American college football season
Back and front panels of the game program for the Nov. 20, 1926 "Big Game" with Cal.
The 1926 Stanford Indians football team was an
American football team that represented
Stanford University in the
Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) during the
1926 college football season . In head coach
Pop Warner 's third season at Stanford, the team compiled a 10–0 record during the regular season, outscored its opponents by a total of 261 to 66, and won the PCC championship. Stanford then faced undefeated
Alabama in the
1927 Rose Bowl , which ended in a 7–7
tie .
[1]
In December 1926, prior to the Rose Bowl, Stanford was selected as the
national champion under the
Dickinson System . Stanford garnered 22.5 points from Dickinson. Navy ranked second with 21.88 points, and Alabama was ranked No. 10 with 16.67 points, due to weak schedule strength.
[2]
In later retroactive ratings, Stanford was chosen as a co-national champion with Alabama by the
Helms Athletic Foundation ,
National Championship Foundation , and
Jeff Sagarin (using the ELO-Chess methodology).
[3]
The team played its home games at
Stanford Stadium in
Stanford, California .
Schedule
Date Opponent Site Result Attendance Source September 25
Fresno State * W 44–7
[4]
September 25
Caltech * Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA W 13–0
[5]
October 2
Occidental * Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA W 19–0
[6]
October 9
Olympic Club * Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA W 7–3
[7]
October 16
Nevada * Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA W 33–910,000
[8]
October 23 at
Oregon W 29–12
[9]
October 30 at
USC W 13–1279,000–80,000
[10]
November 6
Santa Clara * Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA W 33–1418,000
[11]
November 13
Washington Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA W 29–1043,000
[12]
November 20 at
California W 41–680,000, plus 10,000 (Tightwad Hill)
[13]
January 1, 1927 vs.
Alabama * T 7–756,000
[14]
Game summaries
Rose Bowl
1
2
3
4
Total
Alabama
0
0
0
7
7
Stanford
7
0
0
0
7
The 1927 Rose Bowl was held on January 1, 1927, in
Pasadena, California . Stanford (10-0, 4-0 PCC) faced off against the
Southern Conference Champions, the
Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0, 8-0 SoCon). The game would end in a 7–7, and was the last Rose Bowl game to end in a tie.
United Press called the 1927 Rose Bowl "the football championship of America", and the game was considered the most exciting in the series up to that time. The crowd of 68,000 set an attendance record. Stanford's George Bogue missed an 18-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter, then threw a touchdown pass to Ed Walker and kicked the point after to put Stanford up, 7-0. Stanford held that lead through most of the rest of the game, but in the final minutes, they were forced to punt on fourth down.
Frankie Wilton's kick was blocked, and Alabama took over 14 yards from goal. Four plays later, and with a minute left, Jimmy Johnson carried the ball for a touchdown, making it 7-6. The two-point conversion, and overtime, were decades in the future. Stanford's only hope was to block the point after, but Alabama ran the play quickly and Herschel Caldwell's kick tied Stanford, and took away a Stanford victory in the final minute.
[15]
Awards
Six Stanford players received mention on the
1926 All-America college football team and/or the
1926 All-Pacific Coast football team :
First-team All-America honors from Lawrence Perry.
[19]
First-team All-Pacific Coast honors from the UP and second-team honors from the AP.
[18]
First-team All-America honors from Charles E. Parker for the New York World News Service
[20]
First-team All-Pacific Coast honors from the AP and UP
[18]
First-team All-Pacific Coast honors from the AP and UP
[18]
First-team All-Pacific Coast honors from the UP
References
^
"1926 Stanford Cardinal Schedule and Results" . SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 27, 2022 .
^
"Stanford Eleven Adjudged Best: Navy Ranks Second Under Dickinson System of Rating Teams" . The Morning Post . Camden, N.J. December 17, 1926. p. 23 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
2020 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF) . Indianapolis: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. July 2020. pp. 112–114.
Archived (PDF) from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021 .
^
"Stanford Wins From Fresno State, 44 To 7: Bulldogs Put Up Stubborn Fight in Opening Tilt" . The Fresno Bee . September 26, 1926. p. 19 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"Caltech Scares Cards: "Fox" Stanton's Engineers Hold Stanford Eleven to 13 to 6 Count at Palo Alto" . The Los Angeles Times . September 26, 1926. pp. Sports 1, 2 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Willia Leiser (October 3, 1926).
"Stanford Wins, 19-0: Biff Hoffman Scores First For Card Eleven" . The San Francisco Examiner . pp. Sports 1, 3 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"Warner's Eleven Defeats Clubmen by 7-3 Margin" . The San Francisco Examiner . October 10, 1926. pp. Sports 1, 4 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ William Leiser (October 17, 1926).
"Stanford Eleven Hands Nevada 33-9 Beating: Warner Eleven Wins Out in Final Periods" . The San Francisco Examiner . p. Sports 1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"Stanford Comes To In Third Quarter: Takes Lead From Oregon, Gets 29 to 12 Score, to Chagrin of Home Team" . Morning Register . October 24, 1926. pp. 1, 6 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Paul Lowry (October 31, 1926).
"Stanford Corrals Thundering Herd, 13 to 12" . The Los Angeles Times . p. Sports 1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ William Leiser (November 7, 1926).
"Stanford Smothers Broncos, 33-14: Shock Troops Give Cardinal Early Margin" . The San Francisco Examiner . p. Sports 1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ William Leiser (November 14, 1926).
"Stanford Cards Win, 29 to 10" . The San Francisco Examiner . pp. Sports 1, 4 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ William Leiser (November 21, 1926).
"Stanford Crushes Cardinal, 41 to 6" . The San Francisco Examiner . pp. Main 1, Sports 1, 3 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Paul Lowry (January 2, 1927).
"Alabamans Ties Cards: Rose Bowl Game Ends, 7 to 7" . The Los Angeles Times . p. 1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ "Stanford and Alabama Play Tie,"
The Oakland Tribune , January 2, 1927, p D-1;
http://www.rosebowlhistory.org
Archived 2015-03-11 at the
Wayback Machine
^
"Warner, Rockne and Jones Choose All-American Team" .
The Courier Journal . December 19, 1926. p. 77 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"Four Easterners on Grange's All America" . The Shreveport Times . Louisiana. December 1, 1926. p. 13 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
a
b
c
d
e
"Stanford and U.S.C. Well Represented on Coast Team" . Altoona Tribune . December 2, 1926. p. 10.
^
"Five Western Stars Get Place On Perry's All America Team" .
St. Louis Post-Dispatch . December 12, 1926. p. 19 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"Parker's All-American Football Selections" . The Pittsburgh Post . November 28, 1926. p. 33 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Evans, Billy (December 3, 1926).
"Billy Evans' All-America" . The Daily Mail (Hagerstown, MD) . p. 14 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ "These Players Honored by Eckersall with Places on All-America Team". Detroit Free Press . December 12, 1926. p. 29.
^
"Kaer On Eckersall's All-American Eleven" . Los Angeles Times . December 12, 1926. p. 34 – via
Newspapers.com .
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture and lore People
Seasons National championship seasons in bold
1869–1879 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s
Pacific Coast AAWU Pacific-8 Pacific-10 Pac-12 National championships in bold