The 1958 Northeastern State Redmen football team represented

Northeastern State University Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of high ...

as a member of the

Oklahoma Collegiate Conference The Oklahoma Collegiate Conference (OCC), also known as the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference (OCAC), was an College athletics, intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1929 to 1974. The conference's members were located in the st ...

(OCC) during the

1958 NAIA football season The 1958 NAIA football season was the third season of college football sponsored by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The season was played from August to December 1958, culminating in the third annual NAIA Football National C ...

. In their third season under head coach

Harold "Tuffy" Stratton Harold Lavern "Tuffy" Stratton (December 21, 1920 – August 17, 1994) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Southwest Missouri State University—now known as Missouri State University–1955 and at Northeastern ...

, the Redmen compiled a perfect 11–0 record (6–0 against OCC opponents) and won the OCC championship. In the post-season, they defeated in the NAIA playoffs and Arizona State–Flagstaff in the

Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has b ...

to win the NAIA national championship. Guard Claude Billingsley won NAIA All-America honors. He was also named the outstanding lineman of 1958 in the OCC. Halfback Dan Smith led the OCC in scoring and was named the OCC's outstanding back of 1958. Seven Northeastern State players received first-team honors on the 1958 All-Oklahoma Collegiate Conference teams selected by the seven conference coaches: Billingsley; Smith (unanimous choice); quarterback Frankie Phelps (unanimous choice); end Charles Moore; tackle Joe Kiger; center Lynn Burris; and fullback Deloyd Reed. Three others received second-team honors: end Fred Hood; tackle James Barrett; and guard Roger Wickersham. The team played its home games at Gable Field in

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; ''Cherokee'': ᏓᎵᏆ, ''daligwa'' ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century ...

Schedule

References

{{NAIA football national champion navbox Northeastern State Northeastern State RiverHawks football seasons NAIA Football National Champions College football undefeated seasons Northeastern State Redmen football