The 1946 Ohio State Buckeyes 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

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in the 1946 Big Ten Conference football season. In

Paul Bixler Paul O. Bixler (January 25, 1907 – November 18, 1985) was an American football player, coach, and administrator and basketball coach. He served as the head football coach at Ohio State University for one season in 1946 and at Colgate Universit ...

's only season as head coach, the Buckeyes compiled a 4–3–2 record (2–3–1 against conference opponents) and were outscored by a total of 170 to 166. The Buckeyes were ranked No. 12 in the

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 ...

on November 4, 1946, but lost the final two games of their season against No. 9

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and No. 8

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Right guard Warren Amling, a veterinary student, was elected as team captain.

Schedule

Awards and honors

Tackle Warren Amling was a consensus first-team pick on the 1946 All-America college football team. Three Ohio State players received honors from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

(AP) or

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...

(UP) on the

1946 All-Big Nine Conference football team The 1946 All-Big Nine Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Ten Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) for the 1946 Big Nine Conference football season. The top ...

: end

Cecil Souders Cecil Belvedire "Cy" Souders (January 3, 1921 – August 30, 2021) was an American football player. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) with the Detroit Lions. Until his death on August 30, 2021, he was reputedly the ...

(AP-1, UP-1); Amling (AP-1, UP-2); and fullback Joe Whisler (UP-1). Souders was also selected by his teammates as the team's most valuable player.

Statistics

On offense, the Buckeyes averaged 94.2 passing yards and 199.4 rushing yards. On defense, they allowed an average of 106.6 passing yards and 176.9 rushing yards. The team's statistical leaders included quarterback George Spencer with 398 passing yards, fullback Joseph Whisler with 544 rushing yards, and Bob Brugge with 193 receiving yards.

Personnel

Players

* Warren Amling, tackle * Dave Bonnie * Bob Brugge * Michael Cannavino * Jameson Crane * Traian Dendiu * William Doolittle * Charles Gandee * Tommy James * Carlton Kessler * Jerry Krall * Richard Palmer * Ernest Parks * Pete Perini * Thomas Phillips * Richard Slager *

, end * George Spencer, quarterback * Rodney Swinehart * Alex Verdova * Joe Whisler, fullback * Russell Wolfe

Coaching staff

, head coach, first year * Sam T. Selby, assistant

NFL Draft

The 1947 NFL Draft was held on December 16, 1946. The following Buckeyes were selected.

References

{{Ohio State Buckeyes football navbox

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

Ohio State Buckeyes football seasons

Ohio State Buckeyes football The Ohio State Buckeyes football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing Ohio State University in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State has played their home games at Ohio Stadium in ...