Wikipedia

1939 Cornell Big Red football team

The 1939 Cornell Big Red football team was an American football team that represented Cornell University as an independent during the 1939 college football season. In its fourth season under head coach Carl Snavely, Cornell compiled an 8–0 record and outscored opponents by a total of 197 to 52.[1][2] After the season, Cornell declined a bid to the 1940 Rose Bowl so that the football players could catch up on their schoolwork.[3]

1939 Cornell Big Red football
National champion (Litkenhous)
Co-national champion (Sagarin)
Eastern champion
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
APNo. 4
Record8–0
Head coach
Offensive schemeSingle-wing
CaptainVincent Eichler, Malvern Baker, Ken Brown
Home stadiumSchoellkopf Field
Seasons
← 1938
1940 →
1939 Eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Cornell   –   8 – 0 – 0
No. 10 Duquesne   –   8 – 0 – 1
Swarthmore   –   6 – 0 – 1
Scranton   –   7 – 0 – 2
Princeton   –   7 – 1 – 0
La Salle   –   6 – 1 – 1
Penn State   –   5 – 1 – 2
No. 11 Boston College   –   9 – 2 – 0
No. 17 Fordham   –   6 – 2 – 0
Villanova   –   6 – 2 – 0
Boston University   –   5 – 3 – 0
Brown   –   5 – 3 – 1
Dartmouth   –   5 – 3 – 1
Hofstra   –   4 – 3 – 0
NYU   –   5 – 4 – 0
Pittsburgh   –   5 – 4 – 0
Harvard   –   4 – 4 – 0
Manhattan   –   4 – 4 – 0
Penn   –   4 – 4 – 0
Syracuse   –   3 – 3 – 2
Vermont   –   3 – 3 – 2
Tufts   –   3 – 4 – 1
Yale   –   3 – 4 – 1
Army   –   3 – 4 – 2
Bucknell   –   3 – 5 – 0
Carnegie Tech   –   3 – 5 – 0
Providence   –   3 – 5 – 0
Columbia   –   2 – 4 – 2
Massachusetts State   –   2 – 5 – 2
Colgate   –   2 – 5 – 1
Temple   –   2 – 7 – 0
CCNY   –   1 – 7 – 0
Buffalo   –   0 – 7 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

On December 1, Cornell was awarded the Lambert Trophy as the best Eastern college football team.[4] In the final AP Poll released on December 12, Cornell was ranked No. 4 nationally, behind Texas A&M, Tennessee, and USC.[5] Cornell was named national champion in the Litkenhous Ratings released in December 1939. It was also retroactively recognized as co-national champion in the Sagarin Ratings[6]

Cornell tackle Nick Drahos was a consensus first-team selection on the 1939 All-America college football team.[7] He was inducted in 1981 into the College Football Hall of Fame.[8] Quarterback Walter Matuszczak was also selected as a first-team All-American by the New York Sun.[9]

Schedule

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DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 7Syracuse
W 19–6> 23,000[10]
October 14at Princeton
W 20–735,000[11][12]
October 21Penn StateNo. 12
  • Schoellkopf Field
  • Ithaca, NY
W 47–07,500[13]
October 28at No. 4 Ohio StateNo. 7
W 23–1449,583[14][15]
November 4Columbia No. 3
  • Schoellkopf Field
  • Ithaca, NY (rivalry)
W 13–715,000[16][17]
November 11ColgateNo. 5
  • Schoellkopf Field
  • Ithaca, NY (rivalry)
W 14–1215,000[18]
November 18DartmouthNo. 4
W 35–616,000[19]
November 30at PennNo. 3
W 26–069,000[20]
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

edit
  1. ^ "1939 Cornell Big Red Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  2. ^ 1939 Cornell University football scores and results Archived October 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved on October 4, 2013.
  3. ^ 1939 Champions of All Archived October 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Cornell Football Association. Retrieved on October 3, 2013.
  4. ^ "Cornell Wins Eastern Grid Trophy". The Ithaca Journal. December 1, 1939. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Aggies Finish on Top in Final U.S. Grid Poll". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. December 13, 1939. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ 2017 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. July 2017. p. 112. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  7. ^ "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 7. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  8. ^ "Nick Drahos". National Football Foundation. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  9. ^ "N.Y. Sun Picks All American". Modesto Bee And News-Herald. December 2, 1939.
  10. ^ "Cornell Aims Guns At Tigers After Beating Syracuse". The Ithaca Journal. October 9, 1939. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Kenny Van Sickle (October 16, 1939). "Penn State Visits Here Saturday; Tigers Defeated". The Ithaca Journal. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Cornell's Early Attack Routs Princeton, 20-7". The Sunday Times. October 15, 1939. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Ohio State Game Beckons Cornell After Lion Rout". The Ithaca Journal. October 23, 1939. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Si Burick (October 29, 1939). "Ohio State And U.D. Beaten". Dayton Daily News. pp. 1, 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ William J. Waters (October 30, 1939). "Cornell Squad Starts Practice For Columbia; Players Hailed For 23-14 Win Over Ohio State". The Ithaca Journal. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Cornell Gridders Get Day of Rest After Taking Lions". The Ithaca Journal. November 6, 1939. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Richardson, William D. (November 5, 1939). "Blocking of Kick Enables Cornell to Triumph, 13-7". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. p. S1.
  18. ^ "Cornell Has Close Call, Now Girds For Dartmouth Tilt". The Ithaca Journal. November 13, 1939. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Buck Clarey (November 20, 1939). "Pennsylvania Next For Big Red; Green Beaten, 35-6". The Ithaca Journal. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Kenny Van Sickle (November 27, 1939). "Cornell Unbeaten, Untied 1st Time Since 1923 Season". The Ithaca Journal. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
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