1948 Oregon Ducks football team

1948 Oregon Ducks football
PCC co-champion
Cotton Bowl, L 13–21 vs. SMU
Conference	Pacific Coast Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 9
Record	9–2 (7–0 PCC)
Head coach	Jim Aiken (2nd season)
Captains	Brad Ecklund Dan Garza Don Stanton
Home stadium	Hayward Field

1948 Pacific Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 California ^ +	6	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Oregon +	7	–	0	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
USC	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	1
Washington State	4	–	3	–	1			4	–	5	–	1
Stanford	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	3	–	2			5	–	4	–	3
Washington	2	–	5	–	1			2	–	7	–	1
UCLA	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Idaho	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Montana	0	–	3	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – Selected as Rose Bowl representative Rankings from AP Poll

The 1948 Oregon Ducks football team represented the University of Oregon in the 1948 college football season. The Ducks competed as a member of the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC). The team was led by head coach Jim Aiken, in his second year, and played their home games at Hayward Field in Eugene and at Multnomah Field in Portland. Oregon finished the regular season ranked ninth, with nine wins and one loss, and won all seven conference games in the PCC.^[1] They did not play Montana or #4 California; the Golden Bears won all ten games during the regular season.^[1]

Denied a Rose Bowl berth by a conference vote,^[2][3][4] the PCC allowed a second bowl bid this season;^[5] Oregon played SMU in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on New Year's Day.^[6][7][8]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 18	Santa Barbara*		Hayward Field Eugene, OR	W 55–7	10,000	[9][10]
September 25	at Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	W 20–12	32,000	[11]
October 2	at No. 7 Michigan*		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	L 0–14	65,800	[12]
October 9	at Idaho		Neale Stadium Moscow, ID	W 15–8	12,000	[13][14]
October 16	USC		Multnomah Stadium Portland, OR	W 8–7	33,000	[15]
October 23	Washington State		Hayward Field Eugene, OR	W 33–7	19,500	[16]
October 30	Saint Mary's*	No. 14	Hayward Field Eugene, OR (Governors' Trophy Game)	W 14–13	10,000	[17]
November 6	at Washington	No. 16	Husky Stadium (rivalry)	W 13–7	33,000	[18][19]
November 12	at UCLA	No. 15	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 26–7	42,700	[20][21]
November 20	at Oregon State	No. 13	Bell Field Corvallis, OR (Civil War)	W 10–0	22,000	[1]
January 1, 1949	vs. No. 10 SMU	No. 9	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl)	L 13–21	69,000	[6][7][8]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[22][23][24]

Rankings

See also: 1948 NCAA football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final
AP	—	—	—	14	16	15	13	10	9

Personnel

Notable players included quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, center Brad Ecklund, and halfback John McKay.^[6][25][26]

References

1. Strite, Dick (November 21, 1948). "Rose Bowl choice still undecided". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1.
2. "California Bears get Rose Bowl bid". Eugene Register-Guard. United Press. November 22, 1948. p. 1.
3. "California, Northwestern to meet in Rose Bowl". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. November 22, 1948. p. 14.
4. "Northwestern, California get nominations to Rose Bowl". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. November 23, 1948. p. 4, part 2.
5. "Oregon to play in Cotton Bowl". Eugene Register-Guard. November 27, 1948. p. 1.
6. "SMU beats Ducks, 21-13". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). United Press. January 1, 1949. p. 1.
7. Strite, Dick (January 2, 1949). "Oregon, Cal both drop bowl games". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1.
8. Smits, Ted (January 2, 1949). "Oregon handed 21 to 13 defeat by Southern Methodist in Cotton Bowl". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 3, sports.
9. "Webfoots open 1948 grid campaign Saturday afternoon". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). September 17, 1948. p. 14.
10. Strite, Dick (September 19, 1948). "Is this Rose Bowl stuff at U.O., 55-7?". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1.
11. Strite, Dick (September 26, 1948). "Webfoots look 'not very good,' but win, 20-12". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1.
12. Strite, Dick (October 3, 1948). "Oregon suffers 14-0 loss, but team shows real class". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1.
13. "Oregon edges Idaho 15-8 in close homecoming tussle". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). October 10, 1948. p. 9.
14. Lichtman, Art (October 10, 1948). "A bad Oregon day, despite 15-8 win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1.
15. Strite, Dick (October 17, 1948). "Score is close, but Troy falls to U.O." Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1.
16. Strite, Dick (October 24, 1948). "Webfoots show real stuff in topping Cougars, 33-7". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1.
17. Strite, Dick (October 31, 1948). "Close Call As Webfoots Win, 14-13". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). pp. 1, 16.
18. Strite, Dick (November 7, 1948). "Oregon still on top by slim 13-7 win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1.
19. "Webfoots humble Huskies, 13 to 7". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. November 7, 1948. p. 1, sports.
20. Strite, Dick (November 13, 1948). "Bruins knuckle under to bowl bound Oregon". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1.
21. "Oregon crushes UCLAns, 26 to 7". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. November 13, 1948. p. 8.
22. "1948 Oregon Ducks Schedule and Results". College Football @ Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
23. "1948 Football Schedule". University of Oregon Athletics. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
24. "2023 Oregon Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Oregon Athletics. p. 50. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
25. "Probable starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). September 17, 1948. p. 14.
26. "Starting lineups for Cotton Bowl". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). December 31, 1948. p. 8.

Further reading

• Michael C. McCann, Oregon Ducks Football: 100 Years of Glory. Eugene, OR: McCann Communications Corp, 1995.

External links

• Washington State at Oregon, October 23, 1948, Washington State University Library Manuscripts and Archives Division, via YouTube.com, July 8, 2013. (Silent video.)