American college football season
The 1929 college football season saw a number of unbeaten and untied teams. Purdue, Tulane, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh all finished the regular season with wins over all their opponents. Notre Dame was recognized as national champion by all three of the contemporary major selectors (the Dickinson System, Dunkel System, and Houlgate System). Houlgate would later name USC (10β2) on the basis of post-season play. Eight of nine retrospective selectors later also named Notre Dame and USC as No. 1 teams.
Following the season, Pittsburgh traveled to Pasadena to meet USC in the Rose Bowl, at that time the only postseason college football game, where the Trojans defeated the Panthers, 47β14. Four years later, football historian Parke Davis selected Pittsburgh as the "National Champion Foot Ball Team" for 1929, the only one of 12 major selectors to do so. Pittsburgh claims a 1929 national championship on this basis.
A major change in the rules for 1929 was that a fumbled ball was dead as soon as it struck the ground. Previously, a defending player could run with a recovered fumble, as in the case of Roy Riegels in the 1929 Rose Bowl.
Conference and program changes
Conferences
- Three new conferences began play in 1929:
Programs
The Duke Blue Devils were independent in 1928 and joined the Southern Conference in 1929.
September
September 21
In Dallas, Southern Methodist University (SMU) opened its season with a 13β3 win over North Texas State.
September 28
SMU and Howard Payne College played to a 13β13 tie, and TCU rolled over visiting Daniel Baker College, 61β0.
In Los Angeles, USC opened its season against crosstown rival UCLA, rolling over the Bruins 76β0.
Pittsburgh beat Waynesburg State, 53β0
California beat Santa Clara 27β6
Pennsylvania beat Franklin & Marshall 14β7
Tulane opened with a win over Northwestern State, 40β6
October
October 5
SMU and Nebraska played to a 0β0 tie in Nebraska.
Notre Dame opened its season with a 14β0 win at Indiana
TCU beat Hardin Simmons, 20β0
Illinois beat Kansas 25β0, and Purdue beat Kansas State, 26β14
Pittsburgh won at Duke, 52β7
USC beat Oregon State 21β7
Pennsylvania defeated Swarthmore 20β6
California and St. Mary's played to a 0β0 tie.
Tulane beat Texas A&M, 13β10
October 12
In Baltimore, Notre Dame defeated Navy, 14β7.
SMU beat Austin College, 16β0
In Shreveport, TCU registered another shutout, beating Centenary College 28β0
Nebraska won at Syracuse, 13β6
USC won at Washington, 48β0, and California beat visiting Washington State, 14β0.
Purdue beat Michigan 30β16 and Illinois beat Bradley 45β0
Pittsburgh beat West Virginia 27β7
Pennsylvania beat Virginia Tech, 14β8
Tulane beat Mississippi State, 34β0
October 19
Pittsburgh handed Nebraska its first loss, 12β7;
TCU surrendered its first points, but beat Texas A&M, 13β7. Illinois and Iowa played to a 7β7 tie.
Purdue beat DePauw 26β7
Tulane beat Lafayette College of Louisiana, 60β0
USC scored big again, with a 64β0 win over Occidental. At 4β0β0, the Trojans had outscored their opponents 209β7. In Chicago, Notre Dame defeated Wisconsin 19β0
In Philadelphia, (1β0β1) California and (3β0) Pennsylvania played, with California winning 12β7
October 26 During the weekend between October 24 and October 29, 1929 (see Wall Street Crash of 1929), SMU beat visiting Ole Miss, 52β0 and TCU, with a 131β7 aggregate lead over its opponents, won its fifth straight, a 22β0 win over Texas Tech. In Pittsburgh, the Pitt Panthers beat Allegheny 40β0 and Notre Dame defeated Carnegie Tech 7β0. Illinois beat visiting Michigan 14β0, and Purdue won at Chicago 26β0
The USC offense was held to single digits at Stanford, winning 7β0. California defeated the non-college Olympic Club, 21β19. Pennsylvania beat Lehigh 10β7 and in New Orleans, Tulane beat Georgia Tech, 20β14. Nebraska and Missouri played to a 7β7 tie.
