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The 1953 season

Maryland finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 10–⁠1 under Jim Tatum, then lost to Oklahoma 7–⁠0 in the Orange Bowl; the poll came out before the bowls. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 1 Notre Dame 27, No. 4 Georgia Tech 14 (Oct 24, 1953). 28 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Johnny Lattner, RB, Notre Dame, who also won the Maxwell.

The Heisman vote: Johnny Lattner 1,850 points, Paul Giel 1,794
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Johnny Lattner RB, Notre Dame1,850384283132
Paul Giel RB, Minnesota1,794366295106
Paul Cameron RB, UCLA4444489134
Bernie Faloney QB, Maryland258463452
Bobby Garrett QB, Stanford231324349
Alan Ameche FB, Wisconsin211253860
J.C. Caroline RB, Illinois193153774
J.D. Roberts OG, Oklahoma10862148
Lamar McHan QB, Arkansas7815129
Steve Meilinger E, Kentucky6512109

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

The 1953 Texas Tech team
The 1953 Texas Tech teamPhoto: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The 1953 Texas Tech season →

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1MarylandAtlantic Coast Conference
2Notre DameIndependent
3Michigan StateBig Ten
4OklahomaBig Seven
5UCLAPacific Coast Conference
6RiceSouthwest Conference
7IllinoisBig Ten
8Georgia TechSoutheastern Conference
9IowaBig Ten
10West VirginiaSouthern Conference
11TexasSouthwest Conference
12Texas TechBorder Conference
13AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
14ArmyIndependent
15WisconsinBig Ten
16KentuckySoutheastern Conference
17AuburnSoutheastern Conference
18DukeAtlantic Coast Conference
19StanfordPacific Coast Conference
20MichiganBig Ten

Biggest upsets

Oct 24, 1953Purdue 6, 2Michigan State 0
Oct 10, 1953Illinois 41, 3Ohio State 20
Nov 14, 1953Wisconsin 34, 3Illinois 7
Oct 17, 1953Stanford 21, 4UCLA 20
Oct 24, 1953Minnesota 22, 5Michigan 0
Nov 14, 1953Alabama 13, 5Georgia Tech 6
Oct 17, 1953Army 14, 7Duke 13
Oct 31, 1953Oregon 13, 7USC 7
Nov 14, 1953South Carolina 20, 8West Virginia 14
Nov 14, 1953Houston 37, 9Baylor 7
Oct 24, 1953Pennsylvania 9, 10Navy 6
Nov 7, 195319Texas 21, 3Baylor 20

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 1953, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 2Wk 3Wk 4Wk 5Wk 6Wk 7Wk 8Wk 9Wk 10FinalWest Virginia: Wk 1 No. 16, Wk 2 No. 13, Wk 3 No. 12, Wk 4 No. 10, Wk 5 No. 8, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 7, Wk 8 No. 8, Wk 9 No. 19, Wk 10 No. 11, Final No. 1010 West VirginiaIowa: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 unranked, Wk 9 No. 20, Wk 10 No. 9, Final No. 99 IowaGeorgia Tech: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 9, Wk 3 No. 10, Wk 4 No. 6, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 8, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 12, Wk 10 No. 10, Final No. 88 Georgia TechIllinois: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 No. 9, Wk 5 No. 7, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 6, Final No. 77 IllinoisRice: Wk 1 No. 12, Wk 2 No. 14, Wk 3 No. 11, Wk 4 No. 11, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 No. 12, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 No. 16, Wk 9 No. 10, Wk 10 No. 8, Final No. 66 RiceUCLA: Wk 1 No. 4, Wk 2 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 6, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 12, Wk 6 No. 10, Wk 7 No. 9, Wk 8 No. 7, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 5, Final No. 55 UCLAOklahoma: Wk 1 No. 6, Wk 2 No. 8, Wk 3 No. 16, Wk 4 No. 12, Wk 5 No. 9, Wk 6 No. 9, Wk 7 No. 8, Wk 8 No. 6, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Final No. 44 OklahomaMichigan State: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Final No. 33 Michigan StateNotre Dame: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 2, Final No. 22 Notre DameMaryland: Wk 1 No. 9, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 1, Final No. 11 Maryland
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. Illinoisunranked → No. 7
  2. Iowaunranked → No. 9
  3. Texas Techunranked → No. 12
  4. Armyunranked → No. 14
  5. Wisconsinunranked → No. 15

Fell

  1. Ohio StateNo. 7 → unranked
  2. USCNo. 8 → unranked
  3. NavyNo. 13 → unranked
  4. CaliforniaNo. 14 → unranked
  5. FloridaNo. 15 → unranked

