1933 Oregon State Beavers football team
American college football season
| 1933 Oregon State Beavers football | |
|---|---|
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| Conference | Pacific Coast Conference |
| Record | 6–2–2 (2–1–1 PCC) |
| Head coach |
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| Home stadium | Bell Field |
Seasons | |
| Conf | Overall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 11 Stanford ^ + | 4 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 8 Oregon + | 4 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 6 USC | 4 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 1 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 2 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 6 | – | 2 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington State | 3 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 2 | – | 2 | – | 2 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCLA | 1 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 6 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho | 1 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana | 0 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1933 Oregon State Beavers football team represented Oregon State College in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) during the 1933 college football season. This was the 39th year in school history during which intercollegiate football was played. The team played its home games at Bell Field in Corvallis, Oregon and Multnomah Stadium in Portland.
In their first season under head coach Lonnie Stiner, the Beavers compiled a 6–2–2 record (2–1–1 against PCC opponents), good for fourth place in the PCC. Oregon State outscored their opponents, 88 to 48 during the year.[1]
The 1933 Beaver football team is remembered in Oregon sports lore as "The Iron Men", for having battled the undefeated USC Trojans to a 0–0 tie using a squad of just 11 men playing the entire duration of the game.
Background
General rules
The 1933 NCAA football season was played with rules allowing only limited substitution — the one-platoon system. A player removed from the game could not return for the duration of the quarter in which he was removed.[2] Players consequently played "both ways," alternating on offense and defense until removed due to exhaustion or injury.
Tight budget, new coach
On January 10, 1933, Paul J. Schissler resigned as Oregon State's head football coach.[3] The roots of the separation were financial rather than performance-related, with chairman of the Oregon State College board of control Harry Rodgers declaring that the school's tenuous financial situation would not permit payment of the annual salary scheduled to be drawn by Coach Schissler.[3]
With the Great Depression negatively impacting college revenues, uniform wage cuts had been ordered by the state board of higher education for all its employees.[3] The 40-year old Schissler had balked at the demand, instead sending the board a copy of the five-year contract he signed in November 1931 calling for payment of a salary of $8,000 a year.[3] When it became clear in conference with the chancellor that the board did not intend to honor this contract, Schissler submitted his resignation, effective June 30, 1933, with the board granting him an immediate paid leave of absence until that date.[3] The board announced no further salary settlement would be made.[3]
Speculation immediately focused on the possible promotion of 30-year-old line coach Lonnie Stiner from Schissler's current staff at lesser salary.[3] Formerly a player at Nebraska and assistant coach at University of Colorado, Stiner had been working as an assistant football coach at Oregon State since 1928.[4] Petitions signed by players circulated on campus in favor of the hiring of Stiner as coach and he was placed in charge of running the team's spring practice.[5] His hiring was formally approved on April 30, 1933, at a salary of $5,500 — discounted to $4,415 due to mandatory cuts.[5]
United Press sportswriter Ben E. Titus, making his way up and down the Pacific coast in anticipation of the 1933 season, predicted that there would be a distinct change of coaching style at OSC under the tutelage of the former star Cornhusker lineman:
"It is quite likely Oregon State will play quite a different game under Stiner," Titus wrote. "Schissler used numerous substitutes. It is said of him that he 'jerked' men so quickly for errors in judgment that he continually had his team so on edge that the men never had self-confidence, always expecting to be taken out for the slightest mistakes. Stiner has indicated he will teach his players the game of football, but will allow them to do the playing."[6]
