The 1939 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season was the season of

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

played by the six member schools of the

Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Its fourteen mem ...

(MIAA) as part of the

1939 college football season The 1939 college football season concluded with the Aggies of The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (Texas A&M) being named as the national champions by the voters in the Associated Press writers' poll. Led by consensus All-American ...

. The Maryville Bearcats from Maryville, Missouri, led by head coach Ryland Milner, compiled a perfect 9–0 record, shut out seven of nine opponents, and won the MIAA championship.The 1939 season was part of a 21-game winning streak for Maryville that began with an undefeated 1938 season and ended in October 1940.

Conference overview

Teams

Maryville

The 1939 Maryville Bearcats football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented Maryville State Teachers College (later renamed as

Northwest Missouri State University Northwest Missouri State University is a public university in Maryville, Missouri. It has an enrollment of about 8,505 students. Founded in 1905 as a teachers college, its campus is based on the design for Forest Park at the 1904 St. Louis Worl ...

) at Maryville, Missouri. In their third season under head coach Ryland Milner, the Bearcats compiled a perfect 9–0 record (5–0 against MIAA opponents), shut out seven of nine opponents, and won the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) championship. Guard Marion Rogers was selected by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

as a first-team player on the

1939 Little All-America college football team The 1939 Little All-America college football team is composed of college football players from small colleges and universities who were selected by the Associated Press (AP) as the best players at each position. For 1939, the AP selected both a fir ...

. Four Northwest Missouri players received first-team honors on the 1939 all-conference team: Bill Bernau at back; Green at tackle; and M. Rogers and R. Rogers at guard. Maryville was ranked at No. 155 (out of 609 teams) in the final Litkenhous Ratings for 1939.

Springfield

The 1939 Springfield Bears football team represented the Springfield State College (later renamed

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

) at

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

. In their second season under head coach

Red Blair Howard Holt "Red" Blair (February 21, 1900 – November 30, 1947) was an American college football and college basketball player, coach, and athletics administrator in Ohio and Missouri. He served as the head football coach of the University of Ak ...

, the Bears compiled a 7–1–1 record (3–1–1 against MIAA opponents) and finished in second place in the

(MIAA). Two Springfield players received first-team honors on the 1939 all-conference team: quarterback Dwight Bumpus and end Russell Kaminsky. Springfield was ranked at No. 201 (out of 609 teams) in the final Litkenhous Ratings for 1939.

Rolla

The 1939 Rolla Miners football team represented the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (later renamed as Missouri University of Science and Technology) at Rolla, Missouri. In their third year under head coach Gale Bullman, the Miners compiled a 5–4 record (3–2 against MIAA opponents), finished in third place in the MIAA, and were outscored by a total of 120 to 111. Rolla was ranked at No. 299 (out of 609 teams) in the final Litkenhous Ratings for 1939.

Warrensburg

The 1939 Warrensburg Mules football team represented the Warrensburg State College (later renamed

University of Central Missouri The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri. In 2019, enrollment was 11,229 students from 49 states and 59 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, including 10 pre-profes ...

) at Warrensburg, Missouri. In their fifth year under head coach Carl Voltmer, the Mules compiled a 3–3–3 record (1–2–2 against conference opponents), and finished in fourth place in the

(MIAA). Warrensburg was ranked at No. 290 (out of 609 teams) in the final Litkenhous Ratings for 1939.

Cape Girardeau

The 1939 Cape Girardeau Indians football team represented Cape Girardeau State College (later renamed as

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

) at Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In their eighth season under head coach

Abe Stuber Emmett R. "Abe" Stuber (November 12, 1903 – November 20, 1989) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football coach at Westminster College (Missouri), Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri ...

, the Indians compiled a 5–3–1 record (1–3–1 against conference opponents) and finished in fifth place in the

(MIAA). Cape Girardeau was ranked at No. 298 (out of 609 teams) in the final Litkenhous Ratings for 1939.

Kirksville

The 1939 Kirksville Bulldogs football team represented the Kirksville State Teaches College (also known as Northeast Missouri State Teachers College, later renamed as

Truman State University Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a public university in Kirksville, Missouri. It had 4,225 enrolled students in the fall of 2021 pursuing degrees in 52 undergraduate and 11 graduate programs. The university is named for U.S. Presiden ...

) at

Kirksville, Missouri Kirksville is the county seat and most populous city in Adair County, Missouri. Located in Benton Township, its population was 17,530 at the 2020 census. Kirksville is home to two colleges: Truman State University and A.T. Still University. ...

. In their first year under head coach Malcolm Eiken, the Bulldogs compiled a 2–6 record (0–5 against conference opponents) and finished in last place out of six teams in the

. Kirksville was ranked at No. 367 (out of 609 teams) in the final Litkenhous Ratings for 1939.

All-conference team

At the end of the season, the conference coaches selected an all-conference team consisting of the following first-team players: * Backs: Bill Bernau, Maryville; Harvey Ladd, Rolla; Dwight Bumpus, Springfield; Keith Gooch, Warrensburg * Ends: Russell Kaminsky, Springfield; William Kies, Cape Girardeau * Tackles: John Green, Maryville; Hay, Cape Girardeau * Guards: Marion Rogers, Maryville; Richard Rogers, Maryville * Center: Joe Spafford, Rolla

References

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