CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1954 California

5–⁠5 (4–⁠3 Pacific Coast Conference), coached by Pappy Waldorf.

Schedule and results

California in 1954, game by game: lost vs. No. 2 Oklahoma 13–27; won vs. San José State 45–0; lost at No. 14 Ohio State 13–21; lost vs. Oregon 27–33; won vs. Washington State 17–7; lost at No. 17 USC 27–29; lost vs. No. 3 UCLA 6–27; won at Washington 27–6; won vs. Oregon State 46–7; won vs. Stanford 28–20+45−21Lost 13–27 vs. No. 2 Oklahoma-14No. 2 OklahomaWon 45–0 vs. San José State+45San José StateLost 13–21 at No. 14 Ohio State-8No. 14 Ohio StateLost 27–33 vs. Oregon-6OregonWon 17–7 vs. Washington State+10Washington StateLost 27–29 at No. 17 USC-2No. 17 USCLost 6–27 vs. No. 3 UCLA-21No. 3 UCLAWon 27–6 at Washington+21WashingtonWon 46–7 vs. Oregon State+39Oregon StateWon 28–20 vs. Stanford+8Stanford
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 18vs2OklahomaL 13–⁠2740%
Sep 25vsSan José StateW 45–⁠067%
Oct 2at14Ohio StateL 13–⁠2142%
Oct 9vsOregonL 27–⁠3370%
Oct 16vsWashington StateW 17–⁠762%
Oct 23at17USCL 27–⁠2932%
Oct 30vs3UCLAL 6–⁠2730%
Nov 6atWashingtonW 27–⁠653%
Nov 13vsOregon StateW 46–⁠780%
Nov 20vsStanfordW 28–⁠2068%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Stanford 28–⁠20; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Pacific Coast Conference.

In program history: The 31st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 2: 17
  3. Wk 3: 18

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 1954.

Heisman votePaul Larson, fifth

Led the nationPaul Larson: passing yards (1,537 yds); Jim Hanifan: receptions (45 catches)

Record
5–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠3 4th in Pacific Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 12
Points
249–⁠177
Coach
Pappy Waldorf
Elo
1567 +4 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
8.5 No. 31 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1955

The 1955 draft
Rd 4Matt Hazeltine CSan Francisco 49ers

All-Pacific Coast

3 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1954 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1954 Pacific Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
UCLA6–⁠09–⁠02
USC6–⁠18–⁠417
Oregon5–⁠36–⁠4
California4–⁠35–⁠5
Washington State3–⁠44–⁠6
Stanford2–⁠44–⁠6
Idaho1–⁠24–⁠5
Washington1–⁠62–⁠8
Oregon State1–⁠61–⁠8

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