1929 college football season

Conference and program changes

Conferences

• Three new conferences began play in 1929:
  • Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference – an NAIA conference active through the 1995 season
  • Big Four Conference – active through the 1932 season; replaced the newly-defunct Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference
  • Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference – an NAIA conference active through the 1973 season; replaced the newly-defunct Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference

Programs

The Duke Blue Devils were independent in 1928 and joined the Southern Conference in 1929.

September

September 21 In Dallas, Southern Methodist University (SMU) opened its season with a 13–3 win over North Texas State.

September 28 SMU and Howard Payne College played to a 13–13 tie, and TCU rolled over visiting Daniel Baker College, 61–0. In Los Angeles, USC opened its season against crosstown rival UCLA, rolling over the Bruins 76–0. Pittsburgh beat Waynesburg State, 53–0 California beat Santa Clara 27–6 Pennsylvania beat Franklin & Marshall 14–7 Tulane opened with a win over Northwestern State, 40–6

October

**October 5 **

SMU and Nebraska played to a 0–0 tie in Nebraska. Notre Dame opened its season with a 14–0 win at Indiana TCU beat Hardin Simmons, 20–0 Illinois beat Kansas 25–0, and Purdue beat Kansas State, 26–14 Pittsburgh won at Duke, 52–7 USC beat Oregon State 21–7 Pennsylvania defeated Swarthmore 20–6 California and St. Mary's played to a 0–0 tie. Tulane beat Texas A&M, 13–10

October 12

In Baltimore, Notre Dame defeated Navy, 14–7. SMU beat Austin College, 16–0 In Shreveport, TCU registered another shutout, beating Centenary College 28–0 Nebraska won at Syracuse, 13–6 USC won at Washington, 48–0, and California beat visiting Washington State, 14–0. Purdue beat Michigan 30–16 and Illinois beat Bradley 45–0 Pittsburgh beat West Virginia 27–7 Pennsylvania beat Virginia Tech, 14–8 Tulane beat Mississippi State, 34–0

October 19

Pittsburgh handed Nebraska its first loss, 12–7; TCU surrendered its first points, but beat Texas A&M, 13–7. Illinois and Iowa played to a 7–7 tie. Purdue beat DePauw 26–7 Tulane beat Lafayette College of Louisiana, 60–0 USC scored big again, with a 64–0 win over Occidental. At 4–0–0, the Trojans had outscored their opponents 209–7. In Chicago, Notre Dame defeated Wisconsin 19–0

In Philadelphia, (1–0–1) California and (3–0) Pennsylvania played, with California winning 12–7

October 26 During the weekend between October 24 and October 29, 1929 (see Wall Street Crash of 1929), SMU beat visiting Ole Miss, 52–0 and TCU, with a 131–7 aggregate lead over its opponents, won its fifth straight, a 22–0 win over Texas Tech. In Pittsburgh, the Pitt Panthers beat Allegheny 40–0 and Notre Dame defeated Carnegie Tech 7–0. Illinois beat visiting Michigan 14–0, and Purdue won at Chicago 26–0 The USC offense was held to single digits at Stanford, winning 7–0. California defeated the non-college Olympic Club, 21–19. Pennsylvania beat Lehigh 10–7 and in New Orleans, Tulane beat Georgia Tech, 20–14. Nebraska and Missouri played to a 7–7 tie.

November

November 2 In Los Angeles, USC (5–0–0) hosted California (4–0–1). California handed the Trojans their first loss, 15–7 In Dallas, unbeaten (3–0–2) SMU and unbeaten and untied Texas (5–0–0) both stayed unbeaten, playing to 0–0 tie. Notre Dame beat visiting Georgia Tech 26–6 In Columbus, Georgia, Tulane beat Georgia, 21–15

TCU beat North Texas State, 25–0 Nebraska beat Kansas, 12–6 Purdue won at Wisconsin 13–0, but Illinois lost at Northwestern, 7–0, Pittsburgh beat Ohio State, 18–2 Pennsylvania defeated Navy, 7–2

November 9

SMU won at Texas A&M 12–7 and TCU beat Rice, 24–0 Illinois beat Army, 17–7 and Purdue beat Ole Miss 27–7 Pittsburgh beat Washington & Jefferson 21–0 Notre Dame defeated Drake University Tulane beat Auburn, 52–0 USC beat visiting Nevada, 66–0 and California beat Montana 53–18

At Philadelphia, (5–1–0) Penn State defeated (5–1–0) Pennsylvania, 19–7

November 16

In Chicago, a record crowd of 123,000 turned out at Soldier Field to watch Notre Dame (6–0–0) and USC (6–1–0). Knute Rockne, who had been hospitalized with an infected leg, guided his team from a cot set behind the Notre Dame bench. In the third quarter, the Irish took a 13–6 lead, on—Savoldi's plunge and Frank Carideo's extra point. On the ensuing kickoff, -- Saunders ran the ball back 95 yards for a touchdown, but the point after failed, and Notre Dame held on to win 13–12.

