1937 Stanford Indians football team

The 1937 Stanford Indians football team represented Stanford University in the 1937 college football season. The team was coached by Tiny Thornhill in his fifth season at Stanford and played their home games at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California.[1]

1937 Stanford Indians football
Conference	Pacific Coast Conference
1937 record	4–3–2 (4–2–1 PCC)
Head coach	Tiny Thornhill (5th season)
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium

1937 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 California $	6	–	0	–	1			10	–	0	–	1
Stanford	4	–	2	–	1			4	–	3	–	2
Washington	4	–	2	–	2			7	–	2	–	2
Washington State	3	–	3	–	2			3	–	3	–	3
Idaho	2	–	2	–	0			4	–	3	–	1
Oregon State	2	–	3	–	3			3	–	3	–	3
USC	2	–	3	–	2			4	–	4	–	2
Oregon	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
UCLA	1	–	5	–	1			2	–	6	–	1
Montana	0	–	1	–	0			7	–	1	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team had been scheduled to play two games in Hawaii—against a Honolulu town team and the University of Hawaii—in December, but the games were canceled due to steamship schedule changes that meant the team would miss a week and a half of classes in winter quarter.[2][3] Washington replaced Stanford at the last minute for both games.[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
September 25	Santa Clara*		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	L 7–13
October 2	at Oregon		Hayward Field Eugene, OR	L 6–7
October 9	UCLA		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	W 12–7
October 23	at Washington		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 13–7
October 30	Oregon State		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	T 0–0
November 6	at USC		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	W 7–6
November 13	Washington State		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	W 23–0
November 20	No. 2 California	No. 13	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (43rd Big Game)	L 0–13
November 27	at Columbia*		Baker Field[4] New York, NY	T 0–0
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

California

The Indians were 4–1–1 in the Pacific Coast Conference entering the Big Game against 5–0–1 California. A head-to-head win over the Bears would almost certainly have given Stanford a bid to the 1938 Rose Bowl.[5] However, the Bears scored two touchdowns in quick succession in an eight-minute stretch of the second quarter and held the Indians scoreless, winning 13–0.[6]

Columbia

Stanford faced Columbia for the third time in four years. The Indians had lost to the Lions in the 1934 Rose Bowl and lost in New York the previous season; this year, in what would be the final meeting of the teams, the teams played to a scoreless tie.[7]

References

1. "Stanford Game-by-Game Results; 1937–1941". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on 2014-10-17. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
2. "Gridsters head for island tilt". The Stanford Daily. September 24, 1937. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
3. "Indian gridders sharpen axe for Columbia game; Hawaiian tilts canceled". The Stanford Daily. November 24, 1937. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
4. "Stanford held to 0 to 0 tie by Columbia". Chicago Tribune. November 28, 1937. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
5. "California Bears favored in vital Palo Alto battle". Eugene Register-Guard. November 19, 1937. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
6. "Indians fast recovering on eastern trip". The Stanford Daily. November 22, 1937. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
7. Official results from "Stanford Football Media Guide" (PDF). p. 151. Retrieved October 14, 2014.