1943 college football season explained

Year:1943
Preseason Ap:Notre Dame[1]
Number Of Bowls:5
Champion:Notre Dame (AP)
Heisman:Angelo Bertelli, (quarterback, Notre Dame)

The 1943 college football season was the 75th season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Played during World War II, the competition included schools from the Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Six Conference, the Southwestern Conference, and numerous smaller conferences and independent programs.

The teams ranked highest in the final Associated Press poll in December 1943:

  1. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish compiled a 9–1 and were ranked No. 1 in the final AP Poll. They lost their final game of the season against No. 6 Great Lakes Navy. The Fighting Irish defeated two No. 2 ranked teams (Michigan and Iowa Pre-Flight) and two No. 3 ranked teams (Navy and Army).
  2. The Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks, led by head coach Don Faurot, compiled a 9–1 record, outscored opponents by a total of 277 to 98, and led the nation with 324.4 rushing yards per game. They ranked highest among the service teams.
  3. The Michigan Wolverines, led by head coach Fritz Crisler, compiled an 8–1 record and tied for the Big Ten championship. They outscored opponents by a total of 302 to 73. Their only loss was to No. 1 Notre Dame. The Wolverines led the Big Ten (and ranked fifth nationally) with an average of 363.2 yards per game of total offense. They also led the Big Ten (and ranked 10th nationally) by giving up 164.1 yards per game in total defense. Bill Daley rushed for 817 yards and led the nation with an average of 6.81 yards per carry.
  4. The Navy Midshipmen compiled an 8–1 record and outscored opponents by a total of 236 to 88. They ranked eighth nationally in total defense, giving up only 161.2 yards per game.
  5. The Purdue Boilermakers compiled a 9–0 record, tying with Michigan for the Big Ten championship and outscoring opponents by a total of 214 to 55. Guard Alex Agase was a consensus All-American. Fullback Tony Butkovich (who was later killed at the Battle of Okinawa in 1945) led the Big Ten and ranked third nationally with 833 rushing yards.

Quarterback Angelo Bertelli of Notre Dame won the Heisman Trophy, and halfback Bob O'Dell of Penn won the Maxwell Award. The statistical leaders for 1943 included Robert Hoernschemeyer of Indiana with 1,648 yards of total offense, Creighton Miller of Notre Dame with 911 rushing yards, Paul Rickards of Pittsburgh with 997 passing yards, Marion Flanagan of Texas A&M with 403 receiving yards, and Steve Van Buren of LSU with 98 points scored.

A number of universities suspended their football programs for the 1943 season, including Alabama, Auburn, Boston College, Duquesne, Florida, Fordham, Harvard, Kentucky, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Oregon State, Stanford, Syracuse, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Washington State, and William & Mary.

Conference and program changes

School 1942 Conference 1943 Conference
Dropped Program
Independent Dropped Program
Independent

September

September 17 Georgia beat Presbyterian College 25–7. The next day, September 18, Michigan won at Camp Grant, 26–0. Wisconsin lost to Marquette, 33–7, on its way to a 1–9–0 finish.

September 25 Ohio State lost to Iowa Pre-Flight 28–13. Michigan beat Western Michigan 57–6. Notre Dame won at Pitt, 42–0. Army beat Villanova 27–0, and Navy beat North Carolina Pre-Flight, 31–0. Georgia lost at LSU, 34–27. Tulsa beat SMU 20–7. Georgia Tech beat North Carolina 20–7.

October

October 2 Michigan won at Northwestern 21–7. Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech 55–13. Army defeated Colgate 42–0, and Navy beat Cornell 46–7. The first AP Poll of the season led off with No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Army, No. 4 Navy, and No. 5 Duke.

October 9 No. 1 Notre Dame beat No. 2 Michigan 35–21 in the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in the seven-year history of the AP Poll. No. 3 Army registered another shutout, defeating Temple 51–0. In Baltimore, No. 4 Navy edged No. 5 Duke, 14–13. No. 6 Penn edged No. 14 Dartmouth 7–6. No. 7 Purdue went to 4–0–0 with a 19–0 win over Camp Grant. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Army, No. 3 Navy, No. 4 Penn, and No. 5 Purdue.

October 16 No. 1 Notre Dame won at Wisconsin 50–0. No. 2 Army won at Columbia, 52–0. In four games, the Cadets had outscored their opponents 172–0. No. 3 Navy beat Penn State 14–6. No. 4 Penn beat the Lakehurst Naval Air Station 74–6. No. 5 Purdue beat Ohio State 30–7 at a game in Cleveland. Penn and Purdue swapped spots in the next AP Poll, but Notre Dame, Army, and Navy remained the top three.

