Hall of Fame
Football (1919-23)
One of the peaks in University of Nevada football history came in the early 1920’s when R.E. “Corky” Courtwright was coaching the Sagebrushers. During his five-year regime in Reno, the Nevadans won 25 games, lost 13, tied 7 and set all-time scoring records. Courtwright began as a one-man coaching staff in football, track and basketball. His basketball teams won 18 games and lost 15. Later he was to have a grid assistant, L.T. “Buck” Shaw, who became Nevada head coach in 1925-28, and went on to be a famous college and pro coach. Courtwright had been an all-around star at the University of Oklahoma, earning seven varsity letters in three sports. A promising baseball pitcher, he was desired by Pittsburgh Pirates until he hurt his arm. Despite Nevada’s small student body and scanty personnel outmanned and outweighed by most opponents, Courtwright’s teams took on such giants as USC, California and Stanford and more than held their own against Utah, Santa Clara, Utah State and St. Mary’s. They ran up an all-time high of 134-0 over College of Pacific and swamped Mar Island Marines 102-0. In 1920, Courtwright’s Nevada team became the first mainland football 11 to play in the Hawaiian Islands. They beat Hawaii and tied Outrigger Club. The traveling footballers also doubled up in basketball and won two of three hoop games in the Islands. His biggest career highlight came in 1923 when Reno played California’s “Wonder Team,” which was the highest-scoring machine of its time and regarded as Alabama and Notre Dame are today. The outmanned little Nevada team held the mighty Bears to a scoreless tie. Courtwright moved from Nevada to coaching at Colorado Mines and then joined Michigan’s staff. He later entered the insurance field.
