1945 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils football team

The 1945 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils football team represented the United States Navy pre-flight school at Saint Mary's College of California during the 1944 college football season. In its fourth season, the team compiled a 2–4–1 record. The team's head coach was Bernie Masterson, who was hired as the head football coach at the University of Nebraska after the season.^[1]

1945 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils football
Conference	Independent
Record	2–4–1
Head coach	Bernie Masterson (1st season)
Home stadium	Kezar Stadium
Seasons ← 1944 1946 →

1945 military service football records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Army Air Forces League
Third Air Force +	4	–	1	–	1			7	–	2	–	1
AAF Training Command +	4	–	1	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
Fourth Air Force	3	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
First Air Force	2	–	2	–	2			3	–	2	–	3
Air Transport Command	2	–	3	–	1			6	–	3	–	2
Personnel Distribution Command	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Second Air Force	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Independents
Hutchinson NAS			–					8	–	0	–	0
Fleet City			–					11	–	0	–	1
Corpus Christi NAS			–					7	–	1	–	0
North Camp Hood			–					7	–	1	–	0
Selman Field			–					7	–	1	–	0
Jacksonville NAS			–					9	–	2	–	0
El Toro Marines			–					8	–	2	–	0
Camp Beale			–					6	–	1	–	2
Little Creek			–					7	–	2	–	0
Amarillo AAF			–					3	–	1	–	0
Farragut NTS			–					6	–	2	–	0
South Camp Hood			–					5	–	2	–	0
Santa Barbara Marines			–					7	–	3	–	1
Fort McClellan			–					4	–	2	–	0
San Diego NTS			–					4	–	2	–	0
Eastern Flying Training Command			–					6	–	3	–	1
Atlantic City NAS			–					4	–	2	–	1
Minter Field			–					4	–	2	–	1
Camp Lee			–					7	–	4	–	0
Camp Peary			–					5	–	3	–	0
Olathe NAS			–					3	–	2	–	0
Great Lakes Navy			–					6	–	4	–	1
Hondo AAF			–					6	–	4	–	1
Bainbridge			–					5	–	4	–	0
Fort Benning			–					5	–	4	–	1
Albany Navy			–					3	–	3	–	1
Williams Field			–					4	–	4	–	0
Stockton AAF			–					4	–	5	–	2
Camp Detrick			–					3	–	4	–	0
Kearney AAF			–					3	–	4	–	0
Fort Warren			–					5	–	7	–	0
Bergstrom Field			–					3	–	5	–	1
Barksdale Field			–					4	–	7	–	0
Saint Mary's Pre-Flight			–					2	–	4	–	1
Keesler Field			–					3	–	6	–	1
Camp Blanding			–					1	–	2	–	0
Great Bend AAF			–					2	–	4	–	0
Luke Field			–					1	–	2	–	0
Miami NAS			–					1	–	2	–	0
Fort Pierce			–					4	–	9	–	0
Gulfport AAF			–					2	–	5	–	0
Ellington Field			–					1	–	4	–	1
Miami NTC			–					1	–	3	–	0
Oceana NAS			–					1	–	3	–	0
Fort Riley			–					1	–	4	–	0
Lake Charles AAF			–					1	–	4	–	0
Pensacola NAS			–					2	–	7	–	1
Cherry Point Marines			–					1	–	8	–	0
Dalhart AAF			–					0	–	3	–	0
Homestead AAB			–					0	–	3	–	0
Fort Monroe			–					0	–	7	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions

The team's roster included Frankie Albert, Bob deLauer, Mike DiBiase, Len Eshmont, Dale Gentry, Parker Hall, John Kuzman, Ray Mallouf, Ray Riddick, Bob Titchenal, Hilman Walker, John Woudenberg, and Frank Yokas.^[2]

The Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils were ranked 26th among the nation's college and service teams in the final Litkenhous Ratings.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 28	8:00 p.m.	at Pacific (CA)	Baxter Stadium Stockton, CA	W 69–0		[4][5]
October 6	2:30 p.m.	at USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 14–26	25,000	[6][7][8]
October 14	2:30 p.m.	Fourth Air Force	Kezar Stadium San Francisco, CA	L 7–20	22,000	[9][10]
October 19	8:30 p.m.	at UCLA	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 13–6	30,000	[11][12]
November 4	2:00 p.m.	vs. Fleet City	Kezar Stadium San Francisco, CA	T 13–13	58,000	[13][14]
November 18		El Toro Marines	Kezar Stadium San Francisco, CA	L 0–7	35,000	[15]
December 1	2:00 p.m.	at California	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	L 0–6	25,000	[16][17]
All times are in Pacific time

^[18]

References

1. "Bernie Masterson to Coach Nebraska Squad". The Scranton Tribune. Scranton, Pennsylvania. International News Service. November 19, 1945. p. 17. Retrieved March 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
2. "Albert, Preflighters out to stop mighty Fleet City eleven tomorrow". Palo Alto Times. Palo Alto, California. November 3, 1945. p. 5. Retrieved March 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
3. Litkenhous, E. E. (December 19, 1945). "Litkenhouse Rates College, Service Teams of Nation". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. 20. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
4. Peri, John (September 28, 1945). "Airdevils and Tigers Meet". Stockton Record. Stockton, California. p. 16. Retrieved March 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
5. Peri, John J. (September 29, 1945). "Navy Preflights Stampede in 69-0 Win Over Tigers". Stockton Record. Stockton, California. p. 14. Retrieved March 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
6. "Trojans Battle Airdevils Today at Coliseum". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. October 6, 1945. p. 8. Retrieved March 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
7. Dyer, Braven (October 7, 1945). "Airdevils Fall Before Trojan Power, 26 to 14". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 5, part II. Retrieved March 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
8. Dyer, Braven (October 7, 1945). "Trojans Trounce Airdevils, 26-14 (continued)". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 7, part II. Retrieved March 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
9. Sullivan, Prescott (October 14, 1945). "Flyer Speed Ready For Pre-Flight Test". San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. p. 17. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
10. Newland, Russ (October 15, 1945). "4th Air Force Bops Airdevils". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. Associated Press. p. 10, part II. Retrieved March 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
11. Wolf, Al (October 19, 1945). "Bruins, Preflighters in Grid Clash Tonight". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 10, part I. Retrieved March 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
12. Wolf, Al (October 20, 1945). "St. Mary's Preflights Upset Bruins, 13 to 6". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 6, part I. Retrieved March 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
13. Sullivan, Prescott (November 4, 1945). "Fleet City Favored To Beat Airdevils". San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. p. 17. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
14. Newland, Russ (November 5, 1945). "Fleet City, Preflighters". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 10, part I. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
15. "Marines Defeat Pre-Flight, 7-0". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. November 19, 1945. p. 14. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
16. Sullivan, Prescott (December 1, 1945). "Last Tilt For Shaw". San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. p. 14. Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
17. "California Bears Upset St. Mary's Navy, 6 to 0". Pasadena Star-News and Pasadena Post. Pasadena, California. International News Service. December 2, 1945. p. 12. Retrieved March 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
18. "Final Log For Nation's Top Football Teams". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. December 2, 1945. p. 14, part I. Retrieved March 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .