Saint Mary's Gaels football

The Saint Mary's Gaels football program was the intercollegiate American football team for Saint Mary's College of California, located in Moraga, California, east of Oakland. The team competed in NCAA Division I-AA as an independent from 1993 through 2003.[2]

For information on all Saint Mary's College of California sports, see Saint Mary's Gaels
Saint Mary's Gaels
First season1892
Last season2003
StadiumSaint Mary's Stadium
Field surfaceNatural grass
LocationMoraga, California
NCAA divisionDivision I-AA (now FCS)
(1993– 2003)
ConferenceIndependent
All-time record380–295–22 (.561)
Bowl record1–2 (.333)
ColorsNavy, Red, and Silver[1]
              
WebsiteSMCGaels.com

The school's first football team was fielded in 1892,[3] and it was nationally prominent in the 1930s and 1940s,[4] winning the Cotton Bowl in January 1939 and losing in the Sugar Bowl in January 1946. That 1945 team won its first seven games and was ranked seventh in the AP poll entering the bowl game. Many home games of this era were played at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.[4]

The football program was dropped after the 1950 season,[5][6] revived as a club sport, and returned to varsity status in 1970 (College Division, later Division III),[2] and moved up to Division II in 1980.[4]

In order to keep its overall athletics program at Division I, football was required to cease or move up to Division I-AA by 1993. (Rival Santa Clara discontinued football after 1992.) After eleven seasons as an I-AA independent, Saint Mary's ended its football program on March 3, 2004, citing budgetary reasons.[7]

Notable players

Bowl games
Season Bowl City Opponent Result
1938CottonDallasTexas TechW 20–13
1945SugarNew OrleansOklahoma A&ML 13–33
1946    Oil    HoustonGeorgia TechL 19–41

References
  1. Gaels Color Guide (PDF). Saint Mary’s College of California Style Guide. January 10, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  2. Litsky, Frank (September 24, 1995). "Emotion: St. Mary's has it and Columbia does not". New York Times.
  3. "Saint Mary's Historical Data". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved 2012-06-20.
  4. Springer, Steve (October 12, 1985). "Those Gaels, what tales: for St. Mary's, football glory is just a memory". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  5. "Gaels abandon gridiron sport". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. January 6, 1951. p. 7.
  6. "Gaels bow out of grid picture". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 7, 1951. p. 9.
  7. Burrell, Jackie, and Thompson, Marcus II (March 4, 2004). "Game over; St. Mary's dissolves football program". Contra Costa Times. Archived from the original on August 12, 2004. Retrieved April 18, 2017.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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