1944 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils football team

American college football season

1944 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils football
Conference	Independent
Ranking
AP	No. 19
Record	4–4
Head coach	Jules V. Sikes (1st season)
Home stadium	Kezar Stadium
Seasons← 1943 1945 →

1944 military service football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 3 Randolph Field		–		11	–	0	–	0
No. 5 Bainbridge		–		10	–	0	–	0
No. 18 Fort Pierce		–		9	–	0	–	0
No. 13 Norman NAS		–		6	–	0	–	0
No. 6 Iowa Pre-Flight		–		10	–	1	–	0
No. 16 El Toro Marines		–		8	–	1	–	0
Hondo AAF		–		7	–	1	–	0
Bunker Hill NAS		–		6	–	1	–	0
Lincoln AAF		–		6	–	1	–	0
Blackland AAF		–		7	–	1	–	1
Keesler Field		–		8	–	1	–	2
No. 17 Great Lakes Navy		–		9	–	2	–	1
No. 10 March Field		–		7	–	2	–	2
Third Air Force		–		8	–	3	–	0
North Carolina Pre-Flight		–		6	–	2	–	1
Atlantic City NAS		–		5	–	2	–	0
Camp Peary		–		5	–	2	–	0
Tonopah AAF		–		5	–	2	–	0
Daniel Field		–		7	–	3	–	0
No. 20 Second Air Force		–		10	–	4	–	1
San Francisco Coast Guard		–		4	–	2	–	1
Ellington Field		–		6	–	3	–	2
Amarillo AAF		–		5	–	3	–	0
Alameda Coast Guard		–		4	–	2	–	2
Coronado Amphibious		–		2	–	1	–	1
Olathe NAS		–		4	–	2	–	2
Selman Field		–		4	–	2	–	2
Galveston AAF		–		5	–	3	–	2
Fleet City		–		6	–	4	–	1
Jacksonville NAS		–		4	–	3	–	0
San Diego NTS		–		4	–	3	–	1
Camp Beale		–		5	–	4	–	0
Lubbock AAF		–		5	–	4	–	0
Fort Warren		–		5	–	4	–	1
Fort Monroe		–		5	–	5	–	0
Klamath Falls Marines		–		2	–	2	–	1
Maxwell Field		–		5	–	5	–	0
Minter Field		–		3	–	3	–	0
No. 19 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight		–		4	–	4	–	0
Fourth Infantry		–		3	–	4	–	2
Georgia Pre-Flight		–		4	–	5	–	0
Third Infantry		–		4	–	5	–	0
Bergstrom Field		–		3	–	4	–	0
Ottumwa NAS		–		3	–	4	–	0
Camp Lee		–		3	–	5	–	0
Cherry Point Marines		–		3	–	6	–	0
Chatham Field		–		2	–	8	–	1
Sampton NTS		–		2	–	7	–	0
Miami NTC		–		2	–	8	–	0
Bryan AAF		–		1	–	7	–	0
Fairfield-Suisun AAB		–		1	–	7	–	0
Richmond AAB		–		0	–	10	–	1
Camp Ellis		–		0	–	5	–	0
South Plains AAF		–		0	–	8	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1944 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils football team represented the United States Navy pre-flight school at Saint Mary's College of California during the 1944 college football season. In its third season, the team compiled a 4–4 record, outscored opponents by a total of 96 to 70, and was ranked No. 19 in the final AP Poll.

In August 1944, Lt. Jules V. Sikes was named as the team's coach. He had been an assistant coach to the 1943 team.

In the final Litkenhous Ratings, North Carolina Pre-Flight ranked 43rd among the nation's college and service teams and eighth out of 28 United States Navy teams with a rating of 90.4.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 23	at Pacific (CA)	Baxter Stadium Stockton, CA	L 6–14
October 1	at Fleet City	Forster Field Shoemaker, CA	L 0–12	10,000
October 14	vs. USC	Ratcliffe Stadium Fresno, CA	L 0–6	13,000
October 21	at UCLA	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 21–12	20,000
October 29	No. 11 March Field	Kezar Stadium San Francisco, CA	L 0–7
November 12	vs. Alameda Coast Guard	Kezar Stadium San Francisco, CA	W 32–13	25,000
November 19	Fleet City	Moraga, CA	W 3–0	3,000
November 25	at California	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 33–6	20,000
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	19

