November 3, 1928 – Oregon at California

“The state of California is well represented on the University of Oregon football team which plays the Golden Bears today. Six of the forty men on the squad are registered from the Golden State.”

Johnny KitzmillerYes, there was a time when six of 40 would be considered solid representation from California. That time was the Roaring Twenties, from whence this program has survived. The oldest entry in the Program Project (so far) dates from midseason of 1928, when John J. “Cap” McEwan’s squad was on the way to the best record in school history, but came up empty at Berkeley.

The Cal game was, then as now, a serious test and a crucial conference matchup. Oregon, at 4-1 with only a loss to powerful Stanford, was seen as a team with an outside shot at a Rose Bowl bid. But the Bears had superior talent at ends, their backfield was a match for Oregon despite the presence of All-Conference QB Johnny Kitzmiller, and ultimately the massive linemen of the Ducks bogged down in the quagmire of Memorial Stadium’s muddy turf. Oregon never got close to the Cal goal, despite some cunning attempts (below) and lost 13-0.

John J. “Cap” McEwanUltimately, the Oregon loss was but one in a string of six consecutive shutouts amid a thirteen year winless streak against Cal. As for the Bears, they had everything arranged in their favor – an absurdly biased schedule with eight of nine games at home helped – and the season ultimately came down to the Big Game; that 13-13 tie put Cal in Pasadena for New Year’s Day, where they lost to Georgia Tech 8-7.

Oregon didn’t lose another game, including two holiday contests in Honolulu against the University of Hawaii and a team of island all-stars, and finished the season 9-2.

Program Notes:

• No Oregon team had won nine games in a season before 1928; the feat would be repeated in 1933 and 1948, and not again until 1994.
• Johnny Kitzmiller, the “Flying Dutchman”, was the star of Cap’s charges. The native of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania had originally planned to matriculate at West Point, but when McEwan bolted the Black Knights for points west in 1926, Kitzmiller changed his plans and followed a year later. Kitzmiller later followed his coach into the College Football Hall of Fame; McEwan was inducted in 1962, for his play as a lineman at Army, and Kitzmiller in 1969.

Berkeley Daily Gazette pregame notes:
“Last year the Webfooters were a doormat for the entire conference but … McEwan had his teeth pulled this year and since that time his team has begun to look like the old Oregon machines that put fear into the hearts of all opponents … If McEwan is wise he will have a leg amputated or his tonsils cut out before the California game tomorrow, if having his teeth pulled could improve the Webfooters so much.. If [Cal coach] Price knows his stuff … he will keep watch on all the hospitals tonight and find out whether or not McEwan is going to have another operation.”

Berkeley Daily Gazette postgame report:
“The stands got quite a thrill in the fourth quarter when an Oregon end tried to get away with the ancient dead man play. The ball was on the east edge of the field and the Webfoot wingman sneaked over to the opposite side and stretched out on the ground. His jersey was muddy and California didn’t see him. For some unknown reason Oregon delayed in calling signals while 30,000 fans signaled, called and prayed for the Bears to wake up and find him. They finally did and McEwan, Oregon’s coach, ruined a perfectly good hat by throwing it forcibly down on the muddy stadium field.”

• Note the photograph of Cap McEwan on page 4, with the cowlick. Up until around 1930 it was not unusual for coaches — especially coaches who had played the game — to wear the uniforms of their teams during practice, in case they’d have to demonstrate playing technique on the field. The practice apparently didn’t extend to game day, however, when coaches of the era would don suits, topcoats and fedoras. Personally, I’d like to see Chip Kelly wearing an Oregon uniform sometime.
• The “Penalties” page reveals more oddities of the era. See #14: “Feint to snap ball… 5 yards.” So, an attempt to draw the defense offsides was considered a violation?
• Only one sponsor in this Cal-published program, on the back cover; brought to you by the then-ubiquitous Richfield Oil Company of California.
• Program is on the small side, 9” x 5.5”.

