The 1931 Idaho Vandals football team represented the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The University ...

in the

1931 college football season The 1931 college football season saw the USC Trojans win the Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy as national champion under the Dickinson System, as well as the No. 1 position from each of the other three contemporary major selectors (Boand, Dunkel, and ...

. The

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...

were led by third-year head coach

Leo Calland Leo Blakely Calland (February 24, 1901 – March 17, 1984) was an American football and basketball player and coach who later became a San Diego city parks administrator. He was the head football coach at Whittier College the University of Idah ...

, and were members of the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

. Home games were played on campus in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

at MacLean Field, with none in Boise this season. Idaho compiled a overall record and lost all but one of its five games in the PCC. The Vandals were led on the field by undersized sophomore quarterback Wee Willie Smith, then known as "Little Giant" Willis Smith Three years later in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

, he was a backup in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in their championship season. In the

Battle of the Palouse The Battle of the Palouse refers to an athletic rivalry in the northwest United States, between the Vandals of the University of Idaho and Cougars of Washington State University. The two land-grant universities are less than apart on the rur ...

with neighbor

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, the Vandals suffered a fourth straight loss, falling by one point at Rogers Field in Pullman on Idaho's most recent win in the series was six years earlier in

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

and the next was 23 years away in

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

Schedule

All-conference

No Vandals were named to the All-Coast team; honorable mention were center Arthur Spaugy, guard Elmer Martin, and sophomore quarterback

Willis Smith Willis Smith (December 19, 1887June 26, 1953) was an American attorney and Democratic U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina between 1950 and 1953. Early life and education Born in Norfolk Virginia, he moved to North Carolina before age ...

References

External links

''Gem of the Mountains:'' 1932 University of Idaho yearbook
– 1931 football season
Go Mighty Vandals
– 1931 football season
Official game program: Idaho at Washington State
– November 7, 1931

– student newspaper – 1931 editions {{Idaho Vandals football navbox

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Idaho Vandals football seasons Idaho Vandals football