1935 Texas College Steers football team

The 1935 Texas College Steers football team was an American football team that represented Texas College as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during the 1935 college football season. In their fifth and final season under head coach Ace Mumford, the team compiled a 9–0–1 record, won the SWAC championship, and outscored all opponents by a total of 341 to 19. College Football Data Warehouse also reports that the team played Shorter College to a 0–0 tie at some point during the season.^[1]

1935 Texas College Steers football
Black college national champion SWAC champion
Chocolate Bowl, W 9–0 vs. Alabama State
Conference	Southwestern Athletic Conference
Record	9–0–1 (5–0–1 SWAC)
Head coach	Ace Mumford (5th season)
Seasons ← 1934 1936 →

1935 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Texas College $	5	–	0	–	1			9	–	0	–	1
Wiley	3	–	0	–	3			8	–	0	–	3
Bishop	3	–	2	–	1			7	–	2	–	1
Prairie View	1	–	1	–	4			4	–	3	–	4
Langston	1	–	3	–	2			2	–	3	–	2
Southern	1	–	4	–	1			1	–	7	–	1
Samuel Huston	1	–	5	–	0			1	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion

The season included a victory over Alabama State in the Chocolate Bowl, a game billed as determining "the outstanding 'chocolate team' of the nation."^[2] Following its victory over Alabama State, the Texas College team was recognized as the 1935 black college national champion.^[3]

Key players included quarterback "Paps" Walker, fullback Myles Anderson, and halfback Edwin Turner. Walker was selected as the team's most valuable player.^[4]

The 1935 team compiled the program's second consecutive undefeated season under Mumford. Having never won more than four games in a season prior to 1934, Mumford's 1934 and 1935 teams compiled a combined record of 18–0–3. Mumford left the Texas College program after the 1935–36 academic year to assume coaching duties at Southern University. He first came to the attention of Southern officials after his Texas College team soundly defeated the Jaguars; afterward, when a Southern dean accused his Texas College players of stealing from the school, Mumford forced all of his players to get off of the team bus and to display their personal belongings until the school's missing items could be located. Southern officials were impressed by both his coaching and disciplinary actions of that day.^[5]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	Arkansas AM&N*	Fair Park Tyler, TX	W 65–6		^[6]
October 12	Paul Quinn*	Steer Stadium Tyler, TX	W 76–0		^[7]
October 19	Jarvis*		W 14–0
October 26	Langston	Lion Stadium Tyler, TX	W 49–6		^[8]
November 2	Prairie View	Lion Stadium Tyler, TX	W 7–0		^[9]
November 9	Southern	Baton Rouge, LA	W 27–0		^[10]^[1]
November 16	Bishop	Lion Stadium Tyler, TX	W 16–7		^[11]
November 23	Samuel Huston	Lion Stadium Tyler, TX	W 78–0		^[12]
November 28	Wiley	Fair Park Stadium Tyler, TX	T 0–0	4,000	^[13]
December 27	Alabama State*	Lion Stadium Tyler, TX (Chocolate Bowl)	W 9–0	3,000	^[3]^[2]^[14]
*Non-conference game

References

1. "1935 – Texas College". cfbdatawarehouse.com. 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2019.^{[permanent dead link]}
2. "Texas College Wins "Chocolate Bowl" Inaugural". The Shreveport Times. December 28, 1935. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Texas College Steers Win National Title: Defeat Negro Eleven From Alabama By 9-0". Tyler Morning Telegraph. December 28, 1935. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Texas Steers Are Given Awards". Tyler Morning Telegraph. February 14, 1936. p. 9.
5. Carol Anne Blitzer (June 24, 2002). "Ace's Place: Southern's stadium bears the name of A. W. 'Ace' Mumford, the man who built the program into a football power". Baton Rouge Advocate (sec. C, pp. 1–2).
6. "Negro College Here Overwhelms Eleven of Arkansas State". Tyler Morning Telegraph. September 27, 1935. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Steers Slaughter Waco Negro Squad Saturday By 76-0". Tyler Courier-Times-Telegraph. October 13, 1935. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Texas Steers Run Wild in Game". Tyler Courier-Times-Telegraph. October 27, 1935. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Steers Lead Colored Grid Conference". The Marshall Morning News. November 6, 1935. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Football Results From All Sections". New Orleans Times–Picayune (sec. 4, p. 1). November 10, 1935.
11. "Steers Defeat Bishop Here By 16-7". Tyler Courier-Times-Telegraph. November 17, 1935. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Texas Steers Win 78-0 Battle". Tyler Courier-Times-Telegraph. November 24, 1935. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Wiley, Steers Battle To Tie In Game Here". The Marshall Evening Messenger. November 29, 1935. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Steers Fall on 'Bama To Win, 9-0". The Pittsburgh Courier. January 4, 1936. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.