Len Casanova

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.

With the ball resting on the Santa Clara two-yard line, Casanova was called on to punt from his own end zone.

He punted a ball that went out of bounds on the Saint Mary's one-yard line.

Leonard Joseph Casanova (June 12, 1905 – September 30, 2002) was an American football and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator.

Casanova was born to Swiss-American immigrants, John and Marie Ursula Casanov on June 12, 1905, on a ranch in the Grizzly Bluff area near Ferndale, California.

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.

The Ferndale team ended the season with seven wins in eight games.

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.

Clark Bugbee, a high school teammate, later recalled that "Cas wanted to be a good punter. The coach gave him a football to take home and practice with. He practiced winter and summer and turned out to be quite a punter in college."

While in high school, Casanova delivered newspapers and worked at a meat market in town.

In his senior year, he also played basketball and baseball and was president of the student body.

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".

Casanova entered Santa Clara University in the fall of 1923 and played football and baseball from 1923 through 1927.

As a freshman in a game against Stanford, he picked up a fumble and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown.

In 1924, Casanova was playing halfback and punting for Santa Clara.

He first made headlines as a player for Santa Clara in 1924 after his heroics in a game against Saint Mary's.

Casanova graduated in 1927 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a minor in history.

Casanova began his teaching and coaching career in 1927 at St. Joseph Military Academy in Belmont, California.

In 1928, he began teaching physical education and coaching football and baseball at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California.

He attended summer sessions at Santa Clara and obtained his teaching credential in 1932.

Following college graduation, Casanova played one season with the San Francisco Olympic Club team.

As head football coach at Sequoia High, Casanova's team won the Peninsula Athletic League championship in 1935.

In 1936, Casanova became an assistant coach at his alma mater, Santa Clara University, under the legendary "Silver Fox", Buck Shaw.

During his first year coaching at Santa Clara, the Broncos defeated LSU in the 1937 Sugar Bowl.

The following season, Santa Clara went undefeated, sharing the #9 ranking in the AP Poll with Notre Dame.

The Broncos were invited back to the Sugar Bowl where they again stunned LSU, 6–0.

Casanova was also head baseball coach at Santa Clara from 1939 to 1942.

Casanova was also the head baseball coach at Santa Clara from 1940 to 1942, tallying a mark of 39–25.

After retiring from coaching, he served as the athletic director at Oregon.

Casanova remained Shaw's assistant until Santa Clara suspended football after the 1942 season on account of World War II.

Casanova joined the United States Navy commissioned as a full Lieutenant and was discharged at the end of the war as a full naval Commander.

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.

Casanova returned to Santa Clara in 1946 as head football coach.

His 1948 team defeated Stanford, tied Michigan State, and posted an upset win over Oklahoma at Kezar Stadium, 20–17.

In 1949, the Santa Clara Broncos opened with a disappointing defeat at the hands of the California Golden Bears.

Santa Clara then went unbeaten over its next eight games, marred only by a 7–7 tie with Stanford.

After nearly upsetting Oklahoma in Norman, the Broncos were invited to play in the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Casanova was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1977.

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.

Casanova was Santa Clara's team captain in his senior year under coach Adam Walsh, who had played at Notre Dame under Knute Rockne.