1941 college football season

The 1941 college football regular season was the 73rd 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 Southwestern Conference, and numerous smaller conferences and independent programs.

1941 college football season
First AP No. 1 of seasonMinnesota[1]
Number of bowls5
Champion(s)Minnesota (AP, consensus)
HeismanBruce Smith (halfback, Minnesota)
football seasons

The top five teams in the final AP Poll were as follows:

  1. Minnesota, under head coach Bernie Bierman, compiled a perfect 8–0 record, won the Big Ten championship, and was ranked No. 1. It was Minnesota's fifth national championship in eight years.
  2. Duke compiled a 9–0 record in the regular season, won the Southern Conference championship, and was ranked No. 2.
  3. Notre Dame, led by head coach Frank Leahy, compiled an 8–0–1 record and was ranked No. 3.
  4. Texas, led by head coach Dana X. Bible, compiled an 8–1–1 record and was ranked No. 4. Texas was recognized as national champion by Berryman QPRS, James Howell, and the Williamson System.[2]
  5. Michigan, led by head coach Fritz Crisler, compiled a 6–1–1 record and was ranked No. 5.

In the four major bowl games, No. 2 Duke lost to PCC champion Oregon State in the Rose Bowl, No. 6 Fordham defeated No. 7 Missouri in the Sugar Bowl, No. 14 Georgia defeated unranked TCU in the Orange Bowl, and No. 20 Alabama defeated No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies in the Cotton Bowl. The Rose Bowl was moved from Pasadena, California, to Durham, North Carolina, due to security concerns on the West Coast following the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor.

Minnesota halfback Bruce Smith won the 1941 Heisman Trophy. Players recognized as consensus picks on the 1941 All-America team included Harvard guard Endicott Peabody (selected unanimously by all nine official selectors), Michigan fullback Bob Westfall (8/9), Minnesota tackle Dick Wildung (8/9), Stanford quarterback Frankie Albert (7/9), Bruce Smith (7/9), Alabama end Holt Rast (6/9), Missouri center Darold Jenkins (6/9), Virginia halfback Bill Dudley (5/9), Georgia halfback Frank Sinkwich (5/9), and Notre Dame end Bob Dove (5/9).

Conference and program changes
School1940 Conference1941 Conference
Hardin–Simmons CowboysIndependentBorder
Long Island BlackbirdsIndependentDropped Program
Sewanee TigersSECIndependent
Washburn IchabodsMissouri ValleyIndependent
West Texas State BuffaloesAlamoBorder

September

September 20 Tennessee beat Furman 32-6 and Boston College beat St. Anselm, 78-0.

September 27 In Seattle, defending champion Minnesota beat Washington 14-6, while in New Orleans, Boston College fell to Tulane, 21-7. Stanford beat Oregon 19-15, Michigan beat Michigan State 19-7, Texas won at Colorado, 34-6 and Duke beat Wake Forest 43-14. Tennessee was idle

October

October 4 Minnesota was idle. Tennessee lost at Duke, 19-0. In New York, Fordham beat SMU 16-10. Elsewhere, it was Stanford over UCLA 33-0, Michigan over Iowa 6-0, Northwestern beating Kansas State 51-3 and Texas defeating LSU 34-0.

October 11 Minnesota beat Illinois 34-6, Northwestern beat Wisconsin 41-14, and Michigan beat Pittsburgh 40-0. In Baltimore, Duke beat Maryland 50-0, while in Dallas, Texas beat Oklahoma 40-7. Fordham won at North Carolina 27-14. Stanford lost at Oregon State 10-0. In the poll that followed, Minnesota was ranked #1, followed by Texas, Duke, Fordham, Northwestern and Michigan.

October 16 the penalty flag is used for the first time in the 1941 Oklahoma City vs. Youngstown football game in Youngstown, Ohio.

October 18 #1 Minnesota beat Pittsburgh 39-0. #2 Texas defeated Arkansas 48-14. #3 Duke beat visiting Colgate 27-14, and #4 Fordham beat West Virginia 27-0. In Ann Arbor, #6 Michigan beat visiting #5 Northwestern 14-7. #7 Navy beat Cornell 14-0 in Baltimore. In the next poll, Michigan and Navy moved up while Fordham and Northwestern dropped out of the top five.

