SWC75
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1939
This year didn’t quite rise to the level of a controversy, although it looked as if it might much of the year. In fact, it looked like a repeat of the previous season. An SWC team, this time, Texas A&M, ran the table and wound up #1, although it took them a while to get there. Pittsburgh started out 3-0 and was ranked #1 in the initial poll but went on to lose four times. Pitt’s Chancellor had decided to de-emphasize and Jock Sutherland resigned in protest. Pitt wouldn’t become a national title contender again until 1963. Tennessee took over #1 the next week and held it for four weeks. The Aggies, who had started out #9, rose to #2. Then it week six, Tennessee and Texas A&M switched positions for reasons that are hard to understand. The Vols beat Vanderbilt 13-0 while the Aggies beat Rice 19-0. Then came the switch. Why? Tennessee did exactly what Duke did the previous year- complete the season undefeated, untied and unscored upon. But they were a much more potent offensive team, out-scoring their opposition 212-0. Ranked behind them were three more undefeated teams, Southern California Cornell and Tulane. USC had two ties and Tulane one. Cornell was ivy league but that didn’t mean in 1939 what it does to modern eyes. The Ivys didn’t de-emphasize until 1956 and their champions were regular visitors to the Top Ten before that when they had strong records. This Cornell team beat Penn State 47-0 and beat Ohio State in Columbus 23-14. They started out #12 and rose to #3 before being ranked #4 in the final rankings, in which Texas A&M got 55 first place votes, Tennessee 26, USC 9 and Cornell 16.
The Vols then again did exactly what Duke did the year before: they went to the Rose Bowl and lost to USC. Only it didn’t happen in the final minute. The Trojans dominated them 14-0, outgaining them 271-147. That knocked Tennessee out of it and USC, with those two ties wasn’t in it. Meanwhile Texas A&M, just like TCU the year before, went to the Sugar Bowl, not the Cotton Bowl . There they rallied to beat Tulane, 14-13. Cornell, of course, stayed home. Vautravers doesn’t even discuss Cornell and keeps them at #4 in his imaginary post bowl poll, even behind defeated Tennessee.
Fixing the 1939 AP Poll
I can’t see an idle Cornell jumping from #4 to #2 or #1 and I don’t think there would have been a clamor for A&M and Cornell to play a game a to prove who was #1. As I mentioned in my last post, I’m not going to make a poll for every year so I’ll skip this one and move on to one of the great years for this sort of controversy, 1940.
For the record, Texas A&M wound up 11-0-0 (212-31: 19-3) with a PDR of 1.73. They were the best team 5 of their opponents played. All opponents were ‘major’ and they had a combined record of 52-48-9 (52.0%). 11 of the 13 NCAA recognized selectors picked them as #1. Dickinson picked USC and Litkenhous picked Cornell. That pretty much defines a consensus national champion.
1940
You might recall that a couple of years ago on this board CTO had heard Boston College was bragging about the national championship they had won and wondering when Boston College ever won a national championship. This is the year they were talking about. And the Eagles did have a formidable team in 1940. They had a very formidable coach, one of the greatest ever, Frank Leahy, (this year got him the Notre Dame job) and they beat some formidable teams. But so did two other schools and that’s what gives us the delicious controversy.
Cornell actually started out #1 and held onto it for four weeks, then got overtaken by Minnesota. Then came the famous 5th down game at Dartmouth, where they had apparently scored the winning touchdown and celebrated the victory. But when they watched the game films they realized the confused officials had accidentally given them an extra down on the final play. In a situation that created an (unused) precedent for the 1961 Notre Dame Syracuse game, Cornell, with a #1 ranking and a 14 game winning streak, (and 18 game unbeaten streak) on the line- they had last lost to SU in Archbold Stadium in 1938- Cornell informed Dartmouth that, due to the mistake they were conceding the game to Dartmouth. If they had not done that, the NCAA was powerless to change the result of the game, as it had ended and rule #1 says that the score at the end of the game is the final score. In 1990, Colorado also won a game against Missouri on a fifth down play and refused to concede anything. They went on to win the National championship. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, Cornell took themselves completely out of the 1940 title picture by losing to Pennsylvania 20-22 the next week.
