The 1950 season
Oklahoma finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 10–1 under Bud Wilkinson, then lost to Kentucky 13–7 in the Sugar Bowl; the poll came out before the bowls. Kentucky, Princeton and Tennessee also claim the national title. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 3 Kentucky 13, No. 1 Oklahoma 7 (Jan 1, 1951). 35 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents. Share
Heisman Trophy: Vic Janowicz, RB/P, Ohio State.
The Heisman vote: Vic Janowicz 633 points, Kyle Rote 280
| Player | Points | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vic Janowicz RB, Ohio State | 633 | ||||
| Kyle Rote RB, SMU | 280 | ||||
| Reds Bagnell RB, Penn | 231 | ||||
| Babe Parilli QB, Kentucky | 214 | ||||
| Bobby Reynolds RB, Nebraska | 174 | ||||
| Bob Williams QB, Notre Dame | 159 | ||||
| Leon Heath FB, Oklahoma | 125 | ||||
| Dan Foldberg E, Army | 103 |
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.
Scoreboards
Final AP poll
| 1 | Oklahoma | Big Seven |
| 2 | Army | Independent |
| 3 | Texas | Southwest Conference |
| 4 | Tennessee | Southeastern Conference |
| 5 | California | Pacific Coast Conference |
| 6 | Princeton | Independent |
| 7 | Kentucky | Southeastern Conference |
| 8 | Michigan State | Independent |
| 9 | Michigan | Western Conference |
| 10 | Clemson | Southern Conference |
| 11 | Washington | Pacific Coast Conference |
| 12 | Wyoming | Skyline Conference |
| 13 | Illinois | Western Conference |
| 14 | Ohio State | Western Conference |
| 15 | Miami | Independent |
| 16 | Alabama | Southeastern Conference |
| 17 | Nebraska | Big Seven |
| 18 | Tulsa | Missouri Valley Conference |
| 18 | Washington and Lee | Southern Conference |
| 20 | Tulane | Southeastern Conference |
Biggest upsets
| Oct 7, 1950 | Purdue 28, 1Notre Dame 14 |
| Oct 7, 1950 | Maryland 34, 2Michigan State 7 |
| Sep 30, 1950 | Mississippi State 7, 4Tennessee 0 |
| Jan 1, 1951 | Michigan 14, 4California 6 |
| Oct 21, 1950 | UCLA 21, 6Stanford 7 |
| Nov 25, 1950 | Northwestern 14, 6Illinois 7 |
| Nov 11, 1950 | Texas A&M 25, 7SMU 20 |
| Oct 21, 1950 | NC State 16, 8Maryland 13 |
| Nov 25, 1950 | Michigan 9, 8Ohio State 3 |
| Oct 14, 1950 | Miami 20, 9Purdue 14 |
| Oct 28, 1950 | Wisconsin 14, 9Northwestern 13 |
| Sep 30, 1950 | 19Michigan State 14, 3Michigan 7 |
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
Climbed
- Princetonunranked → No. 6
- Clemsonunranked → No. 10
- Washingtonunranked → No. 11
- Wyomingunranked → No. 12
- Michigan StateNo. 19 → No. 8
Fell
- Notre DameNo. 1 → unranked
- StanfordNo. 7 → unranked
- CornellNo. 9 → unranked
- SMUNo. 10 → unranked
- USCNo. 12 → unranked
From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.
