The 1946 Georgia Bulldogs 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 wi ...

team that represented the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) during the

1946 college football season The 1946 college football season was the 78th 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 Co ...

. In their eighth year under head coach

Wally Butts James Wallace Butts Jr. (February 7, 1905 – December 17, 1973) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the University of Georgia from 1939 to 1960, compiling a record of 140– ...

, the Bulldogs compiled a perfect 11–0 record, outscored opponents by a total of 392 to 110, and tied for the SEC championship. The Bullldogs ranked second nationally in total offense with an average of 394.6 yards per game. They also ranked second nationally in passing offense with an average of 173.7 passing yards per game. The team played its home games at Sanford Stadium in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

Claim to national championship

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 broad ...

released in early December, Georgia was ranked No. 3 with 1,294 points, behind No. 1 Notre Dame with 1,730-1/2 points and No. 2 Army with 1,659-1/2 points. After the final AP Poll was issued, the Bulldogs defeated No. 9

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, 20–10, in the 1947 Sugar Bowl. Neither Army nor Notre Dame played in a bowl game, and Georgia was the only one of the top three teams with an unblemished record. In later analyses, Georgia was recognized as the 1946 national champion under the

Williamson System The Williamson System was a mathematical system used to rank college football teams. The system was created by Paul B. Williamson, a geologist and member of the Sugar Bowl committee. The NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCA ...

Key players and awards

At the end of the season, Georgia halfback

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 ...

won the

Maxwell Award The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best al ...

as the best player in college football. He was also selected as the SEC Player of the Year, finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy, and was a consensus first-team selection on the 1946 All-America college football team. Trippi ranked fourth nationally in total offense with 1,366 yards and eighth nationally in rushing with 744 yards. Guard Herbert St. John was selected by the

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) and

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. ne ...

(AP) as a first-team player on the

1946 All-SEC football team The 1946 All-SEC football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) chosen by various selectors for the 1946 college football season. Georgia and Tennessee shared the conference title. All-SEC sele ...

. Quarterback

John Rauch John Rauch (August 20, 1927 – June 10, 2008), also known by his nickname Johnny Rauch, was an American football player and coach. He was head coach of the Oakland Raiders in the team's loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II in early 1 ...

received third-team All-SEC honors from the UP. Trippi and Rauch were both inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Schedule

1947 NFL Draft

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

References

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Georgia Bulldogs football seasons College football national champions Southeastern Conference football champion seasons Sugar Bowl champion seasons College football undefeated seasons

Georgia Bulldogs football The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Div ...

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