Editing College football (section)

====Pacific Coast====
[[File:1888-USC-football-team.gif|thumb|The first [[USC Trojans football|USC football team]] in 1888; before they were nicknamed the "Trojans", they were known as the USC Methodists.]]
[[File:1893 Stanford American football team.jpg|thumb|The 1893 [[Stanford Cardinal football|Stanford University]] football team]]
[[File:Stanford Field.png|thumb|The [[Big Game (American football)|Big Game]] between Stanford and [[California Golden Bears football|Cal]] was played as rugby union from 1906 to 1914.]]
The [[University of Southern California]] first fielded an American football team in 1888. Playing its first game on November 14 of that year against the Alliance Athletic Club, in which USC gained a 16–0 victory. Frank Suffel and [[Henry H. Goddard]] were playing coaches for the first team which was put together by quarterback Arthur Carroll; who in turn volunteered to make the pants for the team and later became a tailor.<ref name=USC2004MediaGuide201>Mal Florence ''et al.'', [http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/usc/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/04-mg-137-211.pdf The Trojan Heritage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303204804/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/usc/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/04-mg-137-211.pdf |date=March 3, 2016 }}, ''2004 USC Football Media Guide'', USC Athletic Department, pp. 201–209.</ref> USC faced its first collegiate opponent the following year in fall 1889, playing [[Loyola Marymount Lions|St. Vincent's College]] to a 40–0 victory.<ref name="USC2004MediaGuide201"/> In 1893, USC joined the Intercollegiate Football Association of Southern California (the forerunner of the [[SCIAC]]), which was composed of USC, [[Occidental College]], [[California Institute of Technology|Throop Polytechnic Institute (Caltech)]], and [[Chaffey College]]. [[Pomona College]] was invited to enter, but declined to do so. An invitation was also extended to [[Los Angeles High School]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Intercollegiate Football: The U.S.C. Beats Throop By a Score of 22 to 12 at Pasadena|work=Los Angeles Times|date=November 22, 1893}}</ref>

In 1891, the first [[1891 Stanford football team|Stanford football team]] was hastily organized and played a four-game season beginning in January 1892 with no official head coach. Following the season, Stanford captain John Whittemore wrote to [[Yale Bulldogs football|Yale]] coach [[Walter Camp]] asking him to recommend a coach for Stanford. To Whittemore's surprise, Camp agreed to coach the team himself, on the condition that he finish the season at Yale first.<ref name=migdol>{{cite book|last=Migdol|first=Gary|title=Stanford: Home of Champions|pages=11–13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BOl08FmEDIMC&pg=PA11|publisher=Sports Publishing LLC|year=1997 |isbn=978-1-57167-116-5|access-date = May 6, 2014}}</ref> As a result of Camp's late arrival, Stanford played just three official games, against San Francisco's [[Olympic Club]] and rival [[California Golden Bears football|California]]. The team also played exhibition games against two Los Angeles area teams that Stanford does not include in official results.<ref name=lah>{{cite news|url=http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH18921227.2.25#|title=Seventy-four to nothing|date=December 27, 1892|newspaper=Los Angeles Herald|access-date=May 6, 2014}}</ref><ref name=cfbdw>{{cite web|url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/pac10/stanford/yearly_results.php?year=1892 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140506215258/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/pac10/stanford/yearly_results.php?year=1892 |archive-date=May 6, 2014 |title=Stanford Game-by-Game Results; 1892–1895 |publisher=College Football Data Warehouse |access-date=May 6, 2014}}</ref> Camp returned to the East Coast following the season, then returned to coach Stanford in [[1894 Stanford football team|1894]] and [[1895 Stanford football team|1895]].

