The 1946 college football season was the 78th season of

intercollegiate football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most o ...

in the United States. Competition included schools from 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 ...

, the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including ...

(PCC), 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), the

Big Six Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associati ...

, the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly k ...

, the

Southwestern Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates in ...

, and numerous smaller conferences and independent programs. The season saw the return of many programs which had suspended play during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and also the enrollment of many veterans returning from the war. The teams ranked highest in the final Associated Press poll in December 1946 were: # The

1946 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team The 1946 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1946 college football season. In their fourth year under head coach Frank Leahy, the Irish ...

compiled an 8–0–1 record and was ranked No. 1 in the final AP poll. The Fighting Irish, led by consensus All-Americans

Johnny Lujack John Christopher Lujack (pronounced Lu' jack; born January 4, 1925) is a former American football quarterback and defensive back who won the 1947 Heisman Trophy; he is currently the oldest living recipient of the Heisman Trophy. Lujack played c ...

at quarterback and George Connor at tackle, played a scoreless tie against No. 2 Army in a game billed as the "Game of the Century". Notre Dame also ranked first in the nation in

total offense Total offense (or total offence) is a gridiron football statistic representing the total number of yards rushing and yards passing by a team or player. Total offense differs from yards from scrimmage, which gives credit for passing yardage to the ...

(441.3 yards per game), rushing offense (340.1 yards per game), and total defense (141.7 yards per game). # The

1946 Army Cadets football team The 1946 Army Cadets football team was an American football team that represented the United States Military Academy as an independent during the 1946 college football season. In their sixth season under head coach Earl "Red" Blaik, the Cadets ...

compiled a 9–0–1 and was ranked No. 2 in the final AP poll. Army had won consecutive national championships in 1944 and 1945 and was led by 1946

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 har ...

winner Glenn Davis and 1945 Heisman winner

Doc Blanchard Felix Anthony "Doc" Blanchard (December 11, 1924 – April 19, 2009) was an American football player and serviceman who became the first junior to win the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award, and was the first football player to win the James E. S ...

. # The

1946 Georgia Bulldogs football team The 1946 Georgia Bulldogs football team was an American football team that represented the University of Georgia in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1946 college football season. In their eighth year under head coach Wally Butts, th ...

compiled a perfect 11–0 record, won the

(SEC) championship, was ranked No. 3 in the final AP poll, and defeated No. 9

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

in 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 only ...

. The Bulldogs ranked second nationally in total offense (394.6 yards per game). They were 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 ...

who tallied 1,366 yards of total offense and 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. # The

1946 UCLA Bruins football team The 1946 UCLA Bruins football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1946 college football season. In their second year under head coach Bert LaBrucherie, the Bruins compiled a 1 ...

compiled a 10–0 record in the regular season, won the

(PCC) championship, was ranked No. 4 in the final AP poll, but lost to No. 5

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

in the Rose Bowl. The year's statistical leaders included

Rudy Mobley Rudolph Hamilton Mobley (December 8, 1921 – September 7, 2003), also known as "Little Doc", was an American football halfback. He played college football at Hardin–Simmons University. He twice led the NCAA major colleges in rushing yardage ...

of Hardin–Simmons with 1,262 rushing yards,

Travis Tidwell Travis Vaughn Tidwell (February 5, 1929 – July 1, 2004) was an American football player and coach. Tidwell played high school football for Woodlawn High School. He played college football at Auburn University and then in the National Football ...

of Auburn with 1,715 yards of total offense, Bobby Layne of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

with 1,122 passing yards, and Joe Carter of Florida N&I with 152 points scored.

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

compiled a 10–0 record and was recognized by the AP as the small college national champion. Morgan State (8–0) and

Tennessee A&I Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

(10–1) have been recognized as the black college national champions.

Conference and program changes

Conference establishments

*Three conferences began football play in 1946: ** College Conference of Illinois – an active NCAA Division III conference; now known as the

College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) is a college athletic conference which competes in the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). CCIW schools have accounted for 50 national championships ...

**'' Dakota-Iowa Athletic Conference'' – a conference active through the 1948 season **'' Mason-Dixon Conference'' – an NCAA Division III conference active through the 1974 season

Membership changes

Season timeline

September

Significant games played in September 1946 included the following: September 21 *

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

was upset by

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, 15–6, at home in Bloomington. Indiana had won the Big Ten championship in 1945 with a No. 4 ranking in the final AP Poll. *

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

played its first ever football game, losing by a 13–7 score against Southwestern Louisiana. September 27-28 * Oklahoma A&M, AFCA national champion in 1945, was tied 21–21 by

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

defeated

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, 21–7, at West Point. * Notre Dame won at

, 26–6. Illinois went on to win the Big Nine championship. *

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 ...

defeated Clemson, 35–12, in their annual

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

game. * Indiana lost again, 21–0 at

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

. *

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

defeated

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 ...

