Hall of Fame Spotlight: Ken Simonton
October 09, 2015 | Football
By Brooks Hatch
OSUBeavers.com
No player is more associated with the dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the Oregon State football program than No. 35, Ken Simonton.
Fittingly, the man who played a pivotal role in completely changing the culture of the program will be inducted into the Oregon State Athletics Hall of Fame during Homecoming weekend, Oct. 23-24.
“I think it's a great honor,” Simonton said. “I feel even more so when I find out how long it's been since a football player has been inducted.
“It validates my initial decision to come to Oregon State and to be part of the turnaround of the program. It's a great honor. It's really rewarding.”
A powerful, durable tailback who lettered from 1998-2001, Simonton set still-standing school records in career rushing (5,044); attempts (1.041); touchdowns (59) and 100-yard games (26). He was the first Beaver to gain 1,000 or more yards in three seasons.
The Pittsburg, Calif., native led the Beavers to the 2000 Pacific-10 Conference co-championship and an 11-1 season that culminated with a 41-9 rout of Notre Dame in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl by rushing for a since-broken school-record 1,559 yards and 19 touchdowns. That team finished No. 4 in the final Associated Press top-25 poll, the highest ranking in school history.
He also led the Beavers to the 1999 O'ahu Bowl, their first postseason appearance in 37 seasons, by rushing for 1,449 yards, a school record he would break the following season, and 19 touchdowns.
He still ranks second all-time in OSU career scoring (366 points) and ranked second all-time in Pac-10 career rushing upon graduation. He was a Pac-10 all-star and All-American in 2000.
Simonton was front-and-center in two of the most memorable regular-season wins in OSU history.
He scored four touchdowns, including the winner in the second overtime, in a 44-41 victory over Oregon in the 1998 Civil War, the final game at Parker Stadium.
Two years later, he rushed for 234 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-21 win over USC at Reser Stadium on Sept. 30, 2000, that snapped a 33-year winless streak against the Trojans.
The entire 2015 class will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 23. A reception for this year's honorees will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Club level of Reser Stadium; dinner and the induction ceremony will follow at 7 p.m.
Simonton and the other inductees – gymnast Heidi Anderson, former baseball coach Jack Riley, former basketball student-athlete and coach Jimmy Anderson, longtime coach, athletic administrator and faculty member Pat Ingram, and the 2005 College World Series baseball team – will also be honored during the football game against Colorado on Saturday, Oct. 24. To be a part of the ceremony please register here.
The OSU Athletics Hall of Fame was established to honor and preserve the memory of those student-athletes, teams, coaches, and members of the athletic staff who have contributed in an outstanding and positive way to the promotion of OSU's athletic and academic programs.
