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The 1944 season

Army finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 9–⁠0 under Red Blaik. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 1 Army 23, No. 2 Navy 7 (Dec 2, 1944). 12 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Les Horvath, RB/QB, Ohio State.

The Heisman vote: Les Horvath 412 points, Glenn Davis 287
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Les Horvath RB/QB, Ohio State412
Glenn Davis RB, Army287
Doc Blanchard FB, Army237
Don Whitmire OT, Navy115
Buddy Young RB, Illinois105
Bob Kelly RB, Notre Dame76
Bob Jenkins RB, Navy60
Doug Kenna QB, Army56
Bob Fenimore RB, Oklahoma A&M54
Shorty McWilliams RB, Mississippi State37

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published. Two finishers show identical ballots in the source, which is likely a copying error there.

The 1944 Tennessee team
The 1944 Tennessee team: In a photo published by the Knoxville Journal in 1944, the Volunteers’ Buster Stephens (left) makes a 30-yard touchdown Photo: Homer Anderson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The 1944 Tennessee season →

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1ArmyIndependent
2Ohio StateWestern Conference
3Randolph FieldIndependent
4NavyIndependent
5Bainbridge NTS
6Iowa Pre-FlightIndependent
7USCPacific Coast Conference
8MichiganWestern Conference
9Notre DameIndependent
10March FieldIndependent
11DukeSouthern Conference
12TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
13Georgia TechSoutheastern Conference
13Norman Naval Air StationIndependent
15IllinoisWestern Conference
16El Toro Marines
17Great Lakes NavyIndependent
18Fort Pierce
19Saint Mary’s (CA) Pre-FlightIndependent
20Second Air ForceIndependent

Biggest upsets

Nov 4, 1944Duke 19, 5Georgia Tech 13
Oct 28, 1944Oklahoma State 46, 7Tulsa 40
Oct 28, 1944Michigan 40, 10Purdue 14
Oct 21, 1944Fleet City 19, 12California 2
Nov 18, 1944Alabama 19, 16Mississippi State 0
Nov 11, 194420Duke 34, 12Wake Forest 0
Nov 25, 194418Notre Dame 21, 10Georgia Tech 0
Nov 4, 1944Georgia 14, 19Alabama 7
Nov 4, 1944Norman Naval Air Station 15, 19Oklahoma State 0
Oct 28, 194412Navy 26, 7Pennsylvania 0
Oct 14, 194411Iowa Pre-Flight 13, 7Purdue 6
Nov 4, 19446Navy 32, 2Notre Dame 13

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 1944, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 2Wk 3Wk 4Wk 5Wk 6Wk 7Wk 8FinalMarch Field: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 No. 14, Wk 3 No. 11, Wk 4 No. 11, Wk 5 No. 9, Wk 6 No. 8, Wk 7 No. 9, Wk 8 No. 14, Final No. 1010 March FieldNotre Dame: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 5, Wk 6 No. 11, Wk 7 No. 18, Wk 8 No. 9, Final No. 99 Notre DameMichigan: Wk 1 No. 12, Wk 2 No. 15, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 No. 10, Wk 5 No. 8, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 8, Final No. 88 MichiganUSC: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 No. 15, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 No. 13, Wk 5 No. 11, Wk 6 No. 12, Wk 7 No. 8, Wk 8 No. 7, Final No. 77 USCIowa Pre-Flight: Wk 1 No. 11, Wk 2 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 6, Wk 4 No. 7, Wk 5 No. 7, Wk 6 No. 7, Wk 7 No. 7, Wk 8 No. 6, Final No. 66 Iowa Pre-FlightBainbridge NTS: Wk 1 No. 18, Wk 2 No. 18, Wk 3 No. 13, Wk 4 No. 12, Wk 5 No. 6, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 5, Final No. 55 Bainbridge NTSNavy: Wk 1 No. 6, Wk 2 No. 9, Wk 3 No. 12, Wk 4 No. 6, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 2, Final No. 44 NavyRandolph Field: Wk 1 No. 4, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 3, Final No. 33 Randolph FieldOhio State: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 4, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 3, Final No. 22 Ohio StateArmy: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Final No. 11 Army
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. USCunranked → No. 7
  2. March Fieldunranked → No. 10
  3. Dukeunranked → No. 11
  4. Bainbridge NTSNo. 18 → No. 5
  5. Norman Naval Air Stationunranked → No. 13

Fell

  1. North Carolina Pre-FlightNo. 2 → unranked
  2. PurdueNo. 7 → unranked
  3. PennsylvaniaNo. 9 → unranked
  4. TulsaNo. 13 → unranked
  5. Great Lakes NavyNo. 5 → No. 17

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

National leaders

Passing yardsPaul Rickards (Pittsburgh)997 yds
Rushing yardsWayne Williams (Minnesota)911 yds
Rushing touchdownsGlenn Davis (Army)14 TD
Yards per carryGlenn Davis (Army)11.5
ReceptionsReid Moseley (Georgia)32 catches
Receiving yardsReid Moseley (Georgia)506 yds
Yards per catchCecil Hankins (Oklahoma State)24.9
PointsGlenn Davis (Army)120 pts
Total offenseBob Fenimore (Oklahoma State)1,758 yds
Total offense per gameBob Fenimore (Oklahoma State)219.75
Punt return yardsJoe Stuart (California)372 yds
Punt return averageGlenn Davis (Army)19.7
Kickoff return yardsPaul Copoulos (Marquette)337 yds

The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.