On December 25, 1894, Amos Alonzo Stagg's [[Chicago Maroons football|Chicago Maroons]] agreed to play Camp's [[1894 Stanford football team|Stanford football team]] in San Francisco in the first postseason intersectional contest, foreshadowing the modern [[bowl game]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2418.html|title=Amos Alonzo Stagg and Football at Chicago}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Football's Greatest Coaches|author=Edwin Pope|year=1956|page=232|url=https://archive.org/stream/fottballsgreates00pope#page/232/mode/2up/search/intersectional|author-link=Edwin Pope|publisher=Atlanta,: Tupper and Love}}</ref> Future president [[Herbert Hoover]] was Stanford's student financial manager.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OmwfnipKuogC&pg=PA70|title=The Anatomy of a Game|author=David M. Nelson|page=70|isbn=978-0-87413-455-1|year=1994|publisher=University of Delaware Press }}</ref> Chicago won 24 to 4.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ntBDmB_fYo8C&pg=PA15|title=Stanford: Home of Champions|author=Gary Migdol|page=15|isbn=978-1-57167-116-5|year=1997|publisher=Sports Publishing LLC }}</ref> Stanford won a rematch in Los Angeles on December 29 by 12 to 0.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1894/12/30/page/5/article/stanford-defeats-staggs-eleven|page=5|work=Chicago Tribune|title=Stanford Defeats Stagg's Eleven|date=December 30, 1894}}</ref>

The [[Big Game (American football)|Big Game]] between Stanford and California is the oldest college football rivalry in the West. The first game was played on San Francisco's [[Haight Street Grounds]] on March 19, 1892, with Stanford winning 14–10. The term "Big Game" was first used in 1900, when it was played on Thanksgiving Day in San Francisco. During that game, a large group of men and boys, who were observing from the roof of the nearby S.F. and Pacific Glass Works, fell into the fiery interior of the building when the roof collapsed, resulting in 13 dead and 78 injured.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4811831| title = A Ghastly Holocaust: Football Spectators Plunged into Molten Glass, ''The (Adelaide) Advertiser'', (Friday 11 January 1901), p. 6.| newspaper = Advertiser| date = January 11, 1901}}</ref><ref>Twenty Score Persons Make Awful Plunge: Seventeen People Meet Most Awful Death: Two San Jose Men Die Amid Sizzling Shrieking Human Mass in Collapsed Factory at Big Game, ''The (San Jose) Evening News'', (Friday November 30, 1900), [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GEoiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B6QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1470%2C5329715 p. 1], [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GEoiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B6QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2068%2C5348447 p. 5.]</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SLMnAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ngQGAAAAIBAJ&pg=3394%2C5939585| title = Through a Roof to Death, ''The (Crawfordsville) Daily News-Review'', (Friday, 30 November 1900), p. 2.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=r9EUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RZsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6073%2C2351685| title = Spectators Fell Into Molten Glass: Thirteen Dead, One Hundred Injured by Collapse of a Roof Overlooking the Stanford-Berkeley Game at San Francisco, ''The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review'', (Friday 30 November 1900), p. 1.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19001130| title = Death Reaps a Dread Harvest of Lives and Plunges City into Gloom, ''The San Francisco Call'', (Friday, 30 November 1900), p. 2.}}</ref> On December 4, 1900, the last victim of the disaster (Fred Lilly) died, bringing the death toll to 22; and, to this day, the "Thanksgiving Day Disaster" remains the deadliest accident to kill spectators at a U.S. sporting event.<ref>[https://archive.today/20140617232301/http://www.sfweekly.com/2012-08-15/news/football-san-francisco-and-pacific-glass-works-history-sports-tragedy/full Eskanazi, J., "Sudden Death: Boys Fell to Their Doom in S.F.'s Forgotten Disaster"] ''San Francisco Weekly News'', August 15, 2012</ref>

