The 1934 Central Eagles football team represented Central College (now known as Central Methodist University) as a member of the Missouri College Athletic Union (MCAU) during the 1934 college football season. Led by coach C. A. Clingenpeel in his 13th year, the Eagles compiled an overall record of 6âÂÂ1âÂÂ2 with a mark of 3âÂÂ0 in conference play, winning the conference championship for the third and final time under Clingenpeel's tenure and ending the championship streak of William Jewell, who had won it the prior three years.
Central began the season with a night game against rival on September 28. The game was notable for featuring altered rules developed by Missouri Valley coach Henri Godfriaux. Rather than quarters being based on time (15 minutes was the standard), they were based on the amount of plays, with the quarter changing each time 30 plays had been run. Additionally, the play clock was set to 30 seconds and a forward pass was able to be thrown from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage rather than only from five yards behind it, the latter being a rule now used in the present.
With the field covered in mud, Central ended up winning 2âÂÂ0 through a safety scored in the fourth quarter. The game was timed at two and a half hours, although several said that it would have been longer if played under the standard time due to the field conditions and amount of penalties.
Following Central's away game against Missouri Valley, they returned home and played the to a scoreless tie, while outgaining them 125 yards to 86 in a non-conference match. Central afterwards defeated 13âÂÂ0, including a touchdown pass as time expired on October 12. The next week the Eagles made their conference debut, tying 7âÂÂ7. Gale Earp scored Central's only touchdown with Ricketts making the conversion; near the end, they had a chance to score but failed on downs at the Tarkio three-yard line.
After Tarkio, Central played at home. They greatly outplayed CulverâÂÂStockton, outgaining them 189 yards to 41 and making 14 first downs to 2, but were only able to score once, with Jack Oliver running in for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth. The Eagles subsequently traveled to Kansas City, to play the . On a rain-soaked field, they lost 12âÂÂ8 in their only defeat of the season.
Central then tied Wentworth Military Academy and College, champion of the Missouri Junior College Union, in a night game 20âÂÂ20, in what was described as "the most thrilling game" at Wentworth's field in years. The Eagles won their next game at , the defending champion, 16âÂÂ13, taking the lead of the Missouri College Athletic Union. They closed out the season with an 18âÂÂ6 victory over Missouri Valley, clinching the conference championship for the first time since 1930 and taking the crown from William Jewell, who had won it the prior three seasons.
Central also had a reserve team known as the Rinkeydinks. The Ragout, Central's yearbook, wrote that "If we overlook the Rinke[y]dinks when writing up a Championship team, we have failed to give credit to a group of individuals who deserve no small amount of praise for their part in the success of the season. These men worked hard throughout the year and in the seasons to come will develop into first string players for another Central Championship team."
The 17 player roster, with notes about each per The Ragout: