1957 Stanford Indians football team

The 1957 Stanford Indians football team represented Stanford University in the 1957 college football season. The team was coached by Chuck Taylor in his seventh year as head coach. Taylor was a popular coach who had led Stanford to the 1952 Rose Bowl, had been an All-American player for the Indians, and starred on the undefeated 1940 "Wow Boys" team that won the 1941 Rose Bowl and the national championship in several polls.[1] Just before the team's final game against archrival California, Taylor announced he was retiring as head coach to become assistant athletic director of the university.[2]

1957 Stanford Indians football
ConferencePacific Coast Conference
Record6–4 (4–3 PCC)
Head coach
Home stadiumStanford Stadium
Seasons
← 1956
1958 →
1957 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Oregon State + 6 2 0 8 2 0
No. 17 Oregon ^ + 6 2 0 7 4 0
No. 19 UCLA 5 2 0 8 2 0
Washington State 5 3 0 6 4 0
Stanford 4 3 0 6 4 0
Washington 3 4 0 3 6 1
California 1 6 0 1 9 0
USC 1 6 0 1 9 0
Idaho 0 3 0 4 4 1
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – Selected as Rose Bowl representative
    Oregon State won the rivalry game over Oregon,
    but no-repeat rule was in effect
Rankings from Coaches Poll

Schedule

edit
DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 21San Jose State*W 46–7
September 28Northwestern*No. 16
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
W 26–619,000
October 5at Rice*No. 17L 7–34
October 12Washington State
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
L 18–2119,000
October 19at WashingtonW 21–1436,036
October 26No. 15 UCLA
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
W 20–646,000
November 2No. 15 Oregon
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
L 26–2756,000[3]
November 9at USCW 35–730,975
November 16at Oregon StateL 14–2420,000
November 23California
W 14–1291,300
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

edit

California

edit
1 234Total
Bears 0 606 12
• Indians 0 770 14

The 60th Big Game was held just a few days after Stanford head coach Taylor announced he would step down following the end of the season to serve as the school's assistant athletic director.[2] Coming into the game, the Indians had won just once in Taylor's 6 previous Big Games, but vowed to win this game for their beloved head coach.[2] Although Stanford had relied on its passing attack from quarterback Jack Douglas all season, it was the running game that gave the team the lead in the second quarter on fullback Chuck Shea's 9-yard run. Shea would rush for 155 yards on the day. California answered, but the point after was blocked, and Stanford nursed a 7–6 lead into the third quarter, when Douglas ran in for another score. California answered late, but the Indians held on to fulfill their vow to their outgoing coach and bring the overall Big Game series record at 25–25–10.[4] Taylor would become Stanford's athletic director in 1963 and serve in that role until 1971.[5]

References

edit
  1. ^ Migdol, Gary (1997). Stanford: Home of Champions. Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing LLC. p. 104. ISBN 1-57167-116-1.
  2. ^ a b c "Chuck Taylor quits Stanford football post". The Register-Guard. November 22, 1957. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  3. ^ Strite, Dick (November 3, 1957). "Oregon wins high-powered offensive battle". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1B.
  4. ^ "Stanford gets past California by 14–12". The Register-Guard. November 24, 1957. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  5. ^ "Hall of Fame inductee detail: Chuck Taylor". National Football Foundation. Retrieved December 23, 2013.