CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1951 Colorado

7–⁠3 (5–⁠1 Big Seven), coached by Dallas Ward.

Schedule and results

Colorado in 1951, game by game: won vs. Colorado State 28–13; lost at Northwestern 14–35; won vs. No. 20 Kansas 35–27; won vs. Missouri 34–13; won at Kansas State 20–7; lost at Oklahoma 14–55; won vs. Iowa State 47–20; won vs. Utah 54–0; won at Nebraska 36–14; lost at No. 2 Michigan State 7–45+54−41Won 28–13 vs. Colorado State+15Colorado StateLost 14–35 at Northwestern-21NorthwesternWon 35–27 vs. No. 20 Kansas+8No. 20 KansasWon 34–13 vs. Missouri+21MissouriWon 20–7 at Kansas State+13Kansas StateLost 14–55 at Oklahoma-41OklahomaWon 47–20 vs. Iowa State+27Iowa StateWon 54–0 vs. Utah+54UtahWon 36–14 at Nebraska+22NebraskaLost 7–45 at No. 2 Michigan State-38No. 2 Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 22vsColorado StateW 28–⁠1357%
Sep 29atNorthwesternL 14–⁠3539%
Oct 6vs20KansasW 35–⁠2746%
Oct 13vsMissouriW 34–⁠1365%
Oct 20atKansas StateW 20–⁠777%
Oct 27atOklahomaL 14–⁠5527%
Nov 3vsIowa StateW 47–⁠2063%
Nov 10vsUtahW 54–⁠072%
Nov 17atNebraskaW 36–⁠1465%
Nov 24at2Michigan StateL 7–⁠4524%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan State 45–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Big Seven.

In program history: The 45th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1951.

Record
7–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠1 2nd in Big Seven
AP final
Unranked
Points
289–⁠229
Coach
Dallas Ward
Elo
1588 +86 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
6.3 No. 43 of 116 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1952

The 1952 draft
Rd 4Merwin Hodel BNew York Giants
Rd 5Jack Jorgenson OTNew York Yanks

All-Big Seven

4 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Chuck MosherEAP-1; UP-2
  • Don BranbyEAP-1
  • Jack JorgensonOTAP-1; UP-1
  • Tom BrookshierB

Second team

  • Woody SheltonBUP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1951 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1951 Big Seven standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma6–⁠08–⁠210
Colorado5–⁠17–⁠3
Kansas4–⁠28–⁠2
Iowa State2–⁠44–⁠4–⁠1
Kansas State1–⁠4–⁠11–⁠7–⁠1
Nebraska1–⁠4–⁠11–⁠8–⁠1
Missouri1–⁠52–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.