1953 Stanford Indians football team

1953 Stanford Indians football
ConferencePacific Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 17
APNo. 19
Record6–3–1 (5–1–1 PCC)
Head coach
Home stadiumStanford Stadium
1953 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 UCLA $ 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
No. 19 Stanford 5 – 1 – 1 6 – 3 – 1
USC 4 – 2 – 1 6 – 3 – 1
California 2 – 2 – 2 4 – 4 – 2
Washington State 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Oregon State 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Washington 2 – 4 – 1 3 – 6 – 1
Oregon 2 – 5 – 1 4 – 5 – 1
Idaho 0 – 3 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1953 Stanford Indians football team represented Stanford University in the 1953 college football season. The team was led by Chuck Taylor in his third year, and by quarterback Bobby Garrett, who would win the season's W. J. Voit Memorial Trophy as most outstanding player on the Pacific Coast, and was selected by the Cleveland Browns as the first pick of the NFL draft at the end of the season.

The team played their home games at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 19Pacific (CA)*
L 20–2510,500[1]
September 26Oregon
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
W 7–014,500[2]
October 3Illinois*
L 21–3332,737[3]
October 10at Oregon State
W 21–08,005[4]
October 17No. 4 UCLA
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
W 21–2045,000[5]
October 24at WashingtonNo. 20
W 13–739,000[6]
October 31Washington StateNo. 17
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
W 48–1918,500[7]
November 7at No. 17 USCNo. 11
L 20–2379,015[8]
November 14San Jose State*No. 16
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA (rivalry)
W 54–012,000[9]
November 21CaliforniaNo. 16
T 21–2192,500[10]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • Source: [11][12]

Game summaries

California

Team 1 234Total
Bears 0 777 21
Indians 0 7140 21
Scoring summary
2STANSam Morley 5 yard-pass from Bobby Garrett (Garrett kick)STAN 7–0
2CALDon Whyte 8-yard run (Paul Larson kick)Tied 7–7
3STANBarry Smith recovered fumble in end zone (Garrett kick)STAN 14–7
3STANGarrett 54-yard interception return (Garrett kick)STAN 21–7
3CALLarson 19-yard run (Larson kick)STAN 21–14
4CALAl Talley 3-yard run (Larson kick)Tied 21–21

With a win in the Big Game, Stanford would earn a berth in the 1954 Rose Bowl. California had not lost a Big Game since 1946, and this game was no exception: California intercepted quarterback Garrett five times and scored twice late to force a 21–21 tie. The tie, coupled with UCLA's victory over rival USC, denied the Indians a second Rose Bowl appearance in three years.[13][14]

Players drafted by the NFL

Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Bobby Garrett Quarterback 1 1 Cleveland Browns
John Steinberg End 10 113 New York Giants
Sam Morley End 20 236 Washington Redskins
Marv Tennefoss End 24 279 Green Bay Packers

[15]

References

  1. ^ "Tiger power stalls Big Red Machine". San Francisco Chronicle. September 20, 1953. Retrieved January 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Indians drive once, edge Ducks, 7–0". The San Francisco Examiner. September 27, 1953. Retrieved January 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Cards bow to Illini, 33–21". Oakland Tribune. October 4, 1953. Retrieved January 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Stanford scores second conference win, 21–0". The Register. October 11, 1953. Retrieved January 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Hyland, D. (October 18, 1953). "Inspired Indians stun Bruins, 21–20". The Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 166523019.
  6. ^ "Garrett comes through for Stanford 13–7". Santa Cruz Sentinel-News. October 25, 1953. Retrieved January 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Indians step nearer Rose Bowl; Cal bows". The Sacramento Union. November 1, 1953. Retrieved January 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Field goal beats Stanford". The Fresno Bee. November 8, 1953. Retrieved January 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Stanford routs San Jose State in 54–0 farce". Santa Barbara News-Press. November 15, 1953. Retrieved January 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Cal and Stanford tie in memorable Big Game, 21–21". The San Francisco Examiner. November 22, 1953. Retrieved January 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "1953 Stanford Cardinal Schedule and Results". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  12. ^ "Schedule/Results (1953 Stanford)". NCAA Statistics. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved May 24, 2025.
  13. ^ "Stanford out of bowl with 21 to 21 tie". The Daily Reporter. November 20, 1953. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  14. ^ "Cal holds Stanford to 21–21 deadlock". The Eugene Register-Guard. November 20, 1953. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  15. ^ "1954 NFL Draft". Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.