Minnesota was still coached by Bernie Biermann, the man who had coached them to three consecutive national championships in 1934-36. They had remained strong after that losing to Nebraska 9-14 and Notre Dame 6-7 in 1937 and Northwestern 3-6 and Notre Dame 0-19 in 1938 before losing four games by 20 total points in 1939. Then they came roaring back to the top of the rankings, going 16-0 and winning two more national titles for Bierman. The Big Ten was the most prestigious conference in those days and a Big Ten team with a perfect record was likely to be voted #1. They took over the #1 ranking in the 5th poll of 1940 because they’d just beaten #3 ranked Michigan and their Heisman Trophy winner, Tom Harmon, 7-6. They were #1 in 10 of the next 11 polls, just briefly surrendering #1 to Texas in 1941 before grabbing it for good. The Gopher’s Bruce Smith would be the 1941 Heisman winner.
Behind Minnesota in the 11/11/40 poll were Cornell, defending champion Texas A&M, Stanford, Tennessee, Michigan, Notre Dame, Boston College, Georgetown and northwestern. Minnesota had beaten both Michigan and Northwestern but the rest of the top ten were still perfect. Then Cornell lost their 5th down game to Dartmouth and Notre Dame was defeated by Iowa.
BC and Georgetown, (one of many schools that were big time before the war – they went to the Orange Bowl this season- but who dropped the sport and came back on the small college level afterwards), played the big game in the East that year. Georgetown was undefeated in 23 games. Robert Leckie in “The Story of Football”, writes: “The two teams met in what was called ‘The Battle of the Brobdingnagians. The players were so huge that they reminded sportswriters of Brobdingnag, the mythical land of giants in ‘Gulliver’s Travels’. But it was a Lilliputian, little Charlie O’Rourke, who contributed the unforgettable performance. With two minutes to play, Boston College led, 19-16. But the Hoyas had the Eagles backed up against their own goal. O’Rourke took the ball and retreated into the end zone. For a full half-minute he ran back and forth, twisting and dodging while the crowd roared and Georgetown tacklers frantically tried to corner him. Charlie was deliberately eating the clock while giving up a two point safety to protect Boston College’s lead. After he had been downed, the Eagles kicked safely downfield from their own 20 ayrd line and went on to win, 19-18.”
None of the undefeated teams lost the next week but the following week, Texas beat Texas A&M in a titanic battle, ending the Aggies’ 19 game winning streak. The top five in the final poll were: Minnesota 8-0-0, Stanford 9-0-0, Michigan 7-1-0, Tennessee 10-0-0, (for the third straight year), and Boston College 10-0-0. Minnesota got 65 first place votes, Stanford 44, Michigan 5, Tennessee 7 and Boston College 10. Keep in mind that some sportswriters were still against the bowls and favored the Big Ten’s positon and thus their teams.
Stanford was an amazing turn-around. They’d won only one game the year before but then Clark Shaughnessy had taken over the team, converting it to the T formation, just as he’d done for George Halas and the Chicago Bears while working with them in the off-season. The Bears had roared to the NFL championship, 73-0 and Stanford, behind dazzling quarterback Frankie Albert, had beaten all ten regular season opponents.
In the Bowls, Stanford was paired with 8-1-0 Nebraska in the Rose Bowl and Boston College and Tennessee went to New Orleans to play in the Sugar Bowl. The Big Ten, as usual, didn’t allow bowl games so Minnesota and Michigan stayed home. Boston College won a classic from Bob Neyland’s Vols 19-13 while Albert led the Indians, (as they were called then) past the Cornhuskers 21-13.