October 25 The biggest game of the year took place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as #1 Minnesota defeated #3 Michigan, 7-0. #2 Texas beat Rice 40-0. #4 Duke won at Pittsburgh 27-7. #5 Navy and Harvard played to a 0-0 tie. #6 Fordham beat TCU 28-14, while #9 Texas A&M won at Baylor 48-0, to reach 5-0-0. In the vote that followed, Minnesota received 60 first place votes, and Texas received 53. When the points were tallied, they both had 1,161 points and were tied for #1.

November

November 1 In Dallas, #1 Texas beat SMU 34-0, while in Minneapolis, the other #1, Minnesota, edged #9 Northwestern 8-7. In New York, #3 Fordham defeated Purdue 17-0, and in Atlanta, #4 Duke won at Georgia Tech 14-0. In Little Rock, #5 Texas A&M beat Arkansas 7-0. Texas was the new #1 the following week, followed by Minnesota, Fordham, Duke and Texas A&M, all unbeaten and untied.

November 8 #1 Texas and Baylor played to a 7-7 tie. #2 Minnesota beat Nebraska 9-0. #3 Fordham lost at Pittsburgh 13-0. #4 Duke won at Davidson 56-0. #5 Texas A&M beat SMU 21-10. #7 Notre Dame beat Navy 20-13 in Baltimore and moved into the Top Five as Fordham dropped out.

November 15 #1 Minnesota won at Iowa 34-13. #2 Texas lost to Texas Christian (TCU) 14-7. #3 Duke beat North Carolina 20-0. In Houston, #4 Texas A&M beat Rice 19-6. #5 Notre Dame won at #8 Northwestern 7-6. #7 Michigan, which beat Columbia, 28-0, moved up as Texas dropped out.

November 22 #1 Minnesota closed its season with a 41-6 win over Wisconsin in Minneapolis. #2 Texas A&M was idle as it prepared for its Thanksgiving game. #3 Duke won its season closer at N.C. State 55-6 to get a bid to Pasadena’s Rose Bowl. Fifteen days later, the bombing of Pearl Harbor called into question whether Southern California would be safe from a Japanese attack on New Year's Day. On December 15, bowl officials and U.S. Army officers met in San Francisco and decided to hold the game at Duke's stadium in Durham, North Carolina.[3]

#4 Notre Dame beat USC 20-18. #5 Michigan closed its season with a 20-20 tie #14 against Ohio State. The Top four remained the same, but #6 Duquesne (which had finished its season at 8-0-0) replaced Michigan at #5. On Thanksgiving Day #2 Texas A&M lost to Texas 23-0.

