The 1939 Rocky Mountain Conference 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 five member schools of the
Rocky Mountain Conference
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...
(RMC) 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
Colorado Mines Orediggers
The Colorado School of Mines Orediggers (also Mines Orediggers) are the athletic teams that represent the Colorado School of Mines, located in Golden, Colorado, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Orediggers compete as members of the ...
, led by head coach
John Mason, compiled a perfect 8–0 record and won the RMC championship. They led the RMC in both scoring offense (33.5 points per game) and scoring defense (8.8 points per game). Colorado Mines wingback Lloyd Madden led the nation with 143 points scored.
Conference overview
Teams
Colorado Mines
The 1939 Colorado Mines Orediggers football team represented the
Colorado School of Mines of
Golden, Colorado. In their third year under head coach
John Mason, the Orediggers compiled a perfect 8–0 record, outscored opponents by a total of 268 to 44, and won the RMC championship.
Colorado Mines was ranked at No. 93 (out of 609 teams) in the final
Litkenhous Ratings for 1939.
Colorado Mines wingback Lloyd Madden won the national scoring title with 141 points scored (23 touchdowns and three extra points). He broke the RMC scoring record set in 1937 by
Byron White
Byron "Whizzer" Raymond White (June 8, 1917 April 15, 2002) was an American professional football player and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1962 until his retirement in 1993.
Born and raised in Color ...
.
[ He was selected by the ]Chicago Cardinals
The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons.
Roots ca ...
with the 16th overall pick in the 1940 NFL Draft
The 1940 National Football League Draft was held on December 9, 1939, at the Schroeder Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Cardinals selected George Cafego.
Player selections
Round one
Round ...
.
Colorado Mines secured eight of eleven first-team spots on 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 ...
All-Rocky Mountain Conference football team. Six were also given first-team conference honors by the United Press
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...
. The first-team honorees were: backs Madden (AP-1, UP-1), Joe Berta (AP-1), Jacky Torpey (AP-1, UP-1), and Taylor (UP-1); end Rex Flynn (AP-1, UP-1); tackles Marv Katzenstein (AP-1, UP-1) and Dick Moe (AP-1, UP-1); guard Dave Geiskieng (AP-1, UP-1); and center Herbert Thornton (AP-1).[
]
Colorado State–Greeley
The 1939 Colorado State–Greeley Bears football team represented Colorado State College at Greeley, Colorado
Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 17.12% since the 2010 ...
(now known as the University of Northern Colorado
The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...
). In their eighth year under head coach John W. Hancock, the Bears compiled a 4–4 record (3–1 against RMC opponents) and finished in second place out of five teams in the RMC.
Colorado State–Greeley was ranked at No. 225 (out of 609 teams) in the final Litkenhous Ratings for 1939.
The team played its home games at Jackson Field in Greeley, Colorado
Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 17.12% since the 2010 ...
.
Western State
The 1939 Western State Mountaineers football team represented Western State College of Colorado at Gunnison, Colorado
Gunnison is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gunnison County, Colorado. The city population was 6,560 at the 2020 United States Census. Gunnison was named in honor of John W. Gunnison, a Uni ...
(now known as the Western Colorado University). In their fifth year under head coach Paul Wright, the Mountaineers compiled a 2–5–1 record (1–2 against RMC opponents) and finished in third place out of five teams in the RMC.
Montana State
The 1939 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State College (later renamed Montana State University
Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...
) of Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of th ...
. In their tenth season under head coach Schubert R. Dyche
Schubert Reilley Dyche (February 11, 1893 – October 19, 1982) was an American college football and college basketball head coach as well as athletic director, all at Montana State University, from the 1920s through 1940s. In football, he recorded ...
, the Bobcats compiled a 2–7 record (0–2 against conference opponents) and finished in fourth place out of five teams in the RMC.
Montana State was ranked at No. 252 (out of 609 teams) in the final Litkenhous Ratings for 1939.
Colorado College
The 1939 Colorado College Tigers football team represented Colorado College of Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
. In their 14th and final season under head coach William T. Van de Graaff
William Travis "Bully" Van de Graaff (October 25, 1895 – April 26, 1977) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He attended Tuscaloosa High School. He played college football at the University of Alabama, wh ...
, the Tigers compiled a 2–5–1 record (0–4 against RMC opponents) and finished in last place out of five teams in the RMC. The team played its home games at Washburn Field Washburn Field is a 1,500-seat stadium located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is home of the field sports teams from Colorado College and is the oldest college football facility west of the Mississippi River, having hosted its first game in 1898. ...
in Colorado Springs.
All-conference team
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 ...
selected the following players as first-team honorees on the all-conference team.
References
{{Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football navbox