1953 California Golden Bears football
ConferencePacific Coast Conference
Record4–4–2 (2–2–2 PCC)
Head coach
Home stadiumCalifornia Memorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1952
1954 →
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 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 1953 college football season. Under seventh-year head coach Pappy Waldorf, the Golden Bears compiled an overall record of 4–4–2 (2–2–2 in PCC, fourth).[1][2] Home games were played on campus at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, California.

The 1953 season is partially associated with a recruiting scandal involving star freshman quarterback Ronnie Knox. In order to have Knox enroll at the university, the California football booster club promised him that Knox's step father to be hired as a scout, his high school coach would be hired as an assistant coach, and that Knox himself would be given a job writing for a local newspaper and also be paid $500 per year by the booster club.[3] Knox enrolled at Cal but California's administration found out and made sure that the benefits would not be provided. After one year at Cal, Knox transferred to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[3]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 19No. 20 Baylor*No. 14
L 0–2534,000
September 26at Oregon StateNo. 14
W 26–013,442[4]
October 3No. 6 Ohio State*
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
L 19–3347,000
October 10at No. 20 Penn*
W 40–052,000[5]
October 17San Jose State*No. 16
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
W 34–1439,000
October 24No. 11 USC
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
L 20–3278,000[6]
October 31at No. 10 UCLA
L 7–2070,037
November 7Washington
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
W 53–2536,000[7]
November 14Oregon
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
T 0–024,000
November 21at No. 16 Stanford
T 21–2191,500
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[8]

References

  1. ^ "1953 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. 164. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Kranz, Nick (May 19, 2010). "The Sordid Tale of Ronnie Knox and the Dissolution of the PCC". California Golden Blogs. Archived from the original on May 21, 2010. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  4. ^ "Year-By-Year Results". 2017 Oregon State Football Media Guide Football (PDF). Oregon State Athletics. p. 167.
  5. ^ Sullivan, Prescott (October 11, 1953). "Larson, Marks Pace Cal Landslide". San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, Calif. p. 40 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ USC Football 2017 Media Guide (PDF). University of Southern California Athletics. p. 70.
  7. ^ 2017 Washington Football Information (PDF). University of Washington Athletics. p. 192.
  8. ^ 2015 Football Information Guide (PDF). Cal Athletics. 2015. p. 164. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016.


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