Conference standings

Major conference standings
1941 Big Six Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 7 Missouri $ 5 –0 –0  8 –2 –0
Nebraska 3 –2 –0  4 –5 –0
Oklahoma 3 –2 –0  6 –3 –0
Kansas 2 –3 –0  3 –6 –0
Kansas State 1 –3 –1  2 –5 –2
Iowa State 0 –4 –1  2 –6 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1941 Big Ten football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 1 Minnesota $ 5 –0 –0  8 –0 –0
No. 5 Michigan 3 –1 –1  6 –1 –1
No. 13 Ohio State 3 –1 –1  6 –1 –1
No. 11 Northwestern 4 –2 –0  5 –3 –0
Wisconsin 3 –3 –0  3 –5 –0
Iowa 2 –4 –0  3 –5 –0
Purdue 1 –3 –0  2 –5 –1
Indiana 1 –3 –0  2 –6 –0
Illinois 0 –5 –0  2 –6 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1941 Border Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Arizona $ 5 –0 –0  7 –3 –0
Texas Tech 2 –0 –0  9 –2 –0
West Texas State 4 –1 –0  8 –2 –0
Hardin–Simmons 3 –1 –0  7 –3 –1
New Mexico 3 –2 –1  5 –4 –1
Texas Mines 3 –4 –0  4 –5 –1
Arizona State 2 –4 –1  5 –1 –1
Arizona State–Flagstaff 1 –5 –0  3 –5 –0
New Mexico A&M 0 –6 –0  2 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1941 Middle Three Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Lafayette $ 2 –0 –0  5 –4 –0
Rutgers 1 –1 –0  7 –2 –0
Lehigh 0 –2 –0  0 –6 –3
  • $ – Conference champion
1941 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Tulsa $ 4 –0 –0  8 –2 –0
Oklahoma A&M 3 –1 –0  5 –4 –0
Creighton 3 –2 –0  5 –5 –0
Saint Louis 1 –3 –1  4 –5 –1
Washington University 1 –3 –0  4 –5 –0
Drake 0 –3 –1  4 –5 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
1941 Mountain States Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Utah $ 4 –0 –2  6 –0 –2
BYU 3 –1 –2  4 –3 –2
Denver 3 –1 –2  4 –3 –2
Colorado A&M 3 –2 –1  4 –2 –1
Colorado 3 –2 –1  3 –4 –1
Wyoming 1 –5 –0  2 –7 –1
Utah State 0 –6 –0  0 –8 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1941 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 12 Oregon State $ 7 –2 –0  8 –2 –0
Washington 5 –3 –0  5 –4 –0
No. 19 Washington State 5 –3 –0  6 –4 –0
Stanford 4 –3 –0  6 –3 –0
Oregon 4 –4 –0  5 –5 –0
UCLA 3 –4 –1  5 –5 –1
California 3 –4 –0  4 –5 –0
USC 2 –4 –1  2 –6 –1
Montana 1 –3 –0  6 –3 –0
Idaho 0 –4 –0  4 –5 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1941 Rocky Mountain Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Colorado College $ 4 –0 –0  6 –2 –0
Colorado State–Greeley 3 –1 –0  3 –5 –0
Montana State 1 –2 –1  1 –4 –2
Colorado Mines ? –? –?  ? –? –?
Western State (CO) ? –? –?  ? –? –?
  • $ – Conference champion
1941 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 16 Mississippi State $ 4 –0 –1  8 –1 –1
No. 18 Tennessee 3 –1 –0  8 –2 –0
No. 20 Alabama 5 –2 –0  9 –2 –0
No. 14 Georgia 3 –1 –1  9 –1 –1
No. 17 Ole Miss 2 –1 –1  6 –2 –1
Vanderbilt 3 –2 –0  8 –2 –0
LSU 2 –2 –2  4 –4 –2
Tulane 2 –3 –0  5 –4 –0
Georgia Tech 2 –4 –0  3 –6 –0
Florida 1 –3 –0  4 –6 –0
Kentucky 0 –4 –0  5 –4 –0
Auburn 0 –4 –1  4 –6 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1941 Southern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 2 Duke $ 5 –0 –0  9 –1 –0
South Carolina 4 –0 –1  4 –4 –1
Clemson 5 –1 –0  7 –2 –0
William & Mary 4 –1 –0  8 –2 –0
VMI 4 –2 –0  4 –6 –0
VPI 4 –2 –0  6 –4 –0
Wake Forest 4 –2 –1  5 –5 –1
NC State 3 –4 –2  4 –5 –2
Furman 2 –3 –2  3 –4 –2
Washington and Lee 1 –2 –2  1 –6 –2
North Carolina 2 –4 –0  3 –7 –0
Maryland 1 –2 –0  3 –5 –1
Davidson 1 –5 –2  1 –6 –3
The Citadel 0 –2 –1  4 –3 –1
George Washington 0 –4 –1  1 –7 –1
Richmond 0 –6 –0  2 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1941 Southwest Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 9 Texas A&M $ 5 –1 –0  9 –2 –0
No. 4 Texas 4 –1 –1  8 –1 –1
TCU 4 –1 –1  7 –3 –1
Rice 3 –2 –1  6 –3 –1
SMU 2 –4 –0  5 –5 –0
Baylor 1 –4 –1  3 –6 –1
Arkansas 0 –6 –0  3 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Independents
1941 Eastern college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 8 Duquesne   –    8 –0 –0
No. 6 Fordham   –    8 –1 –0
No. 15 Penn   –    7 –1 –0
Franklin & Marshall   –    5 –1 –1
Penn State   –    7 –2 –0
Temple   –    7 –2 –0
Harvard   –    5 –2 –1
Syracuse   –    5 –2 –1
Boston College   –    7 –3 –0
Hofstra   –    5 –2 –0
Drexel Tech   –    4 –2 –1
Boston University   –    5 –3 –0
Cornell   –    5 –3 –0
Tufts   –    5 –3 –0
Army   –    5 –3 –1
Brown   –    5 –4 –0
Dartmouth   –    5 –4 –0
Villanova   –    4 –4 –0
Manhattan   –    4 –4 –1
Holy Cross   –    4 –4 –2
Colgate   –    3 –3 –2
Buffalo   –    3 –4 –1
Massachusetts State   –    3 –4 –1
Columbia   –    3 –5 –0
Pittsburgh   –    3 –6 –0
Princeton   –    2 –6 –0
NYU   –    2 –7 –0
Carnegie Tech   –    1 –7 –0
Yale   –    1 –7 –0
Rankings from AP Poll
1941 Midwestern college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Western Michigan   –    8 –0 –0
No. 3 Notre Dame   –    8 –0 –1
Youngstown   –    7 –0 –1
Xavier   –    9 –1 –0
Detroit   –    7 –2 –0
Ohio   –    5 –2 –1
Dayton   –    7 –3 –0
Cincinnati   –    6 –3 –0
Akron   –    5 –3 –1
Michigan State   –    5 –3 –1
Central Michigan   –    4 –3 –0
Ohio Wesleyan   –    5 –4 –0
Marquette   –    4 –5 –0
Wayne   –    2 –6 –0
Miami (OH)   –    2 –7 –0
Wichita   –    1 –6 –1
Michigan State Normal   –    0 –5 –2
Detroit Tech   –    0 –6 –1
1941 Southern college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
East Carolina   –    7 –0 –0
Delaware   –    7 –0 –1
Virginia   –    8 –1 –0
No. 10 Navy   –    7 –1 –1
Miami (FL)   –    8 –2 –0
Georgetown   –    5 –4 –0
Oglethorpe   –    3 –3 –0
Western Maryland   –    3 –4 –1
Oklahoma City   –    5 –7 –0
West Virginia   –    4 –6 –0
Georgia Teachers   –    2 –8 –0
Rankings from AP Poll
1941 Western college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Hawaii   –    8 –1 –0
Santa Clara   –    6 –3 –0
San Francisco   –    6 –4 –0
Idaho Southern Branch   –    5 –1 –2
Cal Poly   –    5 –3 –1
Saint Mary's   –    5 –4 –0
Loyola (CA)   –    5 –5 –0
Nevada   –    3 –5 –1
Portland   –    3 –5 –0
Gonzaga   –    3 –7 –0
San Francisco State   –    2 –4 –1
Humboldt State   –    2 –5 –1
La Verne   –    0 –6 –0