National leaders
| Passing yards | Don Heinrich (Washington) | 1,846 yds |
|---|---|---|
| Passing touchdowns | Babe Parilli (Kentucky) | 23 TD |
| Passer rating | Claude Arnold (Oklahoma) | 157.3 |
| Rushing yards | Wilford White (Arizona State) | 1,502 yds |
| Yards per carry | Bobby Marlow (Alabama) and Wilford White (Arizona State) | 7.5 |
| Receptions | Gordon Cooper (Denver) | 46 catches |
| Receiving yards | Bucky Curtis (Vanderbilt) | 791 yds |
| Yards per catch | Bucky Curtis (Vanderbilt) | 29.3 |
| Points | Bobby Reynolds (Nebraska) | 157 pts |
| Points per game | Bobby Reynolds (Nebraska) | 17.44 |
| Total offense | Johnny Bright (Drake) | 2,400 yds |
| Total offense per game | Johnny Bright (Drake) | 266.7 |
| Punt return yards | Dave Waters (Wash. & Lee) | 445 yds |
| Punt return average | Lindy Hanson (Boston U.) | 22.5 |
| Kickoff return yards | Chuck Hill (New Mexico) | 729 yds |
| Kickoff return average | Johnny Turco (Holy Cross) | 27.4 |
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 Seven
- Oklahoma
- Mid-American Conference
- Miami (OH)
- Missouri Valley Conference
- Tulsa
- Pacific Coast Conference
- California
- Skyline Conference
- Wyoming
- Southeastern Conference
- Kentucky
- Southwest Conference
- Texas
- Western Conference
- Michigan
Small college
- California Collegiate Athletic Conference
- San Diego State
- Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- North Carolina A&T
- Dixie Conference
- Florida State
- Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Norfolk State
- Evergreen Conference
- Eastern Washington
- Gulf Coast Conference
- North Texas
- Gulf States Conference
- Southern Miss
- North Central Conference
- South Dakota State
- North State Conference
- App State
- Ohio Valley Conference
- Murray State
- Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Florida A&M
- Southwestern Athletic Conference
- Southern
- Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference
- Abilene Christian
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
- EDan Foldberg, Army
- EBill McColl, Stanford
- OT/OGBob Gain, Kentucky
- OTJim Weatherall, Oklahoma
- OL/DLBud McFadin, Texas
- OG/LBLes Richter, California
- CJerry Groom, Notre Dame
- QBBabe Parilli, Kentucky
- RBVic Janowicz, Ohio State
- RBKyle Rote, SMU
- FBLeon Heath, Oklahoma
Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1950 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1950 All-America teams page.
The 1950 awards
Every awardFrom the newspapers
Read the text
DALLAS, Tex, Jan. 2.-Tennessee smashed from behind to spoil Blair Cherry’s hopes of retiring as University of Texas football coach with Cotton Bowl champion. Playing the rock ‘em, sock ‘em type of football that has become their trademark, the Vols yesterday whipped over two touchdowns in the last period to lick the Longhorns, 20–14. Played to standstill in the first half and behind. 14–7, at the half. Tennessee’s bruising Andy Kozar smashed over for one touchdown shortly after the final period started and then climaXed a dramatte, desperate drive by the Vols that carried 43 yards, scoring the winning touchdown with 3 min utes to play from the 1-yard line. 1--WE just got beat” Cherry said afterward in the dressing room. In the aftermath of the 18th an nual Cotton Bowl he offered no excuses. $4,000 See Game. The best team we ran up against all season.” he said. A packed house of a few more than $4,000 fans sat through mist and rain and watched Tennessee shoot ahead less than eight min utes after the first period began. A brilliant, twisting 75-yard run by Eank Lauricella set the stage for the Vols score. Then, with the ball on the five-yard line, Hal Payne tried running three times. He netted only yard. On fourth devil. he pitched to John Gruble in the end zone and Pat Shires kicked the first of his two extra points. The Steers picked up the first of two second period touchdowns when Jim Lansford broke through to block Lauricella’s S punt and Don Cunningham recovered on the eight yard line. In four plays By ron Townsend Scored-from the flve-yard line and Ben Tompkins’ first of two extra points tied the score. Minutes later, Texas shot ahead, this time on. Tompkins’ 34-yard pass to Glib Dawson. Statistically the first half belonged to Texas, but when the final figuring was over the Vols
Bowls and playoff
Scoreboard| Dec 9, 1950 | Texas A&M 40, Georgia 20Presidential Cup Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1951 | 11Clemson 15, 14Miami 14Orange Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1951 | 3Kentucky 13, 1Oklahoma 7Sugar Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1951 | Miami (OH) 34, Arizona State 21Salad Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1951 | Michigan 14, 4California 6Rose Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1951 | 9Tennessee 20, 5Texas 14Cotton Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1951 | West Texas 14, Cincinnati 13Sun Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1951 | 12Wyoming 20, 19Washington and Lee 7Gator Bowl |