CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1956 California

3–⁠7 (2–⁠5 Pacific Coast Conference), coached by Pappy Waldorf.

Schedule and results

California in 1956, game by game: lost vs. Baylor 6–7; lost at Illinois 20–32; won vs. No. 7 Pittsburgh 14–0; lost at Oregon State 13–21; lost vs. UCLA 20–34; won at Washington 16–7; lost vs. Oregon 6–28; lost at No. 16 USC 7–20; lost vs. Washington State 13–14; won vs. Stanford 20–18+14−22Lost 6–7 vs. Baylor-1BaylorLost 20–32 at Illinois-12IllinoisWon 14–0 vs. No. 7 Pittsburgh+14No. 7 PittsburghLost 13–21 at Oregon State-8Oregon StateLost 20–34 vs. UCLA-14UCLAWon 16–7 at Washington+9WashingtonLost 6–28 vs. Oregon-22OregonLost 7–20 at No. 16 USC-13No. 16 USCLost 13–14 vs. Washington State-1Washington StateWon 20–18 vs. Stanford+2Stanford
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 22vsBaylorL 6–⁠748%
Sep 29atIllinoisL 20–⁠3233%
Oct 6vs7PittsburghW 14–⁠033%
Oct 13atOregon StateL 13–⁠2141%
Oct 20vsUCLAL 20–⁠3429%
Oct 27atWashingtonW 16–⁠733%
Nov 3vsOregonL 6–⁠2854%
Nov 10at16USCL 7–⁠2018%
Nov 17vsWashington StateL 13–⁠1465%
Nov 24vsStanfordW 20–⁠1840%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Stanford 20–⁠18; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Pacific Coast Conference.

In program history: The 82nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

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 1956.

Record
3–⁠7
Conference
2–⁠5 8th in Pacific Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
135–⁠181
Coach
Pappy Waldorf
Elo
1436 −22 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
6.5 No. 45 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1957

The 1957 draft
Rd 6Harley Martin OTCleveland Browns

All-Pacific Coast

2 second team

Second team

  • Ron WheatcroftEAP-2; UP-2
  • Don GilkeyOGAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1956 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1956 Pacific Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oregon State6–⁠1–⁠17–⁠3–⁠110
USC5–⁠28–⁠218
UCLA5–⁠27–⁠3
Washington4–⁠45–⁠5
Oregon3–⁠3–⁠24–⁠4–⁠2
Stanford3–⁠44–⁠6
Washington State2–⁠5–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
California2–⁠53–⁠7
Idaho0–⁠44–⁠5

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