1945 college football season explained

Year:	1945
Preseason Ap:	Army^[1]
Number Of Bowls:	8
Heisman:	Doc Blanchard, (fullback, Army)

The 1945 college football season was the 77th 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 Conference, the Southern Conference, the Southwest Conference, and numerous smaller conferences and independent programs. The season followed the end of World War II in August 1945, though many college players remained in military service.

Army was the unanimous No. 1 choice by all 116 voters in the final AP poll and was rated as national champion by all nine contemporary title selectors.^[2] The undefeated 1945 Army team was one of the strongest of all time, as during World War II, loose player transfer rules allowed service academies to assemble many of the nation's best players.^[3]

In 2016 a committee of former Baylor coach Grant Teaff, Georgia's Vince Dooley, and Texas A&M's R. C. Slocum awarded Oklahoma A&M an American Football Coaches Association championship title for 1945, upon OSU's application for the recognition.^{[4] [5] [6]}

The year's statistical leaders included halfback Bob Fenimore of Oklahoma A&M with 1,641 yards of total offense and 1,048 rushing yards, quarterback Al Dekdebrun of Cornell with 1,227 passing yards, and end Reid Moseley of Georgia with 662 receiving yards.

Season timeline

September

The Associated Press did not poll the writers until the third week of the season. Among the teams that had been ranked in the top six at the end of 1944, only the two service academies (Army and Navy) as well as Ohio State, were still playing a regular schedule. Among the service teams that had ranked high in 1944, Randolph Field, Bainbridge Naval, and Iowa Pre-Flight no longer played against college teams. Some service teams still remained in place, even after the end of World War II.

On September 15, Michigan beat Great Lakes Navy, 27–2. On September 22, Michigan lost to Indiana, 13–7. Minnesota beat Missouri, 34–0. In a Friday night game in Los Angeles, USC beat UCLA 13–6. September 29 Notre Dame beat Illinois 7–0, Army beat Louisville Field, 32–0, and Navy beat Villanova 49–0. USC won at California, 13–2, and Ohio State won at Missouri 47–6.

October

On October 6, Army beat Wake Forest, 54–0 and Navy beat Duke, 21–0. Ohio State beat Iowa 42–0. Minnesota won at Nebraska 61–7. Notre Dame won at Georgia Tech, 40–7. UCLA beat St. Mary's Pre-Flight, 26–14. The year's first AP Poll was led by No. 1 Army, No. 2 Navy, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 Minnesota.

October 13 At Yankee Stadium in New York, No. 1 Army beat No. 9 Michigan, 28–7. No. 2 Navy stayed unscored upon with a 28–0 win over Penn State. No. 3 Notre Dame beat Dartmouth, 34–0. No. 4 Ohio State beat Wisconsin, 12–0. No. 5 Minnesota beat Fort Warren, 14–0. The top five in the AP Poll remained the same.

October 20 No. 1 Army beat Melville PT Boats 55–13.In Baltimore, No. 2 Navy beat Georgia Tech 20–6. No. 3 Notre Dame won at Pittsburgh, 39–9. No. 4 Ohio State lost to No. 9 Purdue, 35–13. No. 5 Minnesota defeated Northwestern, 30–7. The new top five was No. 1 Army, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Navy, No. 4 Purdue, and No. 5 Minnesota.

October 27 In New York, No. 1 Army beat No. 19 Duke 48–13. No. 2 Notre Dame beat Iowa 56–0. In Philadelphia, No. 3 Navy defeated No. 7 Penn, 14–7. No. 4 Purdue lost to unranked Northwestern, 26–14. No. 5 Minnesota lost to No. 12 Ohio State, 20–7. In Birmingham, No. 6 Alabama beat Georgia 28–14. No. 8 Indiana beat No. 14 Tulsa 7–2, to reach 5–0–1 and the No. 5 ranking behind Army, Notre Dame, Navy, and Alabama.

November

November 3 No. 1 Army beat Villanova, 54–0. No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 3 Navy, both 5–0–0, met in Cleveland, and played to a 6–6 tie. In Louisville, No. 4 Alabama defeated Kentucky, 60–19. No. 5 Indiana beat Cornell College of Iowa, 46–6, but dropped to sixth in the next poll. In Los Angeles, No. 8 St. Mary's beat No. 6 USC 26–0 and moved up to fifth place behind Army, Notre Dame, Alabama, and Navy.

