The 1920 Oregon Agricultural Aggies football team represented Oregon Agricultural College (now known as

Oregon State University 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 co ...

) in the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

(PCC) during the

1920 college football season The 1920 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the ''Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book'' listing California, Georgia, Harvard, Notre Dame, and Princeton as national champions. Only California and Princeton claim na ...

. The team played its home games at

Bell Field Bell Field, originally known as College Field (1893–1909), was an outdoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, on the campus of Oregon State College (now University) in Corvallis, Oregon. It was the home venue of Oregon State Beavers ...

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2020 United ...

. Henry Rearden was the team captain. Gap Powell was the fullback and the offensive star. In April 1920, R. B. Rutherford was hired as the team's head coach. He had played football at

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

and had been the head football coach at

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

from 1917 to 1919. In their first season under coach Rutherford, the Beavers compiled a 2–2–2 record (1–2–1 against PCC opponents), finished in fifth place in the PCC, and were outscored by their opponents, 52 to 20. On October 23, 1920, the Aggies defeated

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, 3–0, for the Aggies' first victory over Washington since 1905. The annual

rivalry game Pairs of schools, colleges and universities, especially when they are close to each other either geographically or in their areas of specialization, often establish a college rivalry with each other over the years. This rivalry can extend to both ...

with

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, played at Corvallis on November 20, 1920, resulted in a scoreless tie. The Aggies also played two games with the

Multnomah Athletic Club The Multnomah Athletic Club is a Social club, private social and Sports club, athletic club in Portland, Oregon, United States. Located in the Goose Hollow, Portland, Oregon, Goose Hollow neighborhood, it was originally founded in 1891 as the M ...

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, resulting in a win and a tie, and lost games against national champion

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

(17–7) 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 ...

(28-0). In January 1921, Rutherford was signed to a three-year contract as the school's coach and director of athletics.

Schedule

Roster

The following players received letters for their participation on the Aggies' 1920 football team.Roster members based on information from the 2016 Media Guide, pp. 208-214. * Emil Christensen * Edward Clark * Andrew Crowell * Charles Daigh * Ted Heyden * Gap Powell * Albert "Duke" Hodler * Clarence Johnston * Dough Johnston * Joe Kasberger * Marlon McCart * Harold McKenna * Hugh McKenna * Henry ReardenPer the 2016 Media Guide, Rearden was the 1920 team captain, but the roster listing at pages 208-214 indicate that his last year as a player was 1919. * Millard Scott * Claire R. Seely * Robert Stewart * Stanley Summers * Harry Swan * Herman Wood

References

Oregon Agricultural Oregon State Beavers football seasons Oregon Agricultural Aggies football {{collegefootball-1920-season-stub