1944 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The Michigan Wolverines extended their winning streak to 23 games and head into a Rose Bowl meeting against USC with an opportunity to win their second straight National Championship and third in school history. The Wolverines, who have not lost since falling to North Carolina State in the 1942 Peach Bowl, breezed through the Western Conference and non-conference schedules, outscoring their opponents by an average of 23 points a game and finished the regular season as the only unbeaten team.
There were a trio of one loss schools as Texas, Oklahoma and LSU all completed the season with 10-1 marks. The Longhorns seemed destined to join Michigan as an unbeaten, but they were shocked by rival Texas A&M 34-28 in their season ending game. It made what otherwise was just a brutal season for the Aggies palpable, as A&M finished last in the SWC and was just 3-8 overall. Big Eight champion Oklahoma's only loss came in an early season meeting with Texas, as the Longhorns prevailed 31-14 in a game between Heisman hopefuls Marion Motley and Julie Rykovich. Each of the running backs had a big game on that day and finished 1-2 in rushing yards and touchdowns in the nation. Oklahoma junior Motley ran for an NCAA high 1701 yards (entering the bowl games) and was tied for second in touchdowns with 19 while Longhorn freshman Rykovich scored an NCAA best 21 touchdowns while rushing for 1,644 yards on the season.
LSU was also 10-1 with the Tigers only hiccup being a 29-19 loss at Southeastern Conference cellar dweller Tennessee.
The biggest collapse on the season belonged to Notre Dame as the Irish once again came up short in a bid for a National Title. Notre Dame was cruising along at 8-0 and ranked #2 in the nation behind Michigan until the Irish lost each of their final 3 games to drop to 16th in the final regular season poll and play themselves out of a bowl game. First came a 34-7 embarassment at home to Georgia Tech (8-3) before they lost a pair of close games to end the season at Pitt (7-4) by a 14-12 score and at Miami (6-5) 13-10. The loss to the Hurricanes was especially disheartening as the Irish led 10-0 entering the fourth quarter and Miami won the game on a last second 43 yard field goal.
Here are the AP Top Twenty-Five entering the Bowl Games
Here is a look at each conference.
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
Despite being the only ACC team to lose to Wake Forest this year the Duke Blue Devils won their third conference title in the past five seasons and finished the regular season as the only ranked ACC team. Duke's strength lied in it's running game with it's two sensational sophomores Don Durdan and Wendell St. Clair each rushing for over 1,000 yards and historical player Durden finishing 8th in the nation with 1,251.
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ACC CHAMPIONS BY YEAR
1937 North Carolina State
1938 Virginia
1939 Clemson
1940 Duke
1941 North Carolina State
1942 Duke
1943 North Carolina
1944 Duke
ACC STANDINGS W L CW CL
#10 Duke 8 3 5 1
Virginia 6 5 4 2
Clemson 6 5 4 2
North Carolina 4 7 3 3
Maryland 5 6 2 4
North Carolina St 2 9 2 4
Wake Forest 4 7 1 5
BIG EIGHT CONFERENCE
Oklahoma is gunning for it's third National Championship but the Sooners will need a Michigan loss in the Rose Bowl to claim it. Marion Motley, now a junior, led the nation with 1,701 rushing yards and was second nationally with 19 touchdowns. With 4,605 yards and a bowl game plus a full season remaining, Motley might have a shot at breaking Bill Dudley's record for career rushing. The former Texas Longhorn ran for 6,582 yards in his college career.
Oklahoma A&M finished the season ranked for the first time in school history and set a team record with a 7 win season. Unfortunately for them it was not quite good enough to earn their first bowl appearance.
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BIG EIGHT CHAMPIONS AND ORANGE BOWL RESULTS
1937 Nebraska Nebraska 52 Tennessee 12
1938 Oklahoma* Oklahoma 31 Notre Dame 13
1939 Oklahoma Texas A&M 23 Oklahoma 16
1940 Kansas State Texas A&M 34 Kansas State 14
1941 Missouri Missouri 37 Texas 20
1942 Oklahoma* Oklahoma 37 Wyoming 14
1943 Kansas Kansas 24 Wisconsin 17
1944 Oklahoma
* National Champion
BIG EIGHT STANDINGS W L CW CL
#2 Oklahoma 10 1 7 0
Kansas 7 4 5 2
Missouri 5 6 4 3
#22 Oklahoma A&M 7 4 4 3
Nebraska 4 7 3 4
Colorado 4 7 2 5
Kansas State 3 8 2 5
Iowa State 3 8 1 6
IVY GROUP
Princeton won the Ivy League for the first time in school history on the strength of a powerful defense that featured co-Ivy League sack leaders Pete David and Leonard Davis, who had 5 each. A bigger story was the collapse of Columbia ad the defending champion Lions limped through a 1-8 season.