The Sugar Bowl: 1941 Sugar Bowl Tennessee vs Boston College
The Rose Bowl (at the two minute mark): Football bowl games 1941
Vautravers moves Boston College ahead of Tennessee but makes no other changes in a post-bowl poll:
Fixing the 1940 AP Poll
Bill Libby, in his book “Champions of College Football”, picks Stanford as #1 this season because they “reshaped the sport” with the T formation. Also, Minnesota beat both Michigan and Northwestern by a point each , (13-12 and 7-6). Stanford also had a 7-6 win over an opponent- Santa Clara. Michigan was the highest ranked team any of the “big three” had beaten at #3. BC had beaten #4 Tennessee and Stanford had beaten #7 Nebraska.
Minnesota played 8 teams, all major, with a combined record of 42-25-0 (.627). Four of them had winning records and all four of those teams were ranked- in the Top Ten: The beat #3 Michigan 7-6, #7 Nebraska 13-7, #8 Northwestern 13-12 and #10 Washington 19-14. They outscored their opponents 154-71 (19-9). Their PDR was 1.88. They were the best team three of their opponents played that year. Tackle Urban Wilson and back George Franck were All-Americans that year and tackle Dick Wildung and back Bruce Smith would be the next year, when Bruce would win the Heisman Trophy. Pro careers were, of course interrupted or prevented by the war:
Smith played three years for the Packers.
Franck played for the Giants for four years.
Tackle Win Pederson played three years, two for the Giants and one for the short-lived Boston Yanks. Fullback Gordon Paschke played for the Eagles in 1943 and the Giants in 1947.
Guard Bill Kuusisto played for the Packers for six years.
Bob Bjorkland, a center/LB, played for the Eagles in 1941.
End Bill Johnson did the same for the Packers.
Back Lloyd Parsons did the same for Lions.
Tackle Ed Lechner played in 1942 for the Giants.
End Earl Ohlgren and guard Fred Vant Hull played for the Packers
…and back Warren Plunkett for the Rams that year.
That’s 12 guys. The Golden Gophers could field a first team of nothing but future NFL players. Franck, Smith and Wildung are all in the Hall of Fame.
Minnesota was chosen as #1 by AP, Berryman, Billingsley, Boand, DeVold, Dickinson, Football Research, Holgate, Litkenhous, and the National Championship Foundation.
Stanford played 10 teams, all major with a combined record of 43-41-8 (.511). Four of them had winning records, 3 of whom were ranked. They beat #7 Nebraska 21-13, #10 Washington 20-10 and #11 Santa Clara 7-6. That gives then two common opponents with Minnesota and they did slightly better against both of them. They out-scored their opponent s 196-85, (20-9). Their PDR is 2.10. They were the best team 6 of their opponents played. Frankie Albert at QB was their sole AA but guard Chuck Taylor, who later was coach of their 1951 Rose Bowl team, was an AA the next year. Both are in the Hall of Fame, as is back Hugh Gallarneau.
Albert went right to the Navy after graduation but played for the 49ers as their first great QB from 1946-52.
Gallarneau played 5 years for the bears at the height of their power.
End Fred Meyer played two years for the Eagles.
The other end, Jack Smith, also played a year for the Eagles and then one for the Redskins.
Fullback Norm Standlee played for the champion ’41 Bears and then joined Albert in San Francisco after the war and played the same number of years for the 49ers Frankie did.
Center Milt Vucinich played for the 1945 Bears.
Taylor was drafted by the Cleveland Rams but chose to play for the Miami Seahawks of the AAFC- and went into coaching after one year.
That’s only 6 future pros- half as many as Minnesota and also half as many as BC.
Stanford was chosen as the #1 team by Helms and Poling.
Boston College played 11 teams, 8 of the majors. The majors had a combined record of 41-34-4 (.547). Three of them had winning records. They beat #4 Tennessee 19-13 and #13 Georgetown 19-18, the only ranked teams they played. They outscored their 8 major opponents 223-65 (28-8). Their PDR is 1.75, the lowest of the three contenders. They were the best team 5 of their major college opponents played. End Gene Goodreault was the only AA but fullback Mike Holovak was one two years later. Mike later became BC’s head coach and was head coach of the Patriots through most of the 60’s. Holovak, Charlie O’Rourke and guard George Kerr are all in the Hall of Fame. O’Rourke was called “Chuckin’ Charlie” for his passing and Kerr was called the “Righteous Reject” because he was refused a spot on the team by former coach Gil Dobie because at 155 pounds, he was too small to play football. Frank Leahy called his “the greatest scholar-athlete he ever coached”. He later became a priest.
