Time flies by and sometimes important milestones are
missed.
=SEPT. 23, 1967
Such is the case with the 1967 Linfield football team which upset
the University of Hawaii in Honolulu 15-13 on Saturday night, Sept. 23, 1967. It
was the first game of the final season of Paul Durham as Linfield head football
coach. We should have celebrated 50 years since that victory on Sept. 23 of
2017. Scroll down to read about the game in Honolulu.
=SEPT. 21, 1968
On Saturday night, Sept. 21, 1968, Linfield upset Boise State
in Boise. It was the first game of the first season of Ad Rutschman as Linfield
head football coach. We can celebrate 50 years since that win on Sept. 21 of
2018. Scroll down to read about the game in Boise.
1967: IN HONOLULU, UPSET OF UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII
Sept. 23, 1967, in Honolulu, before 20,000, the largest
crowd to ever see a Wildcat sporting event, Linfield upset favored University
of Hawaii 15-13. The hot and rainy night game was played at old wooden Honolulu
Stadium. A story about the game in a Honolulu daily newspaper said, “Hawaii
gave it a good try, but the Rainbows were outgunned by the visitors from Oregon
…”
Tim Kubli's three field goals; the passing of starting
quarterback Mike Barrow, which included one TD pass; the running of Ed Griffin
and the pass receptions of Rogers Ishizu were the big factors in the Linfield
win said the Associated Press. Hawaii led 7-3 at halftime, but Linfield
outscored the opponent 12-6 in the second half.
Before the game, Durham told a Honolulu daily newspaper sports
editor, “I think Hawaii should be favored by 50 points.” Durham and his
assistant coaches (Roy Helser and Ted Wilson) claimed to be “scared to death”
about the Hawaii football team, “a rough, tough aggregation” which included
eight transfers from Air Force Academy alone as well as other transfers from
Nebraska, Southern Cal and Washington. But, Durham added, “We have a highly
competitive team and I am sure we will make it a good game.”
Both Linfield and Hawaii “went into the (contest) with 11
players from Hawaii on each of their rosters. “Linfield started six players
from Hawaii, more than Hawaii got into the game,” according to the Oregonian.
After the 1967 season, Durham retired as Linfield football
coach and he picked Ad Rutschman, one of his former players, as his successor.
Durham planned to stay at Linfield as athletic director and continue teaching.
But, he was offered the University of Hawaii athletic director job and took it.
There were several reasons Durham got the university job, one being the Wildcat
football team win over Hawaii in Honolulu.
1968: UPSET OF BOISE STATE IN BOISE
Sept. 21, 1968, in Boise. Linfield’s Wildcats upset the
Boise State College (now Boise State University) Broncos, 17-7. It was Ad
Rutschman’s first game as Linfield head football coach and Boise State’s first
game as a four-year school. The contest was played in 40-degree temperatures in
the original (built in 1950) Bronco Stadium with wood grandstands on the east
end of Boise State’s campus.
In the game, Linfield QB Len Gann threw a TD pass to Bob
Murphy, and Jim Consbruck intercepted a Boise State pass and ran it 42 yards
for a TD. Tim Kubli kicked two PATs and a field goal. Linfield led 14-0 at
halftime.
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