The 1951 San Francisco Dons 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 the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

as an independent during the 1951 college football season. In their fourth season under head coach

Joe Kuharich Joseph Lawrence Kuharich (April 14, 1917 – January 25, 1981) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of San Francisco from 1948 to 1951, and at the University of Notre Dame from 1959 ...

, the Dons compiled a 9–0 record, outscored opponents by a total of 338 to 86, and were ranked No. 14 in the final AP Poll. The team was ranked at No. 27 in the 1951 Litkenhous Ratings. Four players from the team went on to successful careers in the

National Football League 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 ...

: Gino Marchetti,

Ollie Matson Ollie Genoa Matson II (May 1, 1930 – February 19, 2011) was an American Olympic medal winning sprinter and professional American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1952 to 1966. Drafted into the N ...

Bob St. Clair Robert Bruce St. Clair (February 18, 1931 – April 20, 2015) was a professional American football player. Because of his eccentricities, his teammates nicknamed him "The Geek".Graham Kislingbury"Bob St. Clair: The King of Kezar" ''Corvallis Gaz ...

, and Red Stephens. The Dons were invited to play in the

1952 Orange Bowl The 1952 Orange Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Baylor Bears. Background Georgia Tech was co-champion of the Southeastern Conference with #1 Tennessee. Baylor finished 2nd in the S ...

on the condition that the team's African-American stars Matson and

Burl Toler Burl Abron Toler Sr. (May 9, 1928 – August 16, 2009) was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) for 25 seasons from 1965 NFL season, 1965 to 1989 NFL season, 1989. He served as a field judge and head linesman through ...

would not play. The Dons refused the offer. The 1951 Dons, and their fight for racial equality, were the subject of the 2014 documentary '' '51 Dons''. Two days after the final game of the 1951 season, the University of San Francisco disbanded its football program.

Schedule

References

{{San Francisco Dons football navbox

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

San Francisco Dons football seasons College football undefeated seasons San Francisco Dons football