Bessie and Winston "Slug" Winters are married coaches whose mission is to whip their college football team into shape. Just in time, they discover a hillbilly farmhand and his sister. The hillbilly farmhand's ability to throw melons enables him to become their star passing ace.

Harvard senior Sam Thatcher (Lew Ayres) and his best friend and roommate, known as "The Lippencott" (Burgess Meredith), plan to go to Russia after graduation, a decision Sam has kept from his girlfriend, Alexandra Benson (Maureen O'Sullivan).

A girl goes to Harvard and joins the debate team. She has to deal with a ton of issues, from boyfriends, to ethnicity, to religion, to sexual assault.