The 1939 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

in 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 team's head football coach was

Wesley Fry Wesley Leonard "Cowboy" Fry (December 10, 1902 – November 11, 1970) was an American football player, coach of football and baseball, and professional football executive. He served as the head football coach at Oklahoma City University in 1933 a ...

, in his fifth and final year of his at the helm of the Wildcats. The Wildcats played their home games in Memorial Stadium. The Wildcats finished the season with a 4–5 record with a 1–4 record in conference play. They finished in a three-way tie for last place in the

Big Six Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

. The Wildcats scored 107 points and gave up 108 points.

Schedule

Homecoming game against Nebraska

Kansas State played the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

on October 28, 1939. This game is notable for being the first

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 ...

homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

game ever televised., the second ever televised college football game and the first televised game west of New York City. Kansas State scored first with a field goal, but two minutes later Nebraska took the lead. Nebraska won the game 25–9. Although Nebraska entered the game a 12–5 favorite, the game itself was considered to a good test for Nebraska, who was undefeated at the time. The matchup was considered to be important to the outcome of the

championship. Nebraska ended the game as one of ten college teams in the US that were unbeaten up to that point.

References

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

Kansas State Wildcats football seasons

Kansas State Wildcats football The Kansas State Wildcats football program (variously Kansas State, K-State or KSU) is the college football, intercollegiate football program of the Kansas State University Kansas State Wildcats, Wildcats. The program is classified in the NCAA Di ...

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