November
November 2
In Los Angeles, USC (5β0β0) hosted California (4β0β1). California handed the Trojans their first loss, 15β7
In Dallas, unbeaten (3β0β2) SMU and unbeaten and untied Texas (5β0β0) both stayed unbeaten, playing to 0β0 tie.
Notre Dame beat visiting Georgia Tech 26β6
In Columbus, Georgia, Tulane beat Georgia, 21β15
TCU beat North Texas State, 25β0
Nebraska beat Kansas, 12β6
Purdue won at Wisconsin 13β0, but Illinois lost at Northwestern, 7β0,
Pittsburgh beat Ohio State, 18β2
Pennsylvania defeated Navy, 7β2
November 9
SMU won at Texas A&M 12β7 and TCU beat Rice, 24β0
Illinois beat Army, 17β7 and Purdue beat Ole Miss 27β7
Pittsburgh beat Washington & Jefferson 21β0
Notre Dame defeated Drake University
Tulane beat Auburn, 52β0
USC beat visiting Nevada, 66β0 and California beat Montana 53β18
At Philadelphia, (5β1β0) Penn State defeated (5β1β0) Pennsylvania, 19β7
November 16
In Chicago, a record crowd of 123,000 turned out at Soldier Field to watch Notre Dame (6β0β0) and USC (6β1β0). Knute Rockne, who had been hospitalized with an infected leg, guided his team from a cot set behind the Notre Dame bench. In the third quarter, the Irish took a 13β6 lead, onβSavoldi's plunge and Frank Carideo's extra point. On the ensuing kickoff, -- Saunders ran the ball back 95 yards for a touchdown, but the point after failed, and Notre Dame held on to win 13β12.
Nebraska and visiting Oklahoma played to a 13β13 draw; at (2β1β3), the Cornhuskers had tied more games than they had won or lost. SMU beat Baylor, 25β6.
TCU was (7β0β0) and had outscored its opposition 193β7; Texas (5β0β2) had an aggregate 120β0 lead on its opponents, though its last two games had been scoreless ties. When they met at Austin, Texas scored first, but Cy Leland returned the kickoff 90 yards for a TCU score. At halftime, TCU led 13β12 on the only extra point scored that day, and finished 15β12
Illinois defeated Chicago 20β6 and Purdue beat Iowa 7β0
Pittsburgh beat Carnegie Tech, 34β13
Pennsylvania visited Columbia and won 20β0
California beat Washington 7β0
Tulane defeated Sewanee 18β0
November 23
Nebraska won at Kansas State, 10β6
SMU beat Rice, 34β0
TCU beat Baylor, 34β7
Illinois beat Ohio State, 27β0, and Purdue won at Indiana 32β0 to finish its season unbeaten. Notre Dame won at Northwestern 26β6.
USC beat visiting Idaho, 72β0
Stanford (7β2β0) and California met in Palo Alto, with Stanford winning 21β6.
November 28, Thanksgiving Day;
Pittsburgh beat Penn State 20β7
Pennsylvania beat Cornell 17β7
Nebraska closed its season with a 31β12 win over Iowa State, to finish at 4β1β3.
November 30
In a season-ending matchup of the Southwest Conference's two best teams at Fort Worth,
Texas Christian (9β0β0) hosted Southern Methodist (6β0β3). Although SMU took a 7β0 lead in the third quarter, and held the Frogs once at the goal line, TCU reached the one on its next possession, and scored on third down. Hawks Green's kick staved off an upset, tied the Mustangs 7β7, and gave TCU the conference title.
Notre Dame (8β0β0) closed its season at Yankee Stadium in New York, where it faced Army (6β2β1). The Fighting Irish won 7β0.
USC beat Washington State, 27β7
Tulane closed its season with a 21β0 win at LSU, to finish unbeaten at 9β0β0
On December 14, USC defeated Carnegie Tech, 45β13.
