History a Look Back at Temple Football [1894-2011]

History A Look Back at Temple Football [1894-2011] Grover Wearshing & Head Coach Henry Miller The Temple University football program will There is almost no record of the first two Geiges began his career as a college football play its 114th season in 2012. For more than 35 decades of Temple football. The games were rarely official the following season. He officiated games years, the Owls have been the only major college reported in the newspapers, and the opposition for 27 years, advancing to the head of the profes- football team in the Philadelphia region. That was usually consisted of small schools such as Pratt In- sion. Geiges is credited with inventing the signals not the case at the turn of the century. stitute or Pennsylvania Military College (now for holding, offsides, illegal shift and timeout. He Widener University). After the turn of the century, was elected to the National Football Foundation The Early Years the Owls began playing regularly against city College Football Hall of Fame in 1984. schools La Salle and Saint Joseph’s. The Temple football program was adminis- Football at Temple first planted its roots in The school mascot had already been estab- tered by the Physical Education Department until 1894, a decade after Russell Conwell founded the lished though, along with the school colors— well into the 20th century. For many years, the de- night school on North Broad Street. Nearly every Cherry and White. For many years, the football partment was headed by Dr. Charles Prohaska, college in and around Philadelphia had some sort team had no official home field. Eventually it set- who was largely responsible for the expansion of of football squad at that time, though it may be a tled into Vernon Park, a spacious green located on the intercollegiate athletic program following stretch to call them organized. The serious football the city limits beyond Germantown. World War I. powers of the east included Pennsylvania, Prince- The most notable person associated with the The Owls did not field a varsity football team ton, Harvard and Yale. Temple football program prior to World War I was between 1918 and 1921 due to the war. In the Temple's 11-man squad was technically a part Elwood Geiges, who was supposed to coach the years that followed, Temple grew to have the sec- of the school's Physical Education Department. The varsity team in 1917. But the Owls forfeited every ond largest enrollment in the Philadelphia area. 1894 team was organized by physical education in- regular game on the schedule that season because University President Charles F. Beury made a structor Charles M. Williams, who also coached the of the war. Late that fall, the varsity squad matched strong commitment at that time to greater success basketball team. The Owls won their first game up with the freshman squad in a game to benefit in intercollegiate athletics. that fall against Philadelphia Dental College, 14-6. the war effort. The contest finished in a 6-6 tie. 176 The Modern Era What might be called the modern era of Tem - ple football began in 1925 with the hiring of Henry J. Miller as head coach. “Heinie” Miller had been a star player at Penn, earning All-America honors in 1917. His much-hailed arrival promised great suc - cess against a much tougher level of competition. Miller's Owls did well in 1925 and 1926, com - piling a record of 10-5-2, the best two-year stretch in the school's short history. Things were about to get much better. Several outstanding players joined the roster in 1927, including future Temple Hall of Famers Tucker “Swede” Hanson, Grover Wearshing and Jack Bonner. The Owls opened the season with a home game against Blue Ridge College, a small school lo - cated in New Windsor, Md. The mismatch was ap - parent from the opening kickoff. Temple held a 27-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, and then scored eight touchdowns in the second quarter to establish a 78-0 lead at the half. Unable to move the ball on offense, Blue Ridge actually began punt - TEMPLE vs. BUCKNELL, Franklin Field, November 19, 1927: ing on first down. The coaches agreed at halftime The first game of a 44-year series between the schools (above) to shorten the third quarter to eight minutes and and the battle for the “Old Shoe” trophy (right below). later shortened the fourth quarter to six minutes. Temple Stadium was first referred to as Beury By the end of the game, three Temple players had Stadium, and for many years was known as Owl switched jerseys to fill in for Blue Ridge. The Owls Stadium. The structure was designed by Philadel - won by a final score of 110-0. Hanson scored five phia architect Clarence E. Wunder and was built by touchdowns and Wearshing scored three. Erny's development firm. The total cost of con - Several other one-sided results from the 1927 struction was $350,000, with a seating capacity of campaign, against Juniata (58-0), Gallaudet (62-0) 34,200, including mobile field seats. and Washington College (75-0), indicated that the The Owls made their debut in the new sta - Owls were ready for a new level of competition. dium on Sept. 29, 1928, against St. Thomas College That competition came from Dartmouth, Brown of Scranton. Team captain Howard “Barney” Gugel and Bucknell. made it a successful debut, scoring on a 66-yard Temple finished 7-1 that season, losing only fumble recovery and a 38-yard interception return to Dartmouth, while posting notable victories for a 12-0 Temple victory witnessed by 10,000 fans. against Brown (7-0) and Bucknell (19-13). The The stadium's official dedication game came Bucknell game marked the beginning of a long ri - two weeks later against Eastern power Western valry with the school located in Lewisburg, Pa. The Maryland. The Owls won that game, 7-0, thanks to Owls and the Bison played every year for the next a touchdown pass from Wearshing to Hanson. The 44 years, often in the last game of the season. contest drew 25,000 fans, including several digni - Some years later, “The Old Shoe” was dedicated as taries from the city of Philadelphia. a prize for the winner of the Temple-Bucknell con - The 1928 campaign was another great suc - test. The bronze statue of a football shoe was cess, as the Owls finished 7-1-2, losing only to awarded to the winning school, which held it until Schuylkill College and posting ties against Bucknell the following year's game. and Villanova. Temple was dominant in the new The 1927 season finale against Bucknell was stadium, winning its first six games by shutout. The played at Franklin Field, marking Temple's first ap - only team to score against the Owls was Washing - pearance on the home field of the Pennsylvania ton College, which managed a single touchdown in Quakers. The Owls would not need to borrow the a 73-7 rout. Wearshing and Hanson scored three facility the following season. times apiece in that contest. In December of 1927, President Beury an - The battle against Villanova—a scoreless nounced that the University had received a gift of tie—also marked the beginning of a long rivalry $100,000 from Philadelphia land developer Charles (though the teams had played one another in G. Erny for the construction of a football stadium at 1908). The Owls and the Wildcats were both de - Vernon Park. The stadium was to seat between veloping strong national reputations, and this was 20,000 and 25,000 and was to be completed in the big game on their schedules for the next 15 James Russell time for the 1928 football season. years. 1935 Team Captain 177 Temple Foo tball Hall of Fame DhaMiri aBaYoMi / anthonY anDerson Bill BernarDo Don Bitterlich Jack Bonner toDD Bowles Don coUncil (1975-78) (1946, 1948-49) (1973-75) (1927-30) (1982-85) (1960-62) Third-leading ground-gainer Top ground-gainer in Nation’s top kicker in 1975, All-around athlete who All-America defensive Leading ground-gainer in all-time, 1949, earned All-East set six NCAA records while earned 11 letters back that went on to 1960, netting 465 yards 1976 All-America and honors as a senior booting the longest field goal (four in football), play eight seasons on 84 carries All-East honors in Temple history 1930 team captain in the NFL tered by Earl Yeomans, Graduate Manager of Ath - the team in 1933 and was named team captain letics, who had replaced James R. Clovis in that po - in 1934. Smukler was a game-breaking running sition in the mid-1920s. Yeomans would oversee back who made an immediate impact on the the athletic programs at Temple until 1952. College team in 1934. football continued to grow by leaps and bounds The Owls won their first two games that despite the Depression. season against Virginia Tech (34-0) and Texas The 1930s saw the establishment of several A&M (40-6). After a 6-6 tie against Indiana, bowl games and the first Associated Press national Warner's squad won five straight against tough poll to determine the best teams in the country. competition that included West Virginia, Holy The Temple football program continued to grow Cross and Carnegie Tech. Temple finished the as well, making a huge national splash with the hir - run with a 22-0 rout of Vil - ing of college coaching legend Glenn S.

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