![]() so Oberlin could catch the last train home. The team captains agreed on a shortened second half, to end at 4:50 p.m. The game in Ann Arbor was close all the way. Oberlin's team trainer, "nurse to the wounded," was pre-med student Clarence Hemingway, who would go on to practice medicine in Oak Park, Illinois, and pass on his love of hunting in Michigan to his son, future novelist Ernest Hemingway. Oberlin's best lineman was theology student John Henry Wise, half-German, half-Hawaiian, who after graduation returned to his island home and joined the 1895 Counter-Revolution aimed at toppling the Republic of Hawaii and restoring Queen Liliuokalani and the monarchy. The team's fastest running back was Charles Savage, who a few years later would become Oberlin's director of athletics and, like Heisman, a nationally prominent figure. Notable among the Oberlin visitors was their new player-coach John Heisman, who had been hired away from the University of Pennsylvania by the Oberlin Athletic Association (a student-run enterprise in those days) and who brought an undefeated team with him to Ann Arbor. On a cold Saturday afternoon in November 1892, Oberlin's team took the field in Ann Arbor against a heavily favored Michigan squad which had trounced them handily the year before. Michigan Oberlin College football team, 1892 As a result, Oberlin named their athletics booster club after Heisman, in an attempt encourage support for all of Oberlin's athletic programs. The Heisman name is more famous today than back in 1892, being synonymous with the award for most outstanding player in college football. His contribution to Oberlin was in proving that an intelligent coach was an integral part of the sport. Heisman became known as the leading pioneer in developing the game of football into what it is today with formation shifts, centering the ball, and forward passing. To this day, the Wolverines still claim they won the contest but all agree that both sides played the game as it should have been played (without any slugging.) Because Heisman enrolled in post graduate courses in art, he was permitted to play football for Oberlin as he participated in the late stages of some games near the end of the season. In 1892 the "O" Men, as they were called at the time, were led by Heisman to their first undefeated season with a perfect 7–0 record, beating their opponents by an average score of 37-4 which included two wins over Ohio State and one over Michigan. The hiring of Heisman enabled Oberlin to become one of the leading team's in the Midwest. In those days football was quite popular in the East and was just beginning to take root in the Midwest. Heisman was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he starred as an end in football. The faculty had not approved football as a sport prior to 1891, but it agreed to hire Heisman as head coach for the 1892 season because he was recommended by Walter Camp. He coached the teams in 18, the second and fourth seasons that football was a varsity sport at the college. Oberlin was the first school coached by the legendary John Heisman. ![]() History John Heisman Legendary coach John Heisman got his start at Oberlin. Eventually, as the athletic department became more cohesive, the Yeomen mascot was adopted, drawing on the phonetic sound of "O" Men and the schools official motto of "Learning and Labor". Early on in the program, football players and other athletes were known simply as Oberlin Men or "O" Men. The name Yeomen arose in the early 1900s as a result of blending the former team moniker with the schools official motto. Knowlton Athletics Complex, built in 2014. The college plays its home games in the Austin E. The program is known for having begun the coaching career of player and coach John Heisman, being the last in-state team to defeat Ohio State, and for having one of the worst records in college football history from 1990 to 2001.Īfter initially helping form the Ohio Athletic Conference in 1902, Oberlin is now part of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), of which it is a founding member. The Oberlin Yeomen football program represents Oberlin College in college football at the NCAA Division III level. "Oberlin, Our Alma Mater" aka "Ten Thousand Strong" US collegiate football program Oberlin Yeomen football
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