| Year: | 1949 |
| Preseason Ap: | Michigan[1] |
| Number Of Bowls: | 9 |
| Champion: | Notre Dame (AP) |
| Heisman: | Leon Hart (end, Notre Dame) |
The 1949 college football season was the 81st season of intercollegiate football in the United States. It concluded with the top four teams undefeated and untied at the end of the regular season:
Other notable teams with undefeated records included Pacific (11–0, AP No. 10) and Oregon College of Education (9–0). Morgan State (8–0) and Southern (10–0–1) were each recognized as black college national champion by at least one selector.
The major college individual statistical leaders for 1949 included Drake fullback Johnny Bright with 1,950 yards of total offense; Ole Miss fullback Kayo Dottley with 1,312 rushing yards; North Carolina end Art Weiner with 52 pass receptions; and Oklahoma halfback George Thomas with 114 points scored.[4]
| Team | 1948 conference | 1949 conference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Missouri Valley Conference | ||
| Independent | |||
| Independent | Ohio Valley Conference | ||
| Independent | |||
| Independent | Ohio Valley Conference |
The Associated Press did not poll the writers until the third week of the season. Among the five teams that had been ranked highest in 1948, California was the first to open play, with a 21–7 win over Santa Clara on September 17.
By September 24, most teams were in action. Defending champion Michigan beat visiting Michigan State, 7–3. Notre Dame beat Indiana 49–6. North Carolina beat N.C. State 26–6. California beat St. Mary's 29–7. The night before, Oklahoma had won at Boston College, 46–0.
On October 1 in Seattle, Notre Dame beat Washington 27–7. Oklahoma beat Texas A&M 33–13, North Carolina beat Georgia 21–14, and Michigan won at Stanford, 27–7. When the first poll was issued, Michigan had 34 of the 80 votes cast, followed by Notre Dame and Oklahoma. Tulane University, which had beaten Alabama 28–14 and Georgia Tech 18–0, placed fourth. Minnesota, which had victories over Washington (48–20) and at Nebraska (28–6) was fifth. North Carolina, which had been in the final top five in 1948, was at sixth place.
October 8 No. 1 Michigan was beaten at home by No. 7 Army. No. 2 Notre Dame won at Purdue 35–12. No. 3 Oklahoma beat No. 12 Texas in Dallas, 20–14. No. 4 Tulane beat Southeastern Louisiana 40–0. No. 5 Minnesota beat No. 20 Northwestern 21–7. The next poll elevated Notre Dame to No. 1 and Army to No. 2, followed by Oklahoma, Tulane, and Minnesota.
October 15 In South Bend, No. 1 Notre Dame beat No. 4 Tulane 46–7.No. 2 Army won at Harvard, 54–14.No. 3 Oklahoma beat Kansas 48–26. No. 5 Minnesota stayed unbeaten with a win in Columbus over No. 11 Ohio State, 27–0. The next poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Army, No. 3 Minnesota, and No. 4 Oklahoma. California, which beat No. 12 USC 16–10, moved up from No. 9 to No. 5.
October 22 No. 1 Notre Dame was idle. No. 2 Army beat Columbia 63–6. No. 3 Minnesota lost at No. 12 Michigan, 14–7.No. 4 Oklahoma won at Nebraska 48–0. No. 5 California beat Washington 21–7. No. 9 Rice won at No. 10 Texas, 17–15, and was fifth in the next poll behind Notre Dame, Army, Oklahoma, and California. October 29 In Baltimore, No. 1 Notre Dame defeated Navy, 40–0. No. 2 Army defeated VMI (the Virginia Military Institute) 40–14. No. 3 Oklahoma beat Iowa State 34–7. In Los Angeles, No. 4 California beat No. 20 UCLA 35–21. No. 5 Rice beat Texas Tech 28–0 to extend its record to 5–1–0. No. 6 Michigan, which won at Illinois 13–0, returned to the Top Five with a 4–2–0 record, moving up ahead of Rice.
November 5No. 1 Notre Dame won at No. 10 Michigan State, 34–21. No. 2 Army defeated No. 20 Fordham, 35–0. No. 3 Oklahoma won at Kansas State 39–0. No. 4 California beat Washington State 33–14. No. 5 Michigan beat Purdue 20–12. The top five stayed unchanged.
November 12 At Yankee Stadium, No. 1 Notre Dame beat North Carolina, 42–6. No. 2 Army had a scare in Philadelphia, edging Penn 14–13. No. 3 Oklahoma won at Missouri, 27–7. No. 4 California beat Oregon 41–14. No. 5 Michigan beat Indiana 20–7. The next poll moved Oklahoma to No. 2 and California to No. 3, with Army dropping to fourth.
November 19 No. 1 Notre Dame defeated Iowa 28–7. No. 2 Oklahoma beat Santa Clara 28–21. No. 3 California defeated No. 12 Stanford 33–14 to finish its season unbeaten. No. 4 Army was idle as it prepared for the Army–Navy Game. No. 5 Michigan was tied by No. 7 Ohio State, 7–7. The next Top Five was No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 California, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Army, and No. 5 Ohio State.
