To survive the Great Depression, SCU’s football coach Buck Shaw took a second job at Standard Oil. Still, his 1936 and 1937 teams combined for a single loss and upset LSU at the Sugar Bowl not once, but twice. Here’s a look at the aftermath of the Sugar Bowl from Buck Shaw: The Life and Sportsmanship of the Legendary Football Coach, by Kevin Carroll.
“When the final gun sounded the crazed contingent of Santa Clara fans exuberantly rushed the field and tore down the goal posts. It was an amazing upset,” Carroll writes. “With their 6 to 0 victory, Santa Clara had again shocked the football world in back-to-back years by twice upsetting Sugar Bowl favorite LSU.” But that pandemonium had nothing on what awaited the team at the end of their long train ride from New Orleans to Santa Clara.
“Over 3,000 fans greeted the victors’ train when it arrived home. The Santa Clara Fire Department, city officials, alumni and fans accompanied the team as it paraded to the University campus surrounded by blaring sirens, honking car horns, flying confetti and exploding fireworks.
“What a fitting tribute for the Jesuit school with a student body of 500.”