1940 Boston College Eagles football team
{{short description|American college football season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox college sports team season
| year = 1940
| team = Boston College Eagles
| sport = football
| image =
| image_size =
| conference = Independent
| APRank = 5
| record = 11–0
| head_coach = Frank Leahy
| hc_year = 2nd
| captain = Henry Toczylowski
| stadium = Alumni Field
Fenway Park
| champion = National champion (self-claimed)
Eastern champion
Sugar Bowl champion
| bowl = Sugar Bowl
| bowl_result = W 19–13 vs. Tennessee
}}
{{1940 Eastern college football independents records}}
The 1940 Boston College Eagles football team represented Boston College as an independent during the 1940 college football season. The team was led by head coach Frank Leahy in his second year, and played their home games at Fenway Park in Boston and Alumni Field in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They won all ten games in the regular season, were the highest-scoring team in the country, and won the Lambert Trophy, awarded to 'Eastern champion'. With its victory on New Year's Day in the Sugar Bowl over the undefeated Tennessee, champion of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the BC Eagles were widely acclaimed as national champions.See what the nation's leading sportswriters thought of the BC Sugar Bowl victory at “Sports Writers Comment on B.C. Win In Sugar Bowl”, Daily Boston Globe (1928-1960); Jan. 3, 1941; p. 9. For extensive contemporaneous documentation of the championship see http://bcnationalchamps1940.wordpress.com/ Minnesota and Stanford also have viable claims to the national championship.
From 1936 to 1964, the final AP Poll ranking college football teams was taken at the end of the regular season, before the postseason bowl games. The final 1940 rankings were published on December 2, and listed undefeated Minnesota (8–0) first with its thrilling home win by an extra point 7–6 over No. 3 Michigan (7–1). Stanford (10–0) was ranked second, Tennessee (10–0) fourth, and Boston College (10–0) was fifth.Reid Oslin (November 10, 2015). [http://bceagles.com/news/2015/11/10/FB_1110153607.aspx Boston College Athletics – The 1940 Team of Destiny] Retrieved July 21, 2016.
Neither Minnesota nor Michigan played in a postseason bowl game, and Stanford defeated No. 7 Nebraska (8–2) in the Rose Bowl. Tennessee outscored its regular season opponents 319–26, soundly beating such opponents as Alabama, Florida, LSU, Kentucky, Virginia, and Duke.Haywood Harris and Gus Manning (2004) “Six Seasons Remembered: The National Championship Years of Tennessee Football”, The University of Tennessee Press/ Knoxville pp. 24–45. Despite where the AP rated teams at the end of the regular season, BC's post season win over Tennessee was widely deemed the best win of any team in the 1940 season.{{cite news |author= |title=Sports Writers Comment on B. C. Win In Sugar Bowl |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79208131/the-boston-globe/ |newspaper=The Boston Globe |location=Boston, Massachusetts |date=January 3, 1941 |page=9 |access-date=June 8, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}
Schedule
{{CFB schedule
| rankyear = 1940
| poll = AP
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = September 21
| w/l = w
| opponent = {{cfb link|year=1940|team=Centre Colonels|title=Centre}}
| site_stadium = Alumni Field
| site_cityst = Chestnut Hill, MA
| score = 40–0
| attend = 19,000
| source = {{cite news |last=King |first=Bill |title=Boston College Crushes Centre |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79207652/the-philadelphia-inquirer/ |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |location= Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |agency=Associated Press |date=September 22, 1940 |page=42 |access-date=June 8, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = September 28
| w/l = w
| away = y
| opponent = Tulane
| site_stadium = Tulane Stadium
| site_cityst = New Orleans, LA
| score = 27–7
| attend = 42,000
| source = {{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99496875/boston-stuns-tulane-with-277-victory/|work=The Clarion-Ledger|title=Boston stuns Tulane with 27–7 victory|date=September 29, 1940|accessdate=April 10, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = October 12
| w/l = w
| rank =
| opponent = Temple
| site_stadium = Fenway Park
| site_cityst = Boston, MA
| score = 33–20
| attend = 28,000
| source = {{cite news|title=Boston College's Passes Beat Temple by 33 to 20|newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer|author=Stan Baumgartner|date=October 13, 1940|page=1S|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120370298/boston-colleges-passes-beat-temple-by/|via=Newspapers.com}}
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = October 19
| w/l = w
| rank = 8
| opponent = Idaho
| site_stadium = Fenway Park
| site_cityst = Boston, MA
| score = 60–0
| attend = 8,000