Nebraska and visiting Oklahoma played to a 13–13 draw; at (2–1–3), the Cornhuskers had tied more games than they had won or lost. SMU beat Baylor, 25–6. TCU was (7–0–0) and had outscored its opposition 193–7; Texas (5–0–2) had an aggregate 120–0 lead on its opponents, though its last two games had been scoreless ties. When they met at Austin, Texas scored first, but Cy Leland returned the kickoff 90 yards for a TCU score. At halftime, TCU led 13–12 on the only extra point scored that day, and finished 15–12 Illinois defeated Chicago 20–6 and Purdue beat Iowa 7–0 Pittsburgh beat Carnegie Tech, 34–13 Pennsylvania visited Columbia and won 20–0 California beat Washington 7–0

Tulane defeated Sewanee 18–0

November 23 Nebraska won at Kansas State, 10–6 SMU beat Rice, 34–0 TCU beat Baylor, 34–7 Illinois beat Ohio State, 27–0, and Purdue won at Indiana 32–0 to finish its season unbeaten. Notre Dame won at Northwestern 26–6. USC beat visiting Idaho, 72–0 Stanford (7–2–0) and California met in Palo Alto, with Stanford winning 21–6.

November 28, Thanksgiving Day; Pittsburgh beat Penn State 20–7 Pennsylvania beat Cornell 17–7 Nebraska closed its season with a 31–12 win over Iowa State, to finish at 4–1–3.

November 30 In a season-ending matchup of the Southwest Conference's two best teams at Fort Worth, Texas Christian (9–0–0) hosted Southern Methodist (6–0–3). Although SMU took a 7–0 lead in the third quarter, and held the Frogs once at the goal line, TCU reached the one on its next possession, and scored on third down. Hawks Green's kick staved off an upset, tied the Mustangs 7–7, and gave TCU the conference title.

Notre Dame (8–0–0) closed its season at Yankee Stadium in New York, where it faced Army (6–2–1). The Fighting Irish won 7–0. USC beat Washington State, 27–7 Tulane closed its season with a 21–0 win at LSU, to finish unbeaten at 9–0–0

On December 14, USC defeated Carnegie Tech, 45–13.

1930 Rose Bowl

Main article: 1930 Rose Bowl

USC had been beaten earlier in the year, at Chicago, by Notre Dame. The Trojans and the Fighting Irish were not able to agree on a rematch, and USC was given the right to invite another eastern powerhouse—the unbeaten (9–0–0) Pittsburgh Panthers. Pitt's bid for a claim to the national championship started on the first play of the game, as Toby Uansa ran 68 yards before being tackled at the 11, but the Panthers failed to reach the end zone. Six minutes into the game, Russ Saunders and --- Edelson connected on a 56-yard pass play for USC's first touchdown. By halftime, USC led 26–0. Pitt finally scored in the third quarter to trail 33–7. After seven USC touchdowns, the final score was USC 47, Pitt 14.

Conference standings

Major conference standings

Independents

Minor conferences

Minor conference standings

Rankings

Main article: 1929 college football rankings

Champions (by method)

Various different rankings (using differing methodologies) have identified Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, or the University of Southern California as the season's champion.

• Berryman QPRS: University of Southern California
• Billingsley Report: Notre Dame
• Bonniwell Trophy vote: Notre Dame
• Boand System: Notre Dame
• College Football Researchers Association: Notre Dame
• Parke H. Davis: Pittsburgh
• Dickinson System: Notre Dame
• Dunkel System: Notre Dame
• Erskine Trophy poll: Notre Dame
• Helms Athletic Foundation: Notre Dame
• Houlgate System: University of Southern California
• National Championship Foundation: Notre Dame
• Poling System: Notre Dame
• Sagarin Ratings Elo chess method: Notre Dame
• Sagarin Ratings Predictor method: University of Southern California Note: Dickinson System, Dunkel System, Houlgate System, Erskine Trophy poll, and Bonniwell Trophy vote were given contemporarily. All other rankings were given retroactively

Awards and honors

All-Americans

Main article: 1929 College Football All-America Team

The consensus All-America team included:

Statistical leaders

• Player scoring most points: Gene McEver, Tennessee, 130
• Receptions leader: Wear Schoonover, Arkansas, 33

Notes

References

References

1. McDonald, Neil. (December 29, 1934). "Fanfare — Stanford Gets Trophy". Los Angeles Evening Post.
2. (1934). "Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1934". American Sports Publishing Co..
3. (2008). "2008 Pitt Football Media Guide". University of Pittsburgh.
4. Alison Danzig, ''The History of American Football'' (Prentice-Hall, 1956) p 71
5. "Notre Dame Nips U.S.C., 13–12," ''Decatur Herald'' November 17, 1929, p1
6. "Longhorns Wilt Before Horned Frog Attack," ''Port Arthur News'', November 17, 1929, p9
7. "T.C.U.'s 7–7 Tie With S.M.U. Bags Southwest Title," ''Abilene Reporter-News'', December 1, 1929, p4
8. "Trojans Hand Pitt Worst Beating In History of Bowl Games," ''Oakland Tribune'', Jan. 2, 1930, p39
9. (2017). "Football Bowl Subdivision Records".
10. (October 24, 1930). "Knute Rockne: The Wizard of Notre Dame".
11. (January 2, 1930). "Erskine Trophy is Given Notre Dame — Named Football 'Champs' of Past Season". [[Pasadena Star-News]].