1944 college football season

1944 college football season
First AP No. 1 of season	Notre Dame [1]
Number of bowls	5
Champion(s)	Army (AP)
Heisman	Les Horvath (halfback/quarterback, Ohio State)
←  1943  · football seasons ·  1945  →

The 1944 college football season was the 76th season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Competition included schools from the Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Six Conference, the Southern Conference, the Southwestern Conference, and numerous smaller conferences and independent programs.

The season was played at the height of World War II, starting less than three months after the Normandy landings and as battles raged throughout Europe and the Pacific. As in 1943, the Associated Press poll included service teams, drawn from flight schools and training centers which were preparing men for fighting in the war. Half of the final top 20 teams were composed of service teams, in addition to the Army and Navy service academies. Many colleges that had suspended their programs in 1943 returned to competition in 1944, including the entire SEC.

The teams ranked highest in the final Associated Press poll in December 1944 were:

Rank	Team	Record	Notes
1	Army	9–0	Voted No. 1 by 95 of 121 writers in the final AP poll. Halfback Glenn Davis led nation with 120 points scored and finished second in Heisman voting. Fullback Doc Blanchard finished third in Heisman voting. Davis and Blanchard were consensus All-Americans. The Cadets ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring offense (56.0 points per game), No. 2 in total offense (430.8 yards per game), and No. 4 in total defense (129.1 yards per game).
2	Ohio State	9–0	Big Ten champion. Halfback/quarterback Les Horvath won the 1944 Heisman Trophy. Horvath, guard Bill Hackett, and end Jack Dugger were consensus All-Americans. Retroactively selected national champion by National Championship Foundation and Sagarin Ratings.
3	Randolph Field	9–0	Texas air field team featuring Glenn Dobbs, Bill Dudley, Pete Layden. Ranked No. 2 nationally in total defense (110.8 yards per game) and scoring offense (42.3 points per game) and No. 3 in total offense (377.0 yards per game). Defeated Second Air Force in Treasury Bond Bowl.
4	Navy	6–3	Tackle Don Whitmire and halfback Bob Jenkins finished fourth and seventh, respectively, in Heisman Trophy voting. Whitmire and guard Ben Chase were consensus All-Americans. Ranked No. 2 nationally in rushing defense (allowing only 53.8 yards per game).
5	Bainbridge NTS	10–0	Naval training center in Maryland. Players included Charlie Justice
6	Iowa Pre-Flight	10–1	Navy pre-flight school at University of Iowa.
7	USC	7–0–2	PCC champion. Shut out victory over Tennessee in 1945 Rose Bowl. Tackle John Ferraro was a consensus All-American.
8	Michigan	8–2	Fullback Don Lund team MVP. Tackle Milan Lazetich a second-team All-American.
9	Notre Dame	8–2	Halfback Bob Kelly finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting. Halfback Creighton Miller was a consensus All-American.
10	March Field	7–2–2	Fourth Air Force base in Riverside, California.

The year's statistical leaders included Bob Fenimore of Oklahoma A&M with 1,758 yards of total offense, Wayne Williams of Minnesota with 911 rushing yards, Paul Rickards of Pittsburgh with 997 passing yards, Reid Moseley of Georgia with 424 receiving yards, and Glenn Davis of Army with 120 points scored.

Season timeline

September

On September 16 the Great Lakes Naval Training Center team defeated Fort Sheridan, 62–0, before a crowd of 25,000 at its base north of Chicago. Michigan beat Iowa Pre-Flight, 12–7 before a crowd of 22,000 in Ann Arbor.

September 23 Great Lakes won at Purdue, 27–18. In Milwaukee, Michigan beat Marquette 14–0. At San Antonio, Randolph Field defeated Abilene Field, 67–0.

September 30 Notre Dame won at Pittsburgh 58–0. Great Lakes and Illinois played to a 26–26 tie. Michigan lost to Indiana, 20–0. In Houston, Randolph Field beat Rice 59–0. Army beat North Carolina, 46–0. North Carolina Pre-Flight, quarterbacked by Otto Graham (formerly of Northwestern, and a future Cleveland Browns star) upset Navy, 21–14. ^[2]

October

October 7 Notre Dame beat Tulane 26–0 and Army defeated Brown 59–7. In games between service teams and colleges, the servicemen triumphed, as North Carolina Pre-Flight won at Duke, 13–6, Great Lakes won at Northwestern 25–0, and Randolph Field won at Texas 42–6. In the poll that followed, Notre Dame was first and Army third, with service teams occupying the other spots in the top five: No. 2 North Carolina Pre-Flight, No. 4 Randolph Field, and No. 5 Great Lakes.

