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1953 California

4–⁠4–⁠2 (2–⁠2–⁠2 Pacific Coast Conference), coached by Pappy Waldorf.

Schedule and results

California in 1953, game by game: lost vs. Baylor 0–25; won at Oregon State 26–0; lost vs. No. 6 Ohio State 19–33; won at No. 20 Pennsylvania 40–0; won vs. San José State 34–14; lost vs. No. 11 USC 20–32; lost at No. 10 UCLA 7–20; won vs. Washington 53–25; tied vs. Oregon 0–0; tied at No. 16 Stanford 21–21+40−25Lost 0–25 vs. Baylor-25BaylorWon 26–0 at Oregon State+26Oregon StateLost 19–33 vs. No. 6 Ohio State-14No. 6 Ohio StateWon 40–0 at No. 20 Pennsylvania+40No. 20 PennsylvaniaWon 34–14 vs. San José State+20San José StateLost 20–32 vs. No. 11 USC-12No. 11 USCLost 7–20 at No. 10 UCLA-13No. 10 UCLAWon 53–25 vs. Washington+28WashingtonTied 0–0 vs. Oregon0OregonTied 21–21 at No. 16 Stanford0No. 16 Stanford
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 19vsBaylorL 0–⁠2564%
Sep 26atOregon StateW 26–⁠062%
Oct 3vs6Ohio StateL 19–⁠3357%
Oct 10at20PennsylvaniaW 40–⁠040%
Oct 17vsSan José StateW 34–⁠1473%
Oct 24vs11USCL 20–⁠3246%
Oct 31at10UCLAL 7–⁠2026%
Nov 7vsWashingtonW 53–⁠2560%
Nov 14vsOregonT 0–⁠077%
Nov 21at16StanfordT 21–⁠2144%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Tied Stanford 21–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Pacific Coast Conference.

In program history: The 23rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 14
  2. Wk 4: 16

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1953.

Led the nationPaul Larson: total offense (1,572 yds)

Record
4–⁠4–⁠2
Conference
2–⁠2–⁠2 4th in Pacific Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 14
Points
220–⁠170
Coach
Pappy Waldorf
Elo
1594 −3 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
7.0 No. 35 of 110 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

All-Pacific Coast

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1953 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1953 Pacific Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
UCLA6–⁠18–⁠25
Stanford5–⁠1–⁠16–⁠3–⁠119
USC4–⁠2–⁠16–⁠3–⁠1
California2–⁠2–⁠24–⁠4–⁠2
Washington State3–⁠44–⁠6
Oregon State3–⁠53–⁠6
Washington2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
Oregon2–⁠5–⁠14–⁠5–⁠1
Idaho0–⁠31–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.