page_title: History of Oregon State Beavers football
section_title: 1933 "Men of Iron
hierarchical_section_title: History of Oregon State Beavers football / Stiner years / 1933 "Men of Iron
caption_attribution_description: English: American football player Len Younce on a 1948 Bowman card.
context_page_description: The History of Oregon State Beavers football covers more than 120 seasons since the team began play in 1893.
context_section_description: In 1933, Oregon State promoted assistant coach Lon Stiner to be the new head coach. In their first four games under Stiner, the Beavers went 3–0–1, outscoring their opponents, 62–0. In game five, Oregon State's Norman "Ramblin' Red" Franklin returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown, as Stiner's team defeated the San Francisco Dons, 12–7, using only 12 players. In week 6, Stiner coached in one of the greatest upset ties in college football history.  On October 21, 1933, eleven Beaver "Iron Men" fought USC to a scoreless tie in what many consider to be the greatest game in Oregon State football history.  The Trojans, defending two-time national champions, brought 25-game winning streak and an 80-man squad to Multnomah Stadium in Portland, Oregon, and saw their win streak broken by the Beavers.  The Beavers did not make a substitution, playing only 11 men, each of whom played both ways for the entire 60 minutes. Red Franklin also had two interceptions in the Beavers' red zone, which helped to fend off the Trojan attack. The 1933 team was immortalized in a line of Oregon State's fight song, "Men of Iron, their strength will never yield."
  The following game, in the second quarter, Oregon State's Clyde Devine blocked a Washington State punt, which rolled back into the end zone for a safety.  The lone score held up as the Ironmen beat the Cougars 2–0, using only one substitute.  The Washington State game is also memorable because it saw the first use of the Pyramid Play.  The Beavers also used the play twice in a 13–3 loss to 7–0 Oregon, which knocked the Beavers out of the Rose Bowl race.  Instead, 5–1–2 Oregon State traveled back to the Polo Grounds for a rematch with Fordham.  The Rams were a much better team than the year before.  They were 6–1 with wins against West Virginia 20–0 and New York 20–12.  They also provided Alabama and Boston College with their only losses in 1933 by a combined score of 34–6.  It was generally accepted that a win over the Beavers would secure a berth in the 1934 Rose Bowl, so they naturally were very motivated.  However, Red Franklin returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and a 6–0 Oregon State lead.  After the Rams scored a touchdown in the second quarter, the Beavers successfully used the Pyramid Play to keep the score tied at six.  With just over a minute left in the first half, Oregon State's Adolphe Schwammel's 46-yard field goal cleared the crossbar by three feet to beat the Rams 9–6.  The Beavers had allowed only four completed passes all year, but the Rams completed 10 in the loss.  The few Beaver fans that had made the cross-country trip were enough to tear down both goalposts.  The loss knocked Fordham out of the Rose Bowl picture; Columbia went instead.  The win over Fordham remains the easternmost Oregon State victory since the 1928 victory over New York.
  The Fordham game was scheduled to be the last game of the season, but 7–1 Nebraska coaxed Oregon State to Lincoln, Nebraska, on Thanksgiving Day with promises of two more games in 1935 and 1936.  The season thus ended with a 22–0 loss at the hands of Nebraska, but the two losses were the fewest for the Beavers in seven years.
  The 1933 Beavers were the last to face a Paul Schissler-type schedule.  From 1934 to 1948, Oregon State only scheduled three trips out of the two time zones of the Pacific Coast Conference.
caption: Len Younce is a member of the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team
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