1949 Santa Clara Broncos football team

The 1949 Santa Clara Broncos football team was an American football team that represented Santa Clara University during the 1949 college football season. In their fourth season under head coach Len Casanova, the Broncos compiled an 8–2–1 record, were ranked No. 15 in the final AP Poll, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 222 to 114.[1][2]

1949 Santa Clara Broncos football
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 21–13 vs. Kentucky
Conference	Independent
Ranking
AP	No. 15
1949 record	8–2–1
Head coach	Len Casanova (4th season)

1949 Western college football independents records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 10 Pacific (CA)			–					11	–	0	–	0
No. 15 Santa Clara			–					8	–	2	–	1
San Francisco			–					7	–	3	–	0
Idaho State			–					6	–	2	–	1
Hawaii			–					6	–	3	–	0
La Verne			–					5	–	3	–	2
Loyola (CA)			–					6	–	4	–	0
Nevada			–					5	–	5	–	0
Pepperdine			–					4	–	5	–	0
Saint Mary's			–					3	–	6	–	1
Portland			–					2	–	5	–	0
Cal Poly San Dimas			–					2	–	8	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The Broncos' victories included a 14–0 besting of UCLA, a 19–6 victory over Saint Mary's, and a 21–13 victory over Bear Bryant's Kentucky Wildcats in the 1950 Orange Bowl. The team's two losses came against Pacific Coast Conference champion California (ranked No. 3 in the final AP Poll) and undefeated Oklahoma (ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll).[1][2]

Guard Vern Sterling was selected by both the Associated Press and International News Service as a first-team player on the 1949 All-Pacific Coast football team.[3][4]

After the 1949 season, coach Casanova left Santa Clara to become head coach at Pittsburgh. He also served as head coach at Oregon from 1951 to 1966.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 18	at California		California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	L 7–21	62,000	[5]
September 24	at San Jose State		Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	W 14–13	13,500	[6]
October 1	at Fresno State		Ratcliffe Stadium Fresno, CA	W 53–0	10,324	[7]
October 9	Portland		Grape Bowl Lodi, CA	W 26–13		[8]
October 15	at No. 13 UCLA		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles	W 14–0	28,911	[9]
October 23	at Loyola (CA)		Sacramento, CA	W 27–19	9,500	[10]
October 29	at Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	T 7–7	45,000	[11]
November 5	San Francisco		Kezar Stadium San Francisco	W 13–7	40,000	[12]
November 13	at Saint Mary's	No. 20	Kezar Stadium San Francisco	W 19–6	37,640	[13]
November 19	at No. 2 Oklahoma	No. 19	Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	L 21–28	59,000	[14]
January 2	vs. No. 20 Kentucky	No. 14	Burdine Stadium Miami (Orange Bowl)	W 21–13	64,816	[15]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

1. "Santa Clara Yearly Results (1935–1939)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
2. "1949 Santa Clara Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
3. "Carpenter Draws Most Votes in Winning Position ON Associate Press' 25th All-Coast Selection". The Corvalis Gazette-Times. November 25, 1949. p. 7.
4. Joe St. Amant (November 22, 1949). "Bears Pace All-Pacific Coast Football Eleven". El Paso Herald-Post. p. 10.
5. "Bears Smash Broncos, 21-7: California Team Impresses 62,000". San Bernardino Sun-Telegram. September 18, 1949. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Santa Clara Nips San Jose, 14 to 13". San Bernardino Sun-Telegram. September 25, 1949. p. 33 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Santa Clara Beats Fresno State 53-0". Santa Cruz Sentinel-News. October 2, 1949. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Santa Clara Beats Portland, 26-13". Honolulu Advertiser. October 10, 1949. p. 12.
9. Paul Zimmerman (October 16, 1949). "Broncs Bop UCLA: Santa Clara Stages Last Period Rally". Los Angeles Times. p. II-1, II-11 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Jack Geyer (October 24, 1949). "Loyola Scares Santa Clara Before Going Down, 27 to 19". Los Angeles Times. pp. 4=1, 4–3 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Ray Haywood (October 30, 1949). "Broncos Battle Stanford to 7 to 7 Deadlock: Santa Clara Checks Tribe Bowl Hopes". Oakland Tribune. p. 1B, 5B – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Santa Clara Beats USF, 13-7: Hall Haynes Is Hero For Bronco Team". The Honolulu Advertiser. November 7, 1949. p. 12.
13. "Santa Clara Dominates All Way as Gaels Yield, 19-6". San Bernardino Daily Sun. November 14, 1940. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Saul Feldman (November 20, 1949). "Sooners Beat Off Santa Clara, 28 to 21". Miami (OK) Daily News-Record. pp. 1–2 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Spectacular Show Enthralls Bowl Throng". Miami Daily News. January 3, 1950. pp. 1–3, 9 – via Newspapers.com.