The 1961 Syracuse Orangemen football team represented

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. The Orangemen were led by 13th-year head coach

Ben Schwartzwalder Floyd Burdette Schwartzwalder (June 2, 1909 – April 28, 1993) was a Hall of Fame football coach at Syracuse University, where he trained future National Football League stars such as Jim Brown, Larry Csonka, Floyd Little and Ernie Davis, t ...

and played their home games at

Archbold Stadium Archbold Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Syracuse, New York. It opened in 1907 and was home to the Syracuse Orangemen football team prior to the opening of the Carrier Dome in 1980. History After organizing athletics events at various ...

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

. Syracuse finished the regular season with a record of 7–3 and ranked 14th 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 ...

Running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Ernie Davis rushed for 823 yards and 12 touchdowns en route to his second straight consensus All-American honors. Davis became the first African-American football player to win 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 ...

, which is awarded to the nation's best college football player each year. Syracuse was invited to the 1961 Liberty Bowl, where they defeated

Miami (FL) Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at the ...

Schedule

1961 team players in the NFL draft

Ernie Davis was the first black player to be chosen first overall in the NFL Draft. Davis was drafted by the Washington Redskins then traded to the Clevand Browns in the first round of the 1962 American Football League draft. However, he never played in the NFL; he was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

shortly before he was to enter the league, and he died in May 1963, less than a year after his diagnosis.

Awards and honors

*Ernie Davis,

References

Syracuse Syracuse Orange football seasons Liberty Bowl champion seasons Syracuse Orangemen football {{collegefootball-1960s-season-stub