The 1956 season
Oklahoma finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 10–0 under Bud Wilkinson. Iowa also claims the national title. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 3 Tennessee 6, No. 2 Georgia Tech 0 (Nov 10, 1956). 34 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents. Share
Heisman Trophy: Paul Hornung, QB, Notre Dame.
The Heisman vote: Paul Hornung 1,066 points, Johnny Majors 994
| Player | Points | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Hornung QB, Notre Dame | 1,066 | 197 | 162 | 151 | |
| Johnny Majors RB, Tennessee | 994 | 172 | 171 | 136 | |
| Tommy McDonald RB, Oklahoma | 973 | 205 | 122 | 114 | |
| Jerry Tubbs C, Oklahoma | 724 | 121 | 137 | 87 | |
| Jim Brown RB, Syracuse | 518 * | 118 | 68 | 71 | |
| Ron Kramer E, Michigan | 518 | 70 | 104 | 100 | |
| John Brodie QB, Stanford | 281 | 39 | 52 | 60 | |
| Jim Parker OG, Ohio State | 248 | 34 | 51 | 44 | |
| Ken Ploen QB, Iowa | 150 | 36 | 10 | 22 | |
| Jon Arnett RB, USC | 128 | 20 | 25 | 18 |
First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published. * The votes shown don’t add up to the points shown; the source has a typo in one of them.
Scoreboards
Final AP poll
| 1 | Oklahoma | Big Seven |
| 2 | Tennessee | Southeastern Conference |
| 3 | Iowa | Big Ten |
| 4 | Georgia Tech | Southeastern Conference |
| 5 | Texas A&M | Southwest Conference |
| 6 | Miami | Independent |
| 7 | Michigan | Big Ten |
| 8 | Syracuse | Independent |
| 9 | Michigan State | Big Ten |
| 10 | Oregon State | Pacific Coast Conference |
| 11 | Baylor | Southwest Conference |
| 12 | Minnesota | Big Ten |
| 13 | Pittsburgh | Independent |
| 14 | TCU | Southwest Conference |
| 15 | Ohio State | Big Ten |
| 16 | Navy | Independent |
| 17 | George Washington | Southern Conference |
| 18 | USC | Pacific Coast Conference |
| 19 | Clemson | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| 20 | Colorado | Big Seven |
Biggest upsets
| Oct 27, 1956 | Illinois 20, 1Michigan State 13 |
| Sep 22, 1956 | SMU 19, 3Notre Dame 13 |
| Oct 20, 1956 | Penn State 7, 5Ohio State 6 |
| Oct 27, 1956 | Minnesota 20, 5Michigan 7 |
| Sep 22, 1956 | Syracuse 26, 6Maryland 12 |
| Oct 27, 1956 | Stanford 27, 6USC 19 |
| Oct 6, 1956 | California 14, 7Pittsburgh 0 |
| Oct 27, 1956 | Arkansas 14, 10Ole Miss 0 |
| Nov 3, 1956 | UCLA 14, 10Stanford 13 |
| Nov 17, 1956 | 17Minnesota 14, 3Michigan State 13 |
| Oct 6, 1956 | Washington 28, 13Illinois 13 |
| Oct 20, 1956 | 19Tulane 10, 6Ole Miss 3 |
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
- Iowaunranked → No. 3
- Syracuseunranked → No. 8
- Oregon Stateunranked → No. 10
- Baylorunranked → No. 11
- Minnesotaunranked → No. 12
Fell
- Notre DameNo. 3 → unranked
- MarylandNo. 6 → unranked
- ArmyNo. 11 → unranked
- Ole MissNo. 13 → unranked
- StanfordNo. 14 → unranked
From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.
National leaders
| Passing yards | John Brodie (Stanford) | 1,633 yds |
|---|---|---|
| Passing touchdowns | John Brodie (Stanford) | 12 TD |
| Passer rating | Tom Flores (Pacific) | 147.5 |
| Rushing yards | Jim Crawford (Wyoming) | 1,104 yds |
| Rushing touchdowns | Clendon Thomas (Oklahoma) and Jim Brown (Syracuse) | 13 TD |
| Yards per carry | Tommy Lorino (Auburn) | 8.4 |
| Receptions | Art Powell (San José State) | 40 catches |
| Receiving yards | Bill Steiger (Washington State) | 607 yds |
| Yards per catch | Jim Morse (Notre Dame) | 22.1 |
| Points | Clendon Thomas (Oklahoma) | 108 pts |
| Total offense | John Brodie (Stanford) | 1,642 yds |
| Punt return yards | Billy Stacy (Mississippi State) | 290 yds |
| Punt return average | Ron Lind (Drake) | 19.1 |
| Kickoff return yards | Sam Woolwine (VMI) | 503 yds |
| Kickoff return average | Paul Hornung (Notre Dame) | 31.0 |
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
- Clemson
- Big Seven
- Oklahoma
- Big Ten
- Iowa
- Border Conference
- UTEP
- Ivy League
- Yale
- Mid-American Conference
- Bowling Green
- Missouri Valley Conference
- Houston
- Ohio Valley Conference
- Middle Tennessee
- Pacific Coast Conference
- Oregon State
- Skyline Conference
- Wyoming
- Southeastern Conference
- Tennessee
- Southern Conference
- West Virginia
- Southwest Conference
- Texas A&M
- Yankee Conference
- UConn
Small college
- California Collegiate Athletic Conference
- Fresno State
- Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- Delaware State, Morgan State and North Carolina Central (shared)
- Frontier Conference
- Northern Arizona
- Gulf Coast Conference
- North Texas
- Gulf States Conference
- SE Louisiana
- Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Central Michigan
- Lone Star Conference
- Sam Houston
- Midwestern Conference
- Tennessee State
- Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- St. Thomas (MN)
- Northern California Athletic Conference
- UC Davis
- Rocky Mountain Conference
- Montana State
- Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Florida A&M
- Southwestern Athletic Conference
- Texas Southern
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
- ERon Kramer, Michigan
- EJoe Walton, Pittsburgh
- OTJohn Witte, Oregon State
- OT/KLou Michaels, Kentucky
- OGJim Parker, Ohio State
- OGBill Glass, Baylor
- FB/C/LBJerry Tubbs, Oklahoma
- QBJohn Brodie, Stanford
- RBJim Brown, Syracuse
- RBJohnny Majors, Tennessee
- RBTommy McDonald, Oklahoma
Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1956 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1956 All-America teams page.
The 1956 awards
Every awardPlayer of the year
- HeismanPaul Hornung, QB, Notre Dame
- MaxwellTommy McDonald, RB, Oklahoma
By position
- OutlandJim Parker, OG, Ohio State
From the newspapers
Read the text
Georgia Tech Defeats Pitt, 21–14; West All Stars Surprise East 10 Brodie, Arnett Lead Victory: .Hornung Hot SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 20 lP. Quarterback John Brodie of Stanford and Halfback Jon Ar nett of Southern California COM bined passing and running tai ents today to give the West a 7–6 upset victory over the East in the 32d annual Shrine ALL Star football game. The two spearheaded an 85yard touchdown drive midway of
Bowls and playoff
Scoreboard| Dec 29, 1956 | 4Georgia Tech 21, 12Pittsburgh 14Gator Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1957 | 15Baylor 13, 2Tennessee 7Sugar Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1957 | 19Colorado 27, Clemson 21Orange Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1957 | 16George Washington 13, UTEP 0Sun Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1957 | 3Iowa 35, 11Oregon State 19Rose Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1957 | 14TCU 28, 8Syracuse 27Cotton Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1957 | West Texas 20, Southern Miss 13Tangerine Bowl |