Frank Gorrie of the Associated Press, making a similar preseason West coast tour, quoted Stiner as saying, "We will make our drive with plain, old-fashioned plays, putting aside all the fancy stuff."[7] Stiner felt confident in the quality of his starters, he indicated to Gorrie, regarding as his greatest challenge "finding capable reserves for each position."[7] To this end, it was observed that Oregon State would be fielding a lighter weight team — more capable of enduring long stretches of game play — in 1933.[7]
New lineup
Oregon State lost 12 varsity lettermen after the 1932 season but returned 19 for the 1933 squad.[8] Critical losses included left halfback Harold Moe, who would play in 1933 for the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL), tackle Curly Miller, and end Keith Davis.[8] Stepping into the void at left halfback, traditionally the primary ball-carrier of the Oregon State offense, was to be Norman "Red" Franklin, dubbed by one preseason expert as the "red-headed riot from Long Beach".[8] Franklin had been timed running a blistering 9.9 seconds in the 100-yard dash and was regarded as a "triple threat" out of the single-wing formation — a runner, passer, and receiver.[8]
Returning stars included a pair of tough tackles who would eventually play in the NFL — 205-pound senior "Tar" Schwammel and Hawaiian-born junior Harry Field, a 225-pounder called "meaner than a sick tiger".[8] Hal Pangle, a halfback on the 1932 squad, was to be moved to quarterback, primarily a blocking position under the single-wing.[8] Another Hawaiian, Pierre Bowman, was to take the reins at starting right halfback.[8]
A total of 50 OSC men turned out for the football team in September 1933, with only one qualified letterman from 1932 deciding to quit the game — left guard Tom Miles.[9] The aspirants were turned into perspirants by coach Stiner and his assistants, put through the paces of two-a-day practices in preparation for the Beavers' season openers, back-to-back games against Southern Oregon Normal School from Ashland and Willamette University of Salem.[9]
Weekly action
Week 1: (1) Southern Oregon Normal School; (2) Willamette University
A split-squad doubleheader pitting OSC against lesser teams from Southern Oregon Normal School — today's Southern Oregon University — and Willamette University was scheduled as the Orangemen's tune-up for the 1933 season. In his head coaching debut, Stiner planned to use two more or less evenly-balanced OSC squads — an "A" squad, with a starting eleven that included 8 returning lettermen, against Southern Oregon Normal, and a "B" squad including 6 returning lettermen against Willamette later in the afternoon.[10] But The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley,[11] and following a first half during which only a safety was scored against Southern Oregon Normal,[12] Stiner found himself inserting players whom he had planned to hold for game two.[13]
The first game was played evenly through three quarters, Southern Oregon Normal proving a surprisingly tough opponent. "They were, big, fast, and knew their football," a reporter for the Corvallis Gazette-Times observed.[14] The 2–0 halftime score stood until the fourth quarter, when the tandem of speedy "Red" Franklin and powerful Hal Joslin finally cracked the wilting SONS defense.[12] Three quick touchdowns were scored, even with a 78-yard run to the end zone by Franklin wiped off the scoreboard by penalty.[12]
In game two it was much the same, with Willamette matching OSC blow-for-blow through three scoreless quarters before coach Stiner was once more forced to put his thumb on the scale, bringing in players he had planned to sit who had already played in the opening tilt.[13] Both games finished with identical scores of 21–0, but Oregon State's thin roster had been placed on public display, with the Beavers unable to dispatch either small school without essentially making use of its full squad.[13]
In the second game, against the Willamette Bearcats, Oregon State had been stymied by a ferocious defense, failing to penetrate the ball beyond the Willamette 17-yard line.[13] Tied 0–0 after three, coach Stiner made a wholesale substitution, with the fresh players overwhelming the tiring Bearcats and finishing a short drive with alternating runs by left half "Red" Franklin and fullback Hal Joslin, who scored.[13] On their next drive the Beavers took to the air, setting up quarterback Harold Pangle for a rushing touchdown.[13] A final touchdown was added with five minutes on the clock on a broken passing play during which the speedy Franklin tucked the ball and made a scrambling dash through traffic from midfield to score standing up.[12]
