Experience the remarkable tale of the 1917 Rose Bowl, a watershed moment that forever changed college football’s landscape. Journey back to Tournament Park in Pasadena, where the upstart Oregon Webfoots (they weren’t the Ducks yet!) shocked the football establishment by defeating the mighty University of Pennsylvania Quakers 14-0.
Led by innovative Czech-born coach Hugo Bezdek and their versatile 25-year-old quarterback Shy Huntington, this ragtag group of Pacific Northwest underdogs didn’t just win a game—they shattered the Eastern monopoly on football prestige.
Watch as we unpack how Oregon, who wasn’t even the best team in their conference (and only got the bid because train fare from Eugene was $250 cheaper than from Seattle!), outmaneuvered Penn using their own trick play. Featuring the heroics of Shy Huntington’s three interceptions, the ironic touchdown scored using Penn’s own reverse pass play, and the priceless reactions from Eastern media trying to explain the inexplicable.
From chariot races replacing football after the disastrous 1902 game, to Oregon’s 95-year wait for their next Rose Bowl victory, this is the story of how a single game helped reshape America’s football geography. As quoted in the Los Angeles Times: “Beating the Easterners by that score is getting to be a habit and it is beginning to pall on us. We hope they will send us something real tough next year.”
#CollegeFootball #RoseBowl #FootballHistory #Oregon #CFBHistory #Sports #cfb
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