1930 Rose Bowl
USC had been beaten earlier in the year, at Chicago, by Notre Dame. The Trojans and the Fighting Irish were not able to agree on a rematch, and USC was given the right to invite another eastern powerhouseβthe unbeaten (9β0β0) Pittsburgh Panthers. Pitt's bid for a claim to the national championship started on the first play of the game, as Toby Uansa ran 68 yards before being tackled at the 11, but the Panthers failed to reach the end zone. Six minutes into the game, Russ Saunders and --- Edelson connected on a 56-yard pass play for USC's first touchdown. By halftime, USC led 26β0. Pitt finally scored in the third quarter to trail 33β7. After seven USC touchdowns, the final score was USC 47, Pitt 14.
Conference standings
For this article, major conferences defined as those including multiple state flagship public universities.
Major conference standings
Independents
Minor conferences
Minor conference standings
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1929 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
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Conf |
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Overall
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Team |
W |
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L |
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T |
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W |
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L |
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T
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Knox (IL) +
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5
|
– |
0
|
– |
0 |
|
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7
|
– |
1
|
– |
0
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Lombard +
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3
|
– |
0
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– |
0 |
|
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6
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– |
1
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– |
1
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Millikin
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5
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– |
1
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– |
0 |
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7
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– |
1
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– |
0
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Eastern Illinois
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5
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– |
1
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– |
0 |
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6
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– |
1
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– |
0
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Monmouth (IL)
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5
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– |
1
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– |
0 |
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5
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– |
4
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– |
0
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Northern Illinois State
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4
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– |
1
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– |
1 |
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6
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– |
1
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– |
1
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Illinois Wesleyan
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5
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– |
2
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– |
0 |
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5
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– |
3
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– |
0
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Elmhurst
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2
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– |
1
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– |
0 |
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8
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– |
1
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– |
0
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Bradley
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4
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– |
2
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– |
0 |
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6
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– |
3
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– |
0
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Southern Illinois
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4
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– |
2
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– |
0 |
|
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5
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– |
3
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– |
1
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Shurtleff
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3
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– |
2
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– |
0 |
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5
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– |
3
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– |
0
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Carthage
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2
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– |
2
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– |
1 |
|
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4
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– |
3
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– |
1
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Eureka
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3
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– |
3
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– |
2 |
|
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3
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– |
3
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– |
2
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Illinois College
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3
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– |
3
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– |
0 |
|
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4
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– |
4
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– |
0
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Augustana (IL)
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3
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– |
3
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– |
1 |
|
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3
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– |
4
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– |
1
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North Central *
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2
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– |
4
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– |
1 |
|
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3
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– |
5
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– |
1
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Lake Forest
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1
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– |
2
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– |
0 |
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2
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– |
5
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– |
0
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McKendree
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1
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– |
4
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– |
0 |
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4
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– |
6
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– |
0
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Wheaton (IL)
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1
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– |
4
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– |
1 |
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2
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– |
6
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– |
1
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Illinois State Normal
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1
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– |
5
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– |
2 |
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1
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– |
5
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– |
2
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St. Viator
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0
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– |
6
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– |
1 |
|
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0
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– |
7
|
– |
1
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Mount Morris
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0
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– |
6
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– |
0 |
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2
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– |
6
|
– |
0
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Western Illinois β
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0
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– |
7
|
– |
0 |
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0
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– |
8
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– |
0
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- + – Conference co-champions
- * β North Central finished the season 6β0β1 in conference play, but forfeited their share of the title and four wins, over Lake Forest, Augustana, Carthage, and Monmouth, because of an ineligible player.
β β Western Illinois finished the season 3β4 in conference play, but forfeited three wins, over Shurtleff, Augustana, and Illinois State, because of an ineligible player.
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Dickinson System
The AP sportswriters' poll would not begin continuously until 1936. (although, the first time was a one instance publishing in 1934) Frank G. Dickinson, an economics professor at the University of Illinois, had invented the Dickinson System to rank colleges based upon their records and the strength of their opposition.
The system was originally designed to rank teams in the Big Nine (later the Big Ten) conference. Chicago clothing manufacturer Jack Rissman then persuaded Dickinson to rank the nation's teams under the system, and awarded the Rissman Trophy to the winning university.
