The 1938 Western Washington Vikings football team was an American football team that represented Western Washington State College (later renamed Western Washington University) of Bellingham, Washington, as a member of the Washington Intercollegiate Conference (WINCO) during the 1938 college football season. In their seventh year under head coach Charles Lappenbusch, the Vikings compiled a perfect 7–0 record and outscored opponents by a total of 98 to 30.^[1][2]

The 1938 team was the first to win a conference championship in Western Washington football history.^[3] It also remains the only team in Western Washington's 100-plus history to complete a full football season without a loss or tie.^[4]

Western Washington challenged San Jose State to a postseason game in California, but the challenge was not accepted.^[5]

Western Washington was one of several teams, including Tennessee, TCU, West Tennessee State, Western Reserve, and Maryville, to complete the 1938 season without a loss or tie.^[6]

The team played its home games at Battersby Field in Bellingham.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 30	Saint Martin's*	Battersby Field Bellingham, WA	W 6–3	1,600	[7]
October 8	Oregon Normal*	Battersby Field Bellingham, WA	W 13–0		[8]
October 15	Fort Lewis (WA)*	Battersby Field Bellingham, WA	W 20–7		[9]
October 22	Washington freshmen*	Battersby Field Bellingham, WA	W 6–0
October 29	at Central Washington	Ellensburg, WA (rivalry)	W 13–6		[10]
November 5	vs. Pacific Lutheran	Lincoln Bowl Tacoma, WA	W 33–14		[11][12]
November 19	Eastern Washington	Battersby Field Bellingham, WA	W 7–0	2,000	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming

Players

The following Western Washington players are confirmed from the coverage cited above.

• Fred Baldwin, center
• Don Bell, end
• Fritz Chorvat, quarterback and captain
• Jim Hall, end
• Jack Janikula
• Howard Jones, right halfback
• Al Munkres, fullback
• Leo Reischman, tackle
• Bob Tisdale, left halfback
• Bill Vanderboom, end

References