October 23 No. 1 Notre Dame beat Illinois 47–0. No. 2 Army yielded its first points, but won at Yale, 39–7. No. 3 Navy beat Georgia Tech 28–14 in Baltimore. No. 4 Purdue beat Iowa 28–7. No. 5 Penn won at Columbia, 33–0, but dropped from the Top Five. No. 7 USC stayed unbeaten, untied, and unscored upon with a 6–0 win over No. 6 Pacific, and the next poll raised the Trojans to No. 5 behind Notre Dame, Army, Navy, and Purdue.

October 30 In Cleveland, No. 1 Notre Dame beat No. 3 Navy, 33–6. In Philadelphia, No. 2 Army and No. 6 Pennsylvania played to a 13–13 tie. No. 4 Purdue won at Wisconsin, 32–0. No. 5 USC beat California, 13–0, for its sixth straight shutout. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Army, No. 4 USC, and No. 5 Penn.

November

November 6 At Yankee Stadium in New York, No. 1 Notre Dame beat No. 3 Army, 26–0. No. 2 Purdue won at Minnesota, 14–7. No. 4 USC lost at San Diego to the San Diego Navy team. No. 5 Penn lost to No. 7 Navy, 24–7. No. 6 Michigan beat Indiana 23–6. No. 8 Iowa Pre-Flight continued its unbeaten streak with a 46–19 win at Marquette on November 7, and became the first “service team” to ever reach the AP's Top Five, ranking No. 5 behind Notre Dame, Purdue, Navy, and Michigan.

November 13 No. 1 Notre Dame won at Northwestern 25–6. No. 2 Purdue was idle. No. 3 Navy won at Columbia 61–0. No. 4 Michigan beat Wisconsin 27–0. No. 5 Iowa Pre-Flight beat Camp Grant 28–13. The AP voters elevated Iowa Pre-Flight to No. 2 in the next poll, just in time for a showdown with No. 1 Notre Dame. No. 3 Purdue, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Navy rounded out the Top Five.

November 20 No. 1 Notre Dame edged No. 2 Iowa Pre-Flight, 14–13. No. 3 Purdue closed its season undefeated (9–0–0) with a 7–0 win at Indiana. No. 4 Michigan closed its season at 8–1–0 with a 45–7 win over Ohio State. No. 5 Navy was idle. No. 6 Duke closed its season at 8–1–0 with a 27–6 win over North Carolina and was raised to No. 5 in the next AP Poll behind Notre Dame, Iowa Pre-Flight, Michigan, and Purdue. November 27 No. 1 Notre Dame closed its season with a 19–14 loss to Great Lakes NTC, 19–14, but still finished No. 1 in the final rankings. Iowa Pre-Flight, which had stayed at No. 2 after its close loss to Notre Dame, beat Minnesota, 32–0, to finish at 9–1–0. No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Purdue, and No. 5 Duke had finished their seasons. No. 6 Navy closed its season with a 13–0 win over No. 7 Army in the Army–Navy Game, which took place at West Point. The Midshipmen rose to No. 4 in the final poll, behind Notre Dame, Iowa Pre-Flight, and Michigan. Purdue moved down to No. 5, Great Lakes NTC entered the poll at No. 6 after their upset of Notre Dame, and Duke slipped to No. 7.

Conference standings

For this article, major conferences defined as those including multiple state flagship public universities or a team ranked in the AP Poll.

Minor conferences

ConferenceChampion(s)Record
Border Intercollegiate Athletic AssociationNo champion
California Collegiate Athletic AssociationNo champion
Central Intercollegiate Athletics AssociationMorgan State College5–1–1
Central Intercollegiate Athletic ConferenceNo champion
Far Western ConferenceNo champion
Indiana Intercollegiate ConferenceDePauw
Earlham
2–0
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic ConferenceNo champion
Kansas Collegiate Athletic ConferenceNo champion
Lone Star ConferenceNo champion
Midwest Collegiate Athletic ConferenceNo champion
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic ConferenceNo champion
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic AssociationNo champion
Nebraska College Athletic ConferenceNo champion
New Mexico Intercollegiate ConferenceNo champion
North Central Intercollegiate Athletic ConferenceNo champion
North Dakota College Athletic ConferenceNo champion
Ohio Athletic ConferenceNo champion
Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic ConferenceNo champion
Pacific Northwest ConferenceNo champion
Pennsylvania State Athletic ConferenceNo champion
Rocky Mountain Athletic ConferenceNo champion
South Dakota Intercollegiate ConferenceNo champion
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic ConferenceNo champion
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic ConferenceTuskegee5–1–1
Southwestern Athletic ConferenceNo champion
State Teacher's College Conference of MinnesotaNo champion
Texas Collegiate Athletic ConferenceNo champion
Washington Intercollegiate ConferenceNo champion
Wisconsin State Teachers College ConferenceNo champion

Minor conference standings

Rankings

See main article: 1943 NCAA football rankings.

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

Player School Position Total
Angelo Bertelli Notre Dame QB 648
HB 177
HB 140
Notre Dame HB 134
HB 85
Hal Hamburg HB 73
FB 71
FB 65
Notre Dame OT 52

Bowl games

Bowl gameWinning teamLosing team
Rose BowlUSC29No. 12 Washington0
Sugar BowlNo. 13 Georgia Tech20No. 15 Tulsa18
Orange BowlLSU19Texas A&M14
Cotton Bowl ClassicNo. 14 Texas7Randolph Field7
Sun BowlSouthwestern (TX)7New Mexico0

Statistical leaders

Team leaders

Total offense

RankTeamGames playedTotal playsYards gainedYards per game
1 10 734 4180 418.0
2 10 583 3929 392.9
3 4 250 1499 374.8
4 9 566 3299 366.6
5 9 582 3269 363.2
6 10 639 3545 354.5
7 8 498 2814 351.8
8 7 425 2379 339.9
9 9* 593 2969 329.9
10 8 587 2628 323.5
[2]

(*) One game not reported

Total defense

RankTeamGames playedTotal playsYards gainedYards per game
1 9 405 1095 121.7
2 7 383 881 125.9
3 9 439 1176 130.7
4 9 488 1178 130.9
5 8 371 1104 138.0
6 8 357 1110 138.8
7 10 521 1525 152.5
8 9 499 1451 161.2
9 8 413 1299 162.4
10 8* 460 1313 164.1
[2]

(*) One game not reported

Rushing offense

RankTeamGames RushesYards gainedYards per game
1 Iowa Pre-Flight 10 481 3244 324.4
2 Notre Dame 10 625 3137 313.7
3 Duke 9 487 2660 295.6
4 9 508 2648 294.2
5 Washington 1170 292.5
6 Army 2568 256.8
7 Texas 2016 252.0
8 2202 244.7
9 2165 240.6
10 Holy Cross 1876 234.5
[3]

Scoring

1. Duke - 37.2 points per game
2. Notre Dame - 34.0 points per game
3. Tulsa - 33.6 points per game
4. Michigan - 33.6 points per game
5. Del Monte Pre-Flight - 31.5 points per game
6. Texas - 30.8 points per game
7. Army - 29.9 points per game
8. March Field - 29.2 points per game
9. Colorado College - 28.4 points per game
10. Richmond - 27.9 points per game
11. Iowa Pre-Flight - 27.7 points per game
12. Penn - 27.6 points per game

Individual leaders

Total offense

RankPlayerTeamGamesPlaysTotal Yds
1 Indiana 10 355 1648
2 Georgia Tech 10 269 1440
3 Johnny Cook Georgia 10 307 1368
4 Holy Cross 8 252 1226
5 James Hallmark Texas A&M 9 265 1080
6 Jim LucasTCU 8 258 1031
7 Army 10 144 1028
8 LSU 8 186 1007
9 Derald LebowOklahoma 9 192 951
10 Bill Maceyko Cornell-Sampson 10 181 930
[4]

Rushing

RankPlayerTeamGamesRushesNet YdsAvg Gain
per Play
1 Notre Dame 10 151 911 6.03
2 LSU 8 150 847 5.65
3 Purdue 9 142 833 5.87
4 Michigan 9 120 817 6.81
5 Holy Cross 8 161 784 4.87
6 Eddie Bray Illinois 10 117 738 6.31
7 Notre Dame 10 137 704 5.14
8 Ernie Parks Ohio State 9 161 693 4.30
9 Ohio State 9 150 677 4.51
10 Joe Kane Penn 9 104 671 6.45
[4]

Passing

RankPlayerTeamGamesAtt.Compl.Int.Pct. Compl.Yds.
1 Pittsburgh 9 178 84 20 .472 997
2 Notre Dame 10 153 68 12 .444 989
3 Cashion Texas A&M 11 113 59 12 .522 852
4 UCLA 10 136 55 19 .404 901
5 Cornell 9 121 53 13 .438 648
[5]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: October 4, 1943 AP Football Poll . November 7, 2021 . CollegePollArchive.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20170327080933/http://collegepollarchive.com/football/ap/seasons.cfm?appollid=56 . March 27, 2017 . live .
  2. Book: The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1944. A.S. Barnes and Company. W.J. Bingham. 1944. 69.
  3. Book: The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1944. A.S. Barnes and Company. W.J. Bingham. 1944. 70.
  4. Book: The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1944. A.S. Barnes and Company. W.J. Bingham. 1944. 72 .
  5. Book: The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1944. A.S. Barnes and Company. W.J. Bingham. 1944. 73 .