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1951 Stanford

9–⁠2 (6–⁠1 Pacific Coast Conference), coached by Chuck Taylor, finished No. 7 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Stanford in 1951, game by game: won at Oregon 27–20; won vs. San José State 26–13; won at Michigan 23–13; won vs. UCLA 21–7; won vs. Santa Clara 21–14; won at Washington 14–7; won vs. No. 16 Washington State 21–13; won at No. 6 USC 27–20; won vs. Oregon State 35–14; lost vs. No. 19 California 7–20; lost vs. No. 4 Illinois 7–40+21−33Won 27–20 at Oregon+7OregonWon 26–13 vs. San José State+13San José StateWon 23–13 at Michigan+10MichiganWon 21–7 vs. UCLA+14UCLAWon 21–14 vs. Santa Clara+7Santa ClaraWon 14–7 at Washington+7WashingtonWon 21–13 vs. No. 16 Washington State+8No. 16 Washington StateWon 27–20 at No. 6 USC+7No. 6 USCWon 35–14 vs. Oregon State+21Oregon StateLost 7–20 vs. No. 19 California-13No. 19 CaliforniaLost 7–40 vs. No. 4 Illinois-33No. 4 Illinois
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 22atOregonW 27–⁠2063%
Sep 29vsSan José StateW 26–⁠1376%
Oct 6atMichiganW 23–⁠1339%
Oct 13vsUCLAW 21–⁠766%
Oct 20vsSanta ClaraW 21–⁠1479%
Oct 27atWashingtonW 14–⁠749%
Nov 3vs16Washington StateW 21–⁠1372%
Nov 10at6USCW 27–⁠2046%
Nov 17vsOregon StateW 35–⁠1479%
Nov 24vs19CaliforniaL 7–⁠2061%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs4IllinoisRose BowlL 7–⁠4043%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Illinois 40–⁠7 in the Rose Bowl; No. 7 in the final AP poll; Pacific Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 23rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 109 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 19
  2. Wk 4: 13
  3. Wk 5: 11
  4. Wk 6: 11
  5. Wk 7: 7
  6. Wk 8: 4
  7. Wk 9: 3
  8. Wk 10: 8
  9. Final: 7

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 1951.

Pacific Coast Conference champions6–⁠1 in the conference

Heisman voteBill McColl, fourth

Consensus All-AmericanBill McColl, E

Record
9–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠1 first in Pacific Coast Conference
AP final
No. 7 peak No. 3
Points
229–⁠181
Coach
Chuck Taylor
Elo
1630 +87 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
11.4 No. 23 of 116 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1952

The 1952 draft
Rd 3Bill McColl EChicago Bears

All-Pacific Coast

6 first team

First team

  • Gary KerkorianB
  • Bill McCollE
  • Ron EadieE
  • Al KirklandOT
  • Norm ManoogianOG
  • Chuck EssegianOG

From Wikipedia’s 1951 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1951 Pacific Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Stanford6–⁠19–⁠27
UCLA4–⁠1–⁠15–⁠3–⁠117
California5–⁠28–⁠212
USC4–⁠27–⁠3
Washington State4–⁠37–⁠318
Oregon State3–⁠54–⁠6
Washington1–⁠5–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
Oregon1–⁠62–⁠8
Idaho0–⁠32–⁠7

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