American college football season
The 1931 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
1931 college football season . In their seventh season under head coach
Howard Jones , the Trojans lost the opening game to
Saint Mary's and then won the remaining ten games of the season. They finished the season with a 10–1 record (7–0 against PCC opponents), shut out six of eleven opponents, outscored all opponents by a total of 363 to 52, and won the PCC and national championships.
[1]
Schedule
Date Opponent Site Result Attendance Source September 26
Saint Mary's * L 7–1370,000
[2]
October 3
Oregon State Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 30–050,000
[3]
October 10
Washington State Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 38–630,000
[4]
October 17
Oregon Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 53–050,000
[5]
October 24 at
California W 6–053,957
[6]
November 7
Stanford Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (
rivalry ) W 19–093,000
[7]
November 14
Montana Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 69–020,000
[8]
November 21 at
Notre Dame * W 16–1450,731
[9]
December 5
Washington Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 44–755,000
[10]
December 12
Georgia * Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 60–075,000
[11]
January 1, 1932 vs.
Tulane * W 21–1284,000
[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming
National championship
The
Dickinson System rankings were released on December 12, 1931, and ranked USC No. 1 and
Tulane Green Wave No. 2.
[13]
[14] The
1932 Rose Bowl matched No. 1 USC against No. 2 Tulane with USC prevailing by a 21–12 score.
[12] After their victory in the Rose Bowl, the Trojans were presented with the
Albert Russel Erskine Trophy for the 1931 national football championship.
[15]
In addition to Dickinson, USC was recognized as the 1931
national champion by the great majority of later rankings and analyses, including the
Billingsley Report ,
Boand System ,
College Football Researchers Association ,
Dunkel System ,
Helms Athletic Foundation ,
Houlgate System ,
National Championship Foundation ,
Poling System ,
Sagarin Ratings , and
Berryman (QPRS) .
[16]
Awards and honors
Two USC players, fullback
Gaius Shaver and guard
Johnny Baker , were selected as consensus first-team players on the
1931 All-America college football team .
[17]
[18] Shaver led the team with 938 rushing yards and 90 points scored.
[19] Two other USC players received first-team All-America honors from at least one selector: halfback
Erny Pinckert (AP, NEA, Liberty ) and center
Stan Williamson (Liberty ).
[20]
[21]
[22]
Eight USC players received first-team honors on the
1931 All-Pacific Coast football team : quarterback
Gaius Shaver (AP-1, UP-1); quarterback
Orville Mohler (NEA-1); halfback
Erny Pinckert (AP-1, NEA-1, UP-1); ends Ray Sparling (AP-1) and
Garrett Arbelbide (NEA-1); tackle Ernie Smith (AP-1); guard Johnny Baker (AP-1, NEA-1, UP-1); and center Stan Williamson (AP-1, NEA-1, UP-1).
[23]
[24]
[25]
Roster
References
^
"1931 USC Trojans Schedule and Results" . SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 5, 2022 .
^ Paul Lowry (September 27, 1931).
"St. Mary's Warriors Upset Trojans, 13 to 7: Two Forward Passes Spell Ruin for Thundering Herd" .
Los Angeles Times . pp. VIa1, VIa6 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Paul Lowry (October 4, 1931).
"Trojans Score 30-0 Win Over Oregon State: Losers Unable To Show Much" . Los Angeles Times . p. VI-a-1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Braven Dyer (October 11, 1931).
"Mohler Stars as Troy Wins: Leads S.C. to 38-6 Victory Over Coast Champions" . Los Angeles Times . p. VI-a-1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Braven Dyer (October 18, 1931).
"Troy Swamps Oregon: Webfeet Take Bad Thumping" . Los Angeles Times . p. VI-a-1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Paul Lowry (October 25, 1931).
"Trojans Beat Bears, 6-0, in Fierce Battle: Ray Sparling Scores Touchdown for Troy" . Los Angeles Times . p. VI-a-1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Paul Lowry (November 8, 1931).
"Trojans ___ Stanford: Trojans Triumph in 19-0 Game; Crowd of 93,000 Spectators Sees Indians Toppled by Ancient Grid Rivals" . Los Angeles Times . pp. 1, VI-a-1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Braven Dyer (November 15, 1931).
"Griffith Stars as S.C. Wins: Montana Gets 69-0 Thumping" . Los Angeles Times . p. VI-a-1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Braven Dyer (November 22, 1931).
"Stirring Trojan Rally Upsets Irish, 16 to 14" . Los Angeles Times . pp. 1, VI-a-1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Paul Lowry (December 6, 1931).
"Trojans Crush Huskies, 44 to 7" . Los Angeles Times . p. Sports 1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Braven Dyer (December 13, 1931).
"Thundering Herd Slaughters Georgia, 60-0: Sheer Power of Trojan Attack Stuns Bulldogs" . Los Angeles Times . p. VI-a-1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
a
b
"Valiant Tulane Eleven Bows To Troy, 21-12" . Los Angeles Times . January 2, 1932. p. 7 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"National Title to S.C. Team: Dickinson Rating Gives Trojans Championship for 1931 Season" . Los Angeles Times . December 13, 1931. p. VI-a-1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"Dickinson Gives Title to Trojans" . Monroe Morning World . December 13, 1931. p. 8 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"Trojans Get Erskine 1931 Grid Award" . Los Angeles Times . January 2, 1932. p. 7 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF) . National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. pp. 113, 120. Retrieved January 4, 2019 .
^
"Football Award Winners" (PDF) . National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 7. Retrieved October 21, 2017 .
^
"Shaver, Baker Picked on the All-American" . Los Angeles Times . December 6, 1931. p. Sports 1 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"1931 USC Trojans Stats" . SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 5, 2022 .
^
"The 1931 All-America Team" . The Daily Inter Lake . Associated Press. December 5, 1931. p. 2. Retrieved May 22, 2017 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ MacPhail, Larry (December 14, 1931).
"NEA Board Names All-America" . The Anniston Star . Newspaper Enterprise Association. p. 8. Retrieved May 22, 2017 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ ESPN College Football Encyclopedia . ESPN Books. 2005. p. 1163.
ISBN
1401337031 .
^
"Trojans Place Five Men on All-Pacific Coast Eleven" . The Monroe (LA) News-Star . December 3, 1931. p. 7.
^
"Presenting NEA's All-Coast Conference Football Team" . Santa Cruz News . December 2, 1931. p. 8.
^
"Southern California Places Five on All-Coast Team" . Ames (Iowa) Daily Tribune-Times . December 3, 1931. p. 6.
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & 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