The [[University of Oregon]] began playing American football in 1894 and played its first game on March 24, 1894, defeating [[Albany College]] 44–3 under head coach [[Cal Young]].<ref name=timeline>{{cite web|url=http://sportshistory.uoregon.edu/timeline|title=Timeline|access-date=December 23, 2015}}</ref><ref name=McCannOFB>{{cite book|last1=McCann|first1=Michael C.|title=Oregon Ducks Football: 100 Years of Glory|date=1995|publisher=McCann Communications Corp.|location=Eugene, Oregon|isbn=978-0-9648244-7-8}}{{page needed|date=June 2021}}</ref><ref name=TODS13>{{Cite book|title=Tales from the Oregon Ducks Sideline |last=Libby |first=Brian |publisher=Sports Publishing LLC}}[http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/pac10/oregon/yearly_results.php?year=1894 College Football Data Warehouse: Oregon Yearly Results 1894] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010072858/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/pac10/oregon/yearly_results.php?year=1894 |date=October 10, 2014}}</ref> Cal Young left after that first game and J.A. Church took over the coaching position in the fall for the rest of the season. Oregon finished the season with two additional losses and a tie, but went undefeated the following season, winning all four of its games under head coach Percy Benson.<ref name=TODS13/><ref name=CFBDW1894>[http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/pac10/oregon/yearly_results.php?year=1894 College Football Data Warehouse: Oregon Yearly Results 1894] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010072858/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/pac10/oregon/yearly_results.php?year=1894 |date=October 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>[http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/pac10/oregon/yearly_results.php?year=1895 College Football Data Warehouse: Oregon Yearly Results 1895] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010072141/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/pac10/oregon/yearly_results.php?year=1895 |date=October 10, 2014}}</ref> In 1899, the Oregon football team left the state for the first time, playing the [[California Golden Bears]] in [[Berkeley, California]].<ref name=timeline/>

American football at [[Oregon State University]] started in 1893 shortly after athletics were initially authorized at the college. Athletics were banned at the school in May 1892, but when the strict school president, Benjamin Arnold, died, President John Bloss reversed the ban.<ref>{{cite web|last=Forgard|first=Benjamin|title=The Evolution of School Spirit and Tradition at Oregon State University|url=http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/29283/School%20Spirit%20and%20Tradition.pdf?sequence=1|access-date=May 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017220048/http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/29283/School%20Spirit%20and%20Tradition.pdf?sequence=1|archive-date=October 17, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Bloss's son William started the first team, on which he served as both coach and quarterback.<ref>{{cite web|last=Edmonston|first=George Jr.|title=The Birth of OSU Football|url=http://www.osualum.com/s/359/index.aspx?sid=359&gid=1&pgid=539|publisher=OSU Alumni Association|access-date=May 30, 2012|archive-date=October 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017233421/http://www.osualum.com/s/359/index.aspx?sid=359&gid=1&pgid=539}}</ref> The team's first game was an easy 63–0 defeat over the home team, Albany College.

In May 1900, Yost was hired as the football coach at [[Stanford University]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Likes Yost's Manner: President Jordan of Leland Stanford University Gives His Opinion of the Coach|newspaper=Lawrence Daily Journal|date=May 8, 1900|page=4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2989072/likes_yosts_manner/}}</ref> and, after traveling home to West Virginia, he arrived in [[Palo Alto, California]], on August 21, 1900.<ref>{{cite news|title=Stanford's Football Coach Has Arrived|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=August 22, 1900|page=4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/27618966/?terms=yost%2Bstanford%2Bfootball}}</ref> Yost led the 1900 Stanford team to a 7–2–1, outscoring opponents 154 to 20. The next year in 1901, Yost was hired by [[Charles A. Baird]] as the head football coach for the [[Michigan Wolverines football]] team. On January 1, 1902, [[Fielding H. Yost|Yost]]'s dominating [[1901 Michigan Wolverines football team]] agreed to play a 3–1–2 team from [[Stanford University]] in the inaugural "Tournament East-West football game" what is now known as the ''[[Rose Bowl Game]]'' by a score of 49–0 after Stanford captain Ralph Fisher requested to quit with eight minutes remaining.

