1938 Carnegie Tech Tartans football team

The 1938 Carnegie Tech Tartans football team represented the Carnegie Institute of Technology during the 1938 college football season. The Tartans were led by second-year head coach Bill Kern and played their home games at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1938 Carnegie Tech Tartans football
Eastern champion
Sugar Bowl, L 7–15 vs. TCU
Conference	Independent
Ranking
AP	No. 6
Record	7–2
Head coach	Bill Kern (2nd season)
Home stadium	Pitt Stadium
Seasons ← 1937 1939 →

1938 Eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Worcester Tech			–					6	–	0	–	0
No. 18 Villanova			–					8	–	0	–	1
No. 9 Holy Cross			–					8	–	1	–	0
Boston College			–					6	–	1	–	2
No. 15 Fordham			–					6	–	1	–	2
No. 12 Cornell			–					5	–	1	–	1
Army			–					8	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Pittsburgh			–					8	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Carnegie Tech			–					7	–	2	–	0
No. 20 Dartmouth			–					7	–	2	–	0
Vermont			–					4	–	2	–	1
Brown			–					5	–	3	–	0
Bucknell			–					5	–	3	–	0
Syracuse			–					5	–	3	–	0
CCNY			–					4	–	3	–	0
Penn			–					3	–	2	–	3
Manhattan			–					5	–	4	–	0
Harvard			–					4	–	4	–	0
La Salle			–					4	–	4	–	0
NYU			–					4	–	4	–	0
Boston University			–					3	–	4	–	1
Penn State			–					3	–	4	–	1
Princeton			–					3	–	4	–	1
Hofstra			–					2	–	3	–	1
Duquesne			–					4	–	6	–	0
Temple			–					3	–	6	–	1
Providence			–					3	–	5	–	0
Columbia			–					3	–	6	–	0
Massachusetts State			–					3	–	6	–	0
Colgate			–					2	–	5	–	0
Buffalo			–					2	–	6	–	0
Yale			–					2	–	6	–	0
Tufts			–					1	–	6	–	1
Rankings from AP Poll

The team first came to national attention after winning a close game against Northeastern power Holy Cross, who were on a 13-game unbeaten streak.^[1] Another big win came when the Tartans upset cross-town rival and defending national champion Pittsburgh, snapping their 22-game winning streak.^[2]

They finished the regular season at 7–1 and were ranked sixth in the final AP Poll,^[3] the only Carnegie Tech team to ever finish ranked.^[4] The Tartans were awarded the third ever Lambert Trophy, distinguishing them as the best college football team in the East.^[5] They were invited to their first and only bowl game in school history, the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans,^[6] where they led at halftime but lost to national champion TCU, 15–7.^[7][8]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 1	Davis & Elkins		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 49–0
October 8	Wittenberg		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 32–13
October 15	Holy Cross		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 7–6
October 22	at No. 5 Notre Dame	No. 13	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	L 0–7	25,934
October 29	Akron	No. 16	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 27–13
November 5	vs. No. 1 Pittsburgh	No. 19	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 20–10
November 12	vs. Duquesne	No. 6	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 21–0
November 26	at NC State	No. 7	Riddick Stadium Raleigh, NC	W 14–0
January 2, 1939	vs. No. 1 TCU	No. 6	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	L 7–15	44,308	^[9]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[10]

References

1. "Carnegie Tech Knocks Holy Cross From Undefeated in Pittsburgh Thriller, Winning Out, 7 to 6". Daily Boston Globe. October 16, 1938.
2. "Carnegie Tech Upsets Pitt, 20-10". The Atlanta Constitution. November 6, 1938. p. 1B.
3. "1938 Final AP Football Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
4. "Carnegie Mellon Tartans School History". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
5. "Carnegie Tech Officially Awarded Lambert Trophy". The Christian Science Monitor. Boston, MA. December 6, 1938. p. 12.
6. Smith, Chester L. (January 1, 1939). "Tartans primed for Sugar Bowl victory over TCU". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1, sports.
7. Smith, Chester L. (January 3, 1939). "'Too much O'Brien,' story of Tech's downfall". Pittsburgh Press. p. 22.
8. "52,000 see T.C.U. beat Tech, 15-7". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. January 3, 1939. p. 1.
9. Amos Melton (January 3, 1939). "Carnegie Tech Greatest Foe, Say Frogs". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "1938 Carnegie Mellon Tartans Schedule and Results". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 13, 2017.