The system awarded 30 points for a win over a "strong team", and 20 for a win over a "weak team". Losses were awarded points (15 for loss to a strong team, 10 for loss to a weak team). Ties were treated as half a win and half a loss (22.5 for a tie with a strong team, 15 for a tie with a weak team). An average was then derived by dividing the points by games played.
Final Dickinson rankings
Notre Dame and Pittsburgh, both with nine wins and no losses or ties (9β0) were ranked first and second by Dickinson, with the Irish getting the higher rating based on their opposition. As Grantland Rice noted in his column, "There is no questioning the fact that among the unbeaten teams who were not even tied, Notre Dame fought its way through the hardest field. But when it comes to saying that Notre Dame could beat Pittsburgh or that Notre Dame could beat Purdue or that Pittsburgh could beat Purdue -- that is something else again,"
Awards and honors
All-Americans
The consensus All-America team included:
Position
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Name
|
Height
|
Weight (lbs.)
|
Class
|
Hometown
|
Team
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QB
|
Frank Carideo
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5'7"
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175
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Jr.
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Mount Vernon, New York
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Notre Dame
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HB
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Chris Cagle
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5'10"
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174
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Sr.
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De Ridder, Louisiana
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Army
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HB
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Gene McEver
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5'10"
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185
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Jr.
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Bristol, Virginia
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Tennessee
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FB
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Ralph Welch
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6'1"
|
200
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Sr.
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Sherman, Texas
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Purdue
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E
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Joe Donchess
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6'0"
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175
|
Sr.
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Kingston, Pennsylvania
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Pittsburgh
|
T
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Bronko Nagurski
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6'2"
|
217
|
Sr.
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International Falls, Minnesota
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Minnesota
|
G
|
Jack Cannon
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5'11"
|
193
|
Sr.
|
Columbus, Ohio
|
Notre Dame
|
C
|
Ben Ticknor
|
6'2"
|
193
|
Jr.
|
Canton, Massachusetts
|
Harvard
|
G
|
Ray Montgomery
|
6'1"
|
188
|
Sr.
|
Wheeling, West Virginia
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Pittsburgh
|
T
|
Elmer Sleight
|
6'2"
|
193
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Sr.
|
Sisseton, South Dakota
|
Purdue
|
E
|
Wes Fesler
|
6'0"
|
185
|
Jr.
|
Youngstown, Ohio
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Ohio State
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Statistical leaders
References
- McDonald, Neil (December 29, 1934). "Fanfare β Stanford Gets Trophy". Los Angeles Evening Post. p. 8.
- Okeson, Walter R., ed. (1934). Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1934. New York: American Sports Publishing Co. pp. 206β208.
- Borghetti, E.J.; Nestor, Mendy; Welsh, Celeste, eds. (2008). 2008 Pitt Football Media Guide (PDF). Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh. pp. 16, 156. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 23, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
- Alison Danzig, The History of American Football (Prentice-Hall, 1956) p 71
- "Notre Dame Nips U.S.C., 13β12," Decatur Herald November 17, 1929, p1
- "Longhorns Wilt Before Horned Frog Attack," Port Arthur News, November 17, 1929, p9
- "T.C.U.'s 7β7 Tie With S.M.U. Bags Southwest Title," Abilene Reporter-News, December 1, 1929, p4
- "Trojans Hand Pitt Worst Beating In History of Bowl Games," Oakland Tribune, Jan. 2, 1930, p39
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 17, 2009. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Herschel Nissenson Tales From College Football's Sidelines (Sports Publishing LLC, 2001), p93.
- "The Dickinson system awards 30 points for a victory over a strong team, and 20 for victory over a weak team. Defeats count half as much as victories, and ties are consideredas games half won and half lost. Dividing this total by the number of games played gives the final rating, "ILLINOIS BEST FOOTBALL TEAM OF YEAR," The Syracuse Herald, Dec. 4, 1927, p23
- "Irish Acclaimed National Victors," Charleston (WV) Gazette, December 1, 1929, p16
- Grantland Rice, "The Sport Light", from The Salt Lake Tribune, December 7, 1929, p 7