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IVY CHAMPIONS BY YEAR
1937 Dartmouth
1938 Yale
1939 Harvard
1940 Harvard
1941 Yale
1942 Harvard
1943 Columbia
1944 Princeton
IVY GROUP STANDINGS W L CW CL
Princeton 7 2 6 1
Dartmouth 4 5 4 3
Yale 6 3 4 3
Brown 4 5 4 3
Penn 3 6 3 4
Harvard 3 6 3 4
Cornell 3 6 3 4
Columbia 1 8 1 6
PACIFIC COAST CONFERENCE
Cal's four year run of PCC titles and subsequent blow-out losses to the Western Conference champ in the Rose Bowl came to an end as Southern California earned it's first conference title. Sophomore quarterback George Ratterman had an outstanding season under center for the Trojans but he is expected to miss the Rose Bowl after fracturing his eye socket in the season ending 17-13 win over UCLA that clinched the conference title. Until his injury Ratterman had taken every snap the past two seasons for USC and now the Trojans will be forced to rely on untested freshman James Doyle against unbeaten Michigan in the Rose Bowl. The real-life Ratterman played at Notre Dame before spending several seasons in the NFL, primarily with Cleveland. He is also credit as being the first QB to wear a radio earpiece in his helmet so Browns coach Paul Brown could call in plays to him. A four sport college athlete with the Irish, the sim Ratterman is also a backup guard on the Trojans basketball team.
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PCC CHAMPIONS BY YEAR
1937 Stanford
1938 California
1939 Oregon State
1940 California
1941 California
1942 California
1943 California
1944 USC
PCC STANDINGS W L CW CL
#20 USC 7 4 6 1
#17 Stanford 8 3 5 2
#13 UCLA 8 3 5 2
Washington State 6 5 4 3
Cal 6 5 4 3
Oregon 2 9 2 5
Oregon State 2 9 1 6
Washington 2 9 1 6
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
LSU won it's second straight SEC crown and finished the season with a 10-1 record, ranked fourth in the nation. Junior quarterback Bob Hoernschemeyer had another strong season for the Tigers as did his favourite target in sophomore end Kelley Mote but what really elevated LSU this season was the running of freshman back George Gulyanics. The 4-star recruit led the SEC with 1,298 yards rushing and teamed with sophomore Buddy Young (967 yards) to give the Tigers the most dangerous running game in the SEC.
A note on the SEC. You might have noticed some years it is a 7 game conference schedule while others are only 6. That is because I took 5 real schedules from the late sixties/early 70s as the base to create multiple schedules for my universe and the SEC most have increased it's conference game total at some point during that stretch.
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SEC CHAMPIONS
1937 Tennessee
1938 Georgia
1939 Alabama
1940 Alabama
1941 Florida
1942 Kentucky
1943 LSU
1944 LSU
SEC STANDINGS W L CW CL
#4 LSU 10 1 5 1
Georgia 6 5 4 2
#9 Florida 8 3 4 2
Vanderbilt 8 3 4 2
Mississippi St 6 5 3 3
#15 Alabama 7 4 3 3
Kentucky 6 5 3 3
Mississippi 3 8 2 4
Alabama Poly(Aub) 4 7 1 5
Tennessee 4 7 1 5
SOUTHWESTERN CONFERENCE
Texas just seems to land great running backs in this universe. Bill Dudley won a Heisman Trophy as a Longhorn and is the all-time rushing leader. The latest back is Jules Rykovich, who led the nation with 21 touchdown runs as a freshman this season while finishing second to Oklahoma's Marion Motley with 1,644 yards. Rykovich and Motley already faced each other once during the regular season - a Longhorn win that saw each of them rush for over 100 yards - and they will meet again in the Orange Bowl with the winner in line to claim a National Championship if Michigan stumbles against USC in the Rose Bowl.
The Longhorns have been very successful in this sim, posting a 73-20 overall record and are 4-1 in Bowl Games but despite finishing second in the rankings twice and fourth on two other occasions Texas has yet to win a National Title and has won just 3 SWC crowns. The Longhorns always seem to slip up at some point late in the season and this year was no different as after starting the year 10-0 they were beaten 34-28 by 3-8 Texas A&M in their season finale.
