The 1941 Mississippi State Maroons football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented

Mississippi State College Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) during the

1941 college football season The 1941 college football regular season was the 73rd season of college football, intercollegiate football in the United States. Competition included schools from the 1941 Big Ten Conference football season, Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast ...

. In their third season under head coach

Allyn McKeen Allyn McKeen (January 26, 1905 – September 13, 1978) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at West Tennessee State Normal School, now the University of Memphis, from 1937 to 1938 and at Mississippi State Colle ...

, the Maroons compiled an 8–1–1 record (4–0–1 against SEC opponents), won the only SEC championship in school history, outscored opponents by a total of 191 to 55, and were ranked No. 16 in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

. After losing eight of eleven starters from the undefeated 1940 team, the Maroons were picked to finish at or near the bottom of the SEC in 1941. Yet, they won games against conference opponents,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, and Ole Miss, and played a scoreless tie against

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. The sole loss of the season was to No. 10 Duquesne. The 1941 season was the second consecutive season in which Mississippi State went undefeated against SEC opponents. Two Mississippi State players were named to the

1941 All-SEC football team The 1941 All-SEC football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) chosen by various selectors for the 1941 college football season. Mississippi State won the conference. All-SEC selections Ends ...

. Tackle Bill Arnold received first-team honors from the

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(AP) and second-team honors from the

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(UP). Halfback Johnnie "Blondy" Black was picked by the UP for the second team. Mississippi State was ranked at No. 19 (out of 681 teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score System for 1941.

Schedule

References

{{Southeastern Conference football champions

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

Mississippi State Bulldogs football seasons Southeastern Conference football champion seasons

Mississippi State Maroons football The Mississippi State Bulldogs football program represents Mississippi State University in the sport of American football. The Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and th ...