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1939 USC Trojans football team

American college football season

American college football season

FieldValue
year1939
teamUSC Trojans
sportfootball
conferencePacific Coast Conference
short_confPCC
APRank3
record8–0–2
conf_record5–0–2
head_coachHoward Jones
hc_year15th
captainJoe Shell
stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
championNational champion (Dickinson System)
PCC champion
Rose Bowl champion
bowl[Rose Bowl](1940-rose-bowl)
bowl_resultW 14–0 vs. [Tennessee](1939-tennessee-volunteers-football-team)

PCC champion Rose Bowl champion The 1939 USC Trojans football team was an American football team that represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) during the 1939 college football season. In their 15th year under head coach Howard Jones, the Trojans compiled an 8–0–2 record (5–0–2 against PCC opponents), shut out six of ten opponents, won the PCC championship, and outscored all opponents by a total of 181 to 33. They won the PCC championship.

In the final AP poll released on December 9, 1939, USC was ranked No. 3 with 891 points, 200 points behind No 1 Texas A&M. However, in the Dickinson System rankings released three days later on December 12, USC was ranked No. 1 with a 25.73 point rating, edging out Texas A&M by three tenths of a point. The Trojans were awarded the Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy for the national championship as awarded by the Dickinson system.

After the final rankings were released, the Trojans defeated No. 2 Tennessee, 14–0, in the 1940 Rose Bowl. Tennessee had not given up any points prior to the Rose Bowl and had won 23 consecutive games. The AP did not conduct a poll after the bowl games.

USC guard Harry Smith was a consensus first-team pick on the 1939 All-America college football team. Smith was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Quarterback Grenny Lansdell was chosen as a first-team All-American by the Central Press Association and as a third-team All-American by the Associated Press. Smith, Lansdell, and tackle Phil Gaspar were also selected as first-team players on the 1939 All-Pacific Coast football team.

USC recognized the 1939 team as National Champions in 2004 based on their #1 ranking in the contemporary Dickinson System. USC saluted the surviving members of the squad on the field at their October 16 home game versus Arizona State.

Schedule

|{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = t |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = t |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w

Rankings

1940 NFL draft

The following players were drafted into professional football following the 1939 season.

References

References

  1. "1939 USC Trojans Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC.
  2. (December 12, 1939). "Writers Pick Texas Aggies As No. 1 Football Team". The Bristol News Bulletin.
  3. (December 12, 1939). "Pacific Coast Football Best". The Bristol News Bulletin.
  4. (January 2, 1940). "U.S.C. wins 14–0 over Tennessee". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  5. (2016). "Football Award Winners". National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
  6. "Harry Smith". National Football Foundation.
  7. Walter Johns. (1939-12-10). "South Dominates Captains' All-American". Wisconsin State Journal.
  8. (1939-12-09). "The 1939 A.P. All America". San Antonio Express.
  9. (December 8, 1939). "All-Coast Eleven Rates As 'Dream Team'". The San Bernardino Daily Sun.
  10. James A. Sullivan. (December 5, 1939). "1939 United Press All-Pacific Coast Team – Kenny Washington Considered Outstanding Back". United Press – San Francisco.
  11. . (July 26, 2004). ["USC Now Will Recognize Its 1939 Football Team As A National Champion"](http://usctrojans.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/072604aaa.html). *University of Southern California Athletics*.
  12. Paul Zimmerman. (October 1, 1939). "Doyle Nave Stars as Trojans Tie Oregon by 7-7 Score: Webfooters in Surprise; Southern California Comes From Behind to Get Even Break". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  13. Paul Zimmerman. (October 8, 1939). "Trojan Machine Rolls to 27-0 Victory Over Cougars: Lansdell Stars in Triumph; Jones Uses Nearly Everybody on Squad as 45,000 Fans Watch". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  14. Paul Zimmerman. (October 15, 1939). "Troy's Thundering Herd Swamps Outclassed Illini, 26 to 0: Nave Opens Scoring Spree". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  15. Paul Zimmerman. (October 29, 1939). "Trojans Crush Bears, 26-0, to Break Jinx of Cal Bowl". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  16. "USC Football 2017 Media Guide". University of Southern California Athletics.
  17. Paul Zimmerman. (November 5, 1939). "Trojans Aerial Attack Bombs Beavers, 19 to 7". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  18. Paul Zimmerman. (November 12, 1939). "Powerful Trojans Smother Stanford Indians by 33-0: Worst Licking in Long Series". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  19. Jack Ledden. (November 26, 1939). "Trojans Humble Irish, 20-12: 55,000 Thrill To Long Runs in Fast Game". The South Bend Tribune.
  20. Paul Zimmerman. (December 3, 1939). "Trojan Pass Conquers Washington in Last Two Minutes, 9-7". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  21. Dick Hyland. (December 10, 1939). "Trojans and Bruins in 0-0 Tie Before 103,300: Foes Battle to Standstill". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  22. Paul Zimmerman. (January 2, 1940). "U.S.C. Wins 14–0 Over Tennessee: Mighty Men of Troy Crush Volunteers Before 90,000 Rose Bowl Fans". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  23. "1940 NFL Draft". Pro Football Archives.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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