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SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
1937 Texas Tech
1938 Texas
1939 Arkansas
1940 Texas A&M
1941 Texas
1942 Rice
1943 Baylor
1944 Texas
SWC STANDINGS W L CW CL
#3 Texas 10 1 6 1
#6 TCU 9 2 5 2
#8 Baylor 8 3 5 2
#18 Arkansas 7 4 4 3
Rice 5 6 2 5
Texas Tech 5 6 2 5
SMU 4 7 2 5
Texas A&M 3 8 2 5
BORDER CONFERENCE
Aside from the one season recently when Wyoming went unbeaten during the regular season the Border Conference receives very little attention. It has been pretty balanced through the years with Texas Western become the fifth different conference champion in the past five seasons.
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BORDER CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
1937 Arizona
1938 Utah
1939 Arizona
1940 Arizona
1941 Arizona State
1942 Wyoming
1943 Utah
1944 Texas Western
BORDER STANDINGS W L CW CL
Texas Western 8 3 6 1
Arizona State 7 4 4 3
Wyoming 5 6 4 3
New Mexico 4 7 4 3
Colorado A&M 4 7 3 4
Brigham Young 3 8 3 4
Utah 3 8 2 5
Arizona 3 8 2 5
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Michigan has not lost a game in two years as the Wolverines prepare for their second straight trip to the Rose Bowl and an opportunity to join Oklahoma and Texas A&M as two-time National Champions. They completely dominated Western Conference foes including a season ending 33-0 whitewashing of Ohio State. The two schools that finished tied for second in the conference - Iowa and Wisconsin - were the two teams that did not have to face Michigan this year.
Running backs Bus Mertes, a junior who rushed for a conference best 1,178 yards, and sophomore Elmer Angsman (1,094 yards) give the Wolverines a pair of dangerous backs while fictional senior quarterback John Stacy (1,512 yards passing tops in the conference) is making fans think he, rather than Forest Evashevski (1937-40), might be the best quarterback in Michigan history.
Three other Western Conference teams will also play in a bowl game. Iowa, led by up and coming sophomore quarterback Charley Trippi, will face LSU in the Sugar Bowl. Wisconsin gets Baylor in the Sun Bowl while Illinois is set to face Virginia in the Peach Bowl. The Badgers success has always been their ground game and they have another nice transition as senior Abe Karnofsky is set to graduate as the school's all-time rushing leader with over 5,000 career yards while Verl Lillywhite, who gained 1,038 this season as a freshman, is poised to take over. It will be the fourth straight year with a bowl game for Wisconsin while Illinois makes it's second Peach Bowl appearance after six straight losing seasons.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS ROSE BOWL RESULTS
1937 Michigan Michigan 20 Stanford 12
1938 Minnesota California 30 Minnesota 23
1939 Michigan State Michigan State 32 Oregon State 17
1940 Minnesota Minnesota 42 Cal 7
1941 Iowa Iowa 31 Cal 10
1942 Wisconsin Wisconsin 48 Cal 14
1943 Michigan Michigan 40 Cal 7
1944 Michigan
WESTERN CONFERENCE W L CW CL
#1 Michigan 11 0 8 0
#5 Iowa 9 2 6 2
#7 Wisconsin 8 3 6 2
#14 Illinois 7 4 4 4
#23 Ohio State 6 5 4 4
Purdue 5 6 4 4
#19 Minnesota 7 4 4 4
Michigan State 5 6 3 5
Indiana 4 7 1 7
Northwestern 1 10 0 8
INDEPENDENTS
Notre Dame's stumbles were discussed above as the Irish will not be playing in a bowl game for the third time in the past four years. Two independents, Georgia Tech and Pitt, did get bowl invites. The Yellow Jackets are playing a post-season game for the first time since their 1940 loss in the Sun Bowl, as Georgia Tech will meet Vanderbilt in a matchup of a pair of 8-3 teams in the Tangerine Bowl.
Meanwhile Pittsburgh is back in the Bluebonnet Bowl for the fourth time in school history. The 7-4 Panthers will square off with PCC runner-up UCLA.
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INDY SCHOOLS W L
#11 Georgia Tech 8 3
#16 Notre Dame 8 3
#21 Pittsburgh 7 4
#25 Florida State 7 4
Rutgers 7 4
Syracuse 6 5
Miami(Fl) 6 5
Penn State 5 6
Army 5 6
Navy 5 6
West Virginia 4 7
Utah State 4 7
South Carolina 3 8
Virginia Tech 3 8
Boston College 2 9
RECRUITING
LSU had a strong recruiting class as the two-time defending SEC champs landed 4 of the top 18 high school seniors. New Tigers next season include safety Ed Berrang, wide receiver Jim Lukens, running back Tank Younger and guard Abe Gibron. In real life each of the four new recruits played in the NFL. Berrang played at Villanova before spending 4 seasons in the NFL. Lukens had 24 catches in his single season of NFL action with the Boston Yanks after playing his college ball at Washington & Lee. Paul 'Tank' Younger was a college football hall of famer at Grambling before playing over a decade with the Los Angeles Rams while Gibron played 11 NFL seasons with the Browns, Eagles and Bears and later was Chicago's head coach
Notre Dame also did well with 3 of the top twenty including highly touted quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, who was ranked number four among signal callers. The top QB was George Blanda, who will play his college ball for Iowa next season. One other notable recruit from outside the top twenty. Mississippi State landed a 4-star defensive back by the name of Tom Landry.