November 10 No. 1 Army (6–0–0) and No. 2 Notre Dame (5–0–1) met for a showdown at Yankee Stadium, and it was no contest, with the Cadets winning 48–0. No. 3 Alabama was idle. In Baltimore, No. 4 Navy beat No. 7 Michigan 33–7. No. 5 St. Mary's beat Fresno State, 32–6. No. 6 Indiana won at No. 20 Minnesota, 49–0. The next poll was No. 1 Army, No. 2 Navy, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Indiana, and No. 5 St. Mary's.

November 17 In Philadelphia, No. 1 Army beat No. 6 Penn, 61–0.No. 2 Navy defeated Wisconsin 36–7 in Baltimore. In Nashville, No. 3 Alabama beat Vanderbilt, 71–0. No. 4 Indiana won at Pittsburgh, 19–0. No. 5 St. Mary's lost to UCLA, 13–7. No. 7 Notre Dame won at Northwestern 34–7 and moved back up to No. 5, with the top four remaining the same.

November 24 No. 1 Army (8–0–0) and No. 2 Navy (7–0–1), both unbeaten, were idle as they prepared for the Army–Navy Game. No. 3 Alabama beat the Pensacola Naval Air Station, 55–6. No. 4 Indiana closed its season at 9–0–1 with a 26–0 win over No. 18 Purdue. In New Orleans, No. 5 Notre Dame beat Tulane, 32–6. The top five remained the same.

December

December 1 In the second No. 1 and No. 2 matchup of the year, No. 1 Army (8–0–0) and No. 2 Navy (7–0–1) met at the Army–Navy Game in Philadelphia, with Army winning 32–13 to close a perfect season and a wire-to-wire No. 1 ranking. No. 3 Alabama defeated Mississippi State 55–13 and moved to No. 2 in the final poll with Navy falling to No. 3. Indiana had finished its season and remained at No. 4. No. 5 Notre Dame lost to the Great Lakes Navy team, 39–7. No. 6 Oklahoma A&M, which had finished the season 9–0–0 and accepted an invitation to the Sugar Bowl, rose to fifth in the final poll.

Bowl games

Bowl game	Winning team		Losing team
Rose Bowl	No. 2 Alabama	34		14
Sugar Bowl	No. 5 Oklahoma A&M	33	No. 7 Saint Mary's	13
Orange Bowl	Miami (FL)	13	No. 16 Holy Cross	6
Cotton Bowl Classic	No. 10 Texas	40	Missouri	27
Sun Bowl	New Mexico	34	Denver	24
Gator Bowl	No. 19 Wake Forest	26	South Carolina	14
Oil Bowl	No. 18 Georgia	20	No. 17 Tulsa	6
Raisin Bowl		13	Fresno State	12
Vulcan Bowl	Tennessee A&I	33	Texas College	6
Coconut bowl	Bethune–Cookman	32	Albany(GA) Teachers	0
Azelea bowl	Knoxville	18	Florida N&I	0
Flower Bowl	Louisiana Normal	19	Lane	6

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

Conference	Champion(s)	Record
California Collegiate Athletic Association	No champion	—
Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association	Virginia State College	7–0–1
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Far Western Conference	No champion	—
Indiana Intercollegiate Conference	Valparaiso	4–0
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	Central (IA)	5–0
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Lone Star Conference	No champion	—
Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	Gustavus Adolphus	4–0
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association	No champion	—
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association	No champion	—
Nebraska College Athletic Conference	Nebraska Wesleyan	2–0
New Mexico Intercollegiate Conference	No champion	—
North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
North Dakota College Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Ohio Athletic Conference	Oberlin	2–0
Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Pacific Northwest Conference	No champion	—
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Colorado College	1–0
South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference	No champion	—
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	Redlands	4–0
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	Florida A&M College	6–0
Southwestern Athletic Conference	Wiley (TX)	6–0
State Teacher's College Conference of Minnesota	No champion	—
Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Washington Intercollegiate Conference	No champion	—
Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference	No champion	—

Minor conference standings

Rankings

See main article: article and 1945 NCAA football rankings.

