1939 USC Trojans football team

The 1939 USC Trojans football team was an American football team that represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) during the 1939 college football season. In their 15th year under head coach Howard Jones, the Trojans compiled an 8–0–2 record (5–0–2 against PCC opponents), shut out six of ten opponents, won the PCC championship, and outscored all opponents by a total of 181 to 33. They won the PCC championship.^[1]

In the final

After the final rankings were released, the Trojans defeated No. 2 Tennessee, 14–0, in the 1940 Rose Bowl. Tennessee had not given up any points prior to the Rose Bowl and had won 23 consecutive games.^[4] The AP did not conduct a poll after the bowl games.

USC guard Harry Smith was a consensus first-team pick on the 1939 All-America college football team.^[5] Smith was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.^[6] Quarterback Grenny Lansdell was chosen as a first-team All-American by the Central Press Association and as a third-team All-American by the Associated Press.^[7][8] Smith, Lansdell, and tackle Phil Gaspar were also selected as first-team players on the 1939 All-Pacific Coast football team.^[9][10]

USC recognized the 1939 team as National Champions in 2004 based on their #1 ranking in the contemporary Dickinson System. USC saluted the surviving members of the squad on the field at their October 16 home game versus Arizona State.^[11]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 30	Oregon		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	T 7–7	41,000	[12]
October 7	Washington State		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 27–0	45,000	[13]
October 14	Illinois*		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 26–0	60,000	[14]
October 28	California	No. 8	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 26–0	46,000	[15][16]
November 4	vs. No. 11 Multnomah Stadium Portland, OR	W 19–7	32,611	[17]
November 11	Stanford	No. 4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	W 33–0	50,000	[18]
November 25	at No. 7 Notre Dame*	No. 4	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 20–12	54,799	[19]
December 2	Washington	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 9–7	44,760	[20]
December 9	at No. 9 UCLA	No. 3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	T 0–0	103,303	[21]
January 1, 1940	vs. No. 2 Tennessee*	No. 3	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	W 14–0	92,200	[22]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

1940 NFL draft

The following players were drafted into professional football following the 1939 season.

^[23]

References