1935 college football season
Official program for the Pitt vs. West Virginia game
Number of bowls	4
Bowl games	January 1, 1936
Champion(s)	Minnesota[a];SMU[b];Princeton[c];TCU[d];LSU[e]
Heisman	Jay Berwanger (halfback,Chicago)
← 1934 · football seasons · 1936 →

The1935 college football season was the last one before theAssociated Press (AP) writers' poll was used in selecting the national champion. There were seven contemporary math system selectors that year who are informally recognized by theNCAA as "nationwide in scope".^[1] TheDickinson System, run by University of Illinois Professor Frank Dickinson, selectedSouthern Methodist University (SMU) as best in the nation.^[1] TheHoulgate System, created by Carroll Everard "Deke" Houlgate Sr., also selected SMU.^[1] The contemporaryBoand, Litkenhous andPoling math rating systems all selectedMinnesota as the No. 1 team in the nation. TheDunkel System selected Princeton as its top team. The Williamson System, by Paul O. Williamson of New Orleans, rankedTexas Christian University first.^[2][1]

The 1935 season also marked the first time theHeisman Trophy was awarded. It was won byJay Berwanger ofChicago. QuarterbackRay Zeh ofCase Western Reserve led the nation inscoring.^[3]

September 21

SMU opened with a 39–0 win over North Texas andTCU opened its season with a 41–0 win over visiting Howard Payne College.

September 28

SMU beat Austin College 60–0 andTCU beat North Texas 28–11.Stanford beat San Jose State 35–0 andUCLA beat Utah State 39–0.,Fordham University, whose 1936 team would include the legendarySeven Blocks of Granite was a favorite New York City college football teams, after New York University and Columbia University. The Rams played all of their games at home at the Polo Grounds, which also hosted the NFL's New york Giants. In a game against visiting Franklin & Marshall, the Rams were losing until they scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter for a 14–7 win.California played a doubleheader, beating UC-Davis 47–0 and Whittier 6–0.Notre Dame defeated visiting Kansas, 28–7.Pittsburgh had an unexpectedly difficult time in a 14–0 win over visiting Waynesburg College.

October 5

Minnesota beat visiting North Dakota State 26–6,Stanford won at the U. of San Francisco 10–0 andCalifornia beat St. Mary's 10–0. In Portland,UCLA beat Oregon State 20–7.Ohio State beat Kentucky 19–6,Princeton edged Penn 7–6,Fordham beat Boston College 19–0,Notre Dame won at Carnegie Tech 14–3, andPittsburgh won at Washington & Jefferson 35–0.TCU won at Arkansas 13–7 andSMU beat visiting Tulsa 14–0.

October 12

Minnesota won at Nebraska 12–7 andOhio State defeated visiting Drake 85–7. In Portland,California beat Oregon, 6–0.TCU won at Tulsa, 13–0. In St. Louis,SMU beat Washington University 35–6.Notre Dame won at Wisconsin, 27–0Pittsburgh beat West Virginia, 24–6.Fordham lost to Purdue, 20–0^[4]Princeton defeated Williams College, 14–7.

October 19

UCLA won atStanford, 7–6.Notre Dame (3–0) andPittsburgh, both 3–0–0, met at South Bend, with the Fighting Irish handing Pitt its first loss, 9–6.Minnesota beat visiting Tulane 20–0Ohio State beat Northwestern 28–7.SMU and Rice, both 4–0–0, met in Dallas, with SMU winning, 10–0.TCU beat visiting Texas A&M 19–14 to stay unbeaten.California beat Santa Clara 6–0.Princeton beat Rutgers, 29–6.Fordham beat Vanderbilt, 13–7

October 26

TCU won at Centenary, 27–7.Stanford won at Washington 6–0,California beat visiting USC, 21–7, andUCLA beat Oregon, 33–6.Minnesota beat Northwestern at home 21–13 andOhio State won at Indiana 28–6Fordham defeated Lebanon Valley College 15–0.Pittsburgh beat Penn State 9–0.Princeton won at Cornell 54–0. At Baltimore,Notre Dame beat Navy 14–0. In a game at Wichita Falls, Texas,SMU beat Hardin–Simmons 18–6.