October 15, 1955 – California at Oregon

By 1955, Len Casanova should have had the Ducks going his way. Coming off the team’s first winning season since 1948, Oregon had a solid roster of athletes, but a daunting schedule – opening with road contests at Utah and USC has never been easy – and an unusual degree of attrition, with just 36 players on the roster for the opening game, led to more uncertainty than any coach could handle comfortably.

But Cas liked the intelligence of the players he had. And there was some high football IQ on the ‘55 team:

• Guard Reanous Cochran would go on to coach at Thurston High in Springfield for decades.
• Halfbacks Dick James and Jack Morris both starred in NFL backfields, with Washington and the Rams respectively.
• Center Norm Chapman coached at Springfield High and was an assistant at Oregon under Jerry Frei.
• End Bill Tarrow was hired by Rich Brooks as an assistant coach and stayed for 20 years.
• John Robinson won a national championship at USC.
• Tackle “Captain” Lon Stiner’s father had coached at Oregon State for 14 years and won a Rose Bowl.
• Spike Hillstrom was a longtime assistant coach at Air Force (and interviewed for the Oregon job after Frei resigned).
• Guard Harry Mondale coached for years at Phoenix High in southern Oregon.
• And of the assistant coaches, John McKay would go on to some success.

So, there were three future members of the College Football Hall of Fame on Oregon’s sideline in 1955. None of this future football career trivia meant a lot in the autumn of 1955, of course, and by the middle of October, Cas was frustrated enough to call off a “Cal week” practice early, because the players showed little interest in concentrating on the task at hand. But by game time the players had pulled it together, and under the lights at Multnomah Stadium – California’s first night game ever – the Ducks beat Pappy Waldorf’s Bears soundly, 21-0. The team that couldn’t make it through a full practice held Cal to 145 yards.

In Berkeley, students with a short memory – they’d been to three straight Rose Bowls recently – hung Coach Waldorf in effigy. His administration gave him a vote of confidence, but his teams would win just four more games through 1956, when he finally retired.

Oregon’s victory stopped a three-game losing streak. The Webfoots would go on to win five of their last six games, including a 28-0 stomping of Oregon State in the Civil War.

Program Notes:

• Another nice Howard Brodie cover; this one takes the same concept of the Gillies 1945 OSC cover, only here the player is autographing a program for a boy, and the program has on its cover an image of a player autographing a program for a boy, etc.
• Page 5 has the requisite opponent’s outlook, usually provided by the other team’s athletic department, but this year it’s uncredited, merely titled “The Bears are coming”. But there is some classic filler included. The Bears “played a thrilling 20-20 standoff with the Washington State Cougars. Thus, while the Californians have yet to taste the fruits of a PCC victory, they also have not met defeat in league competition.”
• Also without a byline is an odd piece on the inside cover, concerning the importance of the alumni to the University. “No man was placed on earth to be a pure parasite…” OK.
• As usual, the only color outside the cover is cigarette advertising, including the center roster spread (“Only Chesterfield is made the Modern way – with AccuRay”, whatever that meant). But there’s a great DeSoto ad on page 6 (“the only car in its price class with the exciting Forward Look.. the newest idea in automotive styling… giving DeSoto its lithe look of power and motion even when standing still.” Uhh, yeah.)
• The last player photo included for Cal is of one Remo Jacuzzi. Yes, he’s from that Jacuzzi family, who invented what we now know as the hot tub. Remo was president of Jacuzzi for a while and now is president of spa manufacturer Jason International. “Jason” is a portmanteau of “Jacuzzi” and “son”.. clever, eh?
• A tribute to the NCAA, on the occasion of the association’s 50^th anniversary, includes a photo montage of head shots of the Tall Firs, Oregon’s 1939 national champion basketball squad. Laddie Gale bears a resemblance to John Travolta, Bob Hardy and Christian Slater could have been separated at birth, and the part of Slim Wintermute was played by Al Pacino.