1928 college football season
Rank Team Record Rating
1 USC 9-0-1 24.13
2 California 6-1-2 22.50
3 Georgia Tech 9-0 20.00
4 ( t ) Stanford 8-3-1 19.17
4 ( t ) Wisconsin 7-1-1 19.17
6 ( t ) Carnegie Tech 7-1 18.33
6 ( t ) Iowa 6-2 18.33
8 Illinois 7-1 18.33
9 Army 8-2 17.50
10 NYU 8-2 16.25
11 Penn 8-1 15.00
Final Dickinson rankings
Professor Dickinson concluded that the University of Southern California Trojans were `` the national football champions of America for 1928 '' . Unbeaten and untied Georgia Tech was ranked third because , Dickinson said , `` its schedule was easier than the other contenders '' . [ 11 ] On January 4 , 1929 , the Jack F. Rissman national intercollegiate trophy was presented by Professor Dickinson to the USC football squad , and Coach Howard Jones , at a student rally on the Los Angeles campus . For the benefit of the crowd , Dickinson added `` that even had he taken into consideration the victory of Georgia Tech over California on New Year 's Day that the University of Southern California would have still be rated at the top , '' though Georgia Tech would have ranked second instead of third after its Rose Bowl win [ 12 ]
The 1928 football season have both the USC Trojans and the Georgia Tech Golden Tornado claim national championships. USC was recognized as champions under the Dickinson System, but the Rose Bowl was contested between the #2 and #3 teams, California and Georgia Tech. The game was decided by a safety scored after Roy Wrong Way Riegels ran 65 yards in the wrong direction. Vance Maree blocked the ensuing punt which gave Georgia Tech a safety deciding the 8-7 win. The Florida Gators led the nation in scoring as a team, led by its Phantom Four backfield, with 336 points. They were remembered by many sports commentators as the best Florida football team until at least the 1960s. NYU halfback Ken Strong led the nation in scoring as an individual, with 162 points, and tallied some 3,000 total yards from scrimmage.