Long Beach State 49ers

Long Beach State has played football since at least 1961 and is 133–⁠128–⁠2 in the 263 games on record. Since 1970, the NFL Draft has taken 15 players from here in its first seven rounds, 2 of them in the first round. Dave Currey (1977–⁠1983) won more games here than any other coach: 40. The most-played rival is Pacific: 27 meetings, Long Beach State leads 15–⁠12. This season, under Willie Brown, they’re 2–⁠9.

Résumé

Record on file
133–⁠128–⁠2 .510; how we count
Postseason
0–⁠0 bowls, title games, playoff
AP No. 1 finishes
0
Weeks at No. 1
0 of 0 ranked
Elo now
1294
Best season by Elo
1980 rated 1530
Seasons
29 since 1961, 263 games

1991 season 2–⁠9

RosterFull 1991 season

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

This season, game by game

Long Beach State’s Elo through 1991: 1423 going into the opener, 1294 after the last game.130013501400Elo 1423 going in; lost to San Diego State 49–13Elo 1404 going in; lost to Boise State 48–14Elo 1362 going in; lost to San José State 32–20Elo 1346 going in; lost to Arizona 45–21Elo 1333 going in; beat UNLV 31–19Elo 1364 going in; lost to Fresno State 42–14Elo 1356 going in; lost to Miami 55–0Elo 1352 going in; beat Utah State 7–6Elo 1358 going in; lost to Pacific 51–24Elo 1319 going in; lost to New Mexico State 28–24Elo 1303 going in; lost to Cal State Fullerton 37–36Final: Elo 1294 after the last game1294
Elo going into each game, then after the last. Filled dots: wins; open: losses.

Program strength since 1961

Best seasons ever
Long Beach State end-of-season Elo from 1961 to 1991, best in 1980 at 1530.13001500170019001965197019751980198519901980 peak: Elo 1530
End-of-season Elo. Dashed line: 1500, an average FBS team.

Head coaches

CoachYearsRecord
Willie Brown19912–⁠9
George Allen19906–⁠5
Larry Reisbig1987–⁠198911–⁠24
Mike Sheppard1984–⁠198616–⁠18
Dave Currey1977–⁠198340–⁠36
Wayne Howard1974–⁠197623–⁠10

Most-played series

All rivalries
OpponentGamesLBS record
Pacific2715–⁠12
Fresno State238–⁠15
San José State225–⁠17
Cal State Fullerton2012–⁠8
San Diego State196–⁠13
Utah State159–⁠6
UNLV116–⁠5 †
Northern Illinois95–⁠4

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file. Each series page gives both.

Every opponent (51)

Every program Long Beach State has played, A to Z, with Long Beach State’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated, or with forfeits counted. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file.

Conferences

  1. PCAA 1969–⁠1987
  2. Big West 1988–⁠1991
  • 1969Joined the PCAA from the California Collegiate Athletic Conference. Source
  • 1991Went independent from the Big West in football. Source
  • 1992Joined the Dropped football from independence in football. Source

Long Beach State’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time). The moves and their announcement dates from Wikipedia’s lists of NCAA Division I conference changes; the year is the first season in the new conference. Conference realignment: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

Led the nation 4

1986Mark Templeton receptions (99 catches)
1982Todd Dillon passing yards (3,517 yds), total offense (3,587 yds), total offense per game (326.1)
1971Terry Metcalf rushing touchdowns (28 TD)
1969Leon Burns rushing yards (1,659 yds), rushing touchdowns (26 TD)

The NCAA’s official national leaders since 1937, from Wikipedia’s yearly leader lists.

In the NFL Draft

By college
Drafted, rounds 1–⁠7
15 since 1970
First-round picks
2
1978Dan Bunz LBNo. 24, San Francisco 49ers
1971Leon Burns RBNo. 13, San Diego Chargers

Season by season

National champions
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
19912–⁠92–⁠5Willie Brown1294
19906–⁠54–⁠3George Allen1385
19894–⁠82–⁠5Larry Reisbig1334
19883–⁠93–⁠4Larry Reisbig1338
19874–⁠72–⁠5Larry Reisbig1372
19866–⁠54–⁠3Mike Sheppard1451
19856–⁠64–⁠3Mike Sheppard1433
19844–⁠73–⁠4Mike Sheppard1432
19838–⁠43–⁠3Dave Currey1499
19826–⁠55–⁠1Dave Currey1461
19812–⁠81–⁠4Dave Currey1398
19808–⁠35–⁠0Dave Currey1530
19797–⁠43–⁠2Dave Currey1437
19785–⁠61–⁠4Dave Currey1386
19774–⁠61–⁠3Dave Currey1402
19768–⁠32–⁠2Wayne Howard1515
19759–⁠24–⁠1Wayne Howard1521
19746–⁠51–⁠3Wayne Howard1395
19731–⁠9–⁠10–⁠41271
19725–⁠61–⁠31415
19718–⁠45–⁠11509
19709–⁠2–⁠15–⁠11497
19698–⁠33–⁠11318
19681–⁠01226
19670–⁠11216
Every season back to 1961 (4 more)
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
19661–⁠01255
19651–⁠01242
19641–⁠01222
19610–⁠11194

No season on file for 1962–⁠63: the program may not have played, or our source may be missing them.

All 29 seasons on file are complete, game by game: every win and loss in the record has its game here.

Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.