| Year: | 1946 |
| Team: | Willamette Bearcats |
| Sport: | football |
| Conference: | Northwest Conference |
| Short Conf: | NWC |
| Record: | 8–2 |
| Conf Record: | 5–0 |
| Head Coach: | Spec Keene |
| Hc Year: | 16th |
| Captain: | Buddy Reynolds and ?[1] |
| Stadium: | Sweetland Field |
| Champion: | NWC champion |
The 1941 Willamette Bearcats football team was an American football team that represented the Willamette University of Salem, Oregon, as a member of the Northwest Conference during the 1941 college football season. In their 16th season under head coach Spec Keene, the Bearcats compiled an 8–2 record (5–0 against NWC opponents), outscored five conference opponents by a total of 218 to 7, and won the conference championship. Dick Weisgerber, a Willamette alumnus who went on to play for the Green Bay Packers, returned to Willamette as an assistant coach in 1941.[2]
Due to their playing in Honolulu on the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor, they became known as the "Pearl Harbor" team. Four members of the team (Keene, Weisgerber, Ted Ogdahl, and Marvin Goodman) were inducted individually into the Willamette University Athletic Hall of Fame. The team as a whole was inducted in 1997.[3] [4]
Willamette players received 11 of 13 first-team spots on the 1941 All-Northwest Conference football team. Four players were unanimous picks: end Bill Reder; tackle Martin Barstad; guard Tony Fraiola; and back Teddy Ogdahl.[5]
Willamette was ranked at No. 99 (out of 681 teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score System for 1941.[6]
The team played its home games at Sweetland Field in Salem, Oregon.
On the afternoon of December 6, 1941, in the Shrine Football Classic, Willamette lost to Hawaii at Honolulu Stadium. The game drew a crowd of 25,000 persons, the largest paid attendance in Hawaii history to that point.[7] The attendees included Territorial Governor Joseph Poindexter, Honolulu Mayor Lester Petrie, and Lt. Gen. Walter Short, the U.S. commander responsible for the defense of U.S. military installations in Hawaii;[7] the game was preceded by a "spectacle" of marching bands, including performances by the U.S. Marine band and bands from several Hawaiian high schools and colleges.[8]
Early the following morning, the team gathered for a planned sightseeing tour and picnic. The attack on Pearl Harbor interrupted the picnic plan and began the Pacific War. Willamette was also scheduled to play San Jose State on December 16 in Honolulu, but that game was cancelled.[9] In the wake of the attack, it was unclear if a full-scale invasion had begun. Martial law was declared in Honolulu, and the visiting Willamette football players were assigned to support the emergency. They were given World War I rifles, bayonets and helmets, and served for the next 10 days as guards at the Punahou School which was converted into an ammunition depot.[10] [11] [12]
The team returned home on the SS President Coolidge, attending to wounded sailors, finally arriving in San Francisco on Christmas Day.[10] [13] [14]
In 2019, the experiences of the Willamette and San Jose State football teams were documented in the book, "Scrimmage for War: A Story of Pearl Harbor, Football, and World War II".[15]
The conference coaches selected an All-Northwest Conference football team at the end of the 1941 season. Willamette players received 11 of the 13 first-team spots. Willamette's first-team honorees were:
In addition, two other Willamette players were named to the second team: