American college football season
The1931 USC Trojans football team was anAmerican football team that represented theUniversity of Southern California (USC) in thePacific Coast Conference (PCC) during the1931 college football season . In their seventh season under head coachHoward Jones , the Trojans lost the opening game toSaint Mary's and then won the remaining ten games of the season. They finished the season with a 10–1 record (7–0 against PCC opponents), shut out six of eleven opponents, outscored all opponents by a total of 363 to 52, and won the PCC and national championships.[ 1]
Date Opponent Site Result Attendance Source September 26 Saint Mary's * L 7–1370,000 [ 2] October 3 Oregon State Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 30–050,000 [ 3] October 10 Washington State Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 38–630,000 [ 4] October 17 Oregon Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 53–050,000 [ 5] October 24 atCalifornia W 6–053,957 [ 6] November 7 Stanford Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry ) W 19–093,000 [ 7] November 14 Montana Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 69–020,000 [ 8] November 21 atNotre Dame * W 16–1450,731 [ 9] December 5 Washington Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 44–755,000 [ 10] December 12 Georgia * Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA W 60–075,000 [ 11] January 1 , 1932vs.Tulane * W 21–1284,000 [ 12] *Non-conference game
National championship [ edit ] TheDickinson System rankings were released on December 12, 1931, and ranked USC No. 1 andTulane Green Wave No. 2.[ 13] [ 14] 1932 Rose Bowl matched No. 1 USC against No. 2 Tulane with USC prevailing by a 21–12 score.[ 12] Albert Russel Erskine Trophy for the 1931 national football championship.[ 15]
In addition to Dickinson, USC was recognized as the 1931national champion by the great majority of later rankings and analyses, including theBillingsley Report ,Boand System ,College Football Researchers Association ,Dunkel System ,Helms Athletic Foundation ,Houlgate System ,National Championship Foundation ,Poling System ,Sagarin Ratings , andBerryman (QPRS) .[ 16]
Two USC players, fullbackGaius Shaver and guardJohnny Baker , were selected as consensus first-team players on the1931 All-America college football team .[ 17] [ 18] [ 19] Erny Pinckert (AP, NEA,Liberty ) and centerStan Williamson (Liberty ).[ 20] [ 21] [ 22]
Eight USC players received first-team honors on the1931 All-Pacific Coast football team : quarterbackGaius Shaver (AP-1, UP-1); quarterbackOrville Mohler (NEA-1); halfbackErny Pinckert (AP-1, NEA-1, UP-1); ends Ray Sparling (AP-1) andGarrett Arbelbide (NEA-1); tackle Ernie Smith (AP-1); guard Johnny Baker (AP-1, NEA-1, UP-1); and center Stan Williamson (AP-1, NEA-1, UP-1).[ 23] [ 24] [ 25]
Garrett Arbelbide , endJohnny Baker , guard (College Football Hall of Fame)Dick Barber , fullbackBlanchard Beatty, quarterback Henry Biggs, end Willard Brouse, quarterback Tay Brown , tackleGordon Clark, halfback Eugene Clarke, end Harvey Durkee, end John Dye, guard Robert Erskine, tackle Kenneth Fay, halfback Byron Gentry , guardHomer Griffith , quarterbackRobert H. Hall, tackle Harold Hammack, halfback J. Howard Joslin, end Thomas Mallory, halfback Francis McGinley, guard Bob McNeish , halfbackOrville Mohler , quarterbackJim Musick , fullbackGeorge Norene, center Neil Norris, end James Owens, quarterback Ford Palmer, end Erny Pinckert , halfback (College Football Hall of Fame)Alfred Plaehn, tackle Gene Ridings, fullback Aaron Rosenberg , guardGaius Shaver , fullback/quarterbackThomas Bert Sherman, fullback Ernie Smith , tackleRay Sparling, end Barry Stephens, halfback Lawrence Stevens, guard Herbert Tatsch, tackle Roderick Thompson, tackle Howie Tipton , halfbackFrank Williamson, guard Stan Williamson , centerCurt Youel , center[ 26]
^ "1931 USC Trojans Schedule and Results" .SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedApril 5, 2022 .^ Paul Lowry (September 27, 1931)."St. Mary's Warriors Upset Trojans, 13 to 7: Two Forward Passes Spell Ruin for Thundering Herd" .Los Angeles Times Newspapers.com . ^ Paul Lowry (October 4, 1931)."Trojans Score 30-0 Win Over Oregon State: Losers Unable To Show Much" .Los Angeles Times . p. VI-a-1 – viaNewspapers.com . ^ Braven Dyer (October 11, 1931)."Mohler Stars as Troy Wins: Leads S.C. to 38-6 Victory Over Coast Champions" .Los Angeles Times . p. VI-a-1 – viaNewspapers.com . ^ Braven Dyer (October 18, 1931)."Troy Swamps Oregon: Webfeet Take Bad Thumping" .Los Angeles Times . p. VI-a-1 – viaNewspapers.com . ^ Paul Lowry (October 25, 1931)."Trojans Beat Bears, 6-0, in Fierce Battle: Ray Sparling Scores Touchdown for Troy" .Los Angeles Times . p. VI-a-1 – viaNewspapers.com . ^ Paul Lowry (November 8, 1931)."Trojans ___ Stanford: Trojans Triumph in 19-0 Game; Crowd of 93,000 Spectators Sees Indians Toppled by Ancient Grid Rivals" .Los Angeles Times . pp. 1, VI-a-1 – viaNewspapers.com . ^ Braven Dyer (November 15, 1931)."Griffith Stars as S.C. Wins: Montana Gets 69-0 Thumping" .Los Angeles Times . p. VI-a-1 – viaNewspapers.com . ^ Braven Dyer (November 22, 1931)."Stirring Trojan Rally Upsets Irish, 16 to 14" .Los Angeles Times . pp. 1, VI-a-1 – viaNewspapers.com . ^ Paul Lowry (December 6, 1931)."Trojans Crush Huskies, 44 to 7" .Los Angeles Times . p. Sports 1 – viaNewspapers.com . ^ Braven Dyer (December 13, 1931)."Thundering Herd Slaughters Georgia, 60-0: Sheer Power of Trojan Attack Stuns Bulldogs" .Los Angeles Times . p. VI-a-1 – viaNewspapers.com . ^a b "Valiant Tulane Eleven Bows To Troy, 21-12" .Los Angeles Times . January 2, 1932. p. 7 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "National Title to S.C. Team: Dickinson Rating Gives Trojans Championship for 1931 Season" .Los Angeles Times . December 13, 1931. p. VI-a-1 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Dickinson Gives Title to Trojans" .Monroe Morning World . December 13, 1931. p. 8 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Trojans Get Erskine 1931 Grid Award" .Los Angeles Times . January 2, 1932. p. 7 – viaNewspapers.com .^ 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF) . National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. pp. 113, 120. RetrievedJanuary 4, 2019 .^ "Football Award Winners" (PDF) . National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 7. RetrievedOctober 21, 2017 .^ "Shaver, Baker Picked on the All-American" .Los Angeles Times . December 6, 1931. p. Sports 1 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "1931 USC Trojans Stats" .SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedApril 5, 2022 .^ "The 1931 All-America Team" .The Daily Inter Lake . Associated Press. December 5, 1931. p. 2. RetrievedMay 22, 2017 – viaNewspapers.com .^ MacPhail, Larry (December 14, 1931)."NEA Board Names All-America" .The Anniston Star . Newspaper Enterprise Association. p. 8. RetrievedMay 22, 2017 – viaNewspapers.com . ^ ESPN College Football Encyclopedia . ESPN Books. 2005. p. 1163.ISBN 1401337031 ^ "Trojans Place Five Men on All-Pacific Coast Eleven" .The Monroe (LA) News-Star . December 3, 1931. p. 7.^ "Presenting NEA's All-Coast Conference Football Team" .Santa Cruz News . December 2, 1931. p. 8.^ "Southern California Places Five on All-Coast Team" .Ames (Iowa) Daily Tribune-Times . December 3, 1931. p. 6.^ "All-Time Letterwinners" (PDF) . USC Athletics. RetrievedFebruary 7, 2025 .
Venues Bowls and rivalries Culture and lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
1869–1879 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s
Pacific Coast AAWU Pacific-8 Pacific-10 Pac-12 National championships inbold
