1952 College Football Season
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The 1952 college football season ended with the unbeaten
Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...
(9–0) and
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Ramblin' Wrec ...
(12–0) each claiming a
national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...
from different polls. Michigan State finished first according to two of the "wire service" ( AP and UP) polls, which both placed Georgia Tech second. Georgia Tech was first in the (Hearst chain) International News Service poll. UP and INS merged in 1958 to form UPI. Although the Spartans became members of the
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
in 1950, full participation did not come until 1953, and under the terms of their entry into the conference, they were not allowed to participate in postseason play. Georgia Tech won the
Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...
on New Year's Day in New Orleans.


Conference and program changes


Conference changes

*One conference changed its name this year: **The
Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) is a college athletic conference that competes in the NCAA's Division III. In women's gymnastics, it competes alongside Division I and II members, as the NCAA sponsors a single championsh ...
, an active NCAA Division III conference currently known as the
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) is a college athletic conference that competes in the NCAA's Division III. In women's gymnastics, it competes alongside Division I and II members, as the NCAA sponsors a single champions ...
(WIAC), changed its name to the Wisconsin State College Conference


Membership changes


September

September 20 Maryland won at Missouri 13–10, and Texas won at LSU 35–14. In the preseason poll released on September 22, 1952, the
Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...
were rated first, followed by the
Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...
. Maryland actually had more first place votes 79 to 77, but MSU had an edge on points, 1720–1696. The remainder of the Top Five was No. 3 Georgia Tech (which beat The Citadel 54–6), No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 5 Illinois. Defending champion
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
was 6th. As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games. On September 27 No. 1 Michigan State won at Michigan, 27–13. No. 2 Maryland beat Auburn 13–7 in Birmingham. No. 3 Georgia Tech narrowly beat Florida 17–14 and fell to 6th place in the next poll. No. 4 Oklahoma visited Colorado and was tied, 21–21. No. 5 Illinois, which beat Iowa State 33–7, rose to second place in the next poll. No. 8 California, which was 2–0–0 after a 28–14 win over Missouri, and No. 11 Texas (which had won at North Carolina 28–7), moved into the top five. The poll: No. 1 Michigan State, No. 2 Illinois, No. 3 Maryland, No. 4 California, and No. 5 Texas.


October

October 4 No. 1 Michigan State narrowly defeated Oregon State 17–14 at Portland. No. 2 Illinois lost at No. 8 Wisconsin, 20–6, and would end up finishing 1952 with a losing (4–5–0) record. No. 3 Maryland beat Clemson 28–0. No. 4 California won at Minnesota, 49–13. No. 5 Texas lost 14-3 to No. 19 Notre Dame. No. 6 Georgia Tech, which beat SMU 20–7 in Dallas, returned to the Top Five. The next poll featured No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 2 Michigan State, No. 3 California, No. 4 Maryland, and No. 5 Georgia Tech. October 11 The new No. 1, Wisconsin, lost at Columbus to unranked Ohio State, 23–14. No. 2 Michigan State beat visiting Texas A&M 48–6. No. 3 California beat Oregon at Portland, 41–7. No. 4 Maryland won at Georgia, 37–0. No. 5 Georgia Tech beat Tulane 14–0. No. 6 Duke, which won at South Carolina 33–7, was fifth in the next poll: No. 1 Michigan State, No. 2 Maryland, No. 3 California, No. 4 Georgia Tech, and No. 5 Duke. October 18 No. 1 Michigan State beat visiting Syracuse 48–7. No. 2 Maryland beat No. 20 Navy 38–7. No. 3 California beat Santa Clara 27–7. No. 4 Georgia Tech beat Auburn 33–0. No. 5 Duke won at N.C. State, 57–0, but was still bounced out of the top five. No. 6 Oklahoma, which had won at No. 8 Kansas 42–20, was third in the next poll: No. 1 Michigan State, No. 2 Maryland, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 California, and No. 5 Georgia Tech. October 25 No. 1 Michigan State beat No. 17 Penn State 34–7. No. 2 Maryland beat LSU 34–6. No. 3 Oklahoma beat Kansas State 49–6. In Los Angeles, a matchup of unbeaten teams pitted No. 4 California (5–0–0) against the 5–0–0 and No. 7 USC Trojans. USC won 10–0. Cal would lose this and the next two games after its perfect start. No. 5 Georgia Tech beat Vanderbilt 30–0. The next poll: No. 1 Michigan State, No. 2 Maryland, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Georgia Tech, and No. 5 USC.