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

National leaders

Passing yardsBobby Garrett (Stanford)1,637 yds
Passing touchdownsBobby Garrett (Stanford)17 TD
Passer ratingBobby Garrett (Stanford)142.2
Rushing yardsJ.C. Caroline (Illinois)1,256 yds
ReceptionsJohnny Carson (Stanford)45 catches
Receiving yardsJohnny Carson (Stanford)663 yds
Yards per catchDave McLaughlin (Dartmouth)19.1
PointsEarl Lindley (Utah State)81 pts
Total offensePaul Larson (California)1,572 yds
Punt return yardsPaul Giel (Minnesota)288 yds
Punt return averageBobby Lee (New Mexico)19.4
Kickoff return yardsMax McGee (Tulane)371 yds
Kickoff return averageCarl Bolt (Wash. & Lee)27.1

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

Atlantic Coast Conference
Duke and Maryland (shared)
Big Seven
Oklahoma
Big Ten
Illinois and Michigan State (shared)
Border Conference
Texas Tech
Mid-American Conference
Ohio
Missouri Valley Conference
Oklahoma State
Pacific Coast Conference
UCLA
Skyline Conference
Utah
Southeastern Conference
Alabama
Southern Conference
West Virginia
Southwest Conference
Rice and Texas (shared)

Small college

California Collegiate Athletic Association
Cal Poly
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
North Carolina Central
Gulf States Conference
Louisiana Tech, SE Louisiana and Northwestern State (shared)
Indiana Collegiate Conference
Butler
Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Central Michigan
Lone Star Conference
East Texas A&M
North Central Conference
South Dakota State
North State Conference
East Carolina
Ohio Valley Conference
Tennessee Tech
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
Idaho State
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Florida A&M
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Prairie View A&M
Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference
Abilene Christian
Yankee Conference
Rhode Island

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

11 playersAll 9 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1953 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1953 All-America teams page.

The 1953 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

From the newspapers

The Evening star's story: Georgia Tech Clicks On Rodgers Passes In Sugar Bowl Rout
The bowl10Georgia Tech 42, 11West Virginia 191953 Georgia Tech · 1953 West VirginiaEvening star, January 2, 1954, page 10
Read the text

Georgia Tech Clicks On Rodgers Passes In Sugar Bowl Rout NEW ORLEANS. Jan. 2. - Georgia Tech. its attack hinged on speedy end sweeps in the regular football season, used passes for a 42–⁠19 Sugar Bowl victory over ambitious West Virginia. Quarterback Pepper Rodgers, who threw only SO passes all season. completed is of 26 yes terday to provide the offensive power in Techs smashing of the Mountaineers. His deadly aerial offensive. coupled with his CAL culated mixing of plays. earned him the award as the games outstanding player. West Virginia Coach Art Lewis, his eyes filled with tears after the game, said: “We just couldn’t stop those passes and we made too many mistakes. We got beat by a damned good football team” Georgia Tech surprised the 10000 fans when Rodgers elected to pass on the first play, an effort good for 10 yards to Fullback Glenn Turner. Eight plays later. Rodgers nailed End Sam Hensley in the West Vireinia end zone with a 21-yard toss and Tech had a lead it never surrendered. The Engineers scored again in the first period on a Rodgers pass to End Jimmy Durham. West Virginia came within striking distance in the second quarter when Halfback Danny Williams turned the Tech flank for a touchdown to narrow the score to 1916. But Georgia Tech. alternating between a steady ground thrust and a dazzling aerial display, raised the score to 20–⁠6 Just before the half when Rodgers shot a pass to End Henry Hair for the touchdown. Tech added a field goal by Rodgers and a 23-yard touch down run by Leon Hardeman to take an insurmountable lead in the third quarter. West Virginia got two touch downs in the fourth quarter when Halfback Joe Marconi drove over from the l and Fullback Tommy Altman crashed over from l yard out. However, Tech scores by Half back Larry Ruffin. who went 43 yards down the sidelines, and Billy Teas 9-yard dash offset the threat. Each team had one touch down nullified by penalties.

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, 195410Georgia Tech 42, 11West Virginia 19Sugar Bowl
Jan 1, 19543Michigan State 28, 5UCLA 20Rose Bowl
Jan 1, 19544Oklahoma 7, 1Maryland 0Orange Bowl
Jan 1, 19548Rice 28, Alabama 6Cotton Bowl
Jan 1, 195414Texas Tech 35, 16Auburn 13Gator Bowl