The 1944 Second Air Force Superbombers football team represented the

Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...

during the

1944 college football season The 1944 college football season was the 76th season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Competition included schools from the Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Six C ...

. The team, based in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, compiled a 10–4–1 record, outscored opponents by a total of 513 to 76, and was ranked No. 20 in the final AP Poll. The team played many of the other leading service teams, losing to

Randolph Field Randolph Air Force Base was an United States Air Force base located at Universal City, Texas ( east-northeast of Downtown San Antonio). Opened in 1931, Randolph has been a flying training facility for the United States Army Air Corps, the Uni ...

(No. 3 in the final AP Poll), Iowa Pre-Flight (No. 6), and Norman NAS (No. 14), and a

Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in E ...

team led by

Charley Trippi Charles Louis Trippi (December 14, 1921 – October 19, 2022) was an American professional football player for the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) from 1947 to 1955. Although primarily a running back, his versatility al ...

. The Superbombers also played to a tie against

March Field March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Ma ...

(No. 10). Major William B. "Red" Reese, who coached football and basketball at Eastern Washington College before the war, was the team's head coach. Notable players on the 1944 Second Air Force squad included

Glenn Dobbs Glenn Dobbs Jr. (July 12, 1920 – November 12, 2002) was a professional American football player in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). A skilled running back, quarterback, and punter, Dobbs was named the AAFC's MVP in 1946. After sitti ...

, Bill Sewell,

Don Fambrough Donald Preston Fambrough (October 19, 1922 – September 3, 2011) was an American football player and coach. He served two stints as the head football coach at the University of Kansas, from 1971 to 1974 and 1979 to 1982, compiling a record of 3 ...

, Nick Susoeff,

Ray Evans Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter. He was a partner in a composing and song-writing duo with Jay Livingston, known for the songs they composed for films. Evans wrote the lyrics and Living ...

, John Harrington, Johnny Strzykalski, and

Visco Grgich Visco Grgich (January 19, 1923 – December 26, 2005) was a professional American football lineman who played in the All-America Football Conference and the National Football League. He played seven seasons for the San Francisco 49ers ...

. In the final

Litkenhous Ratings The Litkenhous Difference by Score Ratings system was a mathematical system used to rank football and basketball teams. The Litrating system was developed by Vanderbilt University professor Edward E. Litkenhous (1907 – December 22, 1984) and his b ...

, Second Air Force ranked sixth among the nation's college and service teams and second out of 63

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

teams with a rating of 117.9.

Schedule

References

{{World War II service football teams navbox

Second Air Force Superbombers football seasons

Second Air Force Superbombers football The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...