The 1926 Stanford Indians football team was an
American football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
team that represented
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
in the
Pacific Coast Conference
The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a collegiate 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 (includin ...
(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
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
in the
1927 Rose Bowl, which ended in a 7–7
tie.
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.
In later retroactive ratings, Stanford was chosen as a co-national champion with Alabama by the
Helms Athletic Foundation,
, and
Jeff Sagarin (using the ELO-Chess methodology).
The team played its home games at
Stanford Stadium in
Stanford, California
Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University, after which it was named. The CDP's population was 21,150 at the United States Census, ...
.
Schedule
Game summaries
Rose Bowl
The 1927 Rose Bowl was held on January 1, 1927, in
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
. Stanford (10-0, 4-0 PCC) faced off against the
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...
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.
Roster
*
George Bogue, HB
* Davidson, E
* Everett, T
* Freeman, T
* Graham, C
* Graves, HB
*
Spud Harder, E
*
Leo Harris, T
* Hill, HB
*
Biff Hoffman, FB
*
Richard Hyland, HB
* Kazanjian, G
* Leistner, HB
*
Spud Lewis, QB
* McCreery, C
* Millage, QB
* Moomaw, T
* Murphy, HB
* Ernest Lynn Patchett, FB
* Post, QB
* Poulson, T
* Price, E
*
Don Robesky, G
* Sellman, T
*
Ted Shipkey, E
* Sholes, G
* Sims, HB
*
Fred H. Swan, G
* Symonds, G
* Trombetta, HB
* Vermilya, C
* Vincenti, E
*
Ed Walker, FB
*
Frank Wilton, HB
* Work, HB
Awards
Six Stanford players received mention on the
1926 All-America college football team and/or the
1926 All-Pacific Coast football team:
* End
Ted Shipkey
:* First-team All-America honors from the All-America Board and
Red Grange.
:* First-team All-Pacific Coast honors from the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
(AP) and
United Press (UP)
* Halfback
Dick Hyland
:* First-team All-America honors from Lawrence Perry.
:* First-team All-Pacific Coast honors from the UP and second-team honors from the AP.
[
* Guard Fred H. Swan
:* First-team All-America honors from Charles E. Parker for the New York World News Service
:* First-team All-Pacific Coast honors from the AP and UP][
* Halfback/fullback George Bogue
:* Third-team All-America honors from Billy Evans and Walter Eckersall.][ ]
:* First-team All-Pacific Coast honors from the AP and UP[
* End Edgar Walker
:* First-team All-Pacific Coast honors from the AP and UP][
* Tackle Sellman
:* First-team All-Pacific Coast honors from the UP
]
References
{{Pac-12 Conference football champions
Stanford
Stanford Cardinal football seasons
College football national champions
Pac-12 Conference football champion seasons
College football undefeated seasons
Stanford football