1940 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

The 1940 New Hampshire Wildcats football team was an American football team that represented the University of New Hampshire as a member of the New England Conference during the 1940 college football season. In its fourth year under head coach George Sauer, the team compiled a 5–3 record, outscoring their opponents 121–86.

1940 New Hampshire Wildcats football
Conference	New England Conference
Record	5–3 (2–0 New England)
Head coach	George Sauer (4th season)
Captain	Matthew Flaherty^[1]
Home stadium	Lewis Field
Seasons ← 1939 1941 →

1940 New England Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
New Hampshire $	2	–	0	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Rhode Island State	2	–	1	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Connecticut	1	–	2	–	0			4	–	4	–	0
Maine	1	–	2	–	0			1	–	6	–	0
Northeastern	0	–	1	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion

New Hampshire was ranked at No. 218 (out of 697 college football teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score system for 1940.^[2]

The team played its home games at Lewis Field (also known as Lewis Stadium) in Durham, New Hampshire.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 28	at Colby*	Waterville, ME	L 19–21		^[3]
October 5	Bates*	Lewis Field Durham, NH	W 27–6		^[4]^[5]
October 12	Maine	Lewis Field Durham, NH (rivalry)	W 20–14	8,000	^[6]^[1]
October 19	Springfield*	Lewis Field Durham, NH	W 19–6
October 26	at Vermont*	Centennial Field Burlington, VT	L 13–33	2,000	^[7]^[8]
November 2	at Saint Anselm*	Manchester, NH	L 0–6	200	^[9]^[10]
November 9	at Tufts*	Tufts Oval Medford, MA	W 14–0
November 16	Connecticut	Lewis Field Durham, NH	W 9–0		^[11]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Source: ^[12]^[13]

The 1940 game remains the last time that the Saint Anselm and New Hampshire football programs have met.^[14]

New Hampshire captain Matthew Flaherty was inducted to the university's athletic hall of fame in 1983.^[15] Flaherty served in World War II, was a teacher and basketball coach at nearby Dover High School, and later became a high school principal; he died in November 2004 at age 86.^[16]

References

1. . Durham, New Hampshire: University of New Hampshire. 1942. pp. 108–113. Archived from the original on December 15, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019 – via library.unh.edu.
2. Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 19, 1940). "Final 1940 Litkenhous Ratings". The Boston Globe. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Wildcats Still Seeking First Grid Victory". The Portsmouth Herald. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. October 1, 1940. p. 3. Retrieved November 30, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
4. "Simmons Stars For Statesmen". The Berkshire Eagle. Pittsfield, Massachusetts. October 7, 1940. p. 11. Retrieved November 30, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
5. "Sauer Pleased By Wildcat Score". The Portsmouth Herald. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. October 7, 1940. p. 5. Retrieved November 30, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
6. "Plan Memorial Service At UNH For W. H. Cowell". The Portsmouth Herald. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. October 2, 1940. p. 5. Retrieved November 30, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
7. Hickey, Walt (October 28, 1940). "Once Again Cats Upset Dope By Beating New Hampshire". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont. p. 13. Retrieved November 30, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
8. Hickey, Walt (October 28, 1940). "Once Again Cats Upset Dope By Beating New Hampshire (cont'd)". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont. p. 12. Retrieved November 30, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
9. Jones, Fred (November 4, 1940). "Sportcity". The Portsmouth Herald. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. p. 5. Retrieved November 30, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
10. "Signals Over". The Portsmouth Herald. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. November 4, 1940. p. 7. Retrieved November 30, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
11. "New Hampshire Scores Touchdown And Field Goal To Defeat Connecticut, 9-0". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. November 17, 1940. p. 49. Retrieved November 30, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
12. . College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 29, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2019 – via Wayback Machine.
13. "Season's Records of Leading College Football Teams". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. November 25, 1940. p. 12. Retrieved November 30, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
14. . College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
15. "Hall of Fame". unhwildcats.com. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
16. "Matthew J. Flaherty". Bangor Daily News. September 25, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2020.