Minor conferences
Conference Champion(s) Record
California Collegiate Athletic Association Fresno State
San Jose State		 2–0–1
Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association Morgan State College 6–1
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Pittsburg State 3–1
Far Western Conference Pacific (CA) 3–0
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Luther 4–0–1
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Baker 5–1
Lone Star Conference North Texas State Teachers 4–0
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Alma 4–0–1
Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference Ripon 5–0–1
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Saint Thomas (MN) 5–0
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association Missouri School of Mines
Northwest Missouri State Teachers		 3–1–1
Nebraska College Athletic Conference Midland Lutheran 4–0
Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Association Nebraska State Teachers (UN–Kearney) 3–0
New Mexico Intercollegiate Conference New Mexico Military Institute 4–0
North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Iowa State Teachers (Northern Iowa) 5–0
North Dakota College Athletic Conference Jamestown College 5–0
Northern Teachers Athletic Conference St. Cloud State Teachers 4–0
Ohio Athletic Conference Case 4–0
Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference Central State College (OK) 6–0
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Millersville State Teachers
West Chester State Teachers		 3–0
Pacific Northwest Conference Willamette 5–0
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Colorado College 4–0
South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference Augustana (SD)
Northern State Teachers		 3–0
4–0
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Whittier 4–0–1
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Morris Brown 5–0
Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference Howard Payne 6–0
Washington Intercollegiate Conference Pacific Lutheran 4–0–1
Southwestern Athletic Conference No champion —
Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference Co-North: La Crosse Teachers
Co-North: Stout State Teachers
Co-South: Milwaukee State Teachers
Co-South: Platteville State Teachers		 3–1–0
3–1–0
3–0–1
3–0–1

