Hawaii Football Throwbacks: Oregon State

Much was different the first time Hawaii encountered today’s opponent, Oregon State, in football nearly a century ago.

In this week’s edition of “UH Football Throwbacks,” World War I was five years removed. The iconic Central Union Church was brand new. The first aerial photograph of Mauna Loa was just taken.

On the pigskin side of things, Hawaii’s nickname was the Fighting Deans, not the Rainbow Warriors. And Oregon State was not yet known as Oregon State, although they were still known as the Beavers in addition to another nickname.

When the Oregon Agricultural College Aggies showed up on New Years Day, 1924, to cap the 1923 season, it was just the fourth time UH hosted a collegiate opponent in football.

Hawaii was considered a heavy underdog to the Aggies in front of about 8,000 people at Moiliili Field — the precursor site for games to the Old Honolulu Stadium, which opened in 1926. The Fighting Deans were outweighed “15 pounds to a man” wrote the Honolulu Star-Bulletin’s Mike Jay.

UH won, 7-0, its first victory over a school that now plays in the FBS.

“The defeat of a Pacific Coast Conference team by the University of Hawaii is bound to have a far-reaching effect. It will make the Pacific coast colleges sit up and take notice. The Aggies want to come back and it is certain that within the next three years they will probably be asked to play here again.”

Well, they wouldn’t come back until New Years Day in 1940, when the Beavers won 39-6.

But UH earned this one. It was a punt-fest most of the day in Moiliili as the teams battled each other to a standstill.

Wrote Jay: “The way in which the University line held the opposition was one of the most surprising things about the game. The line played like it has never played before.”

Later in the story, Jay wrote of lineman Allister Forbes, “He played until he was knocked cold yesterday and then like a real gridiron gladiator insisted after receiving medical attention on being taken out of the dressing room to the field where he could watch. And it must have gladdened his heart above all his bodily pain to see his teammates smash through to glorious victory.”

Eddie Fernandez’ 20-yard punt return in the fourth paved the way for Lionel “Dusky” Brash’s game-winning touchdown from 3 yards. Brash carried the ball seven straight times from the Beavers 16 and finally punched it in. Earlier, Brash had a 63-yard punt return to get UH up to the 12, but UH could not convert then.

Fernandez also had a couple of interceptions, including one late, as the Hawaii secondary shut down the Beavers’ passing game.

Oregon College did not advance into UH territory until the fourth quarter. They got as close as the UH 12 but a fourth-down pass sailed long.

“The best team won,” said Beavers coach and athletic director R.B. “Dick” Rutherford. Oregon College finished 4-5-2 and Rutherford resigned that month.

Otto Klum’s Deans completed an unbeaten season at home in their fourth of his 19 seasons as coach; their only loss was 14-7 at Cal Poly-Pomona in Pasadena, Calif., on Thanksgiving. Pomona and Oregon College were UH’s only collegiate competition that year; the rest were military squads and a couple of meetings with “Town Team.”

UH finished 5-1-2 overall before going 8-0 the following year, capped with a 13-0 win over Colorado.

Here are PDFs of the two Oahu daily newspapers the day after UH and OSU met up.

The_Honolulu_Advertiser_Wed__Jan_2__1924_
Honolulu_Star_Bulletin_Wed__Jan_2__1924_