USD Football 1994

125TH ANNIVERSARY

I I Champs for All Time continued But under George Woodruff, who had played at Yale with Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pudge Heffelfinger, and Pa Corbin, Penn won 55 of 56 games from I 894-97, and added IO more in 1898 before losing again. Woodruff's 1897 squad, featuring his dreaded "guards back" mass momentum formation, placed three men on the All-America teams, including tackle John Outland and T. Truxton Hare, an irre- pressible guard who was one of the few men to be named All-American four times.

in a postseason game hosted by Pasadena's Tournament of Roses committee, the first unofficial Rose Bowl game. In 1908, Gil Dobie, a dour young man who had played at the University of Minnesota and coached a pair of undefeated teams at North Dakota in 1906 and 1907, took over the reins at the University of Washington. He immedi- ately established a football power and compiled a record that likely will never be equaled any- where. Under Dobie, Washington put together one of the most remarkable winning streaks in college football history. In his nine years at the school, Washington was undefeated, with 58 wins and three ties in 61 games. Counting his two perfect seasons at North Dakota, that made it 11 consecutive unbeaten seasons. Dobie's 1908Huskies squad was probably the best of the nine, featuring the top collection of individual talent in Washington history during that era, including quarterback Billy Coyle and halfbacksWalter WandandMelvinMucklestone. Any number of Harvard squads during the Crimson's first 40 years of play could have staked a claim as the best Crimson club, but one could make a case for the 1914 squad. Although it was held to a tie twice- by Brown and Penn State-the Crimson whitewashed Princeton 20-0 and crushed arch rival Yale 36- 0 in the dedication game of the brand new Yale Bowl in New Haven- the worst defeat ever of their fierce rival to that time. Yale only threatened Harvard's goal once, and on that occasion a back fumbled and Harvard's Jeff Coolidge scooped up the ball and ran 96 yards for a touchdown. The next day the papers proclaimed the triumphant Crimson as "theper- fect machine" and as "Harvard's greatest 11." Percy Haughton's club was chock full of All-Americans, including brilliant halfback Eddie Mahan, tackle Walter Trumbull, guard Stan Pennock, end Tack Hardwick, and half- back Fred Bradlee. He deployed a new type of offense, with its deception, faking, and clever ball handling. He also devised a five-man line to thwart the lateral passing attack of Yale Coach Frank Hinkey's team. That same year, halfway across the country, there was another team from the Big Ten wor- thy of inclusion in any all-time great listing. Bob Zupke coached at Illinois for 29 years and never in that time had one scholarship player. Many seasons he had no qualified prospects for quarterback or center, and had to convert halfbacks or linemen. He seldom had a fullback worthy of the name. Zupke usually fielded Lilliputian clubs, which seemingly was his preference. A sports- writer dubbed one of his teams "the flea circus." He liked big men only if they were fast too. "When you get a good little man, he would say, "he is almost sure to be a star, because he must have a spirit that never surrenders. 11 Zupke's teams were fast, alert, aggressive, continued

The Ivy influence on college football around the turn of the century could be seen all over the country, but eventually some new blood- lines formed. Although the Ivies and a few other eastern powers continued to dominate the All-America listings, new powers began to rise in the midwest, and beyond. When Fielding (Hurry Up) Yost arrived in Ann Arbor in 1901 to coach the University of Michigan, his resume already included stops at Ohio Wesleyan, Nebraska, Kansas, and Stan- ford. In his very first year he developed one of the fabulous teams of all time, the first of the immortal 11 point-a-minute 11 teams. Yost coached at Michigan for 25 years, and firmly established theWolverines as one of col- lege football's penthouse programs. He devel- oped a new play-"Old 83"-that was the early forerunner of today's option and which became the most famous of its day. Under Yost, Michi- gan's teams were rarely outsmarted and never outspirited. His first five teams from 1901-1905 were 55-1-1. In the opinion of All-America half- back Willie Heston, who played on the 1901-04 clubs, the 1901 contingent, which was both undefeated and unscored-upon, was the best. The Wolverines that year rolled to 10 straight victories, outscoring the opposition 550-0. During Michigan's 120-0 slaughter of Buffalo, a Buffalo substitute staggered to the Michigan bench. "Son," Yost pointed out, "you're on the wrong side." "Oh, no, I aint," the boy said, and sat down. Michigan went on to crush Stanford, 49-0,

Six of the best from the 1914 Harvard Crim- son-"The Perfect Machine." From left to right: Stan Pennock Fred Bradlee ' Mal Logan, Charlie Brickley, Tack Hardwick

and Wally Trumbull.