Saturday marks the 73rd anniversary of a historic football game in Washington State history.
On Saturday, Dec. 6, 1941, Washington State College faced Texas A&M in the Evergreen Bowl before nearly 30,000 spectators at Stadium High Field in Tacoma.
Pictured is a ticket to that game, courtesy Washington State University Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections (MASC); the game program cover and the welcome message inside the program. View the entire program on the MASC website.
Note in the message that demands for tickets were so great that box seats were built and bleachers were brought in from Pullman.
The Cougars fell, 7-0, in a hard-fought game to finish the season 6-4. Read a recap of the game in the Chicago Tribune.
The significance of the loss was soon overshadowed by the significance of what happened the next day, Dec. 7, 1941.
Earl Brenneis, fullback for Washington State College during the 1941 and 1942 seasons, played for the Cougars that Saturday in Tacoma.
He returned to WSU to watch the 2013 Cougars play on Dad's Weekend against Oregon State, Oct. 12. Brenneis passed away, Nov. 26, 2013.
Before the Oregon State game, Brenneis took a moment to remember the game against Texas A&M. Read his recollections, and how the team learned the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor during the train ride back to Pullman.
“We caught the train that night,” Brenneis remembered. “We woke up in the morning and somebody went through and Pearl Harbor was bombed.
“I remember someone said, ‘Where’s Pearl Harbor?’
“Next morning we knew.”
View the game highlights, once again, courtesy Washington State University Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections, below.
Go Cougs!
Jason Krump, WSU Athletics