November 2

Notre Dame (5–0–0) andOhio State (4–0–0) met at Columbus before a crowd of 80,000.Grantland Rice described what happened: "Completely outplayed in the first two quarters, trailing 13 to 0 as the final quarter started with every killing break against it-- breaks that would crack the heart of an iron ox-- this Notre Dame team came surging back in the final quarter...". Notre Dame scored early in the fourth, but the extra point attempt bounced off the crossbar, and it was 13–6. After an interception, the Irish drove to within six inches of the goal line when Milner fumbled the ball away. With 90 seconds left, Andy Pilney passed to Mike Layden for a touchdown, but the extra point failed and the Irish trailed 13–12. Andy Pilney forced a Buckeye fumble at midfield, giving the Irish the ball at the 49 yard line, and on the next play, Pilney, taking back over as quarterback, scrambled to the 19 yard line, but was injured. With only one play left in the game, reserve quarterback Bill Shakespeare passed to Wayne Milner for the 18–13 win.^[5][6]

At Los Angeles,California (6–0–0) facedUCLA (4–0–0) and won 14–2.TCU visited Baylor (6–0–0). TCU shut the Bears out 28–0.SMU beat visiting Texas 20–0.Minnesota beat Purdue 29–7.Stanford beat Santa Clara in another close game, 9–6.Fordham andPittsburgh played to a 0–0 tie.Princeton defeated Navy 26–0.

November 9

UnbeatenNotre Dame hosted the Northwestern Wildcats, who had a losing record (2–3–0). With William Shakespeare at left halfback for the Irish, and Henry Wardsworth Longfellow playing right end for the Wildcats, the game looked like no more than a meeting of literary namesakes. Shakespeare's running game was shut down, while Longfellow caught one touchdown pass, and then recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter to set up a second touchdown for a major upset, as Northwestern won 14–7^[7]Minnesota won at Iowa 13–6. In Los Angeles,SMU handedUCLA (4–1–0) its second straight loss, 21–0.Stanford won at USC, 3–0.California beat Washington 14–0.

Fordham tied St. Mary's College 7–7,Princeton beat Harvard 35–0 andPittsburgh beat visiting Army 29–6.Ohio State won at Chicago, 20–13. In a Friday game at New Orleans,TCU beat Loyola College 14–0.

November 16

TCU won at Texas 28–0 andSMU won at Arkansas 17–6.Fordham beat Muhlenberg College 45–0 at the Polo Grounds, whileNotre Dame and Army played to a 6–6 tie at Yankee Stadium.Pittsburgh beat Nebraska 6–0 andPrinceton beat Lehigh 27–0.Stanford defeated Montana 32–0California beat Pacific 39–0Ohio State beat Illinois 38–0 andMinnesota won at Michigan 40–0In a Friday game,UCLA beat visiting Hawaii 19–6.

November 23

California (9–0) andStanford (6–1–0) met at Palo Alto, as Stanford handed the Golden Bears their first loss, 13–0. On the strength of the win, Stanford got the bid to the Rose Bowl. In a matchup of two great Ivy teams,Princeton (7–0–0) hosted Dartmouth (8–0–0), with Princeton winning 26–6.SMU defeated visiting Baylor 10–0 andTCU beat visiting Rice, 27–6, as both teams raised their records to 10–0–0.

UCLA beat Loyola Marymount 14–6Notre Dame closed its season with a 20–13 win over USC.Minnesota beat visiting Wisconsin, 33–7 to close its season at 8–0–0.

For the first time,Ohio State closed with its regular season with Michigan, a tradition that continued with only one interruption, in 1942. OSU won at Ann Arbor, 38–0.

On Thanksgiving Day, November 28 a crowd of 78,000 turned out at Yankee Stadium to watchFordham (5–1–2) face New York University (7–1–0). Fordham shut out NYU 21–0, but not before a fight broke out with the spectators crowding the field,^[8]Pittsburgh (6–1–0) and Carnegie Tech (2–5–0) played to a 0–0 tie.

November 30

The most eagerly watched game of the season matched two unbeaten (10–0–0) teams, withTexas Christian (10–0–0) hostingSouthern Methodist. SMU won 20–14 and was invited to the Rose Bowl, while TCU went to the Sugar Bowl.

Princeton closed its season with a 38–7 win at Yale, to finish 9–0–0.

December 7

UCLA beat Idaho 13–6.TCU won at Santa Clara, 10–6.

December 14

In San Francisco,UCLA closed its season with a 13–7 win over St. Mary's, while in Los Angeles,Pittsburgh beat USC 12–7.