Week 2: University of Montana Grizzlies
Bell Field in Corvallis would be the location of the 1933 Pacific Coast Conference opener for the Oregon State Beavers. With a special "ladies free" promotion in effect, a healthy crowd estimated at 5,000 assembled — reckoned the largest early season gathering to watch OSC football in years.[15]
The Beavers opened the scoring early in the second period, driving the ball with a mixture of runs and passes to the Montana 33 yard line.[15] Left halfback Red Franklin hit quarterback Hal Pangle at the 20-yard line and pangle did the rest, weaving his way through four Grizzlies to score standing up.[15]
Soon after, Franklin nearly scored on a 70-yard punt return, but for the second time in the season the long run was called back by penalty when the Orangemen were flagged for offsides when rushing the punter.[15] The Grizzlies nearly knotted the score when they intercepted an OSC pass deep in the Beavers' end of the field, but on the next play Montana threw and errant pass of their own, which was returned 86 yards by defensive halfback Pierre Bowman to the house.[15] The point after kick was missed and OSC took a 13–0 lead to the locker room at intermission.[15]
After a scoreless third quarter, the home team added a final touchdown when the Beavers marched 69 yards down the field, keyed by a Hal Pangle run up the middle for 20 yards.[15] Pangle finished with a quarterback sneak, adding the point-after for good measure, for a 20–0 Oregon State victory.[15] The Grizzlies managed to control the ball inside the Beavers' 25-yard line three times on the day, but had come away empty, turning the ball over on downs each time.[16]
"The work of Franklin in running and passing, of Joslin in plunging the line, and of Pangle in pass receiving and carrying the ball gave warning that Stiner has a backfield combination to be reckoned with," one observer opined.[15]
The Beavers were 4-for-10 passing for 78 yards in the game, with 143 yards gained rushing, while Montana was 7-for-18 for 86 yards via air, adding just 55 yards on the ground against a tough OSC defensive line.[16]
Week 3: Gonzaga Bulldogs
Although they last fielded a team in 1941, Gonzaga University, a small private school located in Spokane, Washington, was historically one of the oldest collegiate football programs on the Pacific coast, dating their first organized game to 1892. The Bulldogs and Beavers crossed paths on the gridiron infrequently, first playing in 1919, but had met four more times after that initial encounter,[17] including a 1932 contest that the Beavers had managed to win with a touchdown in the last minute of play to eke out a 19–16 victory.[18]
A dry field awaited in Portland at Multnomah Stadium for head coach Lonnie Stiner and OSC,[18] with observers regarding the Orangemen as a pre-game favorite by at least a touchdown.[19]
The game was thoroughly dominated by OSC, with Gonzaga only able to cross the midfield stripe twice during the entire contest and neve inside the 30.[20] Oregon State, on the other hand, moved the ball well, only to fumble it away at critical junctures.[20] Twice in the first half the Beavers penetrated the Gonzaga 10-yard line only to up empty — once due to fumble at the goal line by reserve fullback Arnold Heikenen and once turning over the ball on downs at the 8.[20]
The stout Gonzaga defense again held twice inside the 10-yard line in the second half, turning back one effort on downs at the 1-yard line and again when the Beavers controlled the football first-and-goal from the 3.[20] With less than a minute to play, OSC returned a punt to the Gonzaga 35-yard line and quickly moved the ball down to the Gonzaga 4.[20] A potential game-winning kick from chip-shot distance was wide of the goalposts, however, and Gonzaga escaped with a moral victory in a 0–0 tie.[20]
Week 4: University of San Francisco Dons
Before no more than 3,000 fans,[21] likely the smallest crowd of the season, the Oregon State Beavers took on the University of San Francisco Dons at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. USF, playing football as an independent, had a 2–6 record the previous year and were coming off two straight losses to open up their 1933 campaign.
