1948 California Golden Bears football team

1948 California Golden Bears football
PCC co-champion
Rose Bowl, L 14–20 vs. Northwestern
ConferencePacific Coast Conference
Ranking
APNo. 4
Record10–1 (6–0 PCC)
Head coach
Home stadiumCalifornia Memorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1947
1949 →
1948 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 California ^ + 6 – 0 – 0 10 – 1 – 0
No. 9 Oregon + 7 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
USC 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 1
Washington State 4 – 3 – 1 4 – 5 – 1
Stanford 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Oregon State 2 – 3 – 2 5 – 4 – 3
Washington 2 – 5 – 1 2 – 7 – 1
UCLA 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Idaho 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Montana 0 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – Selected as Rose Bowl representative
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1948 California Golden Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Berkeley in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) during the 1948 college football season. In their second year under head coach Pappy Waldorf, the Golden Bears compiled a 10–1 record (6–0 in PCC, first), tied for the PCC championship, lost to Northwestern in the Rose Bowl, and outscored its opponents 291 to 100.[1][2] Home games were played on campus at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, California.

California was granted the Rose Bowl berth by a conference vote,[3][4][5] but the PCC allowed a second bowl bid this season.[6] Co-champion Oregon played SMU in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on New Year's Day, and also lost.[7][8][9]

A controversial moment in the Rose Bowl game is now known as the "phantom touchdown," when Northwestern's player was given a touchdown even though he fumbled the ball as while he was crossing the line, California disputed the touchdown arguing that the ball was fumbled prior to its crossing the line. California's claim is supported by a photograph taken at that moment.[10]

  1. ^ "1948 California Golden Bears Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  2. ^ "California 2015 Football Information Guide" (PDF). CalBears.com. Cal Golden Bears Athletics. p. 163. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  3. ^ "California Bears get Rose Bowl bid". Eugene Register-Guard. United Press. November 22, 1948. p. 1.
  4. ^ "California, Northwestern to meet in Rose Bowl". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. November 22, 1948. p. 14.
  5. ^ "Northwestern, California get nominations to Rose Bowl". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. November 23, 1948. p. 4, part 2.
  6. ^ "Oregon to play in Cotton Bowl". Eugene Register-Guard. November 27, 1948. p. 1.
  7. ^ "SMU beats Ducks, 21-13". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). United Press. January 1, 1949. p. 1.
  8. ^ Strite, Dick (January 2, 1949). "Oregon, Cal both drop bowl games". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1.
  9. ^ Smits, Ted (January 2, 1949). "Oregon handed 21 to 13 defeat by Southern Methodist in Cotton Bowl". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 3, sports.
  10. ^ CalBear81 (June 29, 2011). "Cal's Greatest Football Coaches: #2 Pappy Waldorf". California Golden Blogs. Archived from the original on January 18, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link).