California vs. Santa Clara

California and Santa Clara first met in 1922 and have played 22 times; California leads the series 17–⁠5. Over the last 10 meetings it’s California 7–⁠3, and California has won the last 6.

California wins
17
Santa Clara wins
5
Ties
0
First meeting
1922
Longest streak
10 California
Current streak
6 California
Last 10 meetings
California 7–⁠3
Most recent
1952

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1920s8–⁠0
1930s3–⁠3
1940s3–⁠2
1950s3–⁠0
Average margin
17.3 points; 7 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At California
17–⁠5 California’s record at home
Shutouts
9

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. California’s biggest win1923: California 48, Santa Clara 0by 48 points
  2. Santa Clara’s biggest win1934: Santa Clara 20, California 0by 20 points
  3. Upset1932: Santa Clara 12, California 0Santa Clara had a 10% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1933: Santa Clara 7, California 0Santa Clara had a 28% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Coach against coach

YearsCaliforniaSeriesSanta Clara
1947–⁠1949Pappy Waldorf3–⁠0Len Casanova

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from California’s side (Waldorf 3–⁠0 against Casanova). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of California and Santa Clara, 1922 on13001500170019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

From the newspapers

  • The Imperial Valley press's story of the 1926 game: So. California Sporting Briefs BY United Press Leased Wire

    1926 · Imperial Valley press, California, Sep 27, 1926

  • The The Daily Alaska empire's story of the 1928 game: GRID GAMES ON SATURDAY

    1928 · The Daily Alaska empire, Oct 1, 1928

  • The Imperial Valley press's story of the 1931 game: BELLS OF ST. MARY'S RING MERRILY in CELEBRATION OF GREAT VICTORY OVER HIGHLY TOUTED TROJAN TEAM

    1931 · Imperial Valley press, Sep 28, 1931

  • The The Bismarck tribune's story of the 1933 game: Santa Clara Beats California Again Broncos Strike Hard When Op. portunity Offers to Score 10 Triumph

    1933 · The Bismarck tribune, North Dakota, Sep 25, 1933

  • The The Daily Alaska empire's story of the 1934 game: SPEEDY BRONCO BACKS IN UPSET WIN OVER BEARS Santa Clara Humbles Cali fornia by Startling 200 Count

    1934 · The Daily Alaska empire, Alaska, Nov 5, 1934

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game

Oct 18, 19523California 27, Santa Clara 7at California
Sep 22, 1951California 34, Santa Clara 0at California
Sep 23, 1950California 27, Santa Clara 9at California
Sep 17, 1949California 21, Santa Clara 7at California
Sep 18, 1948California 41, Santa Clara 19at California
Sep 20, 1947California 33, Santa Clara 7at California
Oct 10, 1942Santa Clara 7, California 6at California
Oct 11, 1941Santa Clara 13, California 0at California
Oct 19, 1935California 6, Santa Clara 0at California
Nov 3, 1934Santa Clara 20, California 0at California
Sep 23, 1933Santa Clara 7, California 0at California
Sep 24, 1932Santa Clara 12, California 0at California
Sep 26, 1931California 6, Santa Clara 2at California
Sep 27, 1930California 19, Santa Clara 7at California
Sep 28, 1929California 27, Santa Clara 6at California
Sep 29, 1928California 22, Santa Clara 0at California
Sep 24, 1927California 14, Santa Clara 6at California
Sep 25, 1926California 13, Santa Clara 6at California
Sep 26, 1925California 28, Santa Clara 0at California
Sep 27, 1924California 13, Santa Clara 7at California
Oct 6, 1923California 48, Santa Clara 0at California
Sep 30, 1922California 45, Santa Clara 14at California

Every game is listed as played on the field.