Oregon State escaped with a 12–6, with their red-haired, left-handed halfback Norman "Red" Franklin again emerging as the game's star, both as a runner and passer.[22] Franklin made his mark instantly when he took the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.[22] OSC elected to run a play to add the extra point, but the halfback pass by Franklin fell incomplete, and the 6–0 score held until halftime.[22]
In the third quarter USF took the lead when then blocked a Beaver kick on the OSC 28-yard line and subsequently used multiple runs by reserve fullback Orville Condray to drive into the end zone.[22] The critical extra-point was made and the Dons led 7–6. Midway through the final quarter, with the ball on the USF 32, Franklin took the shotgun snap and took a deep drop and threw the ball deep.[23]
An Associated Press reporter described the scene: "Franklin whipped the ball goalward. It was high and traveling slow, apparently covered by the locals' defense. Harold Pangle, quarterback, leaped into the air, snatching the ball from the outstretched arms of two opponents and when he came to earth his cleats carved their mark in scoring turf.[23]
Pangle's catch provided the winning points in what would be the 12–7 final score.[22]
Week 5: USC Trojans ("Iron Men Game")
The University of Southern California Trojans were the greatest powerhouse in college football going into the 1933 season. The Trojans were consensus college football national champions in both the 1931 and 1932 seasons, and had won an astounding 20 consecutive games, including both the 1931 and 1932 Rose Bowl Games. Illustrated Football Annual, the dominant national preseason prognostication magazine of the day, noted that USC had lost only two All-American tackles and an end from its unbeated 1932 team and asked the question with a two-page layout: "Who'll Stop the Trojans?"[8]
Moreover, through the first five games of 1933, USC had only continued to exert its dominance, running its unbeaten-and-untied streak to 25 with four dominant shutouts and a 14–7 win over California independent football powerhouse St. Mary's. The thin and undermanned Beaver team made their way by train to Portland to take on the Southern California juggernaut at Memorial Stadium.
It was a game for the ages for the home team. A reporter for the Associate Press described the scene:
- "A battling, bruising brood of Beavers from Oregon State College gnawed and whittled at the mighty wooden horse of Troy here today, and out tumbled the Trojans of Southern California to submit to a nothing to nothing tie.... A shouting and breathless crowd of 20,000 saw the Beavers turn back the best the Trojans could offer, and saw them achieve it, phenomenally, without making a single substitution. The eleven Orangemen to start were the eleven Orangemen to finish, each with sixty full minutes of play to his credit."[24]
Season highlights
Based on the performance of the starting eleven against mighty USC, the 1933 Oregon State football team is remembered to posterity collectively as "The Iron Men."[25]
Lon Stiner would remain the head football coach at Oregon State through the 1948 season, compiling a lifetime record of 74–49–17.
Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 23 | Southern Oregon Normal* |
| W 21–0 | "A large crowd..." | [14] |
| (second game) | Willamette* |
| W 21–0 | (see above) | (see above) |
| September 30 | Montana |
| W 20–0 | 5,000 | [15] |
| October 7 | Gonzaga* | T 0–0 | 20,000 | [26] | |
| October 14 | at San Francisco* | W 12–7 | 3,000 | [22][27] | |
| October 21 | USC |
| T 0–0 | 21,000 | |
| October 28 | Washington State |
| W 2–0 | 10,000 | |
| November 11 | vs. Oregon |
| L 3–13 | 32,183 | |
| November 18 | at Fordham* | W 9–6 | 40,000 | ||
| November 30 | at Nebraska* |
| L 0–22 | 23,092 | [28] |
| |||||
Roster
| Quarterbacks
| Ends
| Guards
|
- The eleven "Iron Men" who played USC marked with *
- Eventual NFL player marked with †
- Sources: Official Program: Oregon State vs. San Francisco, p. 12. Roger Treat, Official NFL Football Encyclopedia (1952), passim.
See also
References
- ^ "1933 Oregon State Beavers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
- ^ Official Foot Ball Rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, 1934, in W.R. Okeson (ed.), National Collegiate Athletic Association: Official Foot Ball Rules and Official Intercollegiate Foot Ball Guide, 1934. New York: American Sports Publishing Co., 1934. Rule 5, section 2, p. 18.
- ^ a b c d e f g "One of Oregon State Assistant Coaches May Be Promoted: No 'Big Name' To Be Sought," Oregon Statesman, Jan. 11, 1933, p. 8.
- ^ "New Oregon State Coach," Medford Mail Tribune, May 3, 1933, p. 3.
