1931 Idaho Vandals football team

The 1931 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1931 college football season. The Vandals were led by third-year head coach Leo Calland, and were members of the Pacific Coast Conference. Home games were played on campus in Moscow at MacLean Field, with none in Boise this season.

1931 Idaho Vandals football
ConferencePacific Coast Conference
1931 record3–4 (1–4 PCC)
Head coachLeo Calland (3rd season)
Assistant coaches
  • Otto Anderson
  • Glenn Jacoby
  • Rich Fox (freshmen)
Home stadiumMacLean Field
1931 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
USC $ 7 –0 –0  10 –1 –0
California 4 –1 –0  8 –2 –0
Oregon 3 –1 –1  6 –2 –2
Washington State 4 –3 –0  6 –4 –0
Washington 3 –3 –1  5 –3 –1
Stanford 2 –2 –1  7 –2 –2
Oregon State 1 –3 –1  6 –3 –1
Idaho 1 –4 –0  3 –4 –0
UCLA 0 –3 –0  3 –4 –1
Montana 0 –5 –0  1 –6 –0
  • $ – Conference champion

Idaho compiled a 3–4 overall record and lost all but one of its five games in the PCC. The Vandals were led on the field by undersized sophomore quarterback Wee Willie Smith, then known as "Little Giant" Willis Smith of Boise.[1][2] Three years later in 1934, he was a backup in the NFL with the New York Giants in their championship season.[3]

In the Battle of the Palouse with neighbor Washington State, the Vandals suffered a fourth straight loss, falling by one point at Rogers Field in Pullman on November 7.[4][5] Idaho's most recent win in the series was six years earlier in 1925 and the next was 23 years away in 1954.

Schedule
DateOpponentSiteResultAttendance
September 26Whitman*
W 32–7
October 3vs. Oregon
L 0–910,000
October 10Montana
W 21–19
October 17at Washington
L 7–3810,000
October 31Gonzaga*
W 7–6  5,000
November 7at Washington State
L 8–910,000
November 14at California
L 0–18
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming

All-conference

No Vandals were named to the All-Coast team; honorable mention were center Arthur Spaugy, guard Elmer Martin, and sophomore quarterback Willis Smith.[10][11]

gollark: ++delete all dogs
gollark: ++delete the dog
gollark: A vaguely convincing argument I heard about the humans-liking-punishment thing is that it effectively works as a species-wide precommitment to punish people for doing bad things, which discourages people from doing those bad things in advance.
gollark: I mean, the only real arguments I can see for it:- humans just like punishing people if they do bad things (for evolutionary psychology reasons?)- a deterrent, but that only works if... people actually believe it as a serious threat
gollark: Also, it's pretty pointless.

References
  1. "Idaho takes Bulldogs in hard-fought battle". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. November 2, 1931. p. 12.
  2. "Prospects point to first close Cougar-Vandal battle for four long years". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. November 6, 1931. p. 25.
  3. McLemore, Henry (December 7, 1934). "Hank interviews "Little Giant" Smith of Idaho". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). United Press. p. 12.
  4. "Vandals nearly slough Cougars". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 8, 1931. p. 7.
  5. "Vandals, Cougars give wild-eyed crowd thrill". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. November 9, 1931. p. 12.
  6. "Oregon barely defeats Idaho". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. October 4, 1931. p. 7.
  7. "Vandals victors". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. October 11, 1931. p. 7.
  8. "Washington wins from Idaho 38-7". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. October 18, 1931. p. 8.
  9. "Idaho defeats Gonzaga 7 to 6". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 1, 1931. p. 9.
  10. "Five Trojans selected on first, three on second 1931 All-Pacific Coast eleven". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. December 3, 1931. p. 16.
  11. Newland, Russell J. (December 4, 1931). "Schwegler only Northern player on All-Pacific Coast star team". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. p. 11.
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