The punt traveled a total of 97 yards and would (as of 2006) rank as the second longest of college football history if pre-1937 statistics were included in the NCAA record book.Ĭasanova was Santa Clara's team captain in his senior year under coach Adam Walsh, who had played at Notre Dame under Knute Rockne. He punted a ball that went out of bounds on the Saint Mary's one-yard line. With the ball resting on the Santa Clara two-yard line, Casanova was called on to punt from his own end zone. A popular rivalry since its origination in 1895, the "Little Big Game" between Santa Clara and Saint Mary's was played annually in front of packed crowds at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. He first made headlines as a player for Santa Clara in 1924 after his heroics in a game against Saint Mary's. In 1924, Casanova was playing halfback and punting for Santa Clara. As a freshman in a game against Stanford, he picked up a fumble and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown. In the 1923 Ferndale High School yearbook, under the column "Expected to Be" in the "Senior Horoscope" section, Casanova listed his future career as "football coach".Ĭasanova entered Santa Clara University in the fall of 1923 and played football and baseball from 1923 through 1927. In his senior year, he also played basketball and baseball and was president of the student body. While in high school, Casanova delivered newspapers and worked at a meat market in town. He practiced winter and summer and turned out to be quite a punter in college." The coach gave him a football to take home and practice with. One of Casanova's early athletic feats came in the first game that year against Arcata High School when, as a left-footed kicker, he drop-kicked a 45-yard field goal as Ferndale defeated the Tigers, 10–0.Ĭlark Bugbee, a high school teammate, later recalled that "Cas wanted to be a good punter. The Ferndale team ended the season with seven wins in eight games. He got his start in football in the early 1920s when he played halfback for Ferndale High School, and in 1922 he captained the Ferndale team to a co-championship with Eureka High School. Casanova was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1977.Ĭasanova was born to Swiss-American immigrants, John and Marie Ursula Casanov on Jon a ranch in the Grizzly Bluff area near Ferndale, California. After retiring from coaching, he served as the athletic director at Oregon. Casanova was also the head baseball coach at Santa Clara from 1940 to 1942, tallying a mark of 39–25. He served as the head football coach at Santa Clara University (1946–1949), the University of Pittsburgh (1950), and the University of Oregon (1951–1966), compiling a career college football record of 104–94–11. Leonard Joseph Casanova (J– September 30, 2002) was an American football and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator.
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March 2023
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