October 14 In Boston, No. 1 Notre Dame beat Dartmouth, 64–0. No. 2 North Carolina Pre-Flight was tied by Virginia, 13–13. No. 3 Army beat Pittsburgh, 69–7. No. 4 Randolph Field, quarterbacked by “Bullet Bill” Dudley, beat SMU at home in San Antonio, 41–0. ^[3] No. 5 Great Lakes beat Western Michigan 38–0. No. 8 Ohio State won at No. 19 Wisconsin, 20–7 and No. 11 Iowa Pre-Flight won at No. 7 Purdue, 13–6. N.C. Pre-Flight and Great Lakes fell out of the top five, which was now No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Army, No. 3 Randolph Field, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 Iowa Pre-Flight.

October 21 No. 1 Notre Dame defeated Wisconsin 28–13. No. 2 Army beat the Coast Guard Academy, 76–0. No. 3 Randolph Field and Camp Polk played a Sunday game at Fort Worth, Texas, with Randolph's Ramblers winning 67–0. No. 4 Ohio State beat No. 6 Great Lakes, 26–6. No. 5 Iowa Pre-Flight defeated Fort Warren, 30–0. In Atlanta, No. 8 Georgia Tech defeated No. 9 Navy 17–15 and moved up to No. 5 behind Notre Dame, Army, Randolph Field, and Ohio State.

October 28 No. 1 Notre Dame won at No. 14 Illinois, 13–7. At a war bonds fundraiser at the Polo Grounds in New York, No. 2 Army beat Duke 27–7. No. 3 Randolph Field defeated Morris Field 19–0. No. 4 Ohio State beat Minnesota 34–14. No. 5 Georgia Tech reached 5–0–0 after a 13–7 win over the flight training school located on the U.Ga. campus, Georgia Pre-Flight. Army moved up to No. 1 in the next poll—the first time since the 1942 season that Notre Dame did not hold the top spot. The Fighting Irish fell to No. 2, followed by No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Randolph Field, and No. 5 Georgia Tech.

November

November 4 No. 1 Army rolled over Villanova, 83–0. In six games, the Cadets had outscored their opponents by an average of 60 to 3. In Baltimore, No. 2 Notre Dame lost to No. 6 Navy, 32–13. No. 3 Ohio State beat Indiana 21–7. No. 4 Randolph Field beat North Texas Agricultural (later called the University of Texas-Arlington) 68–0. No. 5 Georgia Tech lost at Duke, 19–13. The new top five were No. 1 Army, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Navy, No. 4 Randolph Field, and No. 5 Notre Dame.

November 11 At Yankee Stadium in New York, No. 1 Army crushed No. 5 Notre Dame, 59–0. No. 2 Ohio State beat Pittsburgh 54–19. No. 3 Navy beat Cornell, 48–0. No. 4 Randolph Field defeated Maxwell Field, 25–0. No. 8 Michigan, which beat No. 10 Illinois 14–0, took Notre Dame's place at No. 5 behind No. 1 Army, No. 2 Randolph Field, No. 3 Navy, and No. 4 Ohio State.

November 18 In Philadelphia, No. 1 Army beat Pennsylvania, 62–7. In Georgetown, Texas, No. 2 Randolph Field beat Southwestern University, 54–0. No. 3 Navy defeated No. 14 Purdue in Baltimore, 32–0. In Cleveland, before a crowd of 83,627 fans, No. 4 Ohio State beat Illinois 26–12. No. 5 Michigan defeated Wisconsin, 14–0. In a Sunday game between service teams, No. 6 United States Naval Training Center Bainbridge, Maryland defeated Camp Lejeune, 33–6. The next top five was No. 1 Army, No. 2 Navy, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Randolph Field, and No. 5 Bainbridge Naval.

November 25 No. 1 Army (8–0–0) and No. 2 Navy (6–2–0) were both idle as they prepared for the annual Army–Navy Game. No. 3 Ohio State beat No. 6 Michigan 18–14. The next day, No. 4 Randolph Field beat Amarillo Field, 33–0, and No. 5 Bainbridge Naval beat No. 14 Camp Peary, 21–13. The top five remained the same.