The [[1905 Stanford football team|1905 season]] marked the first meeting between Stanford and USC. Consequently, Stanford is USC's oldest existing rival.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/100310aaa.html|title=USC Football Heads To Bay Area To Face No. 16 Stanford|publisher=[[USC Trojans]]|date=October 3, 2010|access-date=October 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208165348/http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/100310aaa.html|archive-date=December 8, 2015}}</ref> The [[Big Game (football)|Big Game]] between Stanford and [[California Golden Bears football|Cal]] on November 11, 1905, was the first played at [[Stanford Field]], with Stanford winning 12–5.<ref name=migdol/>

In 1906, citing concerns about the violence in American Football, universities on the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]], led by [[University of California, Berkeley|California]] and [[Stanford University|Stanford]], replaced the sport with rugby union.<ref name=park>{{cite journal
 |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JSH/JSH1984/JSH1103/jsh1103b.pdf
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807203402/http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JSH/JSH1984/JSH1103/jsh1103b.pdf
 |archive-date=August 7, 2010
|title=From Football to Rugby—and Back, 1906–1919: The University of California–Stanford University Response to the "Football Crisis of 1905" 
 |last=Park 
 |first=Roberta J 
 |journal=Journal of Sport History 
 |volume=11 
 |number=3 
 |page=33 
 |date=Winter 1984 
}}</ref> At the time, the future of American football was very much in doubt and these schools believed that rugby union would eventually be adopted nationwide.<ref name=park/> Other schools followed suit and also made the switch included [[University of Nevada, Reno|Nevada]], [[Saint Mary's College of California|St. Mary's]], [[Santa Clara University|Santa Clara]], and [[University of Southern California|USC]] (in 1911).<ref name=park/> However, due to the perception that West Coast football was inferior to the game played on the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] anyway, East Coast and Midwest teams shrugged off the loss of the teams and continued playing American football.<ref name=park/> With no nationwide movement, the available pool of rugby teams to play remained small.<ref name=park/> The schools scheduled games against local club teams and reached out to rugby union powers in Australia, New Zealand, and especially, due to its proximity, Canada. The annual [[Big Game (American football)|Big Game]] between Stanford and California continued as rugby, with the winner invited by the [[British Columbia Rugby Union]] to a tournament in Vancouver over the Christmas holidays, with the winner of that tournament receiving the Cooper Keith Trophy.<ref name=park/><ref name=goldsmith>
{{cite journal
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JAMTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA742
|title=Why California Likes Rugby
|last=Goldsmith
|first=A. A
|pages=742–750
|journal=Outing
|date=October 1913 – March 1914
|volume=63
}}</ref><ref name=bcru>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.bcrugby.com/bcrugby/index.php?submenu=HISTORY&src=gendocs&ref=History&category=About_Us 
 |title=History 
 |publisher=British Columbia Rugby Union 
 |access-date=October 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415083752/http://www.bcrugby.com/bcrugby/index.php?submenu=HISTORY&src=gendocs&ref=History&category=About_Us 
 |archive-date=April 15, 2012}}</ref>

During 12 seasons of playing rugby union, Stanford was remarkably successful: the team had three undefeated seasons, three one-loss seasons, and an overall record of 94 wins, 20 losses, and 3 ties for a winning percentage of .816. However, after a few years, the school began to feel the isolation of its newly adopted sport, which was not spreading as many had hoped. Students and alumni began to clamor for a return to American football to allow wider intercollegiate competition.<ref name=park/> The pressure at rival California was stronger (especially as the school had not been as successful in the Big Game as they had hoped), and in 1915 California returned to American football. As reasons for the change, the school cited rule change back to American football, the overwhelming desire of students and supporters to play American football, interest in playing other East Coast and Midwest schools, and a patriotic desire to play an "American" game.<ref name=park/> California's return to American football increased the pressure on Stanford to also change back in order to maintain the rivalry. Stanford played its 1915, 1916, and 1917 "Big Games" as rugby union against [[Santa Clara Broncos|Santa Clara]] and California's football "Big Game" in those years was against [[Washington Huskies football|Washington]], but both schools desired to restore the old traditions.<ref name=park/> The onset of American involvement in World War I gave Stanford an out: In 1918, the Stanford campus was designated as the Students' Army Training Corps headquarters for all of California, [[Nevada]], and [[Utah]], and the commanding officer Sam M. Parker decreed that American football was the appropriate athletic activity to train soldiers and rugby union was dropped.<ref name=park/>