Saint Mary's Gaels football

For information on all Saint Mary's College of California sports, see Saint Mary's Gaels

The Saint Mary's Gaels football program was the intercollegiate American football team for Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, California.

Saint Mary's Gaels football
First season	1892
Last season	2003
Stadium	Saint Mary's Stadium
Field surface	Natural grass
Location	Moraga, California
NCAA division	Division I-AA (now FCS) (1993– 2003)
Conference	Independent
Past conferences	Independent (1892–1924) Far Western (1925–1928) Independent (1929–1950) College Division Independent (1970–1979) Division II Independent (1980–1992)
All-time record	380–295–22 (.561)
Bowl record	1–2 (.333)
Conference titles	4 (FWC)
Rivalries	Santa Clara (Little Big Game) Oregon (Governors' Trophy Game)
Consensus All-Americans	2 (1927, 1945)
Colors	Navy, red, and silver^[1]

History

Founding and early years

The school's first football team was fielded in 1892,^[2] and was initially dropped in 1899 after going 7–6 in that span. The football program resumed again in 1915. In 1920 came one of the worst defeats in college football history, an 18-touchdown, 127–0 defeat from neighboring Cal. The Gaels gained only 16 yards of offense the entire game. This loss drove St. Mary's to turn the program around by hiring Knute Rockne's protege, Slip Madigan, who helped SMC win four consecutive conference championships from 1925 to 1928.

Galloping Gaels era

By 1927, Saint Mary's developed into one of the strongest football programs on the West Coast. They defeated USC, UCLA, Cal, and Stanford. The Stanford team they defeated in 1927 went on to play in the Rose Bowl, as did the USC team they defeated in 1931. Slip also led the Gaels to the program's only two undefeated seasons in 1926, at 9–0–1, and 1929, at 8–0–1. Although the school's enrollment seldom exceeded 500, the 'Galloping Gaels' became a nationally known football power.

The famously red-clad jersey-ed 'Galloping Gaels', were known for their flashy style that reflected the personality of their flamboyant coach. In the most notable win in program history, Saint Mary's traveled to New York City in 1930 to play Fordham in front of 65,000 at New York City's famed Polo Grounds. Madigan traveled to New York for the game with 150 fans on a train that was labeled "The World's Longest Bar." To stir up publicity for the game, he then threw a party the night before the game and invited sportswriters and celebrities. Babe Ruth and New York mayor Jimmy Walker attended the party. Fordham was a heavy favorite, as the Rams had won 16 straight games going back to 1928. They featured the first version of a defense known as the "Seven Blocks of Granite," a formidable unit that later would include Vince Lombardi. Saint Mary's recovered from a 12–0 halftime deficit to win, 20–12.

The Gaels had a couple of shots at a national championship in the 1930s. A one-point loss to Cal in SMC’s opener in 1930 probably cost the school the No. 1 spot. In 1934, the Gaels beat Fordham and Cal, but were upset by Nevada, 9–7, and lost to UCLA, 6–0, and another national title had slipped away.^[3] The Gaels won the Cotton Bowl in January 1939 and lost in the Sugar Bowl in January 1946. That 1945 team won its first seven games and was ranked seventh in the AP poll entering the bowl game. They also lost in the 1946 Oil Bowl the following year. Many home games of this era were played to sold-out crowds at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.^[3]

Program revival

The football program was dropped after the 1950 season,^[4][5] first revived as a club sport, and then returned to sanctioned varsity status in 1970 (College Division, later Division III),^[6] and moved up to Division II in 1980.^[3]

Modern Division I era and end of program

In order to keep its overall athletics program at Division I, football was required to cease or move up to Division I-AA by 1993. (Rival Santa Clara discontinued football after 1992.) The team competed in NCAA Division I-AA as an independent from 1993 through 2003.^[6]

By 1998, Saint Mary's awarded 14 scholarships in football (vastly under the FCS limit of 63), with a budget of almost $800,000.^[7]

However, after eleven seasons as a Division I-AA independent, Saint Mary's ended its football program on March 3, 2004, citing budgetary reasons.^[8] The announcement came a week after the institution had declared intent to join the Great West Football Conference, rendering SMC as the 11th California university to drop football since 1951.^[9]

Conference affiliation

• 1892-1899: Independent

• 1915-1924: Independent

• 1925-1928: Far Western Conference

• 1929-1950: Independent

• 1970-1979: College Division-Division III Independent

• 1980-1992: Division II Independent

• 1993-2003: Division I-AA Independent

Conference championships

St. Mary's won four consecutive conference championships in a row in their only time associated in an athletic conference. The Gaels have been an independent all other years of existence.

Year	Conference	Coach	Overall Record	Conference Record
1925	Far Western	Slip Madigan	8-2	3–0
1926	Far Western	Slip Madigan	9–0–1	4–0
1927	Far Western	Slip Madigan	7–2–1	3–0
1928	Far Western	Slip Madigan	5–4	2–0

Bowl games

Season	Bowls	City	Opponent	Result
1938	Cotton	Dallas	Texas Tech	W 20–13
1945	Sugar	New Orleans	Oklahoma A&M	L 13–33
1946	Oil	Houston	Georgia Tech	L 19–41

Head coaches

Slip Madigan and James Phelan are the only coaches that have led the 'Galloping Gaels' to bowl games.