December

December 2 No. 1 Army and No. 2 Navy met in Baltimore. Army's offense was held to its lowest score of the season, but won 23–7 to cap a perfect season. Army had scored 59 points or more in seven of its nine games, with a 504 to 35 aggregate over its opponents. No. 3 Ohio State had finished its season and moved up to No. 2 after Navy's loss, while No. 4 Randolph Field and No. 5 Bainbridge Naval were idle. After the release of the final poll, Randolph Field participated in two more games for the sale of bonds. In Los Angeles, the "Ramblers" beat the Fourth Air Force team (March Field), 20–7, on December 10. Six days later, Randolph Field met the Second Air Force Superbombers at the Polo Grounds in New York for the “Treasury Bond Bowl”, and won 13–6 to complete their season at 11–0–0. Their final ranking was No. 3, ahead of No. 4 Navy and No. 5 Bainbridge Naval.

Bowl games

Bowl game	Winning team		Losing team
Rose Bowl	No. 7 USC	25	No. 12 Tennessee	0
Sugar Bowl	No. 11 Duke	29	Alabama	26
Orange Bowl	Tulsa	26	No. 13 Georgia Tech	12
Cotton Bowl Classic	Oklahoma A&M	34	TCU	0
Sun Bowl	Southwestern (TX)	35	Pumas CU	0

Conference standings

For this article, major conferences defined as those including multiple state flagship public universities.

Major conference standings

1944 Big Six Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Oklahoma $ 4 – 0 – 1 6 – 3 – 1 Iowa State 3 – 1 – 1 6 – 1 – 1 Missouri 2 – 1 – 2 3 – 5 – 2 Nebraska 2 – 3 – 0 2 – 6 – 0 Kansas 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 1 Kansas State 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 5 – 2 $ – Conference champion	1944 Big Ten Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 2 Ohio State $ 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 0 – 0 No. 8 Michigan 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Purdue 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Minnesota 3 – 2 – 1 5 – 3 – 1 Indiana 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 No. 15 Illinois 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 1 Wisconsin 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Northwestern 0 – 5 – 1 1 – 7 – 1 Iowa 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 7 – 0 + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	1944 Mountain States Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Colorado $ 2 – 0 – 0 6 – 2 – 0 Denver 2 – 1 – 1 4 – 3 – 2 Utah 1 – 2 – 1 5 – 2 – 1 Utah State 0 – 2 – 0 3 – 3 – 0 $ – Conference champion
1944 New England Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T New Hampshire + 1 – 1 – 0 1 – 3 – 0 Maine + 1 – 1 – 0 2 – 2 – 0 Connecticut 0 – 0 – 0 7 – 1 – 0 + – Conference co-champions	1944 Pacific Coast Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 7 USC $ 3 – 0 – 2 8 – 0 – 2 Washington 1 – 1 – 0 5 – 3 – 0 UCLA 1 – 2 – 1 4 – 5 – 1 California 1 – 3 – 1 3 – 6 – 1 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1944 Southeastern Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 13 Georgia Tech $ 4 – 0 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 No. 12 Tennessee 5 – 0 – 1 7 – 1 – 1 Georgia 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Alabama 3 – 1 – 2 5 – 2 – 2 Mississippi State 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 2 – 0 LSU 2 – 3 – 1 2 – 5 – 1 Ole Miss 2 – 3 – 0 2 – 6 – 0 Tulane 1 – 2 – 0 4 – 3 – 0 Kentucky 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Florida 0 – 3 – 0 4 – 3 – 0 Auburn 0 – 4 – 0 4 – 4 – 0 Vanderbilt 0 – 0 – 0 3 – 0 – 1 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll
1944 Southern Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 11 Duke $ 4 – 0 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Wake Forest 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 1 – 0 Clemson 3 – 1 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 NC State 3 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 0 William & Mary 2 – 1 – 1 5 – 2 – 1 Maryland 1 – 1 – 0 1 – 7 – 1 South Carolina 1 – 3 – 0 3 – 4 – 2 VMI 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 North Carolina 0 – 3 – 1 1 – 7 – 1 Richmond 0 – 4 – 0 2 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1944 Southwest Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T TCU $ 3 – 1 – 1 7 – 3 – 1 Texas 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Arkansas 2 – 2 – 1 5 – 5 – 1 Texas A&M 2 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 SMU 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Rice 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Independents