The teams ranked highest in the final Associated Press poll in December 1945 were:

Rank	Team	Record	Notes
1	Army	9–0	Outscored opponents, 412 to 46. Unanimous No. 1 choice by all 116 voters in the AP poll. Led country in total offense (462.7 yards per game). Fullback Doc Blanchard won 1945 Heisman Trophy. Four consensus All-Americans: Blanchard; halfback Glenn Davis; tackle Tex Coulter; and guard John Green. Part of 32-game undefeated streak covering entire 1944, 1945, and 1946 seasons.
2	Alabama	10–0	SEC champion. Defeated USC in 1946 Rose Bowll. Led nation in total defense (109.9 yards per game) and ranked second in total offense (462.7 yards per game). Harry Gilmer had 905 passing yards. Center Vaughn Mancha was a consensus All-American.
3	Navy	7–1–1	Lost to Army on December 1 in battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2. End Dick Duden was a consensus All-American.
4	Indiana	9–0–1	Big Ten champion. Outscored opponents, 279 to 56. Halfback George Taliaferro was first African-American Big Ten rushing leader. End Bob Ravensberg was a consensus All-American.
5	Oklahoma A&M	9–0	Missouri Valley champion. Defeated Saint Mary's (CA) in 1946 Sugar Bowl. Consensus All-American halfback Bob Fenimore led country in total offense and rushing.
6	Michigan	7–3	All three losses to teams ranked in top four: Army, Navy, and Indiana. Center Harold Watts team MVP.
7	Saint Mary's (CA)	7–2	Led nation in passing offense (161.3 yards per game). Consensus All-American halfback Herman Wedemeyer second nationally with 1,040 passing yards.
8	Penn	6–2	Tackle George Savitsky a consensus All-American. Only losses to No. 1 Army and No. 3 Navy.
9	Notre Dame	7–2–1	Quarterback Frank Dancewicz and guard John Mastrangelo were second-team All-Americans. Losses to No. 1 Army and unranked Great Lakes Navy.
10	Texas	10–1	Southwest Conference champion. Defeated Missouri in 1946 Cotton Bowl Classic.

Awards and honors

Heisman Trophy voting

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

Player	School	Position	Total
Doc Blanchard	Army	FB	860
	Army	HB	638
		HB	187
		HB	152
		HB	132
		QB	56
		G/OT	42
		E/FB	38

^[7]

All-America team

See main article: 1946 College Football All-America Team.

Statistical leaders

Team leaders

Total offense

Rank	Team	Games played	Total plays	Yards gained	Yards per game
1	Army	9	526	4164	462.7
2	Alabama	9	557	3795	421.7
3	Oklahoma A&M	8	496	3363	420.4
4	St. Mary's	8	502	2995	374.4
5	Georgia	9	575	3291	365.7
6	LSU	9	539	3269	363.2
7	Notre Dame	9	626	3180	353.3
8	Maryland	7	427	2433	347.6
9	Indiana	10	619	3254	325.4
10	Yale	9	648	2911	323.4
11	Tennessee	7	424	2260	322.9
12	Colorado College	8	462	2433	304.1
13	Mississippi State	8	542	2422	302.8
14	Tulsa	10	597	3021	302.1
15	Minnesota	9	609	2710	301.1

^[8]

Total defense

Rank	Team	Games played	Total plays	Yards gained	Yards per game
1	Alabama	9	452	989	109.9
2	Temple	8	403	1005	125.6
3	Holy Cross	8	371	1131	141.4
4	Mississippi State	8	365	1191	148.9
5	St. Mary's	8	397	1236	154.5
6	Tulsa	10	491	1550	155.0
7	Yale	9	427	1441	160.1
8	Tennessee	7	368	1142	163.1
9	Indiana	10	536	1641	164.1
10	Army	9	515	1528	169.8
11	Washington	9	497	1535	170.6
12	Texas	10	541	1710	171.0
13	Texas A&M	10	544	1763	176.3
14	Georgia	6	309	1074	179.0
15	Colgate	6	310	1097	182.8

^[8]

Rushing offense

Rank	Team	Games	Rushes	Yards gained	Yards per game
1	Army	9	424	3238	359.8
2	LSU	9	443	2705	300.6
3	Alabama	9	440	2679	297.7
4	Oklahoma A&M	8	383	2293	286.6
5	Notre Dame	9	451	2395	266.1
6	Maryland	7	345	1846	263.7
7	Mississippi State	8	443	2028	253.5
8	Ohio State	9	505	2133	237.0
9	Colorado College	8	366	1882	235.3
10	Indiana	10	484	2331	233.1
11	Tennessee	7	328	1631	233.0
12	Duke	8	375	1806	225.8
13	Missouri	9	476	2018	224.2
14	Temple	8	405	1791	223.9
15	Tulsa	10	449	2236	223.6

^[8]

