1929 college football season
The 1929 college football season saw a number of unbeaten and untied teams. Purdue, Tulane, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh all finished the regular season with wins over all their opponents. Notre Dame was recognized as national champion by two of three contemporary major selectors (the Dickinson and Dunkel Systems), while the third (Houlgate) named USC (10–2). Eight of nine retrospective selectors later also named Notre Dame and USC as No. 1 teams.
| 1929 college football season | ||
|---|---|---|
| Number of bowls | 1 | |
| Bowl games | January 1, 1930 | |
| Champion(s) | Notre Dame Pittsburgh | |
| ||
Following the season, Pittsburgh traveled to Pasadena to meet USC in the Rose Bowl, at that time the only postseason college football game, where the Trojans defeated the Panthers, 47–14. Four years later, football historian Parke Davis selected Pittsburgh as "Outstanding Nationwide Team" for 1929, the only one of 12 major selectors to do so. Pittsburgh claims a 1929 national championship on this basis.
A major change in the rules for 1929 was that a fumbled ball was dead as soon as it struck the ground. Previously, a defending player could run with a recovered fumble, as in the case of Roy Riegels in the 1929 Rose Bowl.