, 13–9, in their annual

game. *

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 ...

beat Oregon State, 50–7. UCLA and Oregon State finished the season in first and second place in the

October

October 5 * Army beat Cornell 46–21. * Navy lost at Columbia and dropped the rest of its games, finishing 1–8–0. * Oklahoma A&M lost 54–6 at Texas and would finish at 3–7–1. * Notre Dame beat Pittsburgh 33–0. * Michigan beat Iowa 14–7. * UCLA won at Washington, 39–13. The first

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 br ...

of the 1946 season was issued on October 7 with Texas ranked No. 1, Army No. 2, Notre Dame No. 3, Michigan No. 4 and UCLA No. 5. October 12 * In Dallas, No. 1 Texas beat Oklahoma 20–13. * No. 2 Army and No. 4 Michigan met in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the visiting Cadets won 20–13. * No. 3 Notre Dame beat Purdue 49–6. * No. 5 UCLA beat No. 17 Stanford 26–6. The next poll featured No. 1 Army, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Michigan. October 19 * No. 1 Army beat No. 11 Columbia 48–14. * No. 2 Notre Dame was idle. * No. 3 Texas beat No. 14 Arkansas 20–0. * No. 4 UCLA won at California 13–6. * No. 5 Michigan and No. 10 Northwestern played to a 14–14 tie. * No. 9 Tennessee beat No. 7 Alabama 12–0. Army, Notre Dame, and Texas stayed as the top three, ahead of No. 4 Tennessee and No. 5 UCLA. October 26 * At the Polo Grounds in New York, No. 1 Army beat No. 13 Duke 19–0. * No. 2 Notre Dame won at No. 17 Iowa, 49–6. * In Houston, No. 3 Texas lost to No. 16 Rice, 18–13. * No. 4 Tennessee lost to unranked Wake Forest, 19–6. * No. 5 UCLA beat Santa Clara 33–7. * No. 6 Penn beat Navy 32–19 * No. 7 Georgia won at Furman, 70–7. The next poll was No. 1 Army, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Penn, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Georgia.

November

November 2 * No. 1 Army beat West Virginia, 19–0. * In Baltimore, No. 2 Notre Dame defeated Navy, 28–0. * No. 3 Penn lost to Princeton, 17–14. * No. 5 Georgia beat No. 15 Alabama, 14–0. * No. 4 UCLA beat St. Mary's, 46–20, in a Friday night game. * No. 8 Rice beat Texas Tech 41–6 In the poll that followed No. 1 Army, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Georgia, and No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Rice. November 9 * A crowd of 74,000 turned out at New York's Yankee Stadium to watch No. 1 Army and No. 2 Notre Dame in a meeting of the nation's two unbeaten and untied teams. Both teams missed scoring opportunities. In the opening quarter, Army recovered a fumble on the Irish 24, but was stopped on fourth down at the 13 yard line. The Irish drove to the Army three yard line in the second quarter but no further. Army reached the Irish 20 yard line in the third quarter, but Notre Dame's Terry Brennan picked off a pass from Glenn Davis. In the last quarter, a bad punt was returned by Davis to the Irish 39 yard line, but Notre Dame forced a fumble and stopped any further scoring chances. The game ended in a scoreless tie, 0–0. . * In Jacksonville, No. 3 Georgia beat Florida 33-14. * In Portland, No. 4 UCLA beat Oregon 14–0. * No. 5 Rice lost in Little Rock to Arkansas, 7–0. In the poll that followed, No. 9 Penn moved back up to No. 5 after beating Columbia in New York's "other" football game, 41–6. The top four remained the same. November 16 * In its third meeting against a Top Five team, No. 1 Army beat No. 5 Penn in Philadelphia, 34–7. * No. 2 Notre Dame beat Northwestern, 27–0. * No. 3 Georgia beat Auburn 41–0 in a neutral site in Columbus, Georgia. * No. 4 UCLA beat Montana 61–7. * No. 9 Illinois beat No. 13 Ohio State 16–7 and replaced Penn at No. 5. November 23 * No. 1 Army was idle. * No. 2 Notre Dame beat Tulane in New Orleans, 41–0. * No. 3 Georgia won at Chattanooga, 48–27. * No. 4 UCLA defeated No. 10 USC 13–6. * No. 5 Illinois won at Northwestern, 20–0, to close its season with an 8–1–0 record. * No. 8 Michigan defeated Ohio State, 58–6, in Columbus. The top five remained the same. November 30 * No. 1 Army barely beat a 1–7–0 Navy team, 21–18 * No. 2 Notre Dame beat No. 16 USC 26–6. Army still had a 9-0-1 record and had been ranked No. 1 in 22 of the last 23 AP Polls dating back to 1944, but the results of the final games convinced the voters to move the Irish up to first place in the postseason poll and the Cadets down to second. * No. 3 Georgia defeated No. 7 Georgia Tech 35–7 * No. 4 UCLA beat Nebraska, 18–0, and accepted an invitation to face No. 5 Illinois in the Rose Bowl. With the exception of Notre Dame leapfrogging Army, the rankings of the other top-five teams remained the same.