Rushing defense

Rank	Team	Games	Rushes	Yards gained	Yards per game
1	Alabama	9	320	305	33.9
2	Tennessee	7	231	385	55.0
3	Temple	8	296	520	65.0
4	St. Mary's	8	240	591	73.9
5	Penn State	8	295	634	79.3
6	Yale	9	300	721	80.1
7	Army	9	357	728	80.9
8	Texas	10	353	813	81.3
9	Mississippi State	8	256	670	83.8
10	Tulsa	10	353	850	85.0
11	Colgate	6	215	591	98.5
12	Indiana	10	393	1004	100.4
13	Washington	9	344	908	100.9
14	California	10	406	1023	102.3
15	Detroit	9	342	933	103.7

^[8]

Passing offense

Rank	Team	Games	Att.	Compl.	Int.	Pct. Compl.	Yards	Yds/Game
1	St. Mary's	8	150	74	16	.493	1290	161.3
2	Cornell	9	207	95	17	.459	1351	150.1
3	Georgia	9	159	71	17	.447	1335	148.3
4		8	113	54	11	.478	1070	133.8
5	Wake Forest	5	93	44	8	.473	634	126.8
6	Alabama	9	117	71	4	.607	1116	124.0
7	SMU	11	263	123	26	.468	1310	119.1
8	TCU	10	190	87	19	.458	1183	118.3
9	Colgate	6	94	46	8	.489	694	115.7
10	South Carolina	7	103	44	14	.427	808	115.4
11	Kansas State	8	174	62	20	.356	921	115.1
12	Yale	9	138	69	15	.500	1015	112.8
13	Virginia	6	77	32	5	.416	682	112.0
14	Texas	10	154	67	16	.435	1095	109.5
15	Michigan State	9	168	89	12	.530	958	106.4

^[9]

Individual leaders

Total offense

Rank	Player	Team	Games	Plays	Rush Yds	Pass Yds	Total Yds	Avg Gain per Play
1		Oklahoma A&M	8	203	1048	593	1641	8.08
2		Alabama	9	167	552	905	1457	8.72
3		St. Mary's	8	199	388	1040	1428	7.18
4		Holy Cross	9	247	841	438	1279	5.18
5		Cornell	9	282	27	1227	1254	4.45
6		Army	9	102	944	253	1197	11.74
7		Columbia	8	152	506	497	1103	7.45
8	Leon Joslin	TCU	10	208	61	955	1016	4.88
9	Curtis Kuykendall	Auburn	10	183	616	367	983	5.37
10		Wichita	8	155	707	246	953	6.15
11		VMI	9	213	359	593	952	4.47
12		Ohio State	9	172	931	0	931	5.41
13	Thompson	Wisconsin	9	195	579	330	909	4.66
14	Jerry Niles	Iowa	9	217	6	872	878	4.05
15		Texas Tech	10	147	871	0	871	5.93
16		Nevada	5	153	278	578	856	5.59
17		Purdue	10	157	847	0	847	5.39
18	Ellis	Virginia	8	124	290	542	832	6.71
19	Lund	Tennessee	7	128	466	360	826	6.45
20		Indiana	10	175	728	96	824	4.71

^[10]

Rushing

Rank	Player	Team	Games	Rushes	Yds Gained	Yds Lost	Net Yds	Avg Gain per Play
1		Oklahoma A&M	8	142	1119	71	1048	7.38
2		Army	9	82	980	36	944	11.51
3		Ohio State	9	171	933	2	931	5.44
4		Texas Tech	10	145	908	37	871	6.01
5		Purdue	10	157	868	21	847	5.39
6		Holy Cross	9	186	916	75	841	4.52
7		Indiana	10	156	801	73	728	4.67
8		Army	9	101	726	8	718	7.11
9		Alabama	9	88	737	22	715	8.13
10		Wichita	8	120	762	55	707	5.89
11	Ben Bendrick	Wisconsin	9	142	723	42	681	4.80
12	Gene Knight	LSU	9	85	709	30	679	7.99
13		UCLA	6	95	700	21	679	7.15
14	Dick Conners	Northwestern	9	116	685	14	671	5.78
15		Tulsa	10	138	679	17	662	4.80
16	Lynn Chewning	VMI	9	129	707	62	645	5.00
17		Mississippi State	9	122	710	66	644	5.28
18	Bill Canfield	Purdue	10	143	654	25	629	4.40
19	Curtis Kuykendall	Auburn	10	132	692	76	616	4.67
20	Guy Brown	Detroit	9	82	649	39	610	7.44

^[11]