1944 Eastern college football independents records v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Army   –   9 – 0 – 0 Yale   –   7 – 0 – 1 Harvard   –   5 – 1 – 0 Bucknell   –   7 – 2 – 1 Penn State   –   6 – 3 – 0 Penn   –   5 – 3 – 0 Boston College   –   4 – 3 – 0 Cornell   –   5 – 4 – 0 Villanova   –   4 – 4 – 0 Drexel   –   2 – 2 – 0 Pittsburgh   –   4 – 5 – 0 Brown   –   3 – 4 – 1 Temple   –   2 – 4 – 2 Syracuse   –   2 – 4 – 1 Princeton   –   1 – 2 – 0 Dartmouth   –   2 – 5 – 1 Colgate   –   2 – 5 – 0 NYU   –   2 – 5 – 0 Columbia   –   2 – 6 – 0 Tufts   –   1 – 4 – 1 Franklin & Marshall   –   1 – 8 – 0 CCNY   –   0 – 7 – 0 Rankings from AP Poll	1944 Midwestern college football independents records v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Miami (OH)   –   8 – 1 – 0 Michigan State   –   6 – 1 – 0 No. 9 Notre Dame   –   8 – 2 – 0 Central Michigan   –   5 – 2 – 0 Wichita   –   5 – 2 – 1 Bowling Green   –   5 – 3 – 0 Western Michigan   –   4 – 3 – 0 Wayne   –   1 – 1 – 0 Ohio Wesleyan   –   1 – 8 – 1 Marquette   –   1 – 7 – 0 Rankings from AP Poll	1944 Southern college football independents records v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Virginia   –   6 – 1 – 2 No. 4 Navy   –   6 – 3 – 0 West Virginia   –   5 – 3 – 1 Delaware State   –   2 – 3 – 0 Tennessee Tech   –   1 – 2 – 0 Miami (FL)   –   1 – 7 – 1 Millsaps   –   1 – 5 – 0 Sewanee   –   0 – 3 – 1 Howard (AL)   –   0 – 5 – 0 Rankings from AP Poll
1944 Western college football independents records v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Nevada   –   4 – 4 – 0 Idaho Southern Branch   –   4 – 5 – 0 Pacific (CA)   –   3 – 8 – 0 Saint Mary's   –   0 – 5 – 0	1944 military service football records v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 3 Randolph Field   –   11 – 0 – 0 No. 5 Bainbridge   –   10 – 0 – 0 No. 18 Fort Pierce   –   9 – 0 – 0 No. 13 Norman NAS   –   6 – 0 – 0 No. 6 Iowa Pre-Flight   –   10 – 1 – 0 No. 16 El Toro Marines   –   8 – 1 – 0 Hondo AAF   –   7 – 1 – 0 Bunker Hill NAS   –   6 – 1 – 0 Lincoln AAF   –   6 – 1 – 0 Blackland AAF   –   7 – 1 – 1 Keesler Field   –   8 – 1 – 2 No. 17 Great Lakes Navy   –   9 – 2 – 1 No. 10 March Field   –   7 – 2 – 2 Third Air Force   –   8 – 3 – 0 North Carolina Pre-Flight   –   6 – 2 – 1 Atlantic City NAS   –   5 – 2 – 0 Camp Peary   –   5 – 2 – 0 Tonopah AAF   –   5 – 2 – 0 Daniel Field   –   7 – 3 – 0 No. 20 Second Air Force   –   10 – 4 – 1 San Francisco Coast Guard   –   4 – 2 – 1 Ellington Field   –   6 – 3 – 2 Amarillo AAF   –   5 – 3 – 0 Alameda Coast Guard   –   4 – 2 – 2 Coronado Amphibious   –   2 – 1 – 1 Olathe NAS   –   4 – 2 – 2 Selman Field   –   4 – 2 – 2 Galveston AAF   –   5 – 3 – 2 Fleet City   –   6 – 4 – 1 Jacksonville NAS   –   4 – 3 – 0 San Diego NTS   –   4 – 3 – 1 Camp Beale   –   5 – 4 – 0 Lubbock AAF   –   5 – 4 – 0 Fort Warren   –   5 – 4 – 1 Fort Monroe   –   5 – 5 – 0 Klamath Falls Marines   –   2 – 2 – 1 Maxwell Field   –   5 – 5 – 0 Minter Field   –   3 – 3 – 0 No. 19 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight   –   4 – 4 – 0 Fourth Infantry   –   3 – 4 – 2 Georgia Pre-Flight   –   4 – 5 – 0 Third Infantry   –   4 – 5 – 0 Bergstrom Field   –   3 – 4 – 0 Ottumwa NAS   –   3 – 4 – 0 Camp Lee   –   3 – 5 – 0 Cherry Point Marines   –   3 – 6 – 0 Chatham Field   –   2 – 8 – 1 Sampton NTS   –   2 – 7 – 0 Miami NTC   –   2 – 8 – 0 Bryan AAF   –   1 – 7 – 0 Fairfield-Suisun AAB   –   1 – 7 – 0 Richmond AAB   –   0 – 10 – 1 Camp Ellis   –   0 – 5 – 0 South Plains AAF   –   0 – 8 – 0 Rankings from AP Poll

