Thomas Jefferson "Snakehips" Scott is the sensation of the freshman football squad at Bedford University. After a sensational sophomore season, varsity coach "Daisy" Adams gets him a summer "job" in the Maine woods as a bond salesman. The coach sends him there for conditioning purposes only, but Tommy is pleased with the $6,000 he gets for selling bonds he never even sees. Nice work if you can get it, in a situation that never seems to go out of style. Tommy, figuring that there is more where this came from, tells a graduate manager he will quit the team unless they pay him $50,000. The manager arranges with a broker to start an investment fund named after Thomas Jefferson Smith, the receipts from which will net Tommy his demanded amount. Thousands of shares are sold, but the broker gambles away the funds and commits suicide when legal authorities close in. The district attorney questions Tommy. The father of Tommy's college love offers Tommy $50,000 as a moral test if he will break his engagement to the girl, but is stunned when Tommy holds out for $100,000. When the scandal breaks, Tommy is booed off the field after the first half of "the big game." Tommy has quietly sent the $100,000 to the district attorney to reimburse the investors. The D.A. happily informs the newspapers, who print special editions that are delivered to the stadium at halftime. Tommy receives a standing ovation from the crowd, and scores the winning touchdown with his proud and relieved parents in the crowd. Members of the 1931 National Champion football team from the University of Southern California Trojans are featured, with former college stars Russell Saunders and Oscar "Dutch" Hendrian also cast in roles other than just team members. John Wayne, who played for USC in the 1920s, and USC track star and Olympic swimmer Buster Crabbe are also in the cast as football players.