Passing

Rank	Player	Team	Games	Att.	Compl.	Int.	Pct. Compl.	Yds.
1		Cornell	9	194	90	15	.464	1227
2	Leon Joslin	TCU	10	142	69	11	.486	955
3	Jerry Niles	Iowa	9	179	63	15	.352	872
4		St. Mary's	8	103	59	5	.573	1040
5	Jack O. Price	Baylor	11	125	59	16	.472	708
6		Alabama	9	88	57	3	.648	905
7	Arthur Dakos	Yale	9	109	56	10	.514	723
8		Purdue	10	117	55	12	.470	742
9		Michigan State	9	90	53	5	.589	613
10	Hotsinger	Georgia Tech	9	116	49	9	.422	682
11	Bob Thomason	VMI	9	114	46	10	.404	593
12	Gray	Oregon State	9	92	41	12	.446	359
13		Wake Forest	5	81	40	5	.494	578
14		SMU	5	65	38	4	.585	387
15		Indiana	10	84	37	3	.440	593
16		SMU	11	79	36	6	.456	288
17	Evans	Penn	8	68	35	6	.515	517
18		LSU	9	76	35	9	.461	414
19	Hardey	Texas Tech	10	67	33	7	.493	427
20	Wolff	Pittsburgh	9	83	33	9	.398	499

^[12]

Receiving

Rank	Player	Team	Games	Receptions	Receiving Yards
1		Georgia	10	31	662
2	Gene Wilson	SMU	11	31	311
3	Steve Contos	Michigan State	9	31	285
4		Texas	10	25	389
5	O'Conner	St. Mary's	8	23	373
6	Bill Canfield	Purdue	10	23	314
7	Joiner	Baylor	11	21	319
8	Paul Walker	Yale	9	21	277
9	Jones	Kentucky	6	19	369
10	Mason	TCU	10	19	218
11	Seymour Kuppersmith	NYU	7	19	207
12		Oklahoma A&M	8	18	316
13	Steiner	Alabama	9	18	315
14	Page	SMU	11	18	234
15	Cordeiro	St. Mary's	8	17	346
16	Morris	Northwestern	9	16	301
17	Pierce	Baylor	11	16	183
18	R. Anderson	Oregon	9	15	290
19	Ryan	St. Mary's	8	15	276
20	Cash	Tulane	9	15	260

Scoring

Rank	Player	Team	Points	TD	PAT	FG
1	Walt Trojanowski	Connecticut	132	22	0	0
2	Fowler	Arkansas Tech	129	20	9	0
3	Doc Blanchard	Army	115	19	1	0
4	Ross	Wiley	114	19	0	0
5	Glenn Davis	Army	108	18	0	0
6	Harry Ghaul	Miami (FL)	100	13	22	0
7	Bass	Tennessee A&I	96	14	12	0
8	Lou Kusserow	Columbia	90	15	0	0
9	Stan Koslowski	Holy Cross	87	12	15	0
10	Greene	Catawba	84	14	0	0
11	Bob Pfohl	Merchant Marine	83	13	5	0
12	Jones	Virginia State	77	11	11	0
13	Bob Fenimore	Oklahoma A&M	72	12	0	0
13	Ed Cody	Purdue	72	12	0	0
13	Ragan	Redlands	72	12	0	0
13	Montgomery	Florida A&M	72	12	0	0
17	Herman Wedemeyer	St. Mary's	71	9	17	0
17	Cromer	Colorado State	71	10	11	0
19	Fred Grant	Alabama	66	11	0	0
19	Lowell Tew	Alabama	66	11	0	0
19	Gene Rossides	Columbia	66	11	0	0
19	Goode	Texas A&M	66	11	0	0
19	Brown	Virginia	66	11	0	0
19	Boswell	Oberlin	66	11	0	0
19	Perry	Compton	66	11	0	0

^[13]

Longest plays

Longest punts (including roll)
1. Witherspoon, Florida N&I vs. Knoxville - 82 yards
2. Stabler, Charleston Teachers vs. Macomb Teachers - 80 yards
3. Lewis, Texas College vs. Wiley - 76 yards
4. Pattee, Kansas vs. Marquette - 75 yards
4. Perry, Southern vs. Langston - 75 yards
4. Pass, Johnson C. Smith vs. North Carolina College - 75 yards

Longest rushing plays
1. Fleming, Montana State vs. Faragut Navy - 95 yards
1. Engraham, Florida A&M vs. Tuskegee - 95 yards
3. Montgomery, Florida A&M vs. Moorhouse - 92 yards
4. Aschenbrenner, Great Lakes vs. Michigan State - 90 yards
4. Faunce, Minot Teachers vs. Winnipeg Bombers - 90 yards