Minor conferences

Conference	Champion(s)	Record
California Collegiate Athletic Association	No champion	—
Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association	Morgan State College	4–0
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Far Western Conference	No champion	—
Indiana Intercollegiate Conference	Wabash College	4–0–1
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Lone Star Conference	No champion	—
Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association	No champion	—
Nebraska College Athletic Conference	No champion	—
New Mexico Intercollegiate Conference	No champion	—
North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
North Dakota College Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Ohio Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Pacific Northwest Conference	No champion	—
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	No champion	—
South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference	No champion	—
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	Florida A&M College	5–0
Southwestern Athletic Conference	Langston Texas College Wiley (TX)	5–1
State Teacher's College Conference of Minnesota	No champion	—
Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference	No champion	—
Washington Intercollegiate Conference	No champion	—
Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference	No champion	—

Minor conference standings

1944 Border Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Texas Tech 2 – 0 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 West Texas State 1 – 1 – 0 4 – 3 – 0 New Mexico 0 – 2 – 0 1 – 7 – 0 Arizona State–Flagstaff 0 – 0 – 0 2 – 2 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1944 Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Morgan State $ 4 – 0 – 0 6 – 1 – 0 Virginia State 4 – 1 – 1 5 – 2 – 1 Johnson C. Smith 3 – 0 – 2 5 – 0 – 3 North Carolina A&T 1 – 3 – 1 4 – 4 – 1 Hampton 1 – 4 – 1 1 – 5 – 1 Howard 1 – 2 – 0 1 – 4 – 0 Lincoln (PA) 1 – 3 – 0 2 – 4 – 1 West Virginia State 0 – 2 – 1 1 – 4 – 1 $ – Conference champion	1944 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Northern Illinois State $ 3 – 0 – 0 7 – 0 – 0 Illinois State Normal 1 – 0 – 0 3 – 4 – 1 Southern Illinois 2 – 1 – 0 3 – 3 – 0 Eastern Illinois 1 – 2 – 0 1 – 3 – 0 Western Illinois 0 – 4 – 0 0 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion
1944 Middle Three Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Lafayette $ 4 – 0 – 0 6 – 1 – 0 Rutgers 2 – 2 – 0 3 – 2 – 0 Lehigh 0 – 4 – 0 0 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1944 Missouri Valley Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Oklahoma A&M $ 1 – 0 – 0 8 – 1 – 0 Tulsa 0 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Drake 0 – 0 – 0 7 – 2 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1944 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Texas College + 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 1 – 0 Wiley + 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 1 – 0 Langston + 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 2 – 1 Southern 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 4 – 0 Samuel Huston 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 5 – 0 Prairie View State 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Arkansas AM&N 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 7 – 0 + – Conference co-champions

Rankings

Main article: 1944 NCAA football rankings

Awards and honors

All-Americans

Main article: 1944 College Football All-America Team

The consensus All-America team included:

Position	Name	Height	Weight (lbs.)	Class	Hometown	Team
QB	Les Horvath	5'10"	173	Sr.	Parma, Ohio	Ohio State
HB	Glenn Davis	5'9"	175	So.	Claremont, California	Army
HB	Bob Jenkins	6'1"	195	Jr.	Talladega, Alabama	Navy
FB	Doc Blanchard	6'0"	205	Jr.	Bishopville, South Carolina	Army
E	Phil Tinsley	6'1"	188	Sr.	Bessemer, Alabama	Georgia Tech
E	Paul Walker	6'3"	203	Jr.	Springfield, Missouri	Yale
T	Don Whitmire	5'11"	215	Sr.	Giles Co., Tennessee	Alabama
G	Bill Hackett	5'9"	191	Jr.	London, Ohio	Ohio State
C	John Tavener	6'0"	220	Sr.	Newark, Ohio	Indiana
G	Ben Chase	6'1"	195		San Diego, California	Navy
T	John Ferraro	6'4"	245	So.	Los Angeles, California	USC
E	Jack Dugger	6'3"	210	Sr.	Canton, Ohio	Ohio State

