Colorado State University Athletics
Memorable Moments: Eight-Game Schedules of the Past
11/19/2020 2:00:00 PM | Football
This year marks fewest regular-season games since 1945
The 2020 football season is certainly one which will go down in the history books as a unique year of football. Coach Steve Addazio began his first year as the Rams mentor on October 29, 2020 – five days later than expected -- marking the latest any head coach has begun his career at CSU to start a new season. The 2020 campaign is the second-latest season opener in school history; the latest happened during the last pandemic on November 16, 1918.
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The 2020 season also marks the fewest regular season games the Rams have played football since the very first year the students adopted the nickname "Rams" in 1945. Few CSU football fans can even remember the war-shortened 1945 football season in which the Aggie-Rams had to play the University of Northern Colorado twice and had to receive special permission to play soldiers at Fort Warren, Wyoming to make a full season. The 2020 season was to be the 12th football season in which eight games were played during the entire year, but to seven when the original opener with New Mexico was canceled.
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The Aggies have mustered a 47-33-8 (.588) record over those previous campaigns with three of the 11 seasons being conference championship years. It was 100 years ago when the 1920 Aggies went 6-1-1 and took the Rocky Mountain Conference title for the second year in a row.
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The 1920 team may have been one of Harry Hughes' finest teams with their only loss of the season a very respectable 7-0 defeat by Nebraska in Lincoln; the closest any CSU and Nebraska game has ever ended. A 7-all tie to Colorado did not blemish their strong 1920 season and several players, including Harry Scott, "Hap" Dotson, Duane Hartshorn, Charles Bresnahan and John Ratekin were named to the all-conference team. The 1920 Aggies racked up 152 points to their opponent's 14. All six of the Aggies wins were shutout victories, a record which still stands for the most shutouts in a season.
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There were seasons in which the Aggies played more than eight games and other seasons they played less, but as we look at the winning record CSU has had during seasons in which they have only played eight games, there are many memorable games, players and moments. The 1919 season, with a 7-1 record, was not only the first season in which the Aggies only played eight games, it was another of the great Hughes conference championship teams.
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The Aggies also won their sixth conference title during an eight-game season when they went 7-1 in 1927. That team was one that had no great stars but is still considered the most balanced football team Hughes had over his 31-year career as the Aggies' head coach. Players like Fay "Tex" Rankin, Glen Davis, Rollie Caldwell and Dan Beattie rounded out the champions of 1927. The climax of the season came on November 26th when the Aggies faced the Colorado College Tigers at Washburn Field for the head-to-head match-up for the championship.
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The Tigers' star player was legendary Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Earl "Dutch" Clark, who had run his way all over the opposing Rocky Mountain Conference teams. Despite Clark's impressive performance in front of 12,000 fans packed into every corner of Washburn Field, the Aggies came out on top 20-7 to claim their sixth championship in 13 seasons.
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Not every year in which the Aggies played only eight games has been a winning season, but seven of the 11 seasons were winning campaigns. The last eight-game season was a disappointing 2-5-1 year which was similar to 2020 when fans felt lucky to have any football.
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After two years of no football during WWII, the Aggies were able to muster up enough men to form a team just four weeks after Japan surrendered to end the war. Coach Julius "Hans" Wagner took every able-bodied man he could, including a 17-year-old quarterback named Bob Hainlen, who remains the youngest starting quarterback in school history. Out of the 47 men who came out for football in 1945, only four had ever played intercollegiate football. Each week the roster changed as men returned home from the war.
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The 2020 football season will be one of many firsts during another pandemic as it is expected to be the only season in which fans cannot watch the team live from the stands. Coach Addazio took the field with his Rams on October 29 and begin another new and exciting era in CSU football on television or streamed online, something the Aggies could never fathom the last time they only played eight games in one year.
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The 2020 season also marks the fewest regular season games the Rams have played football since the very first year the students adopted the nickname "Rams" in 1945. Few CSU football fans can even remember the war-shortened 1945 football season in which the Aggie-Rams had to play the University of Northern Colorado twice and had to receive special permission to play soldiers at Fort Warren, Wyoming to make a full season. The 2020 season was to be the 12th football season in which eight games were played during the entire year, but to seven when the original opener with New Mexico was canceled.
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The Aggies have mustered a 47-33-8 (.588) record over those previous campaigns with three of the 11 seasons being conference championship years. It was 100 years ago when the 1920 Aggies went 6-1-1 and took the Rocky Mountain Conference title for the second year in a row.
Â
The 1920 team may have been one of Harry Hughes' finest teams with their only loss of the season a very respectable 7-0 defeat by Nebraska in Lincoln; the closest any CSU and Nebraska game has ever ended. A 7-all tie to Colorado did not blemish their strong 1920 season and several players, including Harry Scott, "Hap" Dotson, Duane Hartshorn, Charles Bresnahan and John Ratekin were named to the all-conference team. The 1920 Aggies racked up 152 points to their opponent's 14. All six of the Aggies wins were shutout victories, a record which still stands for the most shutouts in a season.
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There were seasons in which the Aggies played more than eight games and other seasons they played less, but as we look at the winning record CSU has had during seasons in which they have only played eight games, there are many memorable games, players and moments. The 1919 season, with a 7-1 record, was not only the first season in which the Aggies only played eight games, it was another of the great Hughes conference championship teams.
Â
The Aggies also won their sixth conference title during an eight-game season when they went 7-1 in 1927. That team was one that had no great stars but is still considered the most balanced football team Hughes had over his 31-year career as the Aggies' head coach. Players like Fay "Tex" Rankin, Glen Davis, Rollie Caldwell and Dan Beattie rounded out the champions of 1927. The climax of the season came on November 26th when the Aggies faced the Colorado College Tigers at Washburn Field for the head-to-head match-up for the championship.
Â
The Tigers' star player was legendary Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Earl "Dutch" Clark, who had run his way all over the opposing Rocky Mountain Conference teams. Despite Clark's impressive performance in front of 12,000 fans packed into every corner of Washburn Field, the Aggies came out on top 20-7 to claim their sixth championship in 13 seasons.
Â
Not every year in which the Aggies played only eight games has been a winning season, but seven of the 11 seasons were winning campaigns. The last eight-game season was a disappointing 2-5-1 year which was similar to 2020 when fans felt lucky to have any football.
Â
After two years of no football during WWII, the Aggies were able to muster up enough men to form a team just four weeks after Japan surrendered to end the war. Coach Julius "Hans" Wagner took every able-bodied man he could, including a 17-year-old quarterback named Bob Hainlen, who remains the youngest starting quarterback in school history. Out of the 47 men who came out for football in 1945, only four had ever played intercollegiate football. Each week the roster changed as men returned home from the war.
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The 2020 football season will be one of many firsts during another pandemic as it is expected to be the only season in which fans cannot watch the team live from the stands. Coach Addazio took the field with his Rams on October 29 and begin another new and exciting era in CSU football on television or streamed online, something the Aggies could never fathom the last time they only played eight games in one year.
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