Here's what I found from looking at old programs. It's obvious that roles and positions were different in those days than they are in today's game.
1931 - The only program I have from this season is for an away game at Nevada. Positions are only listed for the starters, and Moore (no first name given) is shown as the starting QB.
1932 - No program available.
1933 - I have two programs from this season - SF State (home) and Cal Aggies (home). Howard Wulfing is shown as the starting QB for the SF State game and George MacLachlan is listed as the starting QB for the Cal Aggies game. However, Wulfing is listed on the roster as a fullback. Three others variously listed as QBs or halfbacks depending on where you look are Francis Pura, "Dee" Shehtanian and Fred Bennett. Wulfing, Shehtanian and Bennett are all shown as having won one letter in previous seasons, while MacLachlan and Pura had not lettered.
1934 - I have three programs from this season - Santa Barbara AC (home), Cal Aggies (away) and Nevada (away). Dave Barr is listed as the starting QB for the Santa Barbara AC and Nevada games, although he's listed on the roster as a fullback. Dee Shehtanian and Norman Sanders are shown on the roster as QBs, while Francis Pura is shown in different places as either a QB or a halfback and Gil Bishop is shown as either a QB or an end. Rinaldo Wren is listed as the starting QB for the Cal Aggies game, but is listed on the roster as a halfback.
1935 - I only have one program from this season - Willamette (away). Sanders (no first name given) is listed as the starting QB, with Carpenter shown as the only other QB on the roster.
1942 - I have two programs for this season - Whittier (away) and USF (away). Bill Perry is listed as the starting QB for both games although he's listed on the roster as a halfback. Vern Cartwright is shown on the roster as a backup QB for the Whittier game, while he, Hal Bianchi and Dick Shove are listed as backup QBs for the USF game. Shove was listed as a halfback on the roster for the Whittier game while Bianchi wasn't listed at all.
As interesting sidelights, here are quotes concerning the SJSU team taken from the two 1942 game-day programs:
Whittier game: "...only six lettermen and six other experienced veterans were back to form the nucleus of a team comprised of some 50 freshmen and a few junior college transfers."
USF game: "Even Bill Perry, 195-pound sophomore quarterback, is a scoring threat, and at present tops the San Jose squad in total points. Rivaling Keith Birlem, star quarterback of the 1938 team, as a blocker, Perry has tossed aside the solo blocking role of former Spartan signal-callers to become another threat in the backfield." I think this explains why Rat found that our leading passers during the 1930's were different than the people listed as the QB's - the role of the QB was entirely different prior to WWII than it is today.
--Previous Message--
: Looking for QB names from these years...
:
: 1942
: 1935
: 1934
: 1933
: 1932
: 1931
:
: I can cross reference the names with the
: list of letter winners in the media guide.
:
Message Thread | This response ↓
« Back to index