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

Player	School	Position	Total
Les Horvath	Ohio State	HB/QB	412
Glenn Davis	Army	HB	287
Doc Blanchard	Army	FB	237
Don Whitmire	Navy	OT	115
Buddy Young	Illinois	HB	105
Bob Kelly	Notre Dame	HB	76
Bob Jenkins	Navy	HB	60
Doug Kenna	Army	QB	56
Bob Fenimore	Oklahoma A&M	HB	54
Shorty McWilliams	Mississippi State	HB	37

Statistical leaders

Team leaders

Total offense

Rank	Team	Games played	Total plays	Yards gained	Yards per game
1	Tulsa	9	576	3912	434.7
2	Army	9	501	3877	430.8
3	Randolph Field	10	584	3770	377.0
4	Auburn	6*	399	2191	365.2
5	Ohio State	9	635	3264	362.7
6	Illinois	10	521	3559	355.9
7	Notre Dame	10	690	3552	355.2
8	Georgia	9*	680	3193	354.8
9	Navy	9	620	3159	351.0
10	Tulane	7	463	2381	340.1
11	Indiana	10	626	3381	338.1
12	Great Lakes Navy	12	733	3936	328.0
13	Minnesota	9	511	2928	325.3
14	Oklahoma A&M	8	435	2576	322.0
15	Texas A&M	11	656	3510	319.1
16	Virginia	9	558	2870	318.8

^[4]

(*) One game not reported (**) Two or more games not reported

Total defense

Rank	Team	Games played	Total plays	Yards gained	Yards per game
1	Virginia	9	394	872	96.8
2	Randolph Field	10	516	1108	110.8
3	Michigan State	6	286	692	115.3
4	Army	9	499	1162	129.1
5	Wake Forest	7**	303	907	129.6
6	Navy	9	447	1227	136.3
7	Yale	5**	260	707	141.4
8	Alabama	7*	365	1008	144.0
9	USC	9	434	1385	153.9
10	Texas A&M	11	607	1754	159.5
11	Temple	7*	330	1245	177.9
12	Tulsa	9	436	1628	180.1
13	TCU	10	589	1874	187.4
14	Tennessee	8*	395	1526	190.8
15	South Carolina	9	481	1758	195.3
16	Penn State	9	480	1770	196.7

^[4]

(*) One game not reported (**) Two or more games not reported

Rushing offense

Rank	Team	Games	Rushes	Yards gained	Yards per game
1	Army	9	381	2687	298.6
2	Tulane	7	385	2074	296.3
3	Illinois	10	449	2940	294.0
4	Auburn	6*	319	1752	292.0
5	Ohio State	9	542	2506	278.4
6	Virginia	9	481	2468	274.2
7	Minnesota	9	452	2381	264.6
8	Randolph Field	10	424	2574	257.4
9	Michigan	10	528	2541	254.1
10	Navy	9	470	2166	240.7
11	Washington	7	289	1680	240.0
12	Iowa State	6**	258	1436	239.3
13	Notre Dame	10	509	2323	232.3
14	Great Lakes Navy	12	553	2770	230.8
15	Tulsa	9	398	2055	228.3
16	Purdue	10	534	2277	227.7
17	USC	9	465	2024	224.9

^[4]

(*) One game not reported (**) Two or more games not reported

Rushing defense

Rank	Team	Games	Rushes	Yards gained	Yards per game
1	Randolph Field	10	289	296	29.6
2	Navy	9	282	484	53.8
3	Virginia	9	276	499	55.4
4	Army	9	298	518	57.6
5	Texas A&M	11	390	845	76.7
6	Tulsa	9	249	737	81.9
7	Wake Forest	7**	207	728	81.9
8	Yale	5**	181	414	82.8
9	USC	9	277	759	84.3
10	Michigan State	6	220	532	88.7

^[4]

(*) One game not reported (**) Two or more games not reported

Passing offense

Rank	Team	Games	Att.	Compl.	Int.	Pct. Compl.	Yards	Yds/Game
1	Tulsa	9	178	102	11	.573	1857	206.3
2	Georgia Tech	6**	125	53	10	.424	852	142.0
3	Georgia	9*	153	73	13	.477	1244	138.2
4	Army	9	120	64	8	.533	1190	132.2
5	Oklahoma A&M	8	110	63	8	.573	1008	126.0
6	Pittsburgh	9	212	97	28	.458	1117	124.1
7	Notre Dame	10	181	81	16	.448	1229	122.9
8	Texas	9	166	88	12	.530	1092	121.3
9	Randolph Field	10	160	66	12	.413	1196	119.6
10	Texas A&M	11	177	88	18	.497	1300	118.2

(*) One game not reported (**) Two or more games not reported

Scoring

1. Army - 56.0 points per game
2. Randolph Field - 42.3 points per game
3. Tulsa - 38.0 points per game
4. Washington - 36.6 points per game
5. Second Air Force - 34.2 points per game
6. Ohio State - 31.9 points per game
7. Alabama - 30.2 points per game
9. Great Lakes - 29.0 points per game
10. Iowa Pre-Flight - 28.5 points per game

Individual leaders

Total offense

Rank	Player	Team	Games	Plays	Rush Yds	Pass Yds	Total Yds	Avg Gain per Play
1	Bob Fenimore	Oklahoma A&M	8	241	897	861	1758
2	Wayne Williams	Minnesota	9	176	911	378	1289
3	Les Horvath	Ohio State	9	194	905	345	1250
4	Frank Dancewicz	Notre Dame	10	231	841	989	1220
5	Al Dekdebrun	Cornell	9	258	398	648	1046

^[5]

Rushing

Rank	Player	Team	Games	Rushes	Net Yds	Avg Gain per Play
1	Wayne Williams	Minnesota	9	136	911	6.70
2	Les Horvath	Ohio State	9	163	905	5.55
3	Bob Fenimore	Oklahoma A&M	8	162	897	5.54
4	Kuykendall	Auburn	7*	127	841	6.62
5	Young	Illinois	10	94	840	8.94
6	Dimancheff	Purdue	10	175	830	4.74
7	Patterson	Illinois	10	131	790	5.27
8	Duda	Virginia	9	125	716	5.72
9	Jones	Tulane	7	140	700	5.00
10	Kelly	Notre Dame	10	136	681	5.01
11	Glenn Davis	Army	9	58	667	11.50

^[6]

Passing

Rank	Player	Team	Games	Att.	Compl.	Int.	Pct. Compl.	Yds.
1	Paul Rickards	Pittsburgh	9	178	84	20	.472	997
2	Frank Dancewicz	Notre Dame	10	153	68	12	.444	989
3	Cashion	Texas A&M	11	113	59	12	.522	852
4	Bob Waterfield	UCLA	10	136	55	19	.404	901
5	Al Dekdebrun	Cornell	9	121	53	13	.438	648

^[6]

Receiving

Rank	Player	Team	Games	Receptions	Receiving Yards
1	Reid Moseley	Georgia	9	32	506
2	Armstrong	Oklahoma A&M	8	26	325
3	White	Tulsa	9	25	450
4	Howell	Texas A&M	11	24	394
5	Folsom	SMU	10	21	246

^[7]

Scoring

Rank	Player	Team	Touchdowns	PAT	FG	Points
1	Glenn Davis	Army	20	0	0	120
2	Charlie Justice	Bainbridge	14	0	0	84
3	Kelley	Notre Dame	13	6	0	84
4	McWilliams	Mississippi State	14	0	0	84
5	Perry	Compton College	14	0	0	84

^[8]

References

1. "October 9, 1944 AP Football Poll". CollegePollArchive.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
2. “Navy Upset”, The Amarillo Sunday News-Globe, Oct. 1, 1944, p17
3. “Randolph Field Steamrolls Over Southern Methodist 41–0”, Amarillo Sunday Globe-Times, Oct. 15, 1944, pB-6
4. W.J. Bingham, ed. (1945). The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1945. A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 72.
5. W.J. Bingham, ed. (1945). The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1945. A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 74.
6. W.J. Bingham, ed. (1945). The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1945. A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 75.
7. W.J. Bingham, ed. (1945). The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1945. A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 76.
8. W.J. Bingham, ed. (1945). The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1945. A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 77.