1934 Southeastern Conference football season

The 1934 Southeastern Conference football season was the second season of college football played by the member schools of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and was a part of the 1934 college football season. Tulane compiled a 10–1 overall record, with a conference record of 8–0; and, Alabama compiled a 10–0 overall record, with a conference record of 7–0, and were SEC co-champions. Five of the 13 selectors recognized as "major" by the NCAA (Berryman, Dunkel, Houlgate, Poling, and Williamson – all match systems) recognize the 1934 Alabama team as the national champion.^[1]

1934 Southeastern Conference football season
Sport	Football
Duration	September 21, 1934 – January 1, 1935 (1934-09-21 – 1935-01-01)
Number of teams	13
Champion	Tulane Alabama

1934 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 11 Tulane +	8	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 6 Alabama +	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	0	–	0
Tennessee	5	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
LSU	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	2
Georgia	3	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Vanderbilt	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Florida	2	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
Ole Miss	2	–	3	–	1			4	–	5	–	1
Kentucky	1	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Auburn	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
Sewanee	0	–	4	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Mississippi State	0	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Georgia Tech	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from Dickinson System

Results and team statistics

Conf. rank	Team	Head coach	Overall record	Conf. record	DS final	PPG	PAG
1 (tie)	Tulane	Ted Cox	10–1–0 (.909)	8–0–0 (1.000)	#11	19.5	7.5
1 (tie)	Alabama	Frank Thomas	10–0–0 (1.000)	7–0–0 (1.000)	#6	31.6	4.5
3	Tennessee	Robert Neyland	8–2–0 (.800)	5–1–0 (.833)	NR	17.5	5.8
4	LSU	Biff Jones	7–2–2 (.727)	4–2–0 (.667)	NR	15.6	7.0
5	Georgia	Harry Mehre	7–3–0 (.700)	3–2–0 (.600)	NR	14.1	5.6
6	Vanderbilt	Dan McGugin	6–3–0 (.667)	4–3–0 (.571)	NR	11.7	11.1
7	Florida	Dennis K. Stanley	6–3–1 (.650)	2–2–1 (.500)	NR	11.3	11.0
8	Ole Miss	Ed Walker	4–5–1 (.450)	2–3–1 (.417)	NR	11.4	9.8
9	Kentucky	Chet A. Wynne	5–5–0 (.500)	1–3–0 (.250)	NR	12.3	8.6
10	Auburn	Jack Meagher	2–8–0 (.200)	1–6–0 (.143)	NR	5.8	10.7
11	Sewanee	Harry E. Clark	2–7–0 (.222)	0–4–0 (.000)	NR	4.4	16.3
12	Mississippi State	Ross MacKechnie	4–6–0 (.400)	0–5–0 (.000)	NR	7.9	12.6
13	Georgia Tech	William Alexander	1–9–0 (.100)	0–6–0 (.000)	NR	5.6	18.7

Key
DS final = Rankings from the Dickinson System. See 1934 college football rankings
PPG = Average of points scored per game^[2]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game^[2]

Schedule

Index to colors and formatting
SEC member won
SEC member lost
SEC member tie
SEC teams in bold

Week Zero

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 21	Birmingham–Southern	Auburn	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL	L 0–7		[3]
September 21	Mississippi State	Howard (AL)	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	W 13–7		[4]
September 22	Maryville (TN)	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	W 26–0		[5]

Week One

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 29	Chattanooga	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 41–0	12,000	[6]
September 29	Howard (AL)	Alabama	Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	W 24–0	6,000	[7]
September 29	Centre	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	W 32–0	7,500	[8]
September 29	LSU	Rice	Rice Field • Houston, TX	T 9–9		[9]
September 29	Stetson	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	W 42–0	5,000	[10]
September 29	Rollins	Florida	Fairfield Stadium • Jacksonville, FL	W 13–2	6,000	[11]
September 29	West Tennessee State Teachers	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • University, MS (rivalry)	W 44–0		[12]
September 29	Washington & Lee	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	L 0–7	6,000	[13]
September 29	Oglethorpe	Auburn	Drake Field • Auburn, AL	W 15–0	5,000	[14]
September 29	Sewanee	Southwestern (TN)	Fargason Field • Memphis, TN (rivalry)	L 0–2		[15]
September 29	Clemson	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	W 12–7		[16]
September 29	Mississippi State	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	VAN 7–0		[17]

