University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1909-10-16
"POP" BLISS AND THE
FAMOUS TEAM OF '95

AS is tne case tnlS year tue UulNeI-
sity of Missouri football team of 1895
began with a new coach. He was also
an Eastern man-"Pop" Bliss. half
back on the Yale team for three years.
Missouri's line and backfield promised
to be the strongest in years, but a
Quarterback was lacking. Evans
was tried at that position by Pop"
Bliss, and he made good instantly. A
practice game was played against the
Sedalia Athletic Club which the Tigers
easily won.
The game with Vanderbilt Univer-
sity came next. All the faults had
been corrected by the strenuous coach
ing of Bliss and the Tigers were in
excellent shape for the Southerners.
The game was played in Columbia,
and resulted in a victory for the
Tigers, 16 to 0. Many people from
other towns came to see the game.
Reporters from those town papers said
that the sport as brutal, and the fact
that three visitors had their arms
broken shows that the Tiger must
have been in a vicious mood.
A wee,: later Missouri met the Pur-
due ''boilermakers" in ST. Louis They
were 20 pounds per man heavier than
the old gold and black and strutted
about before the contest offering odds.
The Tigers fumbled the kickoff, and
Purdue made a touchdown in three
minutes. Captain Young gave the dis
and they tore at the Purdue men,
played them off their feet, and won
IL TO 9. That year the "boilermakers"
defeated Minnesota 30 to 0.
Hepauw College was easily beaten
81 to Q. and then the Tigers met their
only defeat at Omaha when the Ne
braska eleven won 10 to u. The
Corrhuskars won when they blocked
a Tiger kick on the 5-yard line.
and one OF their men fell on it. Three
- en- tell on the oval about the same
time-two Tigers and one Cornhusker
rhe referee gave Nebraska the touch
down. The Tigers claimed touch
back but their kick was of no avail.
Missouri won another hard-fought
battle-this time from Northwestern
by a score OF % to- IS. Northwestern
was regarded as the champion of the
West and their rooters offered big
odds with no takers. The Tigers
were again playing on foreign field.
Price, the Tiger halfback, starred in
the game, and it was due mainly to
him that Missouri won.
Iowa was the next victim, the Hawk
eyes being defeated by "a to score.
The game was played on Monday, so
jas to give the merchants and towns
people of Columbia an opportunity to
see the contest. The day was an ideal
one, and spectators made a complete
@ircle four deep about the field. Iowa
tried hard to stave off defeat, but the
Tigers goal line was never in peril. |
An account of the game says that the
Tigers showing was disappointing.
They did not play the game they
were capable of, but loafed like Sec
tion hands,"
But in the last game of the season
the Kansas game-the Tigers did |
not loaf. Wherever old students of |
the University who witnessed that |
contest gather, the events of that |
Thanksgiving afternoon are reviewed. |
The grounds were sea of mud, and |
the elevens settled down to hard, dog
ged fighting. Kansas scored first on |
brilliant end run. Again and again |
the Jayhawkers threatened the Mis-
souri, goal, and kept the Tigers on the |
defensive. Finally fake kick brought |
the oval into the Kansas territory
and a touchdown followed. The back
field played as unit, and Price, Bing-
nam, Shawhan, and Captain Young
worked like TrOjanS in the mud
In the second half Missouri battered
the Jayhawker defence to pieces and
scored the touchdown that won the
game. But even here the Kansans re-
fused to accept defeat. Again and
again they rallied and carried the oval
toward the Tiger goal. On the side
lines Pop Bliss roared words of
encouragement to his charges, and
the Tiger line held. The game ended
with the ball on NJ. Us 7-yard line
with the Tigers victors, 10 to 6.
Wordsworth Up to Date.