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 26, 1963 -- Washington at Oregon

Oregon dropped this game 26-19; the less said about a loss to Washington, the better, no matter when it happened.

Program Notes — 

• The early Sixties programs are so bland it’s hard to find anything interesting to say about them. This may be the worst of the bunch. The Ducks had an excellent squad in 1963, with *two* future HOF members in Mel Renfro and Dave Wilcox, decent depth and good overall talent. But other than a two-page game preview, you’d be hard pressed to notice anything unusual or special about the team. The whole program has a kind of high-school feel, starting with yet another generic “R. Vrooman” cover. The photo titled “Webfoot Rally Squad” on page 4 could have come from a National Lampoon High School Yearbook Parody outtake.  
• Cigarette advertising continues to dwindle, although Viceroy is back sponsoring the center spread. And, instead of a traditional exhortation to smoke, RJ Reynolds Tobacco performs a public service by reminding back-cover readers to turn on their car’s lights at night. Oh, and don’t speed. It’s bad for you.

October 15, 1960 – Washington State at Oregon (Homecoming)

click to embiggenThere was a time when Homecoming was a big deal.

For years the Homecoming game was the excuse for alumni to return to campus, festooned in yellow and green finery. They would stay in spare dorm rooms, in their old frat houses, with friends and family and professors. There would be pep rallies all week, campus tours, a Homecoming Queen would be selected (invariably female), a Friday night bonfire torched off after being guarded all week by frat members against unauthorized ignition by OSC interlopers.

By 1960 there were signs that the Homecoming traditions weren’t exactly being passed on with exuberance to the current student body. The student rallies were casually attended. The traditional variety show didn’t feature the usual slapstick. And the featured musical event, a McArthur Court concert by pianist Roger Williams, seemed to have little to do with either football, homecoming or even the University itself. But it was still Homecoming, one of those things that just “was”.

Eventually it all became a little passé, and – like anything else traditional in the Sixties – perceived as “establishment.” One year the Homecoming festivities were pushed back a week to avoid conflicts with Vietnam war protests. The city of Eugene banned open burning, killing off the bonfire tradition.

And for a few years, roughly from 1975 to 1982, there was no official Homecoming activity of any kind. The Greek system did what it could to keep it going, but the general attitude was of a kind with the way the Seventies had gone in general; the football team wasn’t worth coming home for, and the most famous Homecoming parade associated with the campus in that era featured the Deathmobile and was filmed in Cottage Grove.

Still, back in the day, homecoming meant something. For years at Oregon, when the Civil War was scheduled in Corvallis, it meant a late October game against Washington State, a potentially beatable team to please the old grads back in town for the party.  In 1960 Len Casanova’s squad had wins over Idaho, Utah and San Jose State to offset a stinker at Michigan. Because the Ducks were now without conference affiliation, they could be considered for post-season bids, and the schedule was favorable to developing a record impressive enough for the Eastern bowl organizers. Get to seven wins and they’d have a shot at a bowl.

But first they had to eliminate one of those homecoming traditions. The Webfoots hadn’t won a homecoming game since 1955. And the incoming Cougars, after four weeks, were the nation’s #1 passing team, featuring #1 receiver Hugh Campbell. For the first fifty-four, minutes of the game it looked like another loss; QB Dave Grosz had only completed one pass, the Ducks had blown numerous opportunities in WSC territory, and they trailed 12-7. Then, within 42 seconds, everything changed. First Grosz hit end Lew Burnett for a 32 yard touchdown with six minutes left to take the lead 13-12. The PAT was missed, but on the first play after the kickoff, Duck halfback Mike Rose took a 29 yard pick-6 from WSC QB Mel Melin, giving Oregon a 21-12 lead that held to the end of the game.

The 1960 Ducks parlayed later wins at Cal and over Stanford and West Virginia, along with a Civil War tie, into a 7-2-1 record and did get that bowl bid. It wasn’t exactly the dream postseason date, a game in the snow in Philadelphia against Penn State, but it was a bowl, and only the fifth Oregon appearance in postseason play.

Program Notes –

• This issue of Oregon Varsity Review is notably green; not in the current organic sense, but literally printed with green ink, in some kind of a style statement that (fortunately) only lasted one season.
• Curious that the first program advertisement for a color TV is on a monochrome page. The roughly 19” set listed on the inside cover sold for $495 – over $3,600 in current dollars. No remote included.
• There was a time when Advanced Placement was a new concept. That time was around 1960, and a program feature on page 6 touts Oregon’s AP programs. “If a student can complete some of his college work in high school, why ask him to repeat it in college?” (I can think of a few reasons..)
• For once, the center “roster spread” isn’t sponsored by tobacco. Instead it’s the 1961 Studebaker Lark, a sporty convertible, inappropriately festooned in orange, which you apparently had to drive to believe.
• It was the 10^th year at Oregon for Cas and assistant coach Jack Roche, and a feature on page 16 wishes the pair a happy anniversary. Oregon AD Leo Harris: “Cas and Jack.. are fine gentlemen who helped us conduct an honorable athletic program through their fine leadership of the young men who have played here. I am sure we all wish them well in the future.”
• The 1960 “Voice of the Ducks,” John Tasnady of KUGN, contributes #9 in the “A Game To Remember” series, the Halloween 1953 victory over USC in Portland. “With the majority of the fourth quarter left to play, the fans watched in wild amazement as the Ducks, with one of the year’s major upsets in reach, fought to maintain their lead…”
• Only one tobacco ad in the 1960 program, on the back cover, but it’s way out, man. Check out those turntables. The guy on the left is obviously squaresville, with his Sibelius and Beethoven and all those other longhairs. No match for the bohemian vixen at right, in the sunny colored booth, with Dave Brubeck, Count Basie, and Ella, showing off the length of her unlit smoke while batting her eyes behind Buddy Holly glasses. Almost makes me want to fire one up. Not really.