The 1937 College Football Season

In this edition, we talk about the history of College Football in 1937. The Football History Rewind Series Part 80, goes through the rules revisions, the big games, the star players, a new source for ranking teams, and the top teams of the season.

The 1937 college football season was a memorable one, with several teams competing for the Nation's top spot. It also had some legendary players, coaches, and a rule modification that would change the game forever.

In rules revisions going into the season were highlighted by a big one. A new revision saw player jersey numbers, front and back, become mandatory for NCAA action for the first time. This included mandates that numbering on the front were to be 6-inches high Arabic style and on the back of the players was to be 10-inch Arabic numerals to match.

The University of Pittsburgh was the surprise team of the season. Coach Jock Sutherland was still at the helm after the highly successful 1936 Panthers' season; however, the squad lost a couple of stalwarts on the line from that earlier team, like All Americans tackle Ave Daniell and guard Bill Glassford. The Panthers were less dominant than in 1936 but had a better record (9-0-1) than the year prior, and they still had two key players: Marshall Goldberg and Tony Matisi. 

Goldberg was an All-American and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting 1937. He would repeat the All-American status in 1938 and was the runner-up for the Heisman. He would have a successful Pro career with the Chicago Cardinals, with his famed number 99 jersey eventually being retired by the club.

Matisi was a consensus first-team pick at the tackle position. The tackle would end up being a fourth-round selection by the hometown Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1938 NFL Draft but played five games for the Detroit Lions.

The Pittsburgh Panther undefeated National Championship team coached by Jock Sutherland. Members included in the picture are:
Horton, Yocos, Kapurka, Soroka, Shea, Fleming, Herlinger, Shord, Stapulis, Goodell, Cassiano, Dalle Tezze, Goldberg
Barr, Kish, Daddio, Urban, Curry, Peace, Schmidt, Raskowski, Morrow, Klein, C. Cambal, Richards, Patrick, Shaw, Grossman
Musulin, Walton, Michelosen, Adams, Lezouski, Stebbins, Asavitch, Merkovsky, Hensley, Souchak, Delich, Miller, Etze, Sutherland
Petro, Farkas, J. Cambal, Corace, Chickerneo, Naric, Holt, Spotovich, Hafer, Dannies, Fullerton, Berger, Jackman, Kristufek, Dickinson

The toughest contest for Pitt on the season may have been when the Panthers traveled to the Polo Grounds in New York City to play the Fordham Rams. Jim Crowley's Rams were 2–0 on the season. Crowley had been one of the famed Four Horsemen of Notre Dame while under the coaching tutelage of Knute Rockne. The Fighting Irish connection did not stop with Crowley for Fordham. This legendary Seven Blocks of Granite line was coached by Hall of Famer Frank Leahy, who went on to be a very successful head coach at Notre Dame.

Fordham had two All-Americans in 1937 in Tackle Ed Franco and Center Alex Wojciechowicz. Fordham's Achilles' heel was most likely their strength of schedule. The only other ranked team they played in 1937 was Number 15 North Carolina, who the Rams defeated handily 14-0 at Chapel Hill. The Rams also knocked off a tough unranked Texas Christian who featured Hall of Famers Davey O'Brien and Ki Aldrich.

The game was dominated by Pitt as they secured eleven first downs to Fordham's four, but the Ram's defense would not allow the Panthers to score. At least that is what the 0-0 final score indicated, although a Goldberg TD was called back on a Matisi holding call. Ironically, this was the third straight year that the Rams and the Panthers game ended in a tie at the Polo Grounds. Pitt finished 9-0-1, and Fordham 7-0-1, and both were viable candidates for the mythical national title.

The '37 edition of the University of California football was nicknamed the "Thunder Team." It was the third year under head coach Stub Allison for Cal, who compiled a 10–0–1 record. The Bears were dominant to the point of shutting out seven of eleven opponents and outscored all opposition by a total of 214 to 33. The victories of the Thunder Team include a 20-6 drubbing of the number 11 ranked team, rival USC, and a year-end 13-0 blanking of another annual foe in Number 13 Stanford. 

The tie came at the hands of the Washington Huskies, who battled California to a scoreless draw. Star Vic Bottari was hurt going into the contest and didn't get put into the game until the 3rd quarter. The team may have been less effective with him in the lineup wounded. The Bears had a scare late in the fourth when the Husky moved the ball to the Cal 23-yard line and then subsequently missed on the field goal attempt. This stalemate cost Cal dearly as they swapped places with Pitt from the top spot to trail position at number 2.

The Bears Fullback Sam Chapman was the team's only All-America selection in 1937.

The 1937 college football season was also notable for the fact that it was the first season in which the AP Poll was used to determine the national champion. The AP Poll was first published in 1936, but it was not until 1937 that it was used to determine the national champion.

The final AP Poll came out prior to the Rose Bowl game, where the Cal Bears destroyed Alabama to finish with a stellar 10-0-1 record. You can read more about i this game,  here in our special Rose Bowl coverage.

Clint Frank of Yale was the Heisman Trophy winner, and he led the Bulldogs to a perfect 9-0 record. Clinton edged out Colorado's Byron Whizzer White for the honor. The Yale back rushed for 667 yards, passed for 489 yards and five touchdowns, caught one pass for six yards, intercepted four passes for 70 yards, and returned five punts for 28 yards and four kickoffs for 81 yards, scoring 11 touchdowns in total.

Clinton left the Eli with 1,244 career rushing yards, 937 passing yards, five receptions, a remarkable 11 interceptions, and 20 touchdowns.

Looking back, the experts were somewhat split on deciding who the top team in the land was for the season. Pittsburgh earned the top spot in the AP Poll and retroactively in the College Football Researchers and National Championship Foundation. The Golden Bears were the top dog in the California-based Helms selection process.

The banner image is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of the October 2, 1937 program for the West Virginia versus Pittsburgh football game, Lon Keller illustrated the cover.

Also information was gleaned from TipTop25.com. Wikipedia.com, the 1937 Spaldings Guide, Sports-Reference.com, and Newspapers.com