1940 Western Reserve Red Cats football team

The 1940 Western Reserve Red Cats football team represented the Western Reserve University—later merged into Case Western Reserve University—as a member of the Big Four Conference during the 1940 college football season. Led by Bill Edwards in his sixth and final season as head coach, the Red Cats compiled an overall record of 8–1 with a mark of 3–0 in conference play, winning the Big Four title. Western Reserve concluded the season with a win in the Sun Bowl over Arizona State. The team played home games at Cleveland Stadium and League Park in Cleveland.

1940 Western Reserve Red Cats football
Big Four champion
Sun Bowl, W 26–13 vs. Arizona State
Conference	Big Four Conference
Record	8–1 (3–0 Big Four)
Head coach	Bill Edwards (6th season)
Home stadium	Cleveland Stadium, League Park
Seasons ← 1939 1941 →

1940 Big Four Conference (Ohio) football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Western Reserve $	3	–	0	–	0			8	–	1	–	0
Case	2	–	1	–	0			6	–	2	–	0
Baldwin–Wallace	1	–	2	–	0			4	–	4	–	0
John Carroll	0	–	3	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion

Edwards was assisted by Gene Myslenski and Roy A. "Dugan" Miller. Notable players included Johnny Reis,^[1] Andy Logan,^[2] Stan Skoczen^[3] , Steve Belichick, Mickey Sanzotta and Dick Booth. The season opener against the Akron was the first game played at the Rubber Bowl. Western Reserve was ranked at No. 113 (out of 697 college football teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score system for 1940.^[4]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 4	8:15 p.m.	at Akron*	Rubber Bowl Akron, OH	W 6–0	20,000	[5][6]
October 12	3:00 p.m.	at Dayton*	University of Dayton Stadium Dayton, OH	L 12–20	4,300	[7][8]
October 19	2:00 p.m.	Baldwin–Wallace	Cleveland Stadium Cleveland, OH	W 2–0	2,500–3,000	[9][10][11]
October 26	2:00 p.m.	Miami (OH)*	League Park Cleveland, OH	W 47–6	3,000	[12][13]
November 2	2:00 p.m.	Boston University*	League Park Cleveland, OH	W 19–0	3,500	[14][15]
November 9	2:00 p.m.	Ohio*	League Park Cleveland, OH	W 6–0	7,500–9,000	[16][17][18]
November 16	2:00 p.m.	at John Carroll	League Park Cleveland, OH	W 12–0	3,000	[19][20][21]
November 21	10:30 a.m.	Case	League Park Cleveland, OH	W 15–14	15,000	[22][23]
January 1		vs. Arizona State*	Kidd Field El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	W 26–13	12,000	[24]
*Non-conference game All times are in Eastern time

^[25]