The Portland Pilots football team represented the

University of Portland , mottoeng = The truth will set you free , established = 1901 , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Catholic (Congregation of Holy Cross) , endowment = $218 million , president = Robert D. Kelly , students = 3,731 (fall 20 ...

in the sport of

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

from 1909 to 1942 and 1946 to 1949. Prior to 1935, the school was known as Columbia University, and the football team was known as the "Irish" (due to an affiliation with Notre Dame). The football team was also sometimes known as the "Cliffdwellers". Prior to 1927, the school operated as a preparatory school and two-year junior college. During that time, the football team competed primarily against small Oregon colleges. Starting in 1928, the football program began competing increasingly against regional powers, including

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

(1928-1929, 1934–1935, 1938–1940, 1946–1948), Gonzaga (1933-1937, 1939–1941), Santa Clara (1934-1937, 1946, 1949), Saint Mary's (1938-1941, 1947–1948), Montana State (1938-1939, 1946–1949),

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

(1942, 1946–1949),

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

(1933, 1935–1936),

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

(1939-1940, 1947),

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

(1936-1937),

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

(1937-1938),

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

(1939, 1948),

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

(1947, 1949),

Pepperdine Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and ...

(1948-1949),

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

(1941),

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

(1946), and

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

(1947). Former Notre Dame quarterback Gene Murphy was the head football coach from 1927 to 1936. "Matty" Mathews, another former Notre Dame football player, took over as head coach in 1937 and remained in the position until 1942. The school suspended its football program during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and did not field teams from 1943 to 1945. The football program returned in 1946.

Hal Moe HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bangalore, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fight ...

served as head coach from 1946 to 1948.

Harry Wright William Henry "Harry" Wright (January 10, 1835 – October 3, 1895) was an English-born American professional baseball player, manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played center field for baseball's first fully professional team, t ...

took over as head coach in 1949. In February 1950, the school abandoned its football program in order to focus its efforts on its basketball program. The school cited the "extraordinary expenses" associated with maintaining a first-rate football program.

All-Americans

:Joseph Enzler, Guard- 1939 (NEA-3rd Team)

References

{{Portland Pilots football navbox American football teams established in 1909 American football teams disestablished in 1949 1909 establishments in Oregon 1949 disestablishments in Oregon