1941 Santa Clara Broncos football team

The 1941 Santa Clara Broncos football team represented Santa Clara University as an independent during the 1941 college football season. In its sixth season under head coach Buck Shaw, the team compiled a 6–3 record and outscored opponents by a total of 170 to 103.^[1]

1941 Santa Clara Broncos football
Conference	Independent
Record	6–3
Head coach	Buck Shaw (6th season)
Home stadium	Kezar Stadium
Seasons ← 1940 1942 →

1941 Western college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Hawaii			–					8	–	1	–	0
Santa Clara			–					6	–	3	–	0
San Francisco			–					6	–	4	–	0
Idaho Southern Branch			–					5	–	1	–	2
Cal Poly			–					5	–	3	–	1
Saint Mary's			–					5	–	4	–	0
Loyola (CA)			–					5	–	5	–	0
Nevada			–					3	–	5	–	1
Portland			–					3	–	5	–	0
Gonzaga			–					3	–	7	–	0
San Francisco State			–					2	–	4	–	1
Humboldt State			–					2	–	5	–	1
La Verne			–					0	–	6	–	0

After winning its first four games, including shutout victories over California and Michigan State, Santa Clara rose to No. 8 in the AP Poll released on October 20. The team then fell from the rankings, losing three consecutive games against Oklahoma, Stanford, and Oregon. The team rebounded with victories over UCLA and rival Saint Mary's to conclude the season.^[1]

Santa Clara was ranked at No. 36 (out of 681 teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score System for 1941.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 27	San Francisco		Kezar Stadium San Francisco, CA	W 32–7	25,000	[3]
October 5	Loyola (CA)		Kezar Stadium San Francisco, CA	W 20–6	7,500	[4]
October 11	at California		California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 13–0	56,000	[5]
October 18	Michigan State	No. 9	Kezar Stadium San Francisco, CA	W 7–0	18,000	[6]
October 25	at Oklahoma	No. 8	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	L 6–16	22,000	[7]
November 1	at No. 12 Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	L 7–27	65,000	[8]
November 11	at Oregon		Multnomah Stadium Portland, OR	L 19–21	15,854	[9]
November 16	Saint Mary's		Kezar Stadium San Francisco, CA	W 35–13	40,000	[10]
November 22	at UCLA		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 31–13	25,000	[11]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

See also: 1941 NCAA football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final
AP	9 (1)	8	—	—	—	—	—	—

References

1. "1941 Santa Clara Broncos Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
2. Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 26, 1941). "Gophers Grid Kings Over 6-Year Span: Tennessee 2d, Pitt 3d Over Period Litkenhous Ratins Are Published". The Courier-Journal. p. Sports 4 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Bill Tobitt (September 29, 1941). "Broncos Score Easy 32-7 Victory Over Inept Dons". Oakland Tribune. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Bill Tobitt (October 6, 1941). "Broncs Not Interested, Beat Loyola 20-6 Anyway". Oakland Tribune. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Broncos Whip Bears, 13-0". Oakland Tribune. October 12, 1941. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Bill Tobitt (October 19, 1941). "'Lucky' Broncs Defeat Spartans, 7 to 0". Oakland Tribune. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Oklahoma Upsets Santa Clara, 16-6". The Austin American. October 26, 1941. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Bill Tobitt (November 2, 1941). "Tribe Has Reached Peak -- Shaughnessy". Oakland Tribune. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Oregon Hits Victory Trail; Santa Clara Defeated, 21 to 19". The Register-Guard. November 12, 1941. pp. 8–9 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Bill Tobitt (November 17, 1941). "Bitter Strader, Routed Gaels Head East: Broncos Whale the Tar Out of St. Mary's, 35-13". Oakland Tribune. pp. 15, 17 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Bruins Lose: Broncos Win 31-13". Los Angeles Times. November 23, 1941. pp. 1, 13, 17 – via Newspapers.com.