1947 college football season
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The 1947 college football season finished with Notre Dame,
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 the ...
, and
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...
all unbeaten and untied, but the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame were the first place choice for 107 of the 142 voters 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 ...
in early December, and repeated as
national champions National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but als ...
. Michigan was selected for the top spot by six contemporary math systems. Second-ranked Michigan met #8 USC in the Rose Bowl and won 49–0, while fourth-ranked Penn State was tied 13–13 by #3 SMU in the Cotton Bowl; Notre Dame didn't participate in the postseason for over four decades (until the 1969 season). An unofficial post-bowl AP poll was conducted with Michigan and Notre Dame as the only options, and Michigan won by a vote of 226 to 119. During the 20th century, the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
had no playoff for the
college 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 ...
teams that would later be described as "Division I-A". The NCAA did recognize a national champion based upon the final results of the Associated Press poll of sportswriters (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 ...
Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...
started in 1950). The extent of that recognition came in the form of acknowledgment in the annual ''NCAA Football Guide'' of the "unofficial" national champions.appollarchive.com/football/ap


Conference and program changes


Conference changes

*Two conferences began play in 1947: **
Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...
– an active NCAA Division I FBS conference; formed by five members from
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 s ...
,
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 the ...
, and
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. **''
Yankee Conference The Yankee Conference was a collegiate sports conference in the eastern United States. From 1947 to 1976, it sponsored competition in many sports, but was a football-only league from mid-1976 until its dissolution in 1996. It is essentially the an ...
'' – an NCAA Division I–AA conference active through the 1997 season and one of the predecessors to the modern
Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...
; formed by six members from around
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, many from the recently disbanded
New England Conference The New England Conference (full name: New England College Conference of Intercollegiate Athletics) was a collegiate sports conference in the Eastern United States, more specifically in New England, that operated from 1923 to 1947. As four of its ...
. *One conference played its final season in 1947: **
Indiana Intercollegiate Conference The Indiana Intercollegiate Conference (IIC) was a college athletic conference in the United States from 1922 to 1950. It consisted of schools in Indiana. The charter members of the conference were Indiana State University, Butler University, DeP ...
– conference active in football since the 1934 season.


Membership changes


September

The Associated Press did not poll the writers until after the games of October 4. Among the five teams that had been ranked highest in 1946 (Notre Dame, Army, Georgia, UCLA and Illinois), Georgia opened on September 20 with a 34–7 win over Southern Mississippi and UCLA hosted Iowa the following Friday and won 22–7. The next day, September 27, Army beat Villanova 13–0, Illinois beat Pittsburgh 14–0, and Georgia beat Tennessee 27–0.


October

On October 4 Notre Dame won at Pittsburgh 40–6. Army shut out visiting Colorado 47–0. Georgia beat Tulane in New Orleans, 20–0. UCLA lost at Northwestern 27–26. Illinois won at Iowa 35–12. When the first poll came out that Monday, Notre Dame was the favorite of a bare majority (52 of 103) of the voters, followed by No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Georgia Tech and No. 5 Army. Illinois was ranked 6th, Penn 7th, California 8th, Georgia 9th, and Vanderbilt 10th. On October 11 No. 1 Notre Dame won at Purdue, 22–7. No. 2 Michigan beat Pittsburgh, 69–0. In Dallas, No. 3 Texas beat No. 15 Oklahoma 34–14. No. 4 Georgia Tech beat VMI, 20–0, for its third shutout in three starts. No. 5 Army and No. 6 Illinois met at Yankee Stadium in New York, and played to a 0–0 tie. In the next poll, Michigan and Notre Dame switched places at No. 1 and No. 2, while Texas stayed at No. 3. California, which won at Wisconsin 48–7, rose from eighth to fourth, with Georgia Tech falling to No. 5. October 18 No. 1 Michigan won at Northwestern, 49–21. No. 2 Notre Dame shut out visiting Nebraska, 31–0. No. 3 Texas met Arkansas at a neutral location in Memphis, Tennessee, and won 21–6. No. 4 California beat Washington State, 21–6. No. 5 Georgia Tech defeated Auburn 27–7 to stay unbeaten, but was voted out of the Top Five. No. 6 Illinois, which beat No. 13 Minnesota 40–13, rose to fifth. October 25 No. 1 Michigan stayed unbeaten, with a 13–6 win over Minnesota, as did No. 2 Notre Dame, which defeated Iowa, 21–0. No. 3 Texas beat Rice, 12–0. No. 4 California lost to No. 10 USC, 39–14. No. 5 Illinois lost at Purdue, 14–7. No. 8 Penn beat Navy, 21–0. The Irish rose to No. 1 in the next poll, with a 78–69 lead in votes over No. 2 Michigan. They were followed by No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Penn, and No. 5 USC.