End Don Currivan played for seven years for the Cardinals, Yanks and Rams.
O’Rourke played a year for the Bears, two for the LA Dons of the AAFC and two more for the original Baltimore Colts.
Rocco Canale played both tackle and guard for the Eagles and the Boston Yanks in a 5 year career. Holovak played a year for the Rams and two for the Bears.
Back Frank Maznicki played two years for the bears and one for the Yanks.
Chet Gladchuk played center, guard and tackle for the Giants for three years.
Guard Al Fiorentino played three years for the Redskins and Yanks.
Center/Guard Walt Dubzinski played two years for the Giants and the Yanks.
Tailback Harry Connolly played a year for the football Brooklyn Dodgers.
Back Adolph Kissell played a year for the Bears.
Tackle Steve Levanitis played a year for the Eagles.
Tackle Joe Manzo did the same for the Lions.
That’s 12 pros, the same as Minnesota had.
But nobody chose Boston College as the #1 team in the Land. However Dunkel and Williamson had chosen Tennessee. After the Sugar Bowl, they would likely have given their support to the Eagles.
It would have been a heck of a year for a four team playoff with Tom Harmon’s Michigan team in the mix. I think Boston College was a formidable team but that Minnesota and Stanford were just a bit better. Minnesota was #1 in the eyes of contemporary observers, had won the most prestigious conference and their opponents had the highest winning percentage. I think that keeps them in first place. But, if they’d actually played Stanford, I could see the Indians beating them. The Golden Gophers were a great team against other single wing teams. They might not have been ready for the more modern T formation. But you’ve got to base it on what did happen, not what you think might have happened.
So….who do you think was #1 in `1940?
This year didn’t quite rise to the level of a controversy, although it looked as if it might much of the year. In fact, it looked like a repeat of the previous season. An SWC team, this time, Texas A&M, ran the table and wound up #1, although it took them a while to get there. Pittsburgh started out 3-0 and was ranked #1 in the initial poll but went on to lose four times. Pitt’s Chancellor had decided to de-emphasize and Jock Sutherland resigned in protest. Pitt wouldn’t become a national title contender again until 1963. Tennessee took over #1 the next week and held it for four weeks. The Aggies, who had started out #9, rose to #2. Then it week six, Tennessee and Texas A&M switched positions for reasons that are hard to understand. The Vols beat Vanderbilt 13-0 while the Aggies beat Rice 19-0. Then came the switch. Why? Tennessee did exactly what Duke did the previous year- complete the season undefeated, untied and unscored upon. But they were a much more potent offensive team, out-scoring their opposition 212-0. Ranked behind them were three more undefeated teams, Southern California Cornell and Tulane. USC had two ties and Tulane one. Cornell was ivy league but that didn’t mean in 1939 what it does to modern eyes. The Ivys didn’t de-emphasize until 1956 and their champions were regular visitors to the Top Ten before that when they had strong records. This Cornell team beat Penn State 47-0 and beat Ohio State in Columbus 23-14. They started out #12 and rose to #3 before being ranked #4 in the final rankings, in which Texas A&M got 55 first place votes, Tennessee 26, USC 9 and Cornell 16.
The Vols then again did exactly what Duke did the year before: they went to the Rose Bowl and lost to USC. Only it didn’t happen in the final minute. The Trojans dominated them 14-0, outgaining them 271-147. That knocked Tennessee out of it and USC, with those two ties wasn’t in it. Meanwhile Texas A&M, just like TCU the year before, went to the Sugar Bowl, not the Cotton Bowl . There they rallied to beat Tulane, 14-13. Cornell, of course, stayed home. Vautravers doesn’t even discuss Cornell and keeps them at #4 in his imaginary post bowl poll, even behind defeated Tennessee.
