1939 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

The 1939 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic School—now known as California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo—as an independent during the 1939 college football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Howie O'Daniels, Cal Poly compiled a record of 4–4–1. The team was outscored by its opponents 101 to 78 for the season. The Mustangs played home games at Mustang Stadium in San Luis Obispo, California.

1939 Cal Poly Mustangs football
Conference	Independent
Record	4–4–1
Head coach	Howie O'Daniels (7th season)
Home stadium	Mustang Stadium
Seasons ← 1938 1940 →

1939 Western college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
San Diego Marines			–					11	–	0	–	0
No. T–14 Santa Clara			–					5	–	1	–	3
Gonzaga			–					6	–	2	–	0
Humboldt State			–					5	–	2	–	0
Idaho Southern Branch			–					5	–	2	–	0
Cal Poly			–					4	–	4	–	1
San Francisco			–					4	–	3	–	3
La Verne			–					3	–	3	–	0
Saint Mary's			–					3	–	4	–	1
Hawaii			–					3	–	6	–	0
Loyola (CA)			–					2	–	6	–	1
San Francisco State			–					2	–	4	–	2
Portland			–					1	–	5	–	1
Rankings from AP Poll

Cal Poly was a two-year school until 1941 and competed as an independent from 1929 to 1945.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 22	Caltech	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	L 7–12
September 30	at Humboldt State	Albee Stadium Eureka, CA	L 9–13
October 7	at Arizona State	Goodwin Stadium Tempe, AZ	L 0–35		[1]
October 20	at Ventura Junior College	Ventura, CA	W 13–0		[2]
October 28	San Francisco State	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	T 0–0
November 4	at Cal Aggies	A Street field Davis, CA	L 0–28	1,500	[3]
November 11	San Francisco freshmen	Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	W 16–6
November 17	at San Diego Marines[note 1]	Balboa Stadium? San Diego, CA	W 20–7
November 30	at Chico State	College Field Chico, CA	W 13–0		[4]

^[5]

Notes

1. The Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) in San Diego fielded a team that played against colleges and other military teams from 1922 to 1964.

References

1. "Two Blazing Runs Bring Touchdowns In First Quarter". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. October 8, 1939. p. 89. Retrieved April 24, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Cal Poly Blanks Ventura J.C., 13-0". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. October 21, 1939. p. 11. Retrieved March 13, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Cal Aggies Trim Cal Poly, 28 to 0". Nevada State Journal. Reno, Nevada. November 5, 1939. p. 10. Retrieved March 13, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Football Scores". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco, California. December 1, 1939. p. 25 – via GenealogyBank.com.
5. "History (1915–2023)" (PDF). Cal Poly Athletics. p. 24. Retrieved July 2, 2024.