Dedicated Ducks: A Unique Donation and a Look Back at Rose Bowl History

1958 Rose Bowl Game Ball, donated by Ed and Cindy Barnick, 2015.
1958 Rose Bowl Game Ball, donated by Ed and Cindy Barnick, 2015.

There are many die hard Duck fans who are quick to support the team no matter the outcome. One such fan family, Ed and Cindy Barnick from Ohio, graciously reached out the University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives this year to donate a very special piece of Duck memorabilia that has important significance for their family and University of Oregon football history — the 1958 Rose Bowl game ball. We take this opportunity to spotlight this recent donation and donors, as well as to showcase some historical highlights from the 1958 Rose Bowl game.

Last winter after the unfortunate loss the Ducks had in the National Championship game, Ed and Cindy Barnick of Galloway, Ohio reached out to the Special Collections and University Archives regarding a unique item that they wanted to donate to the university. Specifically, the Barnick’s, also native Oregonians, possessed the 1958 Rose Bowl autographed game ball, when UO also played The Ohio State University. The ball is signed by Len Casanova, Jerry Frei, and much of the entire 1958 Rose Bowl team.

Below is a bit of history about how Ed Barnick came to possess the game ball:

“I was given this ball by my Dad, when he was with Wilson’s Sporting Goods in Portland, Oregon. This specific ball was displayed in Wilson’s trophy room, along with such great sports memorabilia items as the “old Yankee pinstripes”, various World Series items such as baseball bats, gloves and balls, autographed pictures and golf clubs from PGA greats.  Even back then, my Dad understood my childhood love for the Oregon Duck’s, and took it upon himself to give me this football as a gift.”

The Barnick’s also had very specific reason for wanting to donate the game ball:

“Although we cannot offer much to you other than our support each and every year, we did want to dedicate something to the University of Oregon. Our intent for the enclosed football is to donate this piece of Oregon Duck history to the University for all Oregon fans to enjoy. Our desire for donating this specific item is to personally thank the entire University of Oregon team for not only such an outstanding season, but also to honor each team member’s individual contribution and display of sportsmanship, dedication and class. Every team member’s display throughout the season not only game Oregon fans an exciting season, but shared each and every game with the entire viewing nation positive “life lessons” that everyone can apply to our daily lives.”

University Archives display case for the SCUA Staff Picks exhibit, on display until the end of September 2015.
University Archives display case for the SCUA Staff Picks exhibit, on display until the end of September 2015.

The Barnick’s really capture what it means to be a dedicated Duck. We take this opportunity to thank them for their support and generosity in donating this unique piece of history to the University of Oregon University Archives. We are honored to add this to our collection and now have the game ball on display in our new exhibit titled “SCUA Staff Picks: Some of Our Favorites from Our Many Collections, which is open until the end of September 2015. Below we provide some historical highlights about the 1958 Rose Bowl game.

History of the 1958 Rose Bowl Game

Entering the final month of the 1957 football season, Oregon was 5-1 in the standings. The Ducks had opened the season with a narrow 9-6 win over Idaho, but followed it up with a disappointing 6-3 loss to Pittsburgh at Multnomah Stadium in Portland on the last Saturday of September. The team rebounded with consecutive shutouts of UCLA and San Jose State en route to winning four straight and remaining undefeated in Pacific Coast Conference play. November began with a narrow 27-26 victory at Stanford, and Oregon’s fan base had reason to begin hoping for the school’s first postseason appearance since the 1949 Cotton Bowl.

Jack Morris and Jim Shanley
Jack Morris and Jim Shanley

After losing to Washington on November 9 in Portland, though, Oregon had to win one of its last two games of the season against USC or Oregon State to claim a share of the PCC title and earn the school’s first trip to the Rose Bowl since 1920. Len Casanova’s team secured the bowl berth the following weekend at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, rebounding from their close loss to the Huskies to defeat USC 16-7 and propel the Webfoots to Pasadena. Jack Morris fueled the victory, rushing for 212 yards and setting a single-game school record that would stand for the next 14 years before Bobby Moore eclipsed the mark against Utah in 1971.

With the win, Oregon was guaranteed a trip to Pasadena no matter what happened in the Civil War game against Oregon State. The Beavers were tied atop the conference standings, but because the conference had a no-repeat clause in its codicils the Beavers were unable to claim the conference’s spot opposite the Big Ten champion. Despite the dearth of stakes, Oregon State nevertheless came to Eugene and knocked off Oregon 10-7. The 23,150 spectators packed into Hayward Field witnessed a contentious finish after halfback Jim Shanley appeared to score a last-minute touchdown that would have secured victory for the Ducks. “He scored on a running play but fumbled after crossing the goal line,” quarterback Jack Crabtree remembered about the play decades later. “Today that would be a touchdown, should have been the game winner.”

Rose Bowl Stadium, New Year's Day 1958
Rose Bowl Stadium, New Year’s Day 1958

The loss, however, did not significantly change the postseason picture. Oregon was bound for Pasadena, though the national press were unimpressed by Casanova’s squad and gave the Ducks little chance of competing with Big Ten champion Ohio State. The Buckeyes had won eight straight contests prior to the Rose Bowl, and were ranked first in the nation by the coaches’ poll. Oddsmakers installed “The Ugly Ducklings” as a 19-point underdog, with most assuming that the Ducks stood little chance against Woody Hayes’ Midwestern juggernaut. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Ned Cronin quipped, “The Webfoots have approximately the same chance that Gen. Custer had when he mistook Sitting Bull for a sitting duck.”

The 98,202 spectators in attendance at the Rose Bowl Stadium on New Year’s Day 1958 were treated to a balmy California winter day. When Ohio State marched down the field on its opening possession and scored the first touchdown of the game on quarterback Frank Kremblas’ one-yard keeper, the predicted blowout seemed likely to come to fruition. But the Buckeyes offense was unable to replicate the feat, and Shanley tied the score in the second quarter on a five-yard run. At halftime, the two teams went to the locker rooms deadlocked at 7-7.

Ron Stover
Ron Stover

Oregon would end up winning the statistical battle while losing the game. Crabtree attempted 17 passes, completing 10 for 135 yards. The Ducks threw for nearly 200 total yards in contrast to the Buckeyes’ 59 yards through the air, with end Don Stover pulling in 10 receptions for 144 yards. Shanley rushed for 59 yards, Jack Morris added 57 yards in relief, and the Ducks outgained Ohio State 351 yards to 304. Oregon also completed more first downs, and went the entire contest without punting away possession. Two Crabtree interceptions and two fumbles, however, would doom the Ducks’ upset bid.

Ohio State finally took the lead for good on a 23-yard Don Sutherlin field goal with 14 minutes remaining in the game. The decisive score came after Morris had missed an Oregon field goal attempt from the same spot on the field. “We were such underdogs and came very close to winning it,” Shanley would later reminisce. “Close only counts in horseshoes, they say, and when you run into Ohio State people, they tell you that.”

Though Oregon wound up on the short end of the 10-7 final score, Crabtree became just the second player in Rose Bowl history to win Player of the Game honors in a losing effort. The Oregon players carried Coach Casanova off the field on their shoulders, a tribute to a Rose Bowl appearance that had been a pipe dream entering the season. “Nobody can be humiliated like our guys were and take it,” Casanova would note later about the game. “They were derided by everybody, but they showed ‘em.”

 

See these sources for further information about the 1958 Rose Bowl and the football program at the University of Oregon:

Jennifer O’Neal
University Historian and Archivist

Zach Bigalke
Student Research Assistant

 

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