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TOP TWENTY RECRUITS
1 George *Taliaferro RB Wisconsin
2 George *Blanda QB Iowa
3 Jim *Finks QB Pitt
4 Ed *Berrang FS LSU
5 Jerry *Williams FS Indiana
6 Pete *Wismann LB Oklahoma
7 Joe *Hollingsworth FB UCLA
8 Paul *Salata WR Minnesota
9 Jim *Lukens WR LSU
10 Frank *LuVuolo WR Notre Dame
11 John *Rauch QB Oklahoma
12 Tommy *Thompson LB TCU
13 Martin *Wendell G Oklahoma
14 John *Hoffman RB Michigan
15 Tank *Younger RB LSU
16 Frank *Ziegler RB Notre Dame
17 Jim Tomlinson SS Florida
18 Abe *Gibron G LSU
19 Ken *Cooper G USC
20 Norm *Van Brocklin QB Notre Dame
*indicates non-fictional player
BOWL GAMES
USC SHOCKS MICHIGAN IN PASADENA
In one of the biggest upsets in college football to date the USC Trojans surprised the Michigan Wolverines 33-23 to win the Rose Bowl and cost Michigan a National Title. What makes the win even more shocking is the Trojans were forced to start freshman quarterback James Doyle - who had never started a college game - in place of the injured George Ratterman. Doyle had an outstanding debut as a starter, completing 16 of 23 passes for 191 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Meanwhile, Michigan's normally dependable senior John Stacy looked more like an overwhelmed freshman as he threw 3 interceptions costing the Wolverines what would have been their second straight National Championship. Those 3 turnovers led directly to 17 USC points including one that was returned by Trojan linebacker Gene Fekete 34 yards for a score that put USC up 24-6 early in the third quarter. The Wolverines lost despite a slight lead in total yardage thanks to the running of Bus Mertes (28 carries, 110 yards) and Elmer Angsman (17 carries 76 yards).
With the Michigan loss the National Title came down to the winner of the Orange Bowl as second ranked Oklahoma met number three Texas. It was the Marion Motley show as the junior Sooner back rushed for a game high 148 yards and two touchdowns leading Oklahoma to a 34-13 victory and once again crushing Texas' dreams of a national title. There will be plenty of opportunities for the Longhorns in the future as running back Jules Rykovich and quarterback Bobby Layne are both just freshman. Rykovich had a decent game, rushing for 88 yards but Layne, who started all 12 games this season, was picked off twice. Layne did complete 9 of his 18 pass attempts for 126 yards. As for the Sooners, they become the first team to win the National Title 3 times as this one joins their 1938 and 1942 championship trophies.
In other Bowl action, Iowa held off a late charge by LSU to beat the Tigers 27-24 in the Sugar Bowl. Georgia needed overtime to defeat TCU 37-34 in the Cotton Bowl. Baylor dumped Wisconsin 19-10 in the Sun Bowl. Florida downed ACC champ Duke 38-7 in the Gator Bowl. Illinois made it 0-2 for the ACC by doubling Virginia 28-14 in the Peach Bowl. Georgia Tech routed Vanderbilt 49-13 in the Tangerine Bowl and Pitt held off UCLA 16-10 in the Bluebonnet Bowl.