Week Two

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 5	Millsaps	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	L 6–7		[18]
October 5	Southwestern (TN)	Ole Miss	Soldiers' Field • Clarksdale, MS	W 19–0	6,200	[19]
October 5	Tennessee	North Carolina	Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC	W 19–7		[20]
October 6	Georgia	Furman	Manly Field • Greenville, SC	W 7–2		[21]
October 6	Florida	VPI	Miles Stadium • Blacksburg, VA	W 20–13		[22]
October 6	Kentucky	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	W 27–0		[23]
October 6	SMU	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	T 14–14		[24]
October 6	Auburn	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA (rivalry)	TUL 13–0		[25]
October 6	Sewanee	Alabama	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL	ALA 36–6		[26]
October 6	Vanderbilt	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	VAN 27–12	10,000	[27]

Week Three

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 13	North Carolina	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	L 0–14	10,000	[28]
October 13	Clemson	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	W 7–0		[29]
October 13	Tennessee Wesleyan	Sewanee	Hardee Field • Sewanee, TN	W 21–0		[30]
October 13	Vanderbilt	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	W 32–0	8,000	[31]
October 13	Georgia Tech	Duke	Duke Stadium • Durham, NC	L 0–20	30,000	[32]
October 13	Mississippi State	Alabama	Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	ALA 41–0	6,000	[33]
October 13	Ole Miss	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	UT 27–0	10,000	[34]
October 13†	Auburn	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	LSU 20–6		[35]
October 13	Tulane	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	TUL 28–12	15,000	[36]

Week Four

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 20	NC State	Florida	Plant Field • Tampa, FL	W 14–0	12,000	[37]
October 20	Kentucky	North Carolina	Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC	L 0–6		[38]
October 20	Sewanee	Army	Michie Stadium • West Point, NY	L 0–20		[39]
October 20	Mississippi State	Southwestern (TN)	Fargason Field • Memphis, TN	W 21–6	4,000	[40]
October 20	Georgia Tech	Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	L 2–9	20,901	[41]
October 20	Howard (AL)	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • University, MS	L 6–7		[42]
October 20	Arkansas	LSU	State Fair Stadium • Shreveport, LA (rivalry)	W 16–0	12,000	[43]
October 20	Georgia	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	TUL 7–6	23,000	[44]
October 20	Tennessee	Alabama	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	ALA 13–6	18,000	[45]
October 20	Auburn	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	VAN 7–6		[46]

Week Five

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 26	Mississippi College	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	W 13–6		[47]
October 27	Florida	Maryland	Municipal Stadium • Baltimore, MD	L 0–21	8,000	[48]
October 27	Duke	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	W 14–6	20,000	[49]
October 27	Georgia Tech	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	TUL 20–12	12,000	[50]
October 27	Georgia	Alabama	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	ALA 26–6	15,000	[51]
October 27	LSU	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	LSU 29–0	20,000	[52]
October 27	Sewanee	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • University, MS	OM 19–6		[53]
October 27	Auburn	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	KY 9–0	8,000	[54]

Week Six

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 3	North Carolina	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	L 0–26		[55]
November 3	Tennessee Tech	Sewanee	Hardee Field • Sewanee, TN	W 7–6		[56]
November 3	Duke	Auburn	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	L 6–13		[57]
November 3	Vanderbilt	George Washington	Griffith Stadium • Washington, DC	W 7–6	25,000	[58]
November 3	Tennessee	Fordham	Polo Grounds • New York, NY	L 12–13	25,000	[59]
November 3	Ole Miss	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA (rivalry)	TUL 15–0		[60]
November 3	Alabama	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	ALA 34–14	13,000	[61]
November 3	Mississippi State	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	LSU 25–3		[62]
November 3	Georgia	Florida	Fairfield Stadium • Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	UGA 14–0	22,000	[63]

Week Seven

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 10	Kentucky	Southwestern (TN)	Fargason Field • Memphis, TN	W 33–0	2,000–3,000	[64][65]
November 10	Georgia	Yale	Yale Bowl • New Haven, CT	W 14–7	20,000	[66]
November 10	LSU	George Washington	Griffith Stadium • Washington, DC	W 6–0	20,000	[67]
November 10	Tulane	Colgate	Yankee Stadium • Bronx, NY	L 6–20	40,000	[68]
November 10	Clemson	Alabama	Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	W 40–0	8,000	[69]
November 10	Mississippi State	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	TEN 14–0	5,000	[70]
November 10	Sewanee	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN (rivalry)	VAN 19–0		[71]
November 10	Ole Miss	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	T 13–13		[72]
November 10	Auburn	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	AUB 18–6		[73]

Week Eight

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 16	Cumberland (TN)	Sewanee	Hardee Field • Sewanee, TN	L 0–14		[74]
November 17	Mississippi State	Loyola (LA)	Loyola University Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 20–6		[75]
November 17†	NC State	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	W 27–0	8,000	[76]
November 17	Tulane	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	TUL 20–7	12,000	[77]
November 17	Alabama	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	ALA 40–0	14,000	[78]
November 17	Tennessee	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN (rivalry)	TEN 13–6	20,000	[79]
November 17	LSU	Ole Miss	Municipal Stadium • Jackson, MS (rivalry)	LSU 14–0	10,000	[80]
November 17	Florida	Auburn	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL (rivalry)	FLA 14–7	8,000	[81]