Longest forward-pass plays
1. Green to Robinson, West Virginia State vs. Virginia State - 100 yards
2. Gray to Fuqua, Vanderbilt vs. LSU - 87 yards
3. Corlett to Fisher, Johnson C. Smith vs. Shaw - 85 yards
4. Powell to Edmonston, California vs. St. Mary's - 83 yards
5. Wieche to Hoover, Miami (OH) vs. Bowling Green - 82 yards

Longest interception runbacks
1. Needs, Oklahoma vs. Kansas State - 100 yards
1. Joiner, Baylor vs. TCU - 100 yards
1. Howard, Iowa State vs. Kansas State - 100 yards
1. Turner, NC State vs. Duke - 100 yards
1. Pfohl, Merchant Marine vs. Ursinus - 100 yards

Longest punt runbacks
1. Goode, Texas A&M vs. Ellington Field - 98 yards
2. Morris, Colorado vs. Utah - 95 yards
3. Robinson, Pittsburgh vs. Michigan State - 87 yards
4. Welch, SMU vs. Blackland AFB - 85 yards
5. Robinson, Pittsburgh vs. Penn State - 84 yards

Longest kickoff runbacks
1. McCandless, Marin JC vs. Santa Rosa - 100 yards
2. Howard, Iowa State vs. Kansas State - 96 yards
3. Talliaferro, Indiana vs. Minnesota - 95 yards
4. Miller, Indiana vs. Nebraska - 94 yards
5. Kishbaugh, Bloomsburg Teachers vs. East Stroudsburg Teachers - 92 yards
^[14]

See also

• 1945 College Football All-America Team
• 1945 Little All-America college football team

Notes and References

1. Web site: October 8, 1945 AP Football Poll . November 7, 2021 . CollegePollArchive.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20170327080907/http://collegepollarchive.com/football/ap/seasons.cfm?appollid=74 . March 27, 2017 . live .
2. Book: 1995 NCAA Football Records Book . . 1995 . 54–58 . July 15, 2023.
3. Web site: What made 1945 Army the greatest college football team of all time . World War II gave the service academies competitive edges, and the Cadets took maximum advantage, producing perhaps the most dominant season of college football possible.. Bill. Connelly. Vox Media, LLC. SBNation. 10 December 2016. 2022-07-07.
4. News: Marshall . Kendrick . October 18, 2016 . AFCA member explains why OSU awarded 1945 national championship . Tulsa World . Stillwater, Oklahoma . Tulsa, Oklahoma . March 24, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211230174412/https://tulsaworld.com/sports/college/osu/afca-member-explains-why-osu-awarded-1945-national-championship/article_81901939-ef07-5a8b-a9d1-7599e6f13a37.html . December 30, 2021 . subscription.
5. Web site: Fornelli . Tom . Why Oklahoma State has been named college football's 1945 national champion . CBS Sports . 2016-10-13 . After gathering all the pertinent information and doing our due diligence, it is the pleasure of our Blue Ribbon Commission of coaches to officially recognize Oklahoma State's 1945 championship season with the AFCA Coaches' Trophy.. 2018-12-04.
6. Web site: Tramel . Berry . Why is Oklahoma State on an island with the retroactive titles? . Daily Oklahoman. 2017-08-23 . The AFCA did not convene a panel of historians ... Instead, the AFCA opened the process up for proposals. It invited schools to nominate teams they felt were deserving. Then a committee would vote yea or nay on said team – the AFCA acknowledged it could hand out multiple awards for the same season [from 1922 to 1949]. . 2018-12-04.
7. Web site: 1945 Heisman Trophy Voting. Sports Reference LLC. SR/College Football. August 8, 2022.
8. Book: The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1946. A.S. Barnes and Company. W.J. Bingham. 1946. 30.
9. Book: The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1946. A.S. Barnes and Company. W.J. Bingham. 1947. 31.
10. Book: The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1946. A.S. Barnes and Company. W.J. Bingham. 1946.
11. Book: The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1946. A.S. Barnes and Company. W.J. Bingham. 1946. 34.
12. Book: The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1946. A.S. Barnes and Company. W.J. Bingham. 1946. 35.
13. W.J. Bingham, ed. (1946). The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1946. A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 39.
14. W.J. Bingham, ed. (1946). The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1946. A.S. Barnes and Company. pp. 39-40.