Minor conference standings
1941 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
San Jose State + 2 –0 –1  5 –3 –3
Fresno State + 2 –0 –1  4 –3 –2
Santa Barbara State 1 –2 –0  3 –5 –1
San Diego State 0 –3 –0  6 –4 –0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1941 Far Western Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Pacific (CA) $ 3 –0 –0  4 –7 –0
Cal Aggies 2 –1 –0  2 –2 –4
Chico State 1 –2 –0  1 –5 –2
Humboldt State 0 –3 –0  2 –5 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
1941 Illinois College Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Millikin $ 6 –0 –0  3 –4 –1
Bradley * 1 –0 –0  ? –? –?
North Central (IL) 3 –1 –1  5 –1 –1
Lake Forest 2 –1 –1  5 –1 –2
Monmouth (IL) 2 –1 –0  5 –2 –1
Knox (IL) 1 –2 –0  3 –4 –1
Augustana (IL) 1 –4 –0  2 –6 –0
Wheaton (IL) 0 –2 –1  3 –5 –2
Illinois Wesleyan 0 –2 –1  2 –5 –2
Illinois College 0 –3 –2  3 –4 –2
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • * ineligible for league title
1941 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Northern Illinois State + 3 –1 –0  7 –1 –1
Illinois State + 3 –1 –0  3 –4 –1
Southern Illinois 2 –1 –1  5 –2 –1
Western Illinois 1 –2 –1  3 –4 –1
Eastern Illinois 0 –4 –0  0 –7 –0
Eureka 0 –0 –0  3 –3 –1
  • + – Conference co-champions
1941 Indiana Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Rose Poly + 4 –0 –0  7 –0 –0
Saint Joseph's (IN) + 3 –0 –0  8 –0 –1
Ball State 3 –1 –1  3 –2 –2
Butler 3 –1 –0  5 –4 –0
Wabash 4 –2 –0  5 –3 –1
DePauw 3 –2 –0  6 –2 –0
Indiana State 2 –1 –1  5 –2 –1
Evansville 2 –1 –1  3 –5 –1
Manchester 2 –1 –1  2 –2 –2
Franklin (IN) 2 –4 –1  2 –5 –1
Hanover 1 –3 –0  1 –7 –0
Central Normal 1 –4 –0  2 –5 –0
Earlham 0 –5 –0  2 –5 –0
Valparaiso 0 –5 –0  0 –8 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1941 Lone Star Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
North Texas State $ 4 –0 –0  7 –1 –0
Southwest Texas State 3 –1 –0  4 –4 –0
East Texas State 2 –2 –0  6 –2 –1
Sam Houston State 1 –3 –0  2 –7 –1
Stephen F. Austin 0 –4 –0  1 –6 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
1941 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Alma $ 4 –0 –1  6 –0 –1
Albion 3 –1 –1  3 –4 –1
Hope 2 –1 –2  3 –2 –3
Kalamazoo 2 –2 –1  5 –2 –1
Hillsdale 1 –3 –1  3 –4 –1
Adrian 0 –5 –0  2 –6 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1941 New England Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Rhode Island State $ 2 –0 –0  5 –2 –1
Maine 2 –1 –1  3 –2 –2
New Hampshire 0 –0 –1  4 –3 –1
Northeastern 0 –1 –0  4 –3 –0
Connecticut 0 –2 –0  2 –6 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1941 North Central Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Iowa State Teachers $ 5 –0 –0  5 –3 –0
South Dakota 4 –1 –0  6 –2 –0
North Dakota 3 –1 –0  4 –5 –0
Omaha 2 –3 –0  3 –4 –1
North Dakota Agricultural 2 –4 –0  2 –7 –0
Morningside 1 –4 –0  3 –5 –0
South Dakota State 1 –5 –0  2 –5 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1941 Texas Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Howard Payne $ 6 –0 –0  8 –1 –1
Abilene Christian 5 –1 –0  6 –3 –0
Texas Wesleyan 5 –1 –0  5 –3 –0
Southwestern (TX) 3 –3 –1  4 –3 –1
McMurry 2 –4 –1  4 –4 –1
Austin 2 –4 –0  2 –6 –0
Trinity (TX) 1 –5 –0  1 –7 –0
Daniel Baker 0 –6 –0  0 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion

Rankings
Main article: 1941 NCAA football rankings

Bowl games
Bowl game Winning team Losing team
Rose Bowl No. 12 Oregon State 20 No. 2 Duke 16
Sugar Bowl No. 6 Fordham 2 No. 7 Missouri 0
Orange Bowl No. 14 Georgia 40 TCU 7
Cotton Bowl Classic No. 20 Alabama 29 No. 9 Texas A&M 21
Sun Bowl Tulsa 6 Texas Tech 0

See also

References
  1. "www.appollarchive.com". www.appollarchive.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2015-12-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Rose Bowl Grid Game is Transferred To Durham, N.C. By Duke, Beavers," Fresno Bee, Dec. 15, 1941, p2-B
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