The 1895 Oregon Webfoots football team was an American football team that represented the University of Oregon in the 1895 college football season.* McCann, Michael C. (1995). Oregon Ducks Football: 100 Years of Glory. Eugene, OR: McCann Communications Corp. . It was the Webfoots' second season. They were led by head coach Percy Benson, previously a star player for the University of California team.
Background
The Webfoots were part of a five-team conference called the Oregon Intercollegiate Football Association, which met in Salem on October 5, 1895, to elect officers, establish official rules, and set a schedule for the year."Pigskin Punchers," Daily Oregon Statesman, vol. 45 (Oct. 6, 1895,), p. 5. Other members of the conference included Oregon Agricultural College in Corvallis, Portland University (a short-lived private school who were collegiate champions of Oregon for 1894), Pacific University in Forest Grove, and Willamette University in Salem.
The team's coach for 1895 was Percy Benson, a star quarterback for the California Golden Bears. Benson's hiring was announced during the last week of September, with his arrival in Eugene from California anticipated towards the first of October."Jottings About Town," Albany Herald-Disseminator, Sept. 26, 1895, p. 5.
The first two games of the 1895 season – against OAC"Reaching for the Championship: The OAC Football Team Has a New Coach and Work Has Begun," Corvallis Times, vol. 8, no. 36 (Oct. 23, 1895), p. 3. and WillametteHurrah for Willamette! Capital Journal, vol. 8, no. 150 (Oct. 28, 1895), p. 4. – were regarded as exhibition practice games, the final two contests being official conference games that were part of the "league series.""To Salem," Daily Eugene Guard, vol. 9, no. 123 (Nov. 1, 1895), p. 4.
They finished the season with a record of four wins and zero losses (4–0), winning the OIFA's pennant.
Schedule
Roster Starters • Left end: J. Russell Coleman • Left tackle: Fred M. Templeton • Left guard: John M. Edmunson • Center: A.L. Gilleland • Right guard: Edward P. Shattuck • Right tackle: Fred D. Herbold • Right end: Lee M. Travis • Quarterback: Roscoe S. Bryson • Left halfback: Clarence M. Bishop • Right halfback: Clarence W. Keene • Fullback: Harry S. Templeton
Reserves: Lincoln Farrington, A. Kuykendall, Merriman, Miller, Ellis Prather, Stransley; John L. Higgins, Storossli"To Salem," Eugene Daily Guard, Nov. 1, 1895, p. 4.First names from Twentieth Annual Catalogue of the University of Oregon, 1895–1896. Eugene: B.H. Miller, 1896, passim.
References