References

"1944 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
"Lt. Sikes Named St. Mary's Coach". The Greenville (SC) News. August 6, 1944. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
Litkenhous, E. E. (December 10, 1944). "Big Ten Circuit Repeats As King of College Leagues". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City Utah. p. 8B. Retrieved April 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
Litkenhous, E. E. (December 17, 1944). "Army, Randolph Field One-Two in Final Litkenhouse Ratings". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. 4, section 2. Retrieved April 15, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
"Stagg's Eleven Upsets Fliers". The Des Moines Register. September 24, 1944. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
"Fleet City Rallies To Beat Pre-Flight Eleven, 12-0". Oakland Tribune. October 2, 1944. p. 8.
"Trojans Triumph Over St. Mary's Pre Flight In Tight Battle, 6 to 0". The Fresno Bee. October 15, 1944. p. 2B – via Newspapers.com.
Al Wolf (October 22, 1944). "St. Mary's Preflights Jolt Bruins, 21 to 12: Davis Gallops Over Uclans". Los Angeles Times. pp. II-5, II-6.
"Flyers Bump Air Devils". Los Angeles Times. October 30, 1944. p. II-7 – via Newspapers.com.
"Airdevils Slap Alameda, 32-13". The Des Moines Register. November 13, 1944. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
"Pre-Flight Wins, 3-0: Sanford Boots 14 Yard Field Goal". San Francisco Examiner. November 20, 1944. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
"Airdevils Add New Threat for Cal". Oakland Tribune. November 20, 1944. p. 14C – via Newspapers.com.
"Bears Lose 6th Straight Clash, 33-6". Oakland Tribune. November 26, 1944. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e World War II military service football teams
Bowl games	1943 Sun Bowl 1944 Cotton Bowl Classic
All-Service	1943 All-Service football team 1944 All-Service football team
1942	Army Navy Great Lakes Navy (AP Service No. 1) Iowa Pre-Flight (APS No. 2) Georgia Pre-Flight (APS No. 3) North Carolina Pre-Flight (APS No. 4) Saint Mary's Pre-Flight (APS No. 5) Jacksonville NAS (APS No. 6) Camp Grant (APS No. 7) Pensacola NAS (APS No. 8) Manhattan Beach Coast Guard (APS No. 9) Corpus Christi NAS (APS No. 10) Second Air Force (APS No. 11) Fort Knox (APS No. 12) Lakehurst NAS (APS No. 13) Fort Monmouth (APS No. 14) Fort Riley (APS No. 15) Camp Davis (APS No. 16) March Field (APS No. 17) Fort Totten (APS T-No. 18) Spence Field (APS T-No. 18) Daniel Field (APS T-No. 20) Fort Douglas (APS T-No. 20) Alameda Coast Guard Albuquerque AAB Santa Ana AAB Will Rogers AB
1943	Iowa Pre-Flight (AP No. 2) Navy (AP No. 4) Great Lakes Navy (AP No. 6) Del Monte Pre-Flight (AP No. 8) March Field (AP No. 10) Army (AP No. 11) Bainbridge (AP No. 17) 124th Infantry 176th Infantry 300th Infantry Alameda Coast Guard Atlantic City NAS Blackland AAF Bowman Field Bryan AAF Bunker Hill NAS Camp Davis Camp Edwards Camp Grant Camp Gordon Camp Kilmer Camp Lee Camp Lejeune Charleston Coast Guard Cherry Point Marines Curtis Bay Coast Guard Daniel Field Fort Douglas Fort Knox Fort Monroe Fort Riley Fort Sheridan Fort Warren Georgia Pre-Flight Greensboro Greenville AAB Jacksonville NATTC Kearns Field Keesler Field Kirtland Field Lakehurst NAS Logan Navy Lowry Field Lubbock AAF Memphis NATTC Norfolk Fleet Marines Norman NAS North Carolina Pre-Flight Ottumwa NAS Patterson Field Pocatello AAB Randolph Field Richmond AAB St. Mary's Pre-Flight Salt Lake AAB Sampson NTS San Diego NTS South Plains AAF Spokane Air Service Ward Island Marines Wright Field
1944	Army (AP No. 1) Randolph Field (AP No. 3) Navy (AP No. 4) Bainbridge (AP No. 5) Iowa Pre-Flight (AP No. 6) March Field (AP No. 10) Norman NAS (AP No. 13) El Toro Marines (AP No. 16) Great Lakes Navy (AP No. 17) Fort Pierce (AP No. 18) Saint Mary's Pre-Flight (AP No. 19) Second Air Force (AP No. 20) Alameda Coast Guard Amarillo AAF Atlantic City NAS Bergstrom Field Blackland AAF Bryan AAF Bunker Hill NAS Camp Beale Camp Ellis Camp Lee Camp Peary Chatham Field Cherry Point Marines Coronado Amphibious Daniel Field Ellington Field Fairfield-Suisun AAB Fleet City Fort Monroe Fort Warren Fourth Infantry Galveston AAF Georgia Pre-Flight Hondo AAF Jacksonville NAS Keesler Field Klamath Falls Marine Barracks Lincoln AAF Lubbock AAF Maxwell Field Miami NTC Minter Field North Carolina Pre-Flight Olathe NAS Ottumwa NAS Richmond AAB Sampton NTS San Diego NTS San Francisco Coast Guard Selman Field South Plains AAF Third Air Force Third Infantry Tonopah AAF
1945	Army (AP No. 1) Navy (AP No. 3) Air Transport Command Amarillo AAF AAF Training Command Albany Navy Atlantic City NAS Bainbridge Barksdale Field Bergstrom Field Camp Beale Camp Blanding Camp Detrick Camp Lee Camp Peary Cherry Point Marines Dalhart AAF Corpus Christi NAS Eastern Flying Training Command El Toro Marines Ellington Field Farragut NTS First Air Force Fleet City Fort Benning Fort McClellan Fort Monroe Fort Pierce Fort Riley Fort Warren Fourth Air Force Great Bend AAF Great Lakes Navy Gulfport AAF Homestead AAB Hondo AAF Hutchinson NAS Jacksonville NAS Kearney AAF Keesler Field Lake Charles AAF Little Creek Luke Field Miami NAS Miami NTC Minter Field North Camp Hood Oceana NAS Olathe NAS Pensacola NAS Personnel Distribution Command Saint Mary's Pre-Flight San Diego NTS Santa Barbara Marines Second Air Force Selman Field South Camp Hood Stockton AAF Third Air Force Williams Field

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