Week Nine

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 24	Ole Miss	Centenary	Centenary Stadium • Shreveport, LA	L 6–13	7,500	[82]
November 24	Sewanee	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	TUL 32–0		[83]
November 24	Auburn	Georgia	Memorial Stadium • Columbus, GA (rivalry)	UGA 18–0		[84]
November 24	Georgia Tech	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	FLA 13–12		[85]

Week Nine

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 29	Vanderbilt	Alabama	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	ALA 34–0	24,000	[86]
November 29	Kentucky	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	TEN 19–0	18,000	[87]
December 1	Stetson	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	W 14–0		[88]
December 1	Tulane	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	TUL 13–12	30,000	[89]
December 1	Georgia Tech	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA (rivalry)	UGA 7–0	14,000	[90]
December 1	Ole Miss	Mississippi State	Municipal Stadium • Jackson, MS (rivalry)	OM 7–3	10,000	[91]

Week Ten

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
December 8	LSU	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	TEN 19–13	18,000	[92]

Week Eleven

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
December 15	Oregon	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	W 14–13	10,000	[93]

Postseason

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
January 1, 1935	Temple	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	W 20–14	22,206	[94]
January 1, 1935	Stanford	Alabama	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	W 29–13	84,474	[95]

All-conference players

For the complete All-SEC selections, see 1934 All-SEC football team.

The following players were recognized as consensus first-team honors from the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) on the 1934 All-SEC football team:

• Don Hutson, End, Alabama (AP-1, UP-1)
• Bennie Fenton, End, Auburn (AP-1, UP-1)
• Justin Rukas, Tackle, LSU (AP-1, UP-1)
• Bill Lee, Tackle, Alabama (AP-1, UP-1)
• Charlie Marr, Guard, Alabama (AP-1, UP-1)
• Homer Robinson, Center, Tulane (AP-1, UP-1)
• Abe Mickal, Halfback, LSU (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-1, UP-1)
• Dixie Howell, Halfback, Alabama (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-1, UP-1)
• Claude Simons, Jr., Fullback, Tulane (AP-1, UP-1)

All-Americans

For the complete All-America selections, see 1934 College Football All-America Team.

Three SEC players were consensus first-team picks on the 1934 College Football All-America Team:^[96]

• Dixie Howell, Halfback, Alabama (AAB, INS, LIB, NANA, NEA, UP)
• Don Hutson, End, Alabama (AAB, AP, INS, LIB, UP)
• Bill Lee, Tackle, Alabama (AP, COL, LIB, NANA, SN)

Other SEC players receiving All-American honors from at least one selector were:

• Claude Simons, Jr., Halfback, Tulane (AP-3)

Head coaches

Records through the completion of the 1934 season

Team	Head coach	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	SEC record
Alabama	Frank Thomas	4	60–13–3 (.809)	34–4–1 (.885)	12–0–1 (.962)
Auburn	Jack Meagher	1	28–34–0 (.452)	2–8–0 (.200)	1–6–0 (.143)
Florida	Dennis K. Stanley	2	11–6–2 (.632)	11–6–2 (.632)	4–5–1 (.450)
Georgia	Harry Mehre	7	42–23–3 (.640)	42–23–3 (.640)	6–3–0 (.667)
Georgia Tech	William Alexander	15	76–55–10 (.574)	76–55–10 (.574)	2–11–0 (.154)
Kentucky	Chet A. Wynne	1	66–46–9 (.583)	5–5–0 (.500)	1–3–0 (.250)
LSU	Biff Jones	3	50–13–8 (.761)	20–5–6 (.742)	7–2–2 (.727)
Mississippi State	Ross MacKechnie	2	7–12–1 (.375)	7–12–1 (.375)	1–10–1 (.125)
Ole Miss	Ed Walker	5	20–25–5 (.450)	20–25–5 (.450)	4–5–2 (.455)
Sewanee	Harry E. Clark	4	13–23–2 (.368)	13–23–2 (.368)	0–10–0 (.000)
Tennessee	Robert Neyland	9	76–9–5 (.872)	76–9–5 (.872)	10–3–0 (.769)
Tulane	Ted Cox	3	33–7–3 (.802)	22–6–2 (.767)	12–2–1 (.833)
Vanderbilt	Dan McGugin	30	197–55–19 (.762)	197–55–19 (.762)	6–5–2 (.538)