The 1964 Cal State Los Angeles Diablos 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 wi ...

team that represented California State College at Los Angeles—now known as

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...

—as a member of the

California Collegiate Athletic Association The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its current members are public universities, and upon U ...

(CCAA) during the

1964 NCAA College Division football season The 1964 NCAA College Division football season was the ninth season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the NCAA College Division level. Conference standings Rankings College Di ...

. Led by second-year head coach Homer Beatty, Cal State Los Angeles compiled an overall record of 9–0 with a mark of 5–0 in conference play, winning the CCAA title. The Diablos began the season ranked No. 13 in the UPI small college poll. After defeating No. 1

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

on the road, they jumped to No. 5. They went on to compile a perfect 9–0 record (5–0 against CCAA members), winning the CCAA championship and outscoring opponents by a total of 368 to 64, an average score of 41–7. It was the first perfect season in school history. At the end of the season, the Diablos were selected by the UPI's board of coaches as the small college national champion. The team received 26 first-place votes to seven for No. 2

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north o ...

. In the

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small college poll, the Diablos were ranked No. 3, behind Wittenberg and Prairie View.

Schedule

Key personnel

Coach Beatty led the Diablos to three consecutive CCAA championships and a 25–2 record from 1963 to 1965. He was selected as one of the inaugural inductees to the Cal State Los Angeles Hall of Fame when it was created in 1985. The 1964 team was led by quarterback Dunn Marteen, an ex-Marine who was a junior college All-American at Santa Ana Junior College. Tackle

Walter Johnson Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "The Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Baseball as a right-ha ...

, a transfer from

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

, starred on both offense and defense. Johnson was selected by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

in the second round (27th overall pick) of the

1965 NFL Draft The 1965 National Football League draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 28, 1964. The first player selected was Tucker Frederickson, back from Auburn, by the New York Giants. The draft was marked by the fail ...

and played 13 seasons in the NFL. The Diablos dominated the 1964 All-CCAA football team with nine players receiving first-team honors: Marteen; Johnson (the only player named to both the defensive and offensive units); fullback Art Robinson; halfback Ray Jones; offensive tackle Don Davis; defensive end Walt Thurmond; linebacker Bernie Christian; and defensive backs Jesse Willard and George Youngblood.

Players in the NFL

The following Cal State Los Angeles players were selected in the

References

{{Small college football national champion navbox

Cal State Los Angeles Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

Cal State Los Angeles Diablos football seasons NCAA Small College Football Champions California Collegiate Athletic Association football champion seasons College football undefeated seasons

Cal State Los Angeles Diablos football Cal State Los Angeles Diablos football team represented the California State University, Los Angeles from the 1951 season through the 1977 season. Between 1947 and 1963, the university was known as the Los Angeles State College and the athletic tea ...