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1956 Oregon State

7–⁠3–⁠1 (6–⁠1–⁠1 Pacific Coast Conference), coached by Tommy Prothro, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Oregon State in 1956, game by game: won at Missouri 19–13; lost at No. 6 USC 13–21; lost at No. 20 Iowa 13–14; won vs. California 21–13; won at Washington State 21–0; won vs. UCLA 21–7; won vs. Washington 28–20; won at No. 20 Stanford 20–19; won at Idaho 14–10; tied vs. Oregon 14–14; lost vs. No. 3 Iowa 19–35+21−16Won 19–13 at Missouri+6MissouriLost 13–21 at No. 6 USC-8No. 6 USCLost 13–14 at No. 20 Iowa-1No. 20 IowaWon 21–13 vs. California+8CaliforniaWon 21–0 at Washington State+21Washington StateWon 21–7 vs. UCLA+14UCLAWon 28–20 vs. Washington+8WashingtonWon 20–19 at No. 20 Stanford+1No. 20 StanfordWon 14–10 at Idaho+4IdahoTied 14–14 vs. Oregon0OregonLost 19–35 vs. No. 3 Iowa-16No. 3 Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 22atMissouriW 19–⁠1350%
Sep 28at6USCL 13–⁠2127%
Oct 6at20IowaL 13–⁠1432%
Oct 13vsCaliforniaW 21–⁠1359%
Oct 20atWashington StateW 21–⁠052%
Oct 27vsUCLAW 21–⁠737%
Nov 3vsWashingtonW 28–⁠2069%
Nov 10at20StanfordW 20–⁠1938%
Nov 17atIdahoW 14–⁠1065%
Nov 24vsOregonT 14–⁠1463%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs3IowaRose BowlL 19–⁠3543%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Iowa 35–⁠19 in the Rose Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; Pacific Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 28th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 110 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 17
  2. Wk 8: 14
  3. Wk 9: 11
  4. Wk 10: 11
  5. Wk 11: 11
  6. Final: 10

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.

Pacific Coast Conference champions6–⁠1–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanJohn Witte, OT

Record
7–⁠3–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠1–⁠1 first in Pacific Coast Conference
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 10
Points
203–⁠166
Coach
Tommy Prothro
Elo
1569 +94 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
13.6 No. 19 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Dick Corrick and Gerry Laird

All-Pacific Coast

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Joe FrancisBAP-2; UP-2
  • Paul LoweBUP-2
  • Dave JesmerOTAP-2
  • Dick CorrickCUP-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.