Fixing the 1939 AP Poll
I can’t see an idle Cornell jumping from #4 to #2 or #1 and I don’t think there would have been a clamor for A&M and Cornell to play a game a to prove who was #1. As I mentioned in my last post, I’m not going to make a poll for every year so I’ll skip this one and move on to one of the great years for this sort of controversy, 1940.
For the record, Texas A&M wound up 11-0-0 (212-31: 19-3) with a PDR of 1.73. They were the best team 5 of their opponents played. All opponents were ‘major’ and they had a combined record of 52-48-9 (52.0%). 11 of the 13 NCAA recognized selectors picked them as #1. Dickinson picked USC and Litkenhous picked Cornell. That pretty much defines a consensus national champion.
1940
You might recall that a couple of years ago on this board CTO had heard Boston College was bragging about the national championship they had won and wondering when Boston College ever won a national championship. This is the year they were talking about. And the Eagles did have a formidable team in 1940. They had a very formidable coach, one of the greatest ever, Frank Leahy, (this year got him the Notre Dame job) and they beat some formidable teams. But so did two other schools and that’s what gives us the delicious controversy.
Cornell actually started out #1 and held onto it for four weeks, then got overtaken by Minnesota. Then came the famous 5th down game at Dartmouth, where they had apparently scored the winning touchdown and celebrated the victory. But when they watched the game films they realized the confused officials had accidentally given them an extra down on the final play. In a situation that created an (unused) precedent for the 1961 Notre Dame Syracuse game, Cornell, with a #1 ranking and a 14 game winning streak, (and 18 game unbeaten streak) on the line- they had last lost to SU in Archbold Stadium in 1938- Cornell informed Dartmouth that, due to the mistake they were conceding the game to Dartmouth. If they had not done that, the NCAA was powerless to change the result of the game, as it had ended and rule #1 says that the score at the end of the game is the final score. In 1990, Colorado also won a game against Missouri on a fifth down play and refused to concede anything. They went on to win the National championship. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, Cornell took themselves completely out of the 1940 title picture by losing to Pennsylvania 20-22 the next week.
Minnesota was still coached by Bernie Biermann, the man who had coached them to three consecutive national championships in 1934-36. They had remained strong after that losing to Nebraska 9-14 and Notre Dame 6-7 in 1937 and Northwestern 3-6 and Notre Dame 0-19 in 1938 before losing four games by 20 total points in 1939. Then they came roaring back to the top of the rankings, going 16-0 and winning two more national titles for Bierman. The Big Ten was the most prestigious conference in those days and a Big Ten team with a perfect record was likely to be voted #1. They took over the #1 ranking in the 5th poll of 1940 because they’d just beaten #3 ranked Michigan and their Heisman Trophy winner, Tom Harmon, 7-6. They were #1 in 10 of the next 11 polls, just briefly surrendering #1 to Texas in 1941 before grabbing it for good. The Gopher’s Bruce Smith would be the 1941 Heisman winner.
Behind Minnesota in the 11/11/40 poll were Cornell, defending champion Texas A&M, Stanford, Tennessee, Michigan, Notre Dame, Boston College, Georgetown and northwestern. Minnesota had beaten both Michigan and Northwestern but the rest of the top ten were still perfect. Then Cornell lost their 5th down game to Dartmouth and Notre Dame was defeated by Iowa.
BC and Georgetown, (one of many schools that were big time before the war – they went to the Orange Bowl this season- but who dropped the sport and came back on the small college level afterwards), played the big game in the East that year. Georgetown was undefeated in 23 games. Robert Leckie in “The Story of Football”, writes: “The two teams met in what was called ‘The Battle of the Brobdingnagians. The players were so huge that they reminded sportswriters of Brobdingnag, the mythical land of giants in ‘Gulliver’s Travels’. But it was a Lilliputian, little Charlie O’Rourke, who contributed the unforgettable performance. With two minutes to play, Boston College led, 19-16. But the Hoyas had the Eagles backed up against their own goal. O’Rourke took the ball and retreated into the end zone. For a full half-minute he ran back and forth, twisting and dodging while the crowd roared and Georgetown tacklers frantically tried to corner him. Charlie was deliberately eating the clock while giving up a two point safety to protect Boston College’s lead. After he had been downed, the Eagles kicked safely downfield from their own 20 ayrd line and went on to win, 19-18.”
