1951 Oregon State Beavers football team
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| 1951 Oregon State Beavers football | |
|---|---|
 Head coach Kip Taylor | |
| Conference | Pacific Coast Conference |
| Record | 4–6 (3–5 PCC) |
| Head coach |
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| Home stadium | Bell Field Multnomah Stadium |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7 Stanford $ | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 17 UCLA | 4 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12 California | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USC | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 18 Washington State | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 1 | – | 5 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho | 0 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1951 Oregon State Beavers football team represented Oregon State College as a member of the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) during the 1951 college football season. Led by third-year head coach Kip Taylor, the Beavers compiled an overall record of 4–6 with a mark of 3–5 in conference play, placing sixth in the PCC. The Beavers scored 204 points and allowed 180 points on the season.[1] The team was ranked at No. 25 in the 1951 Litkenhous Ratings.[2]
Background[edit]
Spring drills for the 1951 college football season opened for the Oregon State College Beavers on Monday, April 2, with head coach Kip Taylor and his three assistants — line coach Len Younce, backfield coach Bump Elliott, and freshman head coach Hal Moe — on hand to drill an expected 100 prospects for the fall season.[3] The team's first practice was completely open to any OSC student, regardless of previous football experience.[3] Although the Pacific Coast Conference allowed only 30 days of spring practice, coach Taylor scheduled 36 sessions for the team, noting that Oregon's fickle spring weather was apt to force the cancellation of at least six dates.[3] Spring practice was set to terminate on May 12, with the playing of the annual intersquad game, pitting the Grays against the Blues.[3]
Ultimately, 65 hopefuls attended the first practice session, including 18 returning lettermen from the 1950 OSC team[4] and more than 30 candidates from the 1950 freshman team.[5] Included among these were two African-American halfbacks, Dave Mann and Bill Anderson — the first black players to lace them up for an Oregon State varsity team.[6]
Anderson and Mann were quick to make their presence known, each scoring rushing touchdowns and heralded as stars of the team's first full-length regulation scrimmage, between a squad headed by Len Younce and newly-hired ends coach Butch Morse and another led by Hal Moe and Bump Taylor.[7] Anderson was particularly electrifying, sending the estimated 2,000 people gathered to their feet with a spectacular 93-yard touchdown gallop in the third quarter.[7]
Tales of the pair's gridiron exploits made their way up and down the coast, with one columnist for the Los Angeles Times alerting Southern California fans that the "two Oakland Negroes" were "rated as sophomore halfback whizzes" and being added to Kip Taylor's complete returning backfield of starters for the 1951 season.[8]
Weekly action[edit]
Week 1: Michigan State[edit]
Season highlights[edit]
Schedule[edit]
| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 22 | at No. 2 Michigan State* | L 0–6 | 33,373 | [9] | ||
| September 29 | Utah* | W 61–28 | 9,000 | |||
| October 6 | vs. Idaho | No. 15 | W 34–6 | 7,500–8,500 | [10] | |
| October 13 | at No. 14 USC | No. 18 | L 14–16 | 36,400 | ||
| October 20 | Washington State |
| L 13–26 | 15,500 | ||
| October 27 | at No. 9 California | L 14–35 | 43,000 | |||
| November 3 | at Washington | W 40–14 | 36,000 | |||
| November 10 | UCLA | L 0–7 | 26,598 | |||
| November 17 | at No. 4 Stanford | L 14–35 | 40,000 | |||
| November 24 | at Oregon | W 14–7 | 19,700 | |||
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Roster[edit]
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Quarterbacks
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Ends |
Guards
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- Projected opening day starters marked with *
- Eventual NFL draft pick marked with †
- Source: Bob Rubin (ed.), The California Gridiron: Oregon State vs. California, October 27, 1951, (Berkeley: Associated Students, University of California), vol. 19, no. 4 (Oct. 27, 1951), p. 10.
Seniors drafted into the NFL[edit]
| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club |
| Herman Clark | Tackle | 4 | 44 | Chicago Bears |
| Jim Clark | Guard | 5 | 55 | Washington Redskins |
| John Thomas | End | 7 | 77 | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Sam Baker | Halfback | 11 | 133 | Los Angeles Rams |
References[edit]
- ^ Homer F. Cooke Jr. (ed.), The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide, 1952. New York: National Collegiate Athletic Bureau, 1952; p. 140.
- ^ "Vols Top Final 1951 Litkenhous Ratings". The Nashville Banner. December 14, 1951. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d "Beavers Spring Grid Drills Open Monday," Corvallis Gazette-Times, March 29, 1951, p. 9.
- ^ [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-eugene-guard-osc-opens-grid-drill/146116975/ "OSC Opens Grid Drill," Eugene Guard, April 3, 1951, p. 11.
- ^ "OSC Spring Grid Practice Underway," Corvallis Gazette-Times, April 3, 1951, p. 9.
- ^ Both Mann and Anderson played for the 1950 OSC freshman team, making that the date in which the school's color barrier was officially breached. "14 Gridmen to Play on Pacific Coast Schools," (Oklahoma City) Black Dispatch, Sept. 22, 1951, p. 6.
- ^ a b "Whites Defeat Blues 14 to 9 in Gridiron Tilt," Corvallis Gazette-Times, April 16, 1951, p. 7.
- ^ Braven Dyer, "Sports Parade," Los Angeles Times, May 3, 1951, part 4, p. 1.
- ^ George S. Alderton (September 23, 1951). "Spartans Edge Past OSC To Win 1951 Opener, 6-0: Ellis Paces Team With Long Runs". Lansing State Journal. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Beavers bop Idaho 34-6". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 7, 1951. p. 13.
- ^ "Oregon State Historical Scores". Archived from the original on June 6, 2009. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
- ^ "Oregon State University Official Athletic Site". Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
External links[edit]
- "Oregon State College vs. Washington State College, 1951," Washington State University Libraries: Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, via YouTube.com, 2013. (Video; OSC in black helmets.)