1917 Rose Bowl Explained

Year Game Played:1917
Game Name:Tournament East-West football game
Subheader:3rd Rose Bowl Game
Football Season:1916
Visitor Name Short:Penn
Visitor Nickname:Quakers
Visitor School:Pennsylvania University
Home Name Short:Oregon
Home Nickname:Webfoots
Home School:Oregon University
Visitor Record:7–2–1
Visitor Conference:Independent
Home Record:6–0–1
Home Conference:PCC
Visitor Coach:Bob Folwell
Home Coach:Hugo Bezdek
Visitor 1Q:0
Visitor 2Q:0
Visitor 3Q:0
Visitor 4Q:0
Home 1Q:0
Home 2Q:0
Home 3Q:7
Home 4Q:7
Date Game Played:January 1
Stadium:Tournament Park
City:Pasadena, California
Mvp:John Beckett (Oregon)
Attendance:27,000
Different Previous:1916
Different Next:1918

The 1917 Rose Bowl, known at the time as the Tournament East-West Football Game, was a college football bowl game on Monday, It was the third Rose Bowl Game, and matched the Oregon Webfoots and the Penn Quakers.[1] It was played at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California, a suburb northeast of Los Angeles.

Scoreless at halftime, Oregon scored a touchdown in each of the final two quarters and won 14–0.[2] [3] Oregon team captain John Beckett was named the Player of the Game when the award was created in 1953, with selections made retroactively. This shutout win was Oregon's sole Rose Bowl victory for 95 years, until January 2012; they made appearances in 1920, 1958, 1995, and 2010, and won again in 2015 and 2020. This was Penn's only appearance; other Ivy League teams at the Rose Bowl were Harvard in 1920 and Columbia in 1934, both winners.

Oregon and Washington were both unbeaten in the new Pacific Coast Conference that year, and tied in their head-to-head meeting. Oregon was invited to participate in the Tournament of Roses game prior to their despite the fact that Washington had one more conference win than Oregon, having beaten California twice. On the basis of the extra victory, Washington is credited with having won the conference that year.[4]

Game summary

Oregon was led by the two Huntington brothers, Shy and Hollis.[5] Following a scoreless first half, the Webfoots scored on a 15-yard pass in the 3rd quarter from Shy Huntington to Lloyd Tegert. Oregon scored again in the 4th quarter on a 1-yard run from Shy to lead the Webfoots to a 14–0 upset win.[5] Shy Huntington also had three interceptions in the game. Oregon captain John Beckett was named MVP of the game.[6]

Scoring

Qtr.TeamScoring playScore
3ORETegert 15 yard pass from S. Huntington, S. Huntington kickORE 7–0
4ORES. Huntington 1 yard rush, S. Huntington kickORE 14–0
Source:[7]

Statistics

Team Stats Oregon Pennsylvania
First Downs 8 13
Net Yards Rushing 198 111
Net Yards Passing 32 131
Total Yards 230 242
PC–PA–Int. 2–9–2 12–27–5
Punts-Avg. 16-35.7 10-41.8

Game notes

Attendance was swelled to 25,000 when the Pasadena Tournament of Roses put up temporary grandstand seating.

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: Pennsy eleven vs. Oregon today . Spokesman-Review . (Spokane, Washington) . January 1, 1917 . 12 .
  2. News: Oregon eleven wins, score 14 to 0 . Eugene Daily Guard . (Oregon) . Associated Press . January 1, 1917 . 1.
  3. News: Oregon beats Pennsy in exciting football battle at Pasadena. Deseret News . (Salt Lake city, Utah) . January 2, 1917 . 8.
  4. Web site: 2011 Pac-12 Football Media Guide. 86. October 31, 2011. Pac-12 Conference.
  5. Web site: Rose Bowl 1917. 2009-07-31. RoseBowlHistory.org. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20091022003343/http://www.rosebowlhistory.org/rose-bowl-1917.php. 2009-10-22.
  6. Web site: 1917 Rose Bowl. GoDucks.com. 2009-07-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20090428215457/http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4604&SPID=233&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=30047. 2009-04-28. dead.
  7. Book: MacCambridge . Michael . ESPN College Football Encyclopedia . 2005 . ESPN Books . New York, N.Y. . 1-4013-3703-1 . 1440 .