December

On December 2, the final

was issued with Notre Dame at No. 1, Army at No. 2, Georgia at No. 3, UCLA at No. 4, Illinois at No. 5, Michigan at No. 6, Tennessee at No. 7, LSU at No. 8, North Carolina at No. 9, and Rice at No. 10. Notable post-season games played in December included: * December 7: Tennessee A&I defeated West Virginia State, 27–7, in the Derby Bowl * December 7: Lincoln (PA) defeated Florida A&M, 20-14, in the Orange Blossom Classic * December 7: Southern defeated Xavier of Louisiana, 35-0, in New Orleans * December 7: Allen defeated Fayetteville State, 40-6, in the Piedmont Tobacco Bowl. * December 14: Muhlenberg defeated St. Bonaventure, 26–25, in the Tobacco Bowl * December 21: USC defeated Tulane, 20–13, in New Orleans * December 23: Stanford defeated Hawaii, 18–7, in Honolulu. * December 25: Southern defeated Tuskegee, 64-7, in the Yam Bowl * December 28: Florida A&M and Wiley played to a 6-6 tie in the Angel Bowl.

New Year's Day bowl games

Major bowls

''Wednesday, January 1, 1947'' :No. 1 Notre Dame (8–0–1), No. 2

(9–0–1), and No. 6

(6–2–1) were idle in bowl season.

Other bowls

''Wednesday, January 1, 1947'' :^ * January 1:

defeated Louisville Municipal, 32–0, in the Vulcan Bowl * January 1: Lincoln (MO) defeated

Prairie View A&M Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a public historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two land-grant universities and the second oldest public institution of higher lear ...

, 14–0, in the Prairie View Bowl. * January 1:

Arkansas AM&N The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is a public historically black university in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Founded in 1873, it is the second oldest public college or university in the state of Arkansas. UAPB is part of the University ...

defeated

Lane In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...

, 7-0, in the Cattle Bowl.

Conference standings

Major conference standings

Major independents

Minor conferences

Minor conference standings

Non-major independents

Rankings

Award and honors

Heisman Trophy

# Glenn Davis, RB,

, 792 points #

, RB,

, 435 #

, QB, Notre Dame, 379 #

, RB, Army, 267 # Arnold Tucker, QB, Army, 257 # Herman Wedemeyer, RB, St. Mary's, 101 # Burr Baldwin, E,

, 49 # Bobby Layne, QB,

, 45

All-America Team

Statistical leaders

Team leaders

Total offense

Total defense

Rushing offense

Rushing defense

Passing offense

Passing defense

Individual leaders

Total offense

Rushing

Passing

Receiving

Scoring

The following list of scoring leaders is taken from the NCAA's Official Football Guide for 1947 and includes both major and minor college players. Gene "Choo-Choo" Roberts ranked third overall and first among major college players.

Rules Committee

Earl Krieger Earl Carlton "Irish" Krieger (August 30, 1896 – November 10, 1960) was an American football and basketball player, coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and official in football and basketball. He was the third head football coach at B ...

, secretary *

W. J. Bingham William John Bingham (August 8, 1889 – September 7, 1971) was an American college track and field athlete, coach, athletics administrator. Bingham attended Harvard University and set school records in track in the 440- and 880-yard runs. ...

(Harvard), chairman *

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfiel ...

(Pacific), life member * William Alexander (Georgia Tech), member-at-large *

Tuss McLaughry DeOrmond "Tuss" McLaughry (May 19, 1893 – November 26, 1974) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania (1915–1916, 1918, 1921), Amherst College (192 ...

(Dartmouth), 1st District * Biff Jones (Army), 2nd District *

Wallace Wade William Wallace Wade (June 15, 1892 – October 7, 1986) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Alabama fro ...

(Duke), 3rd District *

Fritz Crisler Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler (; January 12, 1899 – August 19, 1982) was an American college football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and ...

(Michigan), 4th District * Ernest C. Quigley (Kansas), 5th District *

Dana X. Bible Dana Xenophon Bible (October 8, 1891 – January 19, 1980) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Mississippi College (1913–1 ...

(Texas), 6th District * Harry W. Hughes (Colorado A&M), 7th District *

Willis O. Hunter Willis Omenn Hunter (June 8, 1892 – November 8, 1968) was an American college athletics administrator. Hunter was born in 1892 in Mount Pleasant, Utah. He attended Oberlin College in Ohio, where he played college football as a fullback. A ...

(USC), 8th District

References

{{NCAA football season navbox