PENN STATE FOOTBALL HISTORY

The Beaver Field Pictorial is a collection of Penn State sports programs, starting from November 17, 1916, to June of 1925. Most of the contents are football-related, but there are also some cross country and track and field programs. One of the first programs in the book shows the details of the State College vs. Lehigh University football game that was played on November 8, 1919, at Beaver Field. Penn State, led by coach Hugo Bezdek, won the rivalry 20-7. In addition to being football head coach, Bezdek was the director of all athletics at Penn State. He was referred to as the “miracle man” of Penn State football, as “no one prior to him had ever received such praise from the student body.” Contemporary fans might be surprised to learn that there was a freshman football squad in addition to the varsity team. These two teams played entirely different schedules, both of which are outlined in the collection of programs. While the style of the program may have changed over time, Penn State’s love of football is still going strong over a century later.