1895 Oregon Webfoots football team

{{short description|American college football season}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox college sports team season

| year = 1895

| team = Oregon Webfoots

| sport = football

| image = 1895-Oregon-football-team.jpg

| image_size = 285

| caption = 1895 U of O football team; coach Percy Benson in lower left

| conference = Oregon Intercollegiate Football Association

| short_conf = OIFA

| record = 4–0

| conf_record = 4–0

| head_coach = Percy Benson

| hc_year = 1st

| captain = H. S. Templeton

| stadium = Kincaid Field

| champion = OIFA champion

}}

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. {{ISBN|0-9648244-7-7}}. 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.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66923815/oregon-intercollegiate-football/ "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.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/albany-weekly-herald-university-of-orego/66920869/ "Jottings About Town,"] Albany Herald-Disseminator, Sept. 26, 1895, p. 5.

The first two games of the 1895 season – against OAC[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66929315/reaching-for-the-championship-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 Willamette[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66966793/willamette-university-crushes-oregon/ Hurrah 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."[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66978913/university-of-oregon-footballers-head/ "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

{{CFB schedule

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = October 26

| w/l = w

| opponent = Oregon Agricultural

| site_stadium = Kincaid Field

| site_cityst = Eugene, OR

| gamename = rivalry

| score = 46–0

| source = {{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HVJXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=--8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5988%2C5638212 |work=Daily Eugene Guard |location=(Oregon) |title=U. of O.'s win! |date=October 26, 1895 |page=1}}

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = November 2

| w/l = w

| away = y

| opponent = Willamette

| site_stadium = Oregon State Fairgrounds

| site_cityst = Salem, OR

| score = 8–4

| source = {{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=I1JXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=--8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6025%2C5746555 |work=Daily Eugene Guard |location=(Oregon) |title=U. of O.'s victorious again |date=November 2, 1895 |page=1}}

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = November 16

| w/l = w

| away = y

| opponent = {{cfb link|year=1895|team=Portland University|title=Portland University}}

| site_stadium =

| site_cityst = Portland, OR

| score = 6–4

| source = {{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MVJXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=--8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6504%2C6000371 |work=Daily Eugene Guard |location=(Oregon) |title=The team at home |date=November 18, 1895 |page=4}}

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = November 28

| w/l = w

| opponent = Willamette University

| site_stadium = Kincaid Field

| site_cityst = Eugene, OR

| score = 6–0

| attend = 1,000

| source = {{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OVJXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=--8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6007%2C6154340 |work=Daily Eugene Guard |location=(Oregon) |title=The pennant is ours |date=November 29, 1895 |page=1}}

}}

| seasonsource = {{cite web |author= |title=1895 Football Schedule |url=https://goducks.com/sports/football/schedule/1895 |publisher=University of Oregon Athletics |access-date=September 1, 2023 }}{{cite web |author= |title=2023 Oregon Football Record Book |url=https://goducks.com/documents/2023/8/24/2023_Oregon_Football_Record_Book.pdf |publisher=University of Oregon Athletics |page=56 |access-date=September 1, 2023 }}

}}

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