Washington once voted Oregon out of the Rose Bowl. Here's how the Webfoots got the last laugh

Washington may have turned its back on the North and sent Cal to the Rose Bowl, but Oregon lined its pockets with a record-setting payday anyway.

The 1948 Oregon Ducks

Every few years during Washington week, the various sites around town will post stories looking back at the top moments of the 100-plus year rivalry between the Ducks and Huskies.  

Jason Quick had one a few years ago that included a paragraph about the battle on Nov. 6, 1948. Oregon, behind two touchdown passes from Norm Van Brocklin, won that game 13-7 in a season where UO would go a perfect 7-0 in Pacific Coast Conference play. 

But while Oregon got the win, Quick wrote that Washington got the last laugh when the Huskies voted for the also-undefeated California Bears to represent the conference in the Rose Bowl, not Oregon. 

I’ve seen this story mentioned in similar fashion a few other times, but have never actually seen the full details. After paging through newspaper archives this week, Quick got everything right — though I’d challenge his thesis that Washington got the last laugh. 

To set the stage, let’s talk about that Oregon team. 

The Webfoots hadn’t had a winning season since 1935 when Jim Aiken took over and promptly went 7-3 in 1947. In 1948, the Ducks returned a bulk of their starters, led by an offense with Van Brocklin at quarterback, Brad Ecklund at center and Dan Garza at end. They opened the season ranked No. 15 by the Associated Press and only lost once — 14-0 in Week 2 at No. 1 Michigan, the defending national champions.

“Oregon, on its performance Saturday, can still be considered a strong coast title contender,” Eugene Register-Guard sports editor Dick Strite wrote from Ann Arbor. “It is doubtful whether any team on the coast would have beaten Oregon Saturday.” 

No teams from the coast could beat Oregon that entire fall, as the Webfoots shook off that one nonconference loss to finish the year 9-1. 

The problem? After Oregon beat Oregon State 10-0 in front of 22,000 in Corvallis on Nov. 20 to improve to 7-0 in PCC play, there was still another unbeaten conference opponent — Cal. The Bears went 6-0 in PCC play and 9-0 all together, aided by a nonconference schedule that included Santa Clara, Navy and Saint Mary’s. 

By traditional standards, Oregon’s 7-0 record should have placed the Webfoots a half game in front of Cal, but since both teams were undefeated — and Cal turned down a one-game playoff offer from Oregon — the conference put it to a vote, with the winner earning a berth in the Rose Bowl to face No. 7 Northwestern. 

It was believed that Oregon would have the edge. The four California schools would vote for Cal, while the six Northwest schools — UO, UW, Washington State, Oregon State, Idaho and Montana — would carry the Webfoots. 

Believing news of the vote could arrive Sunday night, the Register-Guard delayed its press run until Monday morning hoping it could publish the results. 

The news didn’t arrive until Monday afternoon, through telegraph. 

Cal was going to the Rose Bowl in a 6-4 vote. 

Strite’s first reaction came in the form of passive aggression. 

“In deepest sympathy for the Pacific Coast Conference faculty representatives who saw fit to keep Oregon out of the Rose Bowl following the Webfoots first undefeated and untied conference season in more than 50 years. May these men, whose understanding of the game of football and the spirit of competition appears to be warped, carry with them to their slumbers each night, the knowledge that they have broken the hearts but not the fighting spirit of the greatest gang of gridders in history of the University of Oregon!” 

Strite only got angrier from there. From his column, “The Highclimber,” the following day: 

“The best guess is that some schools fear Oregon; fear the Webfoots so much that they believed playing in the Rose Bowl would make Oregon a power that would continue as long an aggressive Jim Aiken is at the helm. The public will never know how the voting was. There will be lot of rumors and publishing gossip would cause nothing more than hard feelings. 

One thing we know, and you can be assured of, and that is that eventually the University of Oregon athletic department, which includes Jim Aiken, will know what schools tossed the black balls at Oregon.”

And here comes the money quote: 

“Naturally, Oregon isn’t going to cede from the conference, but you can be certain schools in the north that voted against Oregon will never be on friendly relations with the department.” 

The vote was never made public, but in the coming weeks Strite floated plenty of “rumors and gossip” in his column that it was indeed Washington that turned the vote against the Webfoots, encouraging Montana to follow. 

So, how did Oregon come out on top here? 

No, the Webfoots weren’t able to play in their first Rose Bowl since 1920. But following a separate conference vote that allowed UO to accept a bid to the Cotton Bowl, Oregon was off to its first bowl game in 29 years. 

You know who that ticked off?

Washington. 

“I can’t figure out how or why the faculty men voted approval of Oregon’s trip to Dallas,” he told The Associated Press. “I believe they were violating our Rose Bowl agreements and the general policy of our conference.” 

And while Oregon ultimately lost 21-13 to a Doak Walker-led SMU, both bowl game participants were awarded a then-record $108,912.47 for participating — more than what Cal got paid for the Rose Bowl. 

Wrote Strite: 

“Harvey Cassill, Washington’s graduate manager who likely recommended a California ballot for the Rose Bowl, plans to do something about Pacific Coast Conference teams playing in bowl games other than the Rose Bowl, when the coast moguls meet soon after Jan. 1 in Palm Springs. 

“But isn’t it strange that a crusader the like of Cassill doesn’t say anything about legislation that will determine a top coast team in case of a tie in the conference standings? That’s what Oregon people are interested in.” 

Oregon and Washington meet for the 113th time Saturday in Seattle. Oregon has won 14 of the last 16 matchups.

— Tyson Alger