None of the undefeated teams lost the next week but the following week, Texas beat Texas A&M in a titanic battle, ending the Aggies’ 19 game winning streak. The top five in the final poll were: Minnesota 8-0-0, Stanford 9-0-0, Michigan 7-1-0, Tennessee 10-0-0, (for the third straight year), and Boston College 10-0-0. Minnesota got 65 first place votes, Stanford 44, Michigan 5, Tennessee 7 and Boston College 10. Keep in mind that some sportswriters were still against the bowls and favored the Big Ten’s positon and thus their teams.
Stanford was an amazing turn-around. They’d won only one game the year before but then Clark Shaughnessy had taken over the team, converting it to the T formation, just as he’d done for George Halas and the Chicago Bears while working with them in the off-season. The Bears had roared to the NFL championship, 73-0 and Stanford, behind dazzling quarterback Frankie Albert, had beaten all ten regular season opponents.
In the Bowls, Stanford was paired with 8-1-0 Nebraska in the Rose Bowl and Boston College and Tennessee went to New Orleans to play in the Sugar Bowl. The Big Ten, as usual, didn’t allow bowl games so Minnesota and Michigan stayed home. Boston College won a classic from Bob Neyland’s Vols 19-13 while Albert led the Indians, (as they were called then) past the Cornhuskers 21-13.
The Sugar Bowl: 1941 Sugar Bowl Tennessee vs Boston College
The Rose Bowl (at the two minute mark): Football bowl games 1941
Vautravers moves Boston College ahead of Tennessee but makes no other changes in a post-bowl poll:
Fixing the 1940 AP Poll
Bill Libby, in his book “Champions of College Football”, picks Stanford as #1 this season because they “reshaped the sport” with the T formation. Also, Minnesota beat both Michigan and Northwestern by a point each , (13-12 and 7-6). Stanford also had a 7-6 win over an opponent- Santa Clara. Michigan was the highest ranked team any of the “big three” had beaten at #3. BC had beaten #4 Tennessee and Stanford had beaten #7 Nebraska.
Minnesota played 8 teams, all major, with a combined record of 42-25-0 (.627). Four of them had winning records and all four of those teams were ranked- in the Top Ten: The beat #3 Michigan 7-6, #7 Nebraska 13-7, #8 Northwestern 13-12 and #10 Washington 19-14. They outscored their opponents 154-71 (19-9). Their PDR was 1.88. They were the best team three of their opponents played that year. Tackle Urban Wilson and back George Franck were All-Americans that year and tackle Dick Wildung and back Bruce Smith would be the next year, when Bruce would win the Heisman Trophy. Pro careers were, of course interrupted or prevented by the war:
Smith played three years for the Packers.
Franck played for the Giants for four years.
Tackle Win Pederson played three years, two for the Giants and one for the short-lived Boston Yanks. Fullback Gordon Paschke played for the Eagles in 1943 and the Giants in 1947.
Guard Bill Kuusisto played for the Packers for six years.
Bob Bjorkland, a center/LB, played for the Eagles in 1941.
End Bill Johnson did the same for the Packers.
Back Lloyd Parsons did the same for Lions.
Tackle Ed Lechner played in 1942 for the Giants.
End Earl Ohlgren and guard Fred Vant Hull played for the Packers
…and back Warren Plunkett for the Rams that year.
That’s 12 guys. The Golden Gophers could field a first team of nothing but future NFL players. Franck, Smith and Wildung are all in the Hall of Fame.
Minnesota was chosen as #1 by AP, Berryman, Billingsley, Boand, DeVold, Dickinson, Football Research, Holgate, Litkenhous, and the National Championship Foundation.