| source = {{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wChWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B-QDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1774%2C1058186|work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Boston College fears scoreless Idaho |date=October 19, 1940 |page=11}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5-FXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Q_UDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4476%2C4597609 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Boston College tramples Idaho |date=October 19, 1940 |page=1}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wShWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B-QDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4762%2C1658367 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Boston swamps Idaho team, 60-0 |date=October 20, 1940 |page=1, sports}}
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = October 26
| w/l = w
| rank = 10
| opponent = {{cfb link|year=1940|team=Saint Anselm Hawks|title=Saint Anselm}}
| site_stadium = Alumni Field
| site_cityst = Chestnut Hill, MA
| score = 55–0
| attend = 17,000
| source = {{cite news|title=Boston College Wins 55-0 Rout|newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=October 27, 1940|page=S1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120942068/boston-college-wins-55-0-rout/|via=Newspapers.com}}
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = November 2
| w/l = w
| rank = 9
| opponent = Manhattan
| site_stadium = Alumni Field
| site_cityst = Chestnut Hill, MA
| score = 25–0
| attend = 12,000
| source = {{cite news|title=BC's Touchdown Parade Trims Jaspers, 25-0|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=November 3, 1940|page=94|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120338517/bcs-touchdown-parade-trims-jaspers/|via=Newspapers.com}}
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = November 9
| w/l = w
| rank = 8
| opponent = Boston University
| gamename = rivalry
| site_stadium = Fenway Park
| site_cityst = Boston, MA
| score = 21–0
| attend = 20,000
| source = {{cite news|title=Boston College Defeats Boston U. By 21 To 0|newspaper=The Sun|date=November 10, 1940|page=5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120943510/boston-college-defeats-boston-u-by-21/|via=Newspapers.com}}
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = November 16
| w/l = w
| rank = 8
| opponent = Georgetown
| opprank = 9
| site_stadium = Fenway Park
| site_cityst = Boston, MA
| score = 19–18
| attend = 43,000
| source = {{cite news|title=B.C. Noses Out G.U., 19-18|newspaper=The Sunday Star|author=Francis E. Stan|date=November 17, 1940|page=Sports 1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120943114/bc-noses-out-gu-19-18/|via=Newspapers.com}}
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = November 23
| w/l = w
| rank = 4
| opponent = Auburn
| site_stadium = Fenway Park
| site_cityst = Boston, MA
| score = 33–7
| attend = 30,000
| source = {{cite news|title=Boston College Smashes Way To Win Over Auburn|newspaper=The Montgomery Advertiser|date=November 24, 1940|page=10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120942514/boston-college-smashes-way-to-win-over/|via=Newspapers.com}}
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = November 30
| w/l = w
| rank = 4
| opponent = Holy Cross
| gamename = rivalry
| site_stadium = Fenway Park
| site_cityst = Boston, MA
| score = 7–0
| attend = 38,000
| source = {{cite news|title=Boston College Gets Four Lucky Breaks To Conquer Courageous Crusaders, 7-0|newspaper=The Hartford Courant|date=December 1, 1940|page=IV-1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120337031/boston-college-gets-four-lucky-breaks/|via=Newspapers.com}}
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = January 1, 1941
| w/l = w
| neutral = y
| rank = 5
| opponent = Tennessee
| opprank = 4
| gamename = Sugar Bowl
| site_stadium = Tulane Stadium
| site_cityst = New Orleans, LA
| score = 19–13
| attend = 73,181
| source = {{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49450320/|work=The Boston Globe|title=Indomitable spirit brings Eagles win|date=January 2, 1941|accessdate=August 8, 2021|via=Newspapers.com}}
}}
}}
{{Cite web |last=DeLassus |first=David |title=Boston College Yearly Results: 1940–1944 |publisher=College Football Data Warehouse |url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/acc/boston_college/yearly_results.php?year=1940 |access-date=March 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218045346/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/acc/boston_college/yearly_results.php?year=1940 |archive-date=February 18, 2013 |url-status=dead }}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{1940 Boston College Eagles football navbox}}
{{Boston College Eagles football navbox}}
{{College Football National Champion navbox}}
Category:Boston College Eagles football seasons
Category:College football national champions
Category:Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy seasons
Category:Sugar Bowl champion seasons
Category:College football undefeated seasons