November

November 1 No. 1 Michigan State narrowly won at No. 8 Purdue, 14–7. No. 2 Maryland won at Boston University, 34–7. No. 3 Oklahoma won at Iowa State 41–0. No. 4 Georgia Tech (6–0–0) faced unbeaten No. 6 Duke (also 6–0–0) and won 28–7. No. 5 USC was idle, and its place was taken by No. 7 UCLA, which handed No. 11 California a 28–7 defeat. The next poll: No. 1 Michigan State, No. 2 Maryland, No. 3 Georgia Tech, No. 4 Oklahoma, and No. 5 UCLA. November 8 No. 1 Michigan State won at Indiana 41–14. No. 2 Maryland was idle. No. 3 Georgia Tech beat Army 45–6. No. 4 Oklahoma lost at No. 10 Notre Dame, 27–21, and dropped back out of the Top Five. No. 5 UCLA beat visiting Oregon State 57–0. No. 6 USC rose to fifth after a 54–7 win at Stanford. The next poll: No. 1. Michigan State, No. 2 Georgia Tech, No. 3 Maryland, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 USC. November 15 Unbeaten No. 1 Michigan State hosted once-beaten (5–1–1) No. 6 Notre Dame and won 21–3. In Atlanta, unbeaten (8–0–0) No. 2 Georgia Tech faced once-beaten (7–1–0) No. 12 Alabama and won, 7–3. And on the road, unbeaten (7–0–0) No. 3 Maryland lost at unbeaten (6–0–2) No. 11 Mississippi, 21–14. No. 4 UCLA was idle. No. 5 USC beat No. 17 Washington 33–0. No. 8 Oklahoma, which had beaten Missouri 47–7, returned to the Top Five. The next poll: No. 1 Michigan State, No. 2 Georgia Tech, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 USC, and No. 5 Oklahoma. November 22 No. 1 Michigan State won 62–13 over Marquette to close its season unbeaten. No. 2 Georgia Tech also stayed unbeaten as it beat Florida State 30–0. No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 USC (both 8–0–0) met in Los Angeles, with USC winning 14–12 to take the crown of the Pacific Coast Conference and a trip to the Rose Bowl. No. 5 Oklahoma beat Nebraska 34–13. The new poll: No. 1 Michigan State, No. 2 USC, No. 3 Georgia Tech, No. 4 Oklahoma, and No. 5 UCLA. November 29 No. 1 Michigan State had closed its season. No. 2 USC hosted No. 7 Notre Dame and lost 9–0. No. 3 Georgia Tech finished its season unbeaten (11–0–0) with a 23–9 win over Georgia. The Yellow Jackets were invited to the
Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...
to face unbeaten, but twice tied (8–0–2) and No. 6 Mississippi, a conference rival whom they had not faced during the regular season. No. 4 Oklahoma closed its season at Oklahoma A&M, winning 54–7 to finish 8–1–1. In the final AP poll, released December 1, No. 1 Michigan State was the champion, followed by No. 2 Georgia Tech, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Oklahoma, and No. 5 USC.


Conference standings


Major conference standings


Independents


Minor conferences


Minor conference standings


Rankings


Bowl games

As late as 1952, many colleges, and some football conferences, did not participate in postseason bowl games. No. 1 Michigan State had joined the
Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
conference in 1950 for football, but as part of the terms of membership, was ineligible to play in a bowl game until the 1953 season. No. 3 Notre Dame had a policy against playing in postseason games. No. 4 Oklahoma was a member of the Big 7 conference (which later, as the Big 8 and Big 12, would send its best team to the Orange Bowl), and that conference banned post-season games. The Oklahoma University Board of Regents considered a motion to allow the team to accept an invitation from the Orange Bowl, and passed a resolution that stated that "Oklahoma belongs to the Big Seven Conference and has followed its rules in the past and should follow them in the future."."Oklahoma U. Regents Turn Down Bowl Offer," ''Albuquerque Journal'', Nov. 21, 1952, p14 Thus, three of the nation's four "top teams" did not play in a bowl game. The exception was Georgia Tech, which played as the SEC champ in the Sugar Bowl. In a forerunner of the SEC championship game, the two best teams in the conference met, with No. 7 Ole Miss accepting the invitation to play against Tech.


Heisman Trophy

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Billy Vessels Billy Dale Vessels (March 22, 1931 – November 17, 2001) was a gridiron football player. He played college football at the University of Oklahoma and won the Heisman Trophy in 1952. Vessels went on to play professional football with the Nati ...
, RB -
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, 525 points #
Jack Scarbath John Carl Scarbath (August 12, 1930December 6, 2020) was a professional American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fam ...
, QB -
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, 367 #
Paul Giel Paul Robert Giel (February 29, 1932 – May 22, 2002) was an American college football and professional baseball player from Winona, Minnesota. He was an All-American in both sports at the University of Minnesota. Collegiate career Giel att ...
, RB -
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, 329 #
Donn Moomaw Donn Moomaw (born October 15, 1931) is an American retired professional football player and Presbyterian minister. Moomaw played college football for the UCLA Bruins as the center and linebacker for the team. He was elected to the College F ...
, C -
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, 257 #
Johnny Lattner John Joseph Lattner (October 24, 1932 – February 12, 2016) was an American football player. While playing college football for the University of Notre Dame, he won the Heisman Trophy in 1953. He also won the Maxwell Award twice, in 1952 and ...
, RB - Notre Dame, 253 #
Paul Cameron Paul Drummond Cameron (born November 9, 1939) is an American psychologist. Cameron has been designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-gay extremist. While employed at various institutions, including the University of Nebraska–Li ...
, RB - UCLA, 218 #
Jim Sears James Herbert "Jimmy" Sears (March 20, 1931January 4, 2002) was a professional American football defensive back/ halfback in the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). High school career Sears prepped at Inglewoo ...
, RB - USC, 173 # Don McAuliffe, RB -
Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...
, 164 #
Don Heinrich Donald Alan Heinrich (September 19, 1930 – February 29, 1992) was an American football player, coach, and announcer. He played professionally as a quarterback in National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, and in ...
, QB -
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, 153 #
Tom Catlin Thomas Allen Catlin (September 8, 1931 – June 7, 2008) was an American football player and coach. He spent a total of 37 years in the National Football League, including stints as defensive coordinator with the Buffalo Bills (1978–1982) and ...
, C -
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, 150 # Leon Hardeman, RB -
Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
, 140 #
Eddie Crowder Eddie Crowder (August 26, 1931 – September 9, 2008) was an American football player and coach. He was an All-American quarterback (QB) and safety at the University of Oklahoma (OU) in the early 1950s and a successful head coach and athletic d ...
, QB - Oklahoma, 97 :


See also

* 1952 College Football All-America Team


References

{{NCAA football season navbox