1939 San Diego Marines Devil Dogs football team

The 1939 San Diego Marine Devil Dogs football team represented the United States Marines Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego as an independent during the 1939 college football season.^[1] Playing against college football teams from California, Oregon, and Arizona, the Devil Dogs compiled a perfect 11–0 record, shut out five of eleven opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 241 to 51. Major Elmer Hall, who had previously played college football for Oregon, was the team's coach. The Marines challenged the Army and Navy service academy teams to a post-season match, but neither academy accepted the challenge.^[2]

1939 San Diego Marines Devil Dogs football
Conference	Independent
Record	11–0
Head coach	Elmer Hall (1st season)
Seasons ← 1938 1940 →

1939 Western college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
San Diego Marines			–					11	–	0	–	0
No. T–14 Santa Clara			–					5	–	1	–	3
Gonzaga			–					6	–	2	–	0
Humboldt State			–					5	–	2	–	0
Idaho Southern Branch			–					5	–	2	–	0
Cal Poly			–					4	–	4	–	1
San Francisco			–					4	–	3	–	3
La Verne			–					3	–	3	–	0
Saint Mary's			–					3	–	4	–	1
Hawaii			–					3	–	6	–	0
Loyola (CA)			–					2	–	6	–	1
San Francisco State			–					2	–	4	–	2
Portland			–					1	–	5	–	1
Rankings from AP Poll

The San Diego Marines were ranked at No. 96 (out of 609 teams) in the final Litkenhous Ratings for 1939.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 17	Western Bears	San Diego, CA	W 41–0		[4]
September 23	Willamette	San Diego, CA	W 26–0	5,000	[5]
October 6	Caltech	San Diego, CA	W 21–6		[6]
October 14	at Santa Barbara State	La Playa Stadium Santa Barbara, CA	W 7–0		[7]
October 21	Redlands	Balboa Stadium San Diego, CA	W 15–14	3,500	[8]
October 27	Occidental	San Diego, CA	W 33–6		[9]
November 3	Pomona	Balboa Bowl San Diego, CA	W 33–12		[10]
November 11	San Diego State	San Diego, CA	W 13–6	8,000	[11]
November 17	Cal Poly	San Diego, CA	W 20–7		[12]
November 23	Arizona State	San Diego, CA	W 18–0	6,000	[13][14]
December 7	Pacific (CA)	San Diego, CA	W 14–0	12,000	[15]

Players

• 
  Jack Rawls
• 
  Clifford Griffin

The 1939 San Diego Marines football team included the following players:^[7]

• Arne Arneson, quarterback, 175 pounds
• Max Cowsert, guard, 190 pounds
• Bill Crass, fullback, 200 pounds
• Clifford Griffin, end, 202 pounds
• Clarence Klinck, center, 180 pounds
• Felix Krause, tackle, 195 pounds
• Alfred Montrief, end, 187 pounds
• Rivers Morrell, guard, 185 pounds
• Jack "Jittery Jackie" Rawls, halfback, 145 pounds
• Max Tafoya, halfback, 165 pounds