November

November 1 No. 1 Notre Dame and Navy met in Cleveland, with the Fighting Irish registering their third straight shutout, 27–0. No. 2 Michigan won at No. 11 Illinois, 14–7. In Dallas, No. 3 Texas (6–0–0) faced unbeaten (5–0–0) No. 8 Southern Methodist University, and the SMU Mustangs won 14–13. No. 4 Pennsylvania won at Princeton, 26–7, to stay unbeaten. In Seattle, No. 5 USC beat Washington 19–0. SMU and Texas exchanged places at No. 3 and No. 8, with the other top teams remaining the same. November 8 No. 1 Notre Dame hosted No. 9 Army and won 27–7. No. 2 Michigan beat Indiana 35–0. No. 3 SMU won at Texas A&M, 13–0. No. 4 Pennsylvania beat No. 10 Virginia, 19–7, and moved up to No. 3 with SMU down to fourth. No. 5 USC beat Stanford, 14–0. November 15 No. 1 Notre Dame had more points scored against it than at any other time in the season, but won at unranked Northwestern, 26–19. Meanwhile, No. 2 Michigan faced No. 9 Wisconsin in Madison and won 40–6, raising it back up to first place in the next poll. No. 3 Pennsylvania and No. 13 Army played to a 7–7 tie in Philadelphia. No. 4 SMU stayed unbeaten with a 14–6 win over Arkansas. No. 5 USC was idle. The next poll featured No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 SMU, No. 4 USC, and Penn State (which had just beaten Navy 20-7) at No. 5. November 22 No. 1 Michigan closed its season at 9–0–0 with a 21–0 win over Ohio State, and accepted an invitation to meet No. 4 USC (which beat No. 18 UCLA 6–0) in the Rose Bowl. Meanwhile, No. 3 SMU won 10–0 at Baylor, and No. 5 Penn State won at Pitt, 29–0. Both unbeaten, they accepted invitations to the
Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...
. No. 2 Notre Dame thrashed Tulane, 59–6 and yet again switched places with Michigan in the rankings. The Irish were restored to the top spot by the AP voters, with 97 first place votes to Michigan's 81. November 29 No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Michigan, No. 4 USC, and No. 5 Penn State were idle. No. 3 SMU was tied in a game at TCU, 19–19, and fell to fourth with USC moving up to No. 3. December 6 No. 1 Notre Dame (8–0–0) and No. 3 USC (7–0–1) met in Los Angeles, with the Irish cementing their hold on the No. 1 ranking, 38–7. No. 2 Michigan, No. 4 SMU and No. 5 Penn State had completed their seasons. The final AP poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 SMU, No. 4 Penn State, and No. 5 Texas as the top teams.


Conference standings


Major conference standings


Independents


Minor conferences


Minor conference standings


Rankings


Bowl games


Heisman Trophy

#
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 ...
, QB - Notre Dame, 742 points #
Bob Chappuis Robert Richard Chappuis ( ; February 24, 1923 – June 14, 2012) was an American football player who played halfback and quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines in 1942, 1946, and 1947. His college years were interrupted by servic ...
, QB -
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 the ...
, 555 #
Doak Walker Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player. He played college football as a halfback at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1948. Walker then played professio ...
, RB -
Southern Methodist , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , pro ...
, 196 #
Charlie Conerly Charles Albert Conerly Jr. (September 19, 1921 – February 13, 1996) was an American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants from 1948 through 1961. Conerly was inducted into the College Football Hal ...
, QB -
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
, 186 #
Harry Gilmer Harry Vincent Gilmer Jr. (April 14, 1926 – August 20, 2016) was an American football halfback and quarterback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fam ...
, RB -
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
, 115 #
Bobby Layne Robert Lawrence Layne (December 19, 1926 – December 1, 1986) was an American football quarterback who played for 15 seasons in the National Football League. He played for the Chicago Bears in 1948, the New York Bulldogs in 1949, the Detroit ...
, QB -
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, 74 # Chuck Bednarik, C -
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, 65 # Bill Swiacki, E - Columbia, 61 :


See also

* 1947 College Football All-America Team


References

{{NCAA football season navbox