Conference champions

Major college

Big Six
Oklahoma
Missouri Valley Conference
Oklahoma State
Pacific Coast Conference
USC
Skyline Conference
Colorado
Southeastern Conference
Georgia Tech
Southern Conference
Duke
Southwest Conference
TCU
Western Conference
Ohio State

Small college

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Morgan State
Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Northern Illinois

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

13 playersAll 12 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1944 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1944 All-America teams page.

The 1944 awards

Every award

Player of the year

From the newspapers

The The Wilmington morning star's story: $4,000 FANS SEE ROSE TOURNAMENT Southern California Wins Over Tennessee With Sheer Weight
The bowl7USC 25, 10Tennessee 01944 USC · 1944 TennesseeThe Wilmington morning star, Wilmington, N.C., January 2, 1945, page 3
Read the text

$4,000 FANS SEE ROSE TOURNAMENT Southern California Wins Over Tennessee With Sheer Weight Southern CALIFORNIA; Trojans the latest in a long line of grea and powerful football teams, wor their eighth straight Rose Bow game today. defeating green Tennessee eleven by sheer weight Of superior manpower, % to 0 be fore $4,000 football fans. The odd-makers who rated Ten. nessee a 10 point underdog woi, their bets with something to spare but there was no gauge for the valor which kept the Volunteers fighting to the final gun despite a smashing setback only four plays after the kickoff. Jim Callahan, the Trojans’ great end, blocked Bus Stephens punt before the game was fairly under way, snatched it up on the II. yard line. and drove over for the first touchdown of the day. But the fans who figured this was to keynote the game came up or the edge of their seats as Tennes see dug in and fought back. The Trojans scored again in the second period when their captain Jim Hardy tossed 22-yard pass to Paul Salata, waiting with out stretched arms in the end zone Then, when it really didn’t mat ter and sheer WEAKNESS had over come the valiant Volunteers in the fourth period the Trojans drove indomitably for two more scores A sensational 73-yard drive ir 10 plays took Southern California from Tennessee’s 27-yard line to { touchdown as the fourth perioe opened, and then the Trojans cap ped the period with a final drive that carried over the goal as the gun sounded to end the game. Stephens, the ‘heart” of the Ten nessee team carried the hod al afternoon and was out OF the game for only three plays. His great 32-yard run in the first period brought the stands te their feet as he stitched and wove through half the Trojan team and made it to the Trojan 40. Two sets of downs later, Ste phens whipped a long pass to AL len Law, substitute halfback, from the Tennessee 40 to the Trojan 49,, but saw it called back on an offside penalty. The crowd saw the best punting exhibition of the year, with Hardy dropping one out on the Tennessee five yard line, another on the eight, and another on the seven. Casey Stephens booted the Tennesseeans out of the hole four times during the afternoon, slanting one out on the Trojan five and drop ping the rest of them close. Southern California had one great play up its sleeve but useo it without scoring. Snatching punt on his own 13-yard line, Har dy lateraled all the way across the field to Don Burnside, who dartec back to the Trojan 48. Tennessee lost yard on the kick and re turn. Southern California’s big drive in the fourth period payed of when Hardy lugged the ball ovel from the 11-yard line on an old time end around play and Pa West made the only conversion of the day. Driving for one first down aftel another from midfield, and finally laying the ball on the one-foo line, where a ground play failee to gain, the Trojans made theil final score when Hardy heaved { short flat pass to Doug MacLach Ian. The ball was in the air a: the gun went off. Southern California outclasseo the southeastern champs in thu statistics, making Is first down: to eight. and keeping the Volun teers back into their own terri tory most of the day. The Trojans missed another chance to score as the first hal ended, when they were on the Vol unteers’ seven-yard line and heav ing passes. One, from Hardy tt Salata, was completed outside the end zone and discounted, and an other was incomplete as the hal ended.

Public domain, from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through American Stories (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The text is the machine reading of the page, mistakes and all.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Jan 1, 194511Duke 29, 16Alabama 26Sugar Bowl
Jan 1, 194515Oklahoma State 34, TCU 0Cotton Bowl
Jan 1, 19457USC 25, 10Tennessee 0Rose Bowl
Jan 1, 1945Tulsa 26, Georgia Tech 12Orange Bowl