1926 Stanford football team

1926 Stanford football
National champion (Dickinson) Co-national champion (Helms, NCF, and Sagarin) PCC champion
Rose Bowl vs. Alabama, T 7–7
Conference	Pacific Coast Conference
1926 record	10–0–1 (4–0 PCC)
Head coach	Glenn "Pop" Warner
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium

1926 PCC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Stanford $	4	–	0	–	0			10	–	0	–	1
USC	5	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Oregon Agricultural	4	–	1	–	0			7	–	1	–	0
Washington State	4	–	1	–	0			6	–	1	–	0
Washington	3	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Oregon	1	–	4	–	0			2	–	4	–	1
Idaho	1	–	4	–	0			3	–	4	–	1
Montana	0	–	4	–	0			3	–	5	–	0
California	0	–	5	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion

The 1926 Stanford football team represented Stanford University in the 1926 college football season. In Head Coach Pop Warner's third season, Stanford went undefeated in the regular season. Stanford faced undefeated Alabama in the 1927 Rose Bowl for the national championship, but the two teams would tie 7–7. The 1927 Stanford-Alabama match was the final Rose Bowl to end in a tie. Stanford was named the national champion under the Dickinson System and as a co-national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation, National Championship Foundation, and Jeff Sagarin (using the ELO-Chess methodology).^[1]

The team played their home games at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California and competed in the Pacific Coast Conference.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 18	Fresno State*	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	W 44–0
September 25	Caltech*	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	W 13–0
October 2	Occidental*	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	W 19–0
October 9	Olympic Club*	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	W 7–3
October 16	Nevada*	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	W 33–9
October 23	at Oregon	Hayward Field • Eugene, OR	W 29–12
October 30	at USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA	W 13–12
November 6	Santa Clara*	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	W 33–14
November 13	Washington	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	W 29–10
November 20	at California	California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA (32nd Big Game)	W 41–6
January 1, 1927	vs. Alabama*	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	T 7–7
*Non-conference game.

Game summaries

Rose Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Alabama	0	0	0	7	7
Stanford	7	0	0	0	7

The 1927 Rose Bowl was held on January 1, 1927 in Pasadena, California. Stanford (10-0, 4-0 PCC) faced off against the Southern Conference 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.^[2]

References

1. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2015). "National Poll Rankings" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA. p. 108. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
2. "Stanford and Alabama Play Tie," The Oakland Tribune, January 2, 1927, p D-1; http://www.rosebowlhistory.org