already at Yale. Bessie drives back with students Chip Carson and Laura Watson, and they stop at a melon patch to discover country boy Amos Dodd tossing melons to his younger sister Sairy. They convince Amos and Sairy to come to Texas State where Amos immediately impresses all with his football prowess. Unfortunately, Amos doesn't impress the academic faction of the school. Chip and his fraternity brothers conspire to have Amos impersonate new student Herbert Van Dyke, a Communist who is serving sixty days in jail for an anarchistic act. With Amos back in place, the team remains undefeated. Campus vamp Sally Saxon gets her claws into Amos, but drops him when she receives a jewelled bracelet from well-to-do Mortimer Higgens. Heartbroken, Amos decides to leave the school, but Bessie comes to the rescue again by having Slug romance Sally, then threaten to name Sally in a divorce suit if she doesn't stay engaged to Amos. The team heads by train for Yale and the big game. After taking a 6-0 lead on Amos' touchdown pass, the Texas offense freezes under blizzard conditions. Late in the fourth quarter, Yale marches down the field and takes the lead 7-6. With time running out, Texas State blocks a Yale punt to set up one final scoring chance. Slug accidentally knocks himself out on the sidelines, putting Bessie in charge. She sends Amos back into the game for the final play. Removing his shoes so he can "feel the earth between his toes," Amos runs through the Yale defense for the winning touchdown. After the game, the Texans parade around the field, as David triumphs once again over Goliath.