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL NATIONAL TITLE HISTORY
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS BY YEAR
1937 Michigan 11-1
1938 Oklahoma 12-0
1939 Texas A&M 10-2
1940 Texas A&M 11-1
1941 Florida 11-1
1942 Oklahoma 11-1
1943 Michigan 12-0
1944 Oklahoma 11-1
FINAL 1943 TOP TEN RANKINGS
1 OKLAHOMA 11-1
2 Michigan 11-1
3 Iowa 10-2
4 Texas 10-2
5 LSU 10-2
6 Baylor 9-3
7 Florida 9-3
8 Georgia Tech 9-3
9 Illinois 8-4
10 USC 8-4
BOWL RESULTS
ORANGE Oklahoma (11-1) 34 Texas (10-2) 13
ROSE USC (8-4) 33 Michigan (11-1) 23
SUGAR Iowa (10-2) 27 LSU (10-2) 24
COTTON Georgia (7-5) 37 TCU (9-3) 34 (OT)
SUN Baylor (9-3) 19 Wisconsin (8-4) 10
GATOR Florida (9-3) 38 Duke (8-4) 7
PEACH Illinois (8-4) 28 Virginia (6-6) 14
TANGERINE Georiga Tech (9-3) 49 Vanderbilt (8-4) 13
BLUEBONNET Pitt (8-4) 16 UCLA (8-4) 10
AWARDS
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HEISMAN TROPHY WINNERS
1937 Willie Seal RB Alabama
1938 Bill *Dudley RB Texas
1939 Ben Guiterrez RB Cal
1940 Noah *Mullins RB Kansas State
1941 Noah *Mullins RB Kansas State
1942 Rocky Franks RB Oklahoma
1943 Bus *Mertes RB Michigan
1944 Marion *Motley RB Oklahoma
QUARTERBACK OF THE YEAR
1937 George *Cafego Tennessee
1938 George *Cafego Tennessee
1939 Dean *McAdams Washington
1940 Charlie *O'Rourke Boston College
1941 Cesar Coker North Carolina State
1942 Irv *Comp Duke
1943 Bob *Waterfield Wisconsin
1944 Paul *Collins Oklahoma
1944 ALL-AMERICAN TEAM
QB Paul *Collina - Oklahoma Sooners (101/158, 1048 yds, 12 TD)
RB Julie *Rykovich - Texas Longhorns (294 att, 1732 yds, 21 TD)
FB Frank Mcfarland - Texas Western Miners (81 att, 315 yds, 4 TD, 5 rec, 33 yds, 1 TD)
TE Forrest Morin - LSU Tigers (28 rec, 325 yds, 0 TD)
WR John *Greene - Iowa Hawkeyes (42 rec, 684 yds, 6 TD)
WR Kevin Fisher - Georgia Bulldogs (35 rec, 665 yds, 4 TD)
C Jack *Martin - Texas Longhorns (54 Pancakes)
G Walt *Barnes - Michigan Wolverines (60 Pancakes)
G Bob *Dobelstein - Iowa Hawkeyes (55 Pancakes)
T Ed *Champagne - Iowa Hawkeyes (79 Pancakes)
T Herb *Kane - Washington Huskies (71 Pancakes)
DT Emil Swann - Illinois Fighting Illini (44 Tck, 3 Sck, 1 Sfty, 2 FR)
DT Ralph *Foster - Michigan State Spartans (54 Tck, 4 Sck, 1 FR)
DE Lake *Roberson - Rice Owls (53 Tck, 3 Sck, 1 Sfty, 1 FR)
DE Rene Robert - Vanderbilt Commodores (53 Tck, 4 Sck, 1 FR)
LB Russ *Mosley - Ohio State Buckeyes (91 Tck, 5 Sck, 1 Int, 1 Def TD)
LB Gerry *Cowhig - Texas AM Aggies (91 Tck, 4 Sck, 1 Int, 1 Def TD, 1 FR)
LB Amado Glynn - Mississippi Rebels (85 Tck, 5 Sck, 2 FR)
CB Andre Neville - Florida Gators (42 Tck, 4 Sck)
CB Eddie Wallace - Stanford Indians (42 Tck, 3 Int, 3 FR)
SS Johnny *Vardian - Clemson Tigers (93 Tck, 7 Sck, 1 FR)
FS Robert Stephens - Arizona State Sun Devils (83 Tck, 3 Sck, 1 Int, 1 Def TD)
K Amos Pratt - Arkansas Razorbacks (29/31 FG)
P Roger Marvin - Texas AM Aggies (5471 yards, 46.8 avg, 32 inside 20)
*indicates historic (non-fictional) player
SENIOR BOWL
Overtime was needed to determine a winner in the Senior Bowl as the stars from the North beat the South 28-25. It looks to be a down year for the NFL draft as most of the players in the game were fictional and as a result will not be included in the NFL draft pool. A few draft eligible players that did stand out were UCLA linebacker Hal Robl, who led both teams in the game with 10 tackles. Al Akins of Mississippi State ran for a game high 125 yards for the South while Wisconsin's Abe Karnofsky led the North with 105 yards rushing. Oklahoma's Paul Collins was the only non-fictional QB in the game and did well, completing 7 of 9 passes in the second half for 78 yards.
Next up the 1944-45 National Hockey League season.