Founding and early years

The school's first football team was fielded in 1892,^[2] and was initially dropped in 1899 after going 7-6 in that span. The football program resumed again in 1915. In 1920 came one of the worst defeats in college football history, an 18-touchdown, 127-0 defeat from neighboring Cal. The Gaels gained only 16 yards of offense the entire game. This loss drove St. Mary's to turn the program around by hiring Knute Rockne's protege, Slip Madigan, who helped SMC win four consecutive conference championships from 1925-1928.

Galloping Gaels era

By 1927, Saint Mary's developed into one of the strongest football programs on the West Coast. They defeated USC, UCLA, Cal, and Stanford. The Stanford team they defeated in 1927 went on to play in the Rose Bowl, as did the USC team they defeated in 1931. Slip also led the Gaels to the program's only two undefeated seasons in 1926, at 9-0-1, and 1929, at 8-0-1. Although the school's enrollment seldom exceeded 500, the 'Galloping Gaels' became a nationally known football power.

The famously red-clad jersey-ed 'Galloping Gaels', were known for their flashy style that reflected the personality of their flamboyant coach. In the most notable win in program history, Saint Mary's traveled to New York City in 1930 to play Fordham in front of 65,000 at New York City's famed Polo Grounds. Madigan traveled to New York for the game with 150 fans on a train that was labeled "The World's Longest Bar." To stir up publicity for the game, he then threw a party the night before the game and invited sportswriters and celebrities. Babe Ruth and New York mayor Jimmy Walker attended the party. Fordham was a heavy favorite, as the Rams had won 16 straight games going back to 1928. They featured the first version of a defense known as the "Seven Blocks of Granite," a formidable unit that later would include Vince Lombardi. Saint Mary's recovered from a 12–0 halftime deficit to win, 20–12.

The Gaels had a couple of shots at a national championship in the 1930s. A one-point loss to Cal in SMC’s opener in 1930 probably cost the school the No. 1 spot. In 1934, the Gaels beat Fordham and Cal, but were upset by Nevada, 9-7, and lost to UCLA, 6-0, and another national title had slipped away.^[3] The Gaels won the Cotton Bowl in January 1939 and lost in the Sugar Bowl in January 1946. That 1945 team won its first seven games and was ranked seventh in the AP poll entering the bowl game. They also lost in the 1946 Oil Bowl the following year. Many home games of this era were played to sold-out crowds at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.^[3]

Program revival

The football program was dropped after the 1950 season,^[4][5] first revived as a club sport, and then returned to sanctioned varsity status in 1970 (College Division, later Division III),^[6] and moved up to Division II in 1980.^[3]

Modern Division I era and end of program

In order to keep its overall athletics program at Division I, football was required to cease or move up to Division I-AA by 1993. (Rival Santa Clara discontinued football after 1992.) The team competed in NCAA Division I-AA as an independent from 1993 through 2003.^[6]

By 1998, Saint Mary's awarded 14 scholarships in football (vastly under the FCS limit of 63), with a budget of almost $800,000.^[7]

However, after eleven seasons as a Division I-AA independent, Saint Mary's ended its football program on March 3, 2004, citing budgetary reasons.^[8] The announcement came a week after the institution had declared intent to join the Great West Football Conference, rendering SMC as the 11th California university to drop football since 1951.^[9]

Oregon

Oregon and Saint Mary's College competed in an annual Thanksgiving Day classic between 1929–1935, played at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.^[10] The victors were awarded The Governors' Perpetual Trophy jointly by the governors of the states of California and Oregon.^[11] The Gaels hold a 7–3 lead in the series and final possession of the trophy. The rivalry is unlikely to be contested again, as Saint Mary's discontinued football in 1951 due to the national emergency resulting from the Korean War, and reinstated its program in 1970, only to discontinue it again after the 2003 football season.^[12]