Coach	Seasons	Record	Pct.	Bowl Record
Slip Madigan	1921–1939	117–45–12	.707	1–0
Red Strader	1940–1941	10–7	.588
James Phelan	1942–1947	47–25–1	.490	0–2
Joe Verducci	1948–1949	7–12–1	.375
Joe Ruetz	1950	2–7–1	.250

Rivalries

Oregon

Main article: Governors' Trophy Game

Oregon and Saint Mary's College competed in an annual Thanksgiving Day classic between 1929 and 1935, played at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.^[10] The victors were awarded The Governors' Perpetual Trophy jointly by the governors of the states of California and Oregon.^[11] The Gaels hold a 7–3 lead in the series and final possession of the trophy. The rivalry is unlikely to be contested again, as Saint Mary's discontinued football in 1951 due to the national emergency resulting from the Korean War, and reinstated its program in 1970, only to discontinue it again after the 2003 football season.^[12]

College Football Hall of Fame

Name	Years	Position	Inducted	Ref
Larry Bettencourt	1924-1927	C / DE	1973	^[13]
James Phelan	1942-1947	Head Coach	1973	^[14]
Slip Madigan	1921-1939	Head Coach	1974	^[15]
Herman Wedemeyer	1943, 1945-1947	HB	1979	^[16]

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Inducted	Player	POS	Seasons at St. Mary's	Ref.
1987	John Henry Johnson	HB/ FB	1949-1950	^[17]

National Award Winners

• National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award

Sean Laird (1997)

All Americans

Saint Mary's has 2 Consensus All-Americans and 1 Unanimous All-American (Herman Wedemeyer, HB- 1945)

St. Mary’s Gaels All-Americans

Player	Position	Season	Poll	Team	Notes
Red Strader	FB	1924	3rd Team
Larry Bettencourt	C	1925	NB	1st Team	College Football Hall of Fame member
		1926	3rd Team
		1927	Consensus	1st Team
Underhill	DE	1926	AP	2nd Team
Malcolm Franklin	DE	1928	AP	1st Team
			UP	2nd Team
George Ackerman	T	1929	AP	1st Team
			UP	2nd Team
Fred "Stud" Stennett	HB	1929	UP	2nd Team
		1930	AP	3rd Team
Dick Boyle	HB	1929	3rd Team
Harry Ebding	DE	1930	AP	3rd Team/ 2nd Team
Bud Toscani	HB	1931	2nd Team
Bill Fisher	G	1931	AP	1st Team
			UP	1st Team
Angelo Brovelli	FB	1932	UP	3rd Team
			NEA	3rd Team
			FWAA	1st Team
Mike Steponovich	G	1932	AP	3rd Team
William "Bill" Beasley	QB	1932	3rd Team
Ed Gilbert	G	1933	AP	2nd Team
Fred Conrinus	DE	1933	UP	3rd Team
John Yezerski	DT	1933	NEA	1st Team
Carl Jorgensen	DT	1933	1st Team
			UP	2nd Team/3rd Team
George Wilson	HB	1933	AP	2nd Team
			UP	3rd Team
Marty Kordick	G	1935	NEA	2nd Team
Herman Wedemeyer	HB	1945	Consensus (Unanimous All American^[note 1])	1st Team	College Football Hall of Fame
		1946	AP	2nd Team
			UP

Notable players

• Larry Bettencourt
• Tony Compagno
• Ryan Coogler
• Eddie Erdelatz
• John Henry Johnson
• Wagner Jorgensen
• Dante Magnani
• Dick Mesak
• Chase Peterson
• Bud Toscani
• Herman Wedemeyer
• Willie Wilkin
• Scott Wood

Notes

1. AAB; AFCA; AP-1; COL-1; FWAA-1; INS-1; LK; SN; UP-1; CNS-1; CP-1; NL; OF-1; WC-1

References

1. "Gaels Color Guide". Saint Mary’s College of California Style Guide (PDF). January 10, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
2. "Saint Mary's Historical Data". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
3. Springer, Steve (October 12, 1985). "Those Gaels, what tales: for St. Mary's, football glory is just a memory". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
4. "Gaels abandon gridiron sport". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. January 6, 1951. p. 7.
5. "Gaels bow out of grid picture". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 7, 1951. p. 9.
6. Litsky, Frank (September 24, 1995). "Emotion: St. Mary's has it and Columbia does not". New York Times.
7. "Saint Mary's vows to keep football". San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune. October 17, 1998. pp. C6.
8. Burrell, Jackie, and Thompson, Marcus II (March 4, 2004). . Contra Costa Times. Archived from the original on August 12, 2004. Retrieved April 18, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
9. Milne, Brian (March 4, 2004). "Great West Loses Team: St. Mary's Cites Financial Woes in Dropping Program". The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, CA). pp. C1.
10. "Gaels Hold Edge Over Webfoots in Games Played". The Eugene Guard. Eugene, Oregon. November 24, 1935. Retrieved November 28, 2022. The series, which was inaugurated in 1929 as an annual Thanksgiving day classic, is played in San Francisco. The governors of the states of Oregon and California donated a "Governor's [sic] Trophy,", which is awarded each year to the winning team.
11. "St. Mary's Wins New Governors' Trophy". Corvallis Gazette–Times. Corvallis, Oregon. November 28, 1932. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
12. "St. Mary's Quits Football". Oakland Tribune. January 5, 1951. pp. 32–33.
13. "Larry Bettencourt". footballfoundation.org. National Football Foundation. from the original on April 14, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
14. "Jim Phelan (1973) - Hall of Fame".
15. "Slip Madigan". footballfoundation.org. National Football Foundation. from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
16. "Herman Wedemeyer". footballfoundation.org. National Football Foundation. from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
17. "John Henry Johnson". www.profootballhof.com. from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved June 6, 2023.

37°50′31″N 122°06′16″W / 37.842°N 122.1045°W / 37.842; -122.1045