- ^ a b "Lonnie Stiner Popular Choice: Local Line Coach Heads College Gridiron Program for Coming Season," Corvallis Gazette-Times, May 1, 1933, pp. 1, 8.
- ^ Ben E. Titus, "Stiner Faces Difficult Task at Oregon State," Eugene Guard, Sept. 10, 1933, p. 10.
- ^ a b c Frank G. Gorrie, "Lon Stiner Abandons Frills for Old-Fashioned Football," Klamath Falls Evening Herald, Sept. 22, 1933, p. 2.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Braven L. Dyer, "'Who'll Stop the Trojans?'" Illustrated Football Annual, 1933. New York: Fiction House, 1933, pp. 66–67; 74–75.
- ^ a b "Stiner Pleased with Attitude of Candidates," Salem Capital Journal, Sept. 19, 1933, p. 3.
- ^ Associated Press, "Football Season in Debut Today," Klamath Falls Evening Herald, Sept. 23, 1933, p. 1.
- ^ Robert Burns, "To a Mouse," (1785).
- ^ a b c d Associated Press, "Orangemen Gain Victories over Bearcats, SONS," Eugene Guard, Sept. 24, 1933, p. 10.
- ^ a b c d e f Ralph Curtis, "Bearcats Outplay Staters Three Periods, Lose 21–0: Reserves Gain OSC Victory," Salem Statesman-Journal, Sept. 24, 1933, p. 8.
- ^ a b "Orange Team Has Big Opposition in Two Games," Corvallis Gazette-Times, Sept. 25, 1933, p. 1.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Associated Press, "Grizzlies Beaten, 20 to 0, by Oregon State College: Montana Loser in First Conference Gridiron Struggle," The Missoulan, Oct. 1, 1933, p. 7.
- ^ a b United Press, "Coach Lon Stiner's Beavers Open Conference Season Against Montana," San Bernardino County Sun, Oct. 1, 1933, p. 14.
- ^ Steve Fenk and Jason Amberg (eds.), Oregon State Football 2016. (media guide) Salem, OR: Oregon State University Athletic Department, 2016; pp. 152-153.
- ^ a b United Press, "Oregon Staters Set for Gonzaga," Napa Journal, Oct. 7, 1933, p. 5.
- ^ "Bulldogs Happy Over OSC Game," Spokane Chronicle, Oct. 9, 1933, p. 12.
- ^ a b c d e f Associated Press, "Gonzaga Bulldogs Hold Orange To Scoreless Tie At Portland Saturday," Eugene Guard, Oct. 8, 1933, p. 10.
- ^ The reporter for the Associated Press estimated the "slim turnout" at "some 2,000." See: Associated Press, "Franklin is Star of OSC Victory," The Daily Olympian, Oct. 15, 1933, p. 6.
- ^ a b c d e f Herbert Lundy, "Oregon State Defeats USF: Franklin, Backfield Star Runs Wild to Give States 12–7 Win, Small Attendance," San Bernardino County Sun, Oct. 15, 1933, p. 15.
- ^ a b Associated Press, "Franklin is Star of OSC Victory," The Daily Olympian, Oct. 15, 1933, p. 6.
- ^ William A. Warren, "Oregon State Holds Trojans to 0–0 Tie: Beavers Play Entire Game with 11 Men," Santa Barbara Morning Press, Oct. 22, 1933, p. 11.
- ^ See, for example, the obituary for Red Franklin, who died of a heart attack in 1947: United Press, "'Red' Franklin, Famed OSC Grid Star, Dies at Lebanon," Albany Democrat-Herald, May 17, 1947, p. 8.
- ^ "Gonzaga Bulldogs Hold Orange To Scoreless Tie At Portland Saturday". The Eugene Register-Guard. October 8, 1933. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dons Felled by Beavers, 14-7". The Oregon Statesman. October 15, 1933. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ McBride, Gregg (November 6, 1934). "Saturday Turnout is Likely Top Previous Mark at Nebraska U." The Lincoln Star. Lincoln, Nebraska. p. 8. Retrieved March 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
