CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1939 USC

8–⁠0–⁠2 (5–⁠0–⁠2 Pacific Coast Conference), coached by Howard Jones, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

USC in 1939, game by game: tied vs. Oregon 7–7; won vs. Washington State 27–0; won vs. Illinois 26–0; won at California 26–0; won at No. 11 Oregon State 19–7; won vs. Stanford 33–0; won at No. 7 Notre Dame 20–12; won vs. Washington 9–7; tied at No. 9 UCLA 0–0; won vs. No. 2 Tennessee 14–0+33Tied 7–7 vs. Oregon0OregonWon 27–0 vs. Washington State+27Washington StateWon 26–0 vs. Illinois+26IllinoisWon 26–0 at California+26CaliforniaWon 19–7 at No. 11 Oregon State+12No. 11 Oregon StateWon 33–0 vs. Stanford+33StanfordWon 20–12 at No. 7 Notre Dame+8No. 7 Notre DameWon 9–7 vs. Washington+2WashingtonTied 0–0 at No. 9 UCLA0No. 9 UCLAWon 14–0 vs. No. 2 Tennessee+14No. 2 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 30vsOregonT 7–⁠779%
Oct 7vsWashington StateW 27–⁠078%
Oct 14vsIllinoisW 26–⁠080%
Oct 28atCaliforniaW 26–⁠055%
Nov 4at11Oregon StateW 19–⁠757%
Nov 11vsStanfordW 33–⁠087%
Nov 25at7Notre DameW 20–⁠1245%
Dec 2vsWashingtonW 9–⁠784%
Dec 9at9UCLAT 0–⁠060%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs2TennesseeRose BowlW 14–⁠045%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Tennessee 14–⁠0 in the Rose Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Pacific Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 17th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 7
  2. Wk 2: 8
  3. Wk 3: 7
  4. Wk 4: 4
  5. Wk 5: 3
  6. Wk 6: 4
  7. Wk 7: 1
  8. Wk 8: 3
  9. Final: 3

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 1939.

National championsa title the school claims

Pacific Coast Conference champions5–⁠0–⁠2 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanHarry Smith, OG

Record
8–⁠0–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠0–⁠2 first in Pacific Coast Conference
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 1
Points
181–⁠33
Coach
Howard Jones
Elo
1766 +134 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
16.7 No. 7 of 124 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Joe Shell

Drafted in 1940

The 1940 draft
Rd 1Doyle Nave QBDetroit Lions
Rd 1Grenny Lansdell RBNew York Giants
Rd 3Bill Fisk EDetroit Lions
Rd 5Harry Smith OGDetroit Lions
Rd 7Bob Winslow EDetroit Lions

All-Pacific Coast

3 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

  • Ambrose SchindlerQBAP-2; UP-2
  • Bob HoffmanRBAP-2
  • Al KruegerEAP-2; UP-2
  • Bill FiskEAP-2
  • Howard StoeckerOTUP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1939 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1939 Pacific Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC5–⁠0–⁠28–⁠0–⁠23
Oregon State6–⁠1–⁠19–⁠1–⁠1
UCLA5–⁠0–⁠36–⁠0–⁠47
Washington4–⁠44–⁠5
Oregon3–⁠3–⁠13–⁠4–⁠1
Washington State3–⁠54–⁠5
Montana1–⁠23–⁠6
California2–⁠53–⁠7
Stanford0–⁠6–⁠11–⁠7–⁠1
Idaho0–⁠32–⁠6

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