The 1945 Army Cadets 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 ...

powerhouse that represented the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

as an independent and considered to be among the greatest in collegiate history. In their fifth season under head coach Earl "Red" Blaik, the Cadets compiled a 9–0 record, shut out five of nine opponents (including a 48–0 victory over No. 2 Notre Dame and a 61–0 victory over No. 6 Penn), and outscored all opponents by a total of 412 to 46. Army's 1945 season was part of a 32-game undefeated streak that included the entire 1944, 1945, and 1946 seasons. 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 ...

released on December 2, Army was ranked No. 1 nationally with 1,160 points, more than 200 points ahead of No. 2

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

. All seven other contemporary major selectors also recognized Army as the 1945 national champion, including the Boand System,

Dunkel System The Dunkel System, also known as the Dunkel College Football Index, is a college football rating system developed in 1929 by Richard C. "Dick" Dunkel, Sr. (1906–1975), to determine a national champion. Dunkel rated college football teams from 192 ...

, DeVold System,

Houlgate System The Houlgate System, also known as the Deke Houlgate collegiate football rating system, was a mathematical rating system for determining annual college football national championships. The ratings, which rated teams according to the strength of th ...

, Litkenhous,

Poling System The Poling System was a mathematical rating system used to select college football national championship teams on a current basis from 1935 to 1984. Its selections were published in the ''Football Review Supplement'' and several newspapers.

, and Williamson System. Army also garnered six retrospective selections by later major selectors (two also selected a co-champion): Berryman (QPRS),

Billingsley Report The Billingsley Report is a college football rating system developed in the late 1960s to determine a national champion. Billingsley has actively rated college football teams on a current basis since 1970. Beginning in 1999, Billingsley's ratings ...

College Football Researchers Association The College Football Researchers Association (CFRA) was founded in 1982 by Anthony Cusher of Reeder, North Dakota, and Robert Kirlin of Spokane, Washington. The CFRA took a vote of its members from 1982 to 1992 to select an annual college football n ...

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership ...

National Championship Foundation The National Championship Foundation (NCF) was established by Mike Riter of Hudson, New York. The NCF retroactively selected college football national champions for each year from 1869 to 1979, and its selections are among the historic national ch ...

, and

Sagarin Ratings Jeff Sagarin is an American sports statistician known for his development of a method for ranking and rating sports teams in a variety of sports. His ratings have been a regular feature in the ''USA Today'' sports section since 1985, have been use ...

. Army also won the Lambert Trophy as the best football team in the east. The team led the nation with an average of 462.7 yards of

total offense Total offense (or total offence) is a gridiron football statistic representing the total number of yards rushing and yards passing by a team or player. Total offense differs from yards from scrimmage, which gives credit for passing yardage to the ...

per game, including 359.8 rushing yards per game. The offense was led by backs

Doc Blanchard Felix Anthony "Doc" Blanchard (December 11, 1924 – April 19, 2009) was an American football player and serviceman who became the first junior to win the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award, and was the first football player to win the James E. S ...

and Glenn Davis. Blanchard scored 114 points in 1945 and received both the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

and the

Maxwell Award The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best all ...

as the best player in college football. Davis rushed for 944 yards and led the nation with an average of 11.51 rushing yards per carry. Four Army players were consensus first-team picks on the 1945 All-America college football team: Blanchard; Davis; tackle

Tex Coulter DeWitt Echoles "Tex" Coulter (October 26, 1924 – October 2, 2007) was an American gridiron football player. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants and in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union ...

; and guard

John Green John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author, YouTube Content creation, content creator, podcaster, and philanthropist. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including ''The Fault in Our Stars'' ( ...

. In a departure from normal practice, the

Newspaper Enterprise Association The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...

(NEA) named all eleven Army starters as its All-American team for 1945. Other notable players included quarterback

Arnold Tucker Young Arnold Tucker (January 5, 1924 – January 10, 2019) was a United States Air Force officer who graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1947. Football career While lettering twice in football, Tucker wa ...

(NEA) and end

Hank Foldberg Henry Christian Foldberg Sr. (March 12, 1923 – March 7, 2001) was an American college and professional football player who became a college football coach. Foldberg played college football for Texas A&M University and the United States Milita ...

. The undefeated 1946 Army team was one of the strongest of all time, as during World War II, loose player transfer rules allowed service academies to assemble many of the nation's best players.

Schedule

Personnel

Players

* Shelton Biles, guard *

(

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

), fullback, Bishopville, South Carolina, 6', 208 pounds * Roland Catarinella, guard * Bobby Chabot *

, tackle, San Antonio, Texas, 6'3", 220 pounds * Glenn Davis (College Football Hall of Fame), Claremont, California, 5'9", 170 pounds *

, end, Dallas, Texas, 6'1", 195 pounds * Herschel E. Fuson, Middlesburg, Kentucky, 6'1", 215 pounds * Arthur L. Gerometta, guard, Gary, Indiana, 5'10", 190 pounds *

(College Football Hall of Fame), guard and captain, Shelbyville, Kentucky, 5'8-1/2", 190 pounds *

Shorty McWilliams Thomas Edward "Shorty" McWilliams (May 12, 1926 – January 9, 1997) was an American football player who played one season with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the eighth roun ...

, halfback, Meridan, Mississippi, 5'11", 175 pounds * Albert M. Nemetz, tackle, Prince George, Virginia, 6', 190 pounds * Dick Pitzer, end, Connellsville, Pennsylvania, 6'1", 195 pounds * Barney Poole (College Football Hall of Fame), end, Gloster, Mississippi *

(College Football Hall of Fame), quarterback, Miami, Florida, 5'9", 175 pounds

Coaches

Earl Blaik Earl Henry "Red" Blaik (February 15, 1897 – May 6, 1989) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at ...

(College Football Hall of Fame), head coach *

Paul Amen Paul Johannes Amen (July 6, 1916 – June 4, 2005) was a prominent Nebraskan with notable accomplishments in both athletics and banking. He served as the head football coach at Wake Forest University from 1956 to 1959, compiling a record of 11� ...

, assistant coach *

Andy Gustafson Andrew Gustafson (April 3, 1903 – January 7, 1979) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (VPI ...

(College Football Hall of Fame), backfield coach *

Herman Hickman Herman Michael Hickman (October 1, 1911 – April 25, 1958) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Tennessee and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Brooklyn Dodgers. ...

(College Football Hall of Fame), line coach *

Stu Holcomb Stuart K. Holcomb (September 11, 1910 – January 11, 1977) was an American football and basketball coach best known for serving as head football coach for Miami University (1942–1943) and Purdue University (1947–1955). Before coaching, Holcomb ...

, assistant coach * Harvey Jablonsky (College Football Hall of Fame), assistant coach *

Bill Bevan William Arnold Bevan, Sr. (March 26, 1913 – August 26, 1975) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Minnesota and was a consensus selection at the guard position on the 1934 College Football ...

, trainer

Awards and honors

* Doc Blanchard,

James E. Sullivan Award The AAU James E. Sullivan Award, presented by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), is awarded annually in April to "the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States". Representatives from the AAU created the AAU Sullivan Award with the int ...

References

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Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Army Black Knights football seasons College football national champions Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy seasons College football undefeated seasons Army Cadets football