The 1920 Rose Bowl, known at the time as the Tournament East-West Football Game, was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1920. It was the 6th Rose Bowl Game. The Harvard Crimson defeated the Oregon Webfoots by a score of 7–6. Crimson halfback Edward Casey was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively.[1] It was the first Rose Bowl game following World War I in which college football returned to the Tournament of Roses. The two previous Tournament games had featured teams from the United States armed forces. It established a pattern of inviting teams from the Eastern part of the United States to face teams from the West Coast. This pattern was unbroken until the 1944 Rose Bowl during World War II and then the advent of the Bowl Championship Series game in the 2002 Rose Bowl.
Game summary
Following a field goal by future Oregon Sports Hall of Famer Bill Steers, Harvard scored on a 13-yard run by Fred Church on a drive that was keyed by two catches by future College Football Hall of Famer Eddie Casey. Arnold Horween added the extra point, which would prove critical as Oregon could only manage one more score, a field goal from 128-pound (58 kg) Skeets Manerud. Four other Oregon kicks were blocked or missed, including a fourth-quarter Manerud attempt that just missed.[2]
Scoring
First quarter
No scoring.
Second quarter
- Oregon – Bill Steers 25 yard drop kick
- Harvard – Fred Church 13-yard run (Arnold Horween kick)
- Oregon – Skeet Manerud 30 yard drop kick
Third quarter
No scoring.
Fourth quarter
No scoring.
Aftermath
The 1919 Harvard Crimson football team finished the season without a defeat and only two close calls. The Princeton Tigers had tied the Crimson, and Oregon fell one point short of a tie as well.
References
Bibliography
- Oregon Ducks football media guide
- Harvard Crimson football media guide
- Williams, Harry A. – FOOTBALL TITLE SETTLED TODAY. Harvard and Oregon Elevens are Both Primed for the Greatest Game of the Season; General Betting Gives Crimson Players Distinct Edge. Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1920
- Hayden, Charles F. – GAME'S COLORFUL SETTING. Huge Crowd Turns Out for East vs. West Football Match—Military Touch. Los Angeles Times, January 2, 1920
- Williams, Harry A. – HARVARD WINS BY A POINT. Oregon's Showing a Triumph for Coach Shy Huntington and His Helpers. Los Angeles Times, January 2, 1920
- Lowry, Paul – CHURCH'S DASH BRINGS VICTORY Harvard's Crack Half Back Makes a Great Run; Oregon's Defeat Centered on this Desperate Rush; Northerner's Superior Condition was Apparent. Los Angeles Times, January 2, 1920 'Freddie Church, straddling through a mixed mass of players on a wide end run, snipped off the distance that meant victory for Harvard over Oregon yesterday. The score was 7 to 6. Church's dash was for only to yards, measured straight down the field, but before he had stretched his long limbs to a point directly behind the goal posts he had covered something like 70 yards.
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Pound sign (#) denotes national championship game. |
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