November 26 No. 1 Notre Dame defeated visiting No. 17 USC, 32–0.No. 3 Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State 41–0. No. 4 Army returned to Philadelphia for the Army–Navy Game and defeated Navy 38–0. No. 7 Rice beat No. 9 Baylor 21-7. No. 2 California at 10–0–0, and No. 5 Ohio State, at 6–1–2, accepted bids to play in the Rose Bowl.
The final poll was released on November 28, although some colleges had not completed their schedules; the top five were No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 California, No. 4 Army, and No. 5 Rice. On December 3, the national champs, No. 1 Notre Dame closed a perfect season in Dallas with a 27–20 win over Southern Methodist University (SMU).
See main article: article.
The final AP poll was released in late November with Notre Dame receiving 172 of 248 first-place votes.[5]
| Rank | Team | 1st | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notre Dame (10–0) | 172 | 2402 | |
| 2 | Oklahoma (11–0) | 18 | 2018 | |
| 3 | California (10–1) | 40 | 1900 | |
| 4 | Army (9–0) | 12 | 1838 | |
| 5 | Rice (10–1) | - | 1062 | |
| 6 | Ohio State (7–1–2) | - | 968 | |
| 7 | Michigan (6–2–1) | - | 848 | |
| 8 | Minnesota (7–2) | - | 522 | |
| 9 | LSU (8–3) | - | 516 | |
| 10 | Pacific (11–0) | 4 | 248 | |
| 11 | Kentucky (9–3) | - | 222 | |
| 12 | Cornell (8–1) | - | 188 | |
| 13 | Villanova (8–1) | 2 | 148 | |
| 14 | Maryland (9–1) | - | 134 | |
| 15 | Santa Clara (8–2–1) | - | 126 | |
| 16 | North Carolina (7–4) | - | 106 | |
| 17 | Tennessee (7–2–1) | - | 82 | |
| 18 | Princeton (6–3) | - | 46 | |
| 19 | Michigan State (6–3) | - | 30 | |
| 20 | Baylor (8–2) | - | 20 | |
| 20 | Missouri (7–4) | - | 20 |
| Bowl game | Winning team | Losing team | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rose Bowl | 17 | No. 3 California | 14 | ||
| Sugar Bowl | No. 2 Oklahoma | 35 | No. 9 LSU | 0 | |
| Orange Bowl | No. 15 Santa Clara | 21 | No. 11 Kentucky | 13 | |
| Cotton Bowl | No. 5 Rice | 27 | No. 16 North Carolina | 13 | |
| Bowl game | Winning team | Losing team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Bowl | Texas Western | 33 | Georgetown | 20 |
| Gator Bowl | No. 14 Maryland | 20 | No. 20 Missouri | 7 |
| Tangerine Bowl | Saint Vincent | 7 | Emory and Henry | 6 |
| Raisin Bowl | San Jose State | 20 | Texas Tech | 13 |
| Salad Bowl | Xavier | 33 | Arizona State | 21 |
| Shrine Bowl | Southern Illinois | 41 | 14 | |
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
| Player | School | Position | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leon Hart | Notre Dame | E | 995 | |
| HB | 272 | |||
| HB | 229 | |||
| QB | 196 | |||
| Notre Dame | QB | 189 | ||
| QB | 122 | |||
| C | 81 | |||
| Notre Dame | FB/HB | 79 |
See main article: 1949 College Football All-America Team.
For the year 1949, the NCAA recognizes eight published All-American teams as "official" designations for purposes of its consensus determinations. The following chart identifies the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans and displays which first-team designations they received.
| Name | Position | School | Number | Official | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leon Hart | End | Notre Dame | 8/8 | AAB, AP, COL, FWAA, INS, NEA, SN, UP | NYS, PLAY, WC |
| Emil Sitko | Fullback | Notre Dame | 8/8 | AAB, AP, COL, FWAA, INS, NEA, SN, UP | NYS, PLAY, WC |
| Clayton Tonnemaker | Center | Minnesota | 7/8 | AAB AP, COL, FWAA, NEA, SN, UP | NYS, PLAY, WC |
| Rod Franz | Guard | California | 7/8 | AAB, AP, COL, FWAA, INS, SN, UP | NYS, WC |
| Doak Walker | Halfback | SMU | 7/8 | AAB, AP, FWAA, INS, NEA, SN, UP | PLAY |
| Arnold Galiffa | Quarterback | Army | 6/8 | AP, COL, FWAA, INS, SN, UP | NYS, PLAY, WC |
| Leo Nomellini | Tackle | Minnesota | 6/8 | AAB, COL, FWAA, NEA, SN, UP | WC |
| James Williams | End | Rice | 4/8 | AAB, AP, COL, FWAA | NYS, PLAY, WC |
| Alvin Wistert | Tackle | Michigan | 4/8 | AAB, INS, SN, UP | WC |
| Ed Bagdon | Guard | Michigan State | 4/8 | FWAA, NEA, SN, UP | WC |
| Bob Williams | Quarterback | Notre Dame | 4/8 | AAB, FWAA, SN, UP | WC |