The 1933 Stanford Indians football team represented

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

in the

1933 college football season The 1933 college football season saw the Michigan Wolverines repeat as winners of the Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy as national champion under the Dickinson System. The unofficial east–west championship game, the Rose Bowl, was between Stanford ...

. In head coach Tiny Thornill's first season, the Indians allowed only 36 points during the entire regular season and logged four shutout victories. The team was

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including ...

co-champions with

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and was selected to represent the conference in the Rose Bowl. Heavy favorites in the Rose Bowl against

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

, the Indians, led by quarterback

Frank Alustiza Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Cur ...

and fullback

Bobby Grayson Bobby Grayson (December 8, 1914 – September 22, 1981) was an American football player. He was a two-time consensus All-American player who led the Stanford University football team to three consecutive Rose Bowl Games from 1933 to 1935. At St ...

, dominated the line of scrimmage, with Grayson rushing for 152 yards on 28 carries, more than the entire Columbia team—but eight fumbles and a stiff goal line defense by Columbia kept Stanford from scoring, and the lone score, via a hidden ball play, gave the Lions the upset. After the prior year's devastating loss to rival

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, the Stanford freshmen of that game — led by Alustiza — vowed never again to lose to the Trojans. The "Vow Boys," as they and their team were called, kept the vow for three years, beginning with a 13–7 road victory over the 1933 USC team. The game was USC's first loss in 27 contests, and Stanford's victory paved their way to the Rose Bowl. Among the "Vow Boys" was

David Packard David Packard ( ; September 7, 1912 – March 26, 1996) was an American electrical engineer and co-founder, with Bill Hewlett, of Hewlett-Packard (1939), serving as president (1947–64), CEO (1964–68), and chairman of the board (1964–68 ...

, found of

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

Schedule

References

{{Pac-12 Conference football champions

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

Stanford Cardinal football seasons Pac-12 Conference football champion seasons Stanford Indians football