One of the most surprising teams in the history of college football was the 1967 Oregon State Beavers, known as the Giant Killers. They accomplished things on the football field that had not been done and have not been done since. They beat the number one team and the number two team, and also tied another number two team.
The Giant Killers were lead by big fullback Bill Enyart, quarterback Steve Preece, tight end Gary Houser, center John Dideon and a bunch of other mostly no name and unknown players. Enyart was their bell cow, though, no doubt about it. He set the tone with toughness.
The Beavers started their season off strongly in 1967 with three wins. They beat Stanford, Arizona State and a very bad Iowa Hawkeye team. But, then, they lost to Washington and BYU to stand at 3-2 after five games and were thought of as nothing special.
Just as it looked as though it would be a mediocre season for the Beavers, they traveled to West
Lafayette, Indiana to take on 2nd ranked Purdue. The Boilermakers were loaded with great players such as Leroy Keyes, Perry Williams and Mike Phipps, to name a few.
The Oregon State Beavers controlled the game and came out with a 22-14 win to improve their record to 4-2.
Unranked Washington State was next and the Beavers trounced the Cougars 35-7.
Next up for the Beavers was the 2nd ranked UCLA Bruins and the game was at their place, in Los Angeles. The Bruins were in the mix for the national championship. All they had to do was beat Oregon State, Washington and USC. The Oregon State Beavers would be a challenge with their 5-2 record, but Washington was terrible. Their rival, the USC Trojans, were also one of the leading contenders for the national championship.
The Bruins had quarterback Gary Beban who would win the Heisman Trophy this season. Dan Manning was All Conference at linebacker and a leader on their defense.
Just like in the state of Indiana when the Giant Killers trampled on the Boilermakers in West Lafayette, the Beavers gave the Bruins all kinds of fits. The Bruins came in with a 6-0 record and the 2nd ranking in the polls. They beat Penn State and were the last team to defeat the Nittany Lions until September of 1970.
When the smoke cleared, the underdog Beavers had tied the Bruins, 17-17.
The following week, November 11, 1967 saw the Oregon State Beavers host the now top ranked USC Trojans. In one of the most stunning upsets of all time, Oregon State stuffed the mega talented OJ Simpson all day long and held the mighty Trojans scoreless for the entire game. USC complained about the condition of the field, but it was what it was. The field was muddy and supposedly in very poor condition. The Beavers, led by powerful fullback Bill Enyart, were able to get the ball close
enough to kick a field goal and they beat USC, 3-0.
To say this was a good USC football team would be the understatement of the year. They had 5 guys go in the first round of the 1968 NFL Draft including left tackle Ron Yary who some considered the best offensive lineman of all time. He may very well had been the greatest of his day.
The Trojans also had junior and sophomore talent. They had the very first player picked in the 1968 draft in Ron Yary and the very first player picked in the 1969 NFL draft in O.J. Simpson. In the 1970 NFL draft, defensive lineman Al Cowlings was the 5th player selected. This was a good USC Trojan football team and they won the national championship in 1967 and lost the following season in the Rose Bowl to the Super Sophomores of Ohio State who won it all. Over a three year period from 1967 through 1969, the USC Trojans finished with a very impressive record of 29-2-2.
Beating USC was kind of a big deal and the Giant Killer name stuck.
The Beavers closed out the 1967 season with the 8th ranking in the polls and a 14-10 victory over the cross state rivals, Oregon.
There were no bowl games for the members of the Pac 12 back in those years, so it was over for the Beavers with a 7-2-1 record.
The Earthquake Bill Enyart made some All American teams in 1967 as a fullback while running for 851 yards and 8 touchdowns.
Enyart wasn’t always the Earthquake and he wasn’t always a fullback.
Before he was the Earthquake, Enyart was born in Oklahoma. His family moved to Medford, Oregon when he was 11 years old supposedly to escape the heat of the midlands area which isn’t a bad idea at all for me.
Also, Kamagra isn’t provided while not a prescription and albeit you have got purchasing this women viagra ordered it on-line, your medical profile is reviewed by drug provider before the delivery. Use of Caverta pills can be done tadalafil cialis about it. So, whenever you use the sex toys, wash or sterilize them to avoid buy at store levitra samples infections. According to a renowned nutritionist, deficiencies in certain nutrients that take their toll on their bodies as well as their generic viagra sample mind. Enyart was a great athlete and played not only football, but basketball and baseball. He went to school with the famous high jumper Dick Fosbury who obviously invented the Fosbury Flop which every high jumper uses these days. The Medford High School football team posted a 26-3-1 record during Enyart’s three seasons on the varsity.
Oregon State was not the bottom dweller in the Pac Conference then as it has been lately. Oregon, also did not have the rep then as it does now, and Bill Enyart elected to sign with the Beavers of Oregon State. That was a decision he would not regret.
As you well know, freshmen could not play on the varsity in the years before 1972 and Enyart played on the freshman team. As a sophomore, Enyart was a starting linebacker on a good, 7-3, Beaver team coached by Dee Andros.
Enyart requested to be moved to fullback and the legend of the Earthquake began.
Even though, the Beavers were famous for their 1967 season and the Giant Killers, Enyart’s best season was actually during his senior year in 1968.
The Beavers came into the season ranked 8th based on the previous year’s success. They promptly lost a one point game to Iowa in their season opener.
The following game against Utah was the Earthquake’s best game of his college career. Quarterback Steve Preece was injured and had to sit out and the Beaver coaches moved wingback Bobby Mayes to quarterback. His orders were to hand the ball off to fullback Enyart.
Bill Enjart carried the football 50 times for a school record 299 yards rushing, which is still a school record.
Oregon State beat Utah 24-21 and then went on to beat Washington.
Enyart scored 4 touchdowns against Kentucky, but it was not enough as the Beavers lost by one single point again, 34-35.
Standing at 2-2, the Beavers went on a winning streak and beat Arizona State, Washington State, Stanford and UCLA. That set up a rematch with number one ranked USC with a very hot OJ Simpson. Rational thinking has the Trojans blowing out the Beavers and gaining revenge for beating them the previous season in Corvallis.
But, it was a close, tough ball game with the USC Trojans finally prevailing 17-13.
Oregon State closed out 1968 with a easy beating of rival Oregon, 41-19. There would be no bowl games and the Beavers closed out their season with a 7-3 record with the 3 losses totaling only 5 points.
The Earthquake ran for a school record 1,304 yards rushing on 293 carries.
Bill Enyart was a first team All American in 1968 along with Heisman winner O.J. Simpson. After he used up his college eligibility, Enyart was drafted with the Buffalo Bills 1st pick of the 2nd round. Their first pick had been old Enyart rival OJ Simpson.
In the NFL, Enyart was supposed to be the blocking back for Simpson, but injuries shortened his career and he only played for 3 seasons.
Enyart was a bright guy and took school seriously. He earned a degree in economics at Oregon State and he did well after football.
Unfortunately, on February 10th, 2015 the ideal fullback passed away from prostate cancer at the age of 67.
In two seasons as the starting fullback in an old fashioned Split T offense, Bill the Earthquake Enyart, ran for 2,155 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Defenders have memories of him running at them with blood all over his nose and probably spit flying everywhere.
Bill Enyart, he was a real man.