Stanford played 10 teams, all major with a combined record of 43-41-8 (.511). Four of them had winning records, 3 of whom were ranked. They beat #7 Nebraska 21-13, #10 Washington 20-10 and #11 Santa Clara 7-6. That gives then two common opponents with Minnesota and they did slightly better against both of them. They out-scored their opponent s 196-85, (20-9). Their PDR is 2.10. They were the best team 6 of their opponents played. Frankie Albert at QB was their sole AA but guard Chuck Taylor, who later was coach of their 1951 Rose Bowl team, was an AA the next year. Both are in the Hall of Fame, as is back Hugh Gallarneau.
Albert went right to the Navy after graduation but played for the 49ers as their first great QB from 1946-52.
Gallarneau played 5 years for the bears at the height of their power.
End Fred Meyer played two years for the Eagles.
The other end, Jack Smith, also played a year for the Eagles and then one for the Redskins.
Fullback Norm Standlee played for the champion ’41 Bears and then joined Albert in San Francisco after the war and played the same number of years for the 49ers Frankie did.
Center Milt Vucinich played for the 1945 Bears.
Taylor was drafted by the Cleveland Rams but chose to play for the Miami Seahawks of the AAFC- and went into coaching after one year.
That’s only 6 future pros- half as many as Minnesota and also half as many as BC.
Stanford was chosen as the #1 team by Helms and Poling.
Boston College played 11 teams, 8 of the majors. The majors had a combined record of 41-34-4 (.547). Three of them had winning records. They beat #4 Tennessee 19-13 and #13 Georgetown 19-18, the only ranked teams they played. They outscored their 8 major opponents 223-65 (28-8). Their PDR is 1.75, the lowest of the three contenders. They were the best team 5 of their major college opponents played. End Gene Goodreault was the only AA but fullback Mike Holovak was one two years later. Mike later became BC’s head coach and was head coach of the Patriots through most of the 60’s. Holovak, Charlie O’Rourke and guard George Kerr are all in the Hall of Fame. O’Rourke was called “Chuckin’ Charlie” for his passing and Kerr was called the “Righteous Reject” because he was refused a spot on the team by former coach Gil Dobie because at 155 pounds, he was too small to play football. Frank Leahy called his “the greatest scholar-athlete he ever coached”. He later became a priest.
End Don Currivan played for seven years for the Cardinals, Yanks and Rams.
O’Rourke played a year for the Bears, two for the LA Dons of the AAFC and two more for the original Baltimore Colts.
Rocco Canale played both tackle and guard for the Eagles and the Boston Yanks in a 5 year career. Holovak played a year for the Rams and two for the Bears.
Back Frank Maznicki played two years for the bears and one for the Yanks.
Chet Gladchuk played center, guard and tackle for the Giants for three years.
Guard Al Fiorentino played three years for the Redskins and Yanks.
Center/Guard Walt Dubzinski played two years for the Giants and the Yanks.
Tailback Harry Connolly played a year for the football Brooklyn Dodgers.
Back Adolph Kissell played a year for the Bears.
Tackle Steve Levanitis played a year for the Eagles.
Tackle Joe Manzo did the same for the Lions.
That’s 12 pros, the same as Minnesota had.
But nobody chose Boston College as the #1 team in the Land. However Dunkel and Williamson had chosen Tennessee. After the Sugar Bowl, they would likely have given their support to the Eagles.
It would have been a heck of a year for a four team playoff with Tom Harmon’s Michigan team in the mix. I think Boston College was a formidable team but that Minnesota and Stanford were just a bit better. Minnesota was #1 in the eyes of contemporary observers, had won the most prestigious conference and their opponents had the highest winning percentage. I think that keeps them in first place. But, if they’d actually played Stanford, I could see the Indians beating them. The Golden Gophers were a great team against other single wing teams. They might not have been ready for the more modern T formation. But you’ve got to base it on what did happen, not what you think might have happened.
So….who do you think was #1 in `1940?
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