Who's #1 - 1954 | Syracusefan.com

Who's #1 - 1954

Who was #1 for 1954?

  • Ohio State

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • UCLA

    Votes: 1 25.0%
  • Oklahoma

    Votes: 3 75.0%

  • Total voters
    4

SWC75

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(I'm picking up on this series again, for a while. My plan was to complete the 1950's and pick it up next season with the 1960's but I got a bit sidetracked with the basketball season. There's actually only one more year in the 50's after 1954 with a serious controversy.)

THE SEASON

1954 was the year of the first “split decision” between the AP (writer’s) and the UPI (coaches) poll. It was also the first year we had three teams with perfect records at the top of the heap since 1940. Ohio State, the AP champ, was 9-0-0. So was UCLA, the UPI choice. Then there was Oklahoma, 10-0-0, who finished 3rd in both polls and was now 19 games into their 47 gaming winning streak that would produce the next two national championships.

Unfortunately, two of these teams were constrained by “no repeat” rules about bowl games. Both the Big 10 and Pac 10 had one for the Rose Bowl and the ACC and Big 7, (they would become the Big 8 in 1960 when Oklahoma State joined) had one for the Orange Bowl. This prevented a mega match-up between the AP champ Buckeyes and the UPI champ Bruins in the Rose Bowl as UCLA had lost to Michigan State there the year before. And Oklahoma had beaten Maryland in the 1/1/54 Orange Bowl so they stayed home, (none of these conferences allowed more than one team to go to a bowl game), instead playing Duke, who routed a 6-4 Nebraska team 34-7 in the Orange Bowl.

The fact that the Big 7 had to send a 6-4 team to get slaughtered in a major bowl game revealed a hidden fact behind the Oklahoma dynasty of the 1940’s and 1950s: they were great, and proved their strength in bowl games, (where they went 7-1 from 1946 to 1958), and other intersectional games. But their conference was terrible. Besides the Sooners, the conference produced five other ranked teams besides the Sooners in that period: In 1947 Kansas was 8-0-2 but ranked only 12th and would have fallen further after losing to Georgia Tech 14-20 in the Orange Bowl. In 1949, Missouri was tied for #20 at 7-3-0 and would have dropped out after losing the Gator Bowl to Maryland 7-20. Nebraska was 6-2-1 and ranked #17 by the AP and #18 by the UPI in 1950. They stayed home, even though the Big 7 hadn’t signed the Orange Bowl contract yet. Kansas was back in 1951, going 8-2-0 and ranked #20 by the UPI but unranked in the AP poll. They also stayed home, (there were only seven major college bowls at the time. The conference had to wait another 5 years for a non-Sooner ranked team. Colorado in 1956 reached the magical #20 ranking in the AP in 1956, (but #18 in the UPI) with a 7-2-1 record and managed to beat #19 Clemson 27-21 in the Orange Bowl.

At that point the no-repeat rule was rescinded and Oklahoma went to Miami the next two years, (including when they beat Syracuse.) The Sooners over that time went 122-13-3 (.904), including a ridiculous 71-1-2 in the Big Seven. Their only loss was 13-16 to Kansas in 1946, the first year of the stretch. Bud Wilkinson wasn’t even their head coach yet- Jim Tatum was, (before he went to Maryland.) Bud lost his first Big 7 game on October 31, 1959, when Nebraska beat the Sooners 25-21. He’d been 69-0-2 to that point, with only a 13-13 tie to Kansas in 1947 and a 21-21 tie with Colorado in 1952 marring his league record. Oklahoma was ranked every year: 14-16-5-2-1-10-4-4-3-1-1-4-5. The Sooners were legit but their conference was not and that may have been why they finished behind the Buckeyes and the Bruins in 1954.

Notre Dame almost joined this group, which would have made for an ideal four team playoff. Under their new head coach, handsome 26 year old Terry Brennan, who had been a halfback for Frank Leahy’s late 40’s powerhouses and then won three consecutive city championships at Mt. Carmel high school in Chicago, (No, Jerry Faust wasn’t the only coach to go directly from high school ball to the head job in South Bend), the Irish were the pre-season #1 team, followed by Oklahoma, Maryland, Texas, Illinois, Michigan State, Georgia Tech, UCLA, Wisconsin and Mississippi. Ohio State was #20. They all survived the first week, (although only half of them played that week). But Oklahoma, who had beaten #12 California 27-13, slid ahead of the idle Irish, who regained the #1 slot the next week by dominating #4 Texas 21-0. Georgia Tech, Illinois and Michigan State all went down that week. Maryland lost the next one while Brennan’s team fell to perennially pesky Purdue 14-27. Iowa had risen to #3 but they lost in week four. That week Ohio State buried Illinois 40-7 and entered the top 10 at #10. The rankings were churning as Purdue, Duke, Navy and Penn State were all now in the top ten- until they lost in week 5. Wisconsin made it to #2 behind eventual Heisman Trophy winner Alan Ameche and then got handled by the Buckeyes 31-14. Mississippi had made it to #5 but lost to Arkansas 0-6. Minnesota made it to #8 but got blown out by Michigan 0-34.

That boiled it down to the Big Three. In the October 25th poll, Ohio State had risen to #1 in the AP poll and #3 in the UPI. Oklahoma was #2 in both polls. UCLA was #1 in the UPI and #3 in the AP. The Buckeyes scraped by unranked Northwestern 14-7 while Oklahoma beat unranked Colorado 13-6. The Bruins beat formerly ranked California 27-6 and found themselves #1 in both polls on November 1st. Ohio State was #2 in both and Oklahoma #3 in both. Shibusa! They all won blow-outs the next week: the Bruins 41-0 over Oregon, the Buckeyes 26-0 over Pittsburgh and the Sooners 40-0 over Iowa State. This did not change the polls. In week 9, UCLA had a bye while Ohio State beat Purdue 28-6 and Oklahoma handled Missouri. The writers must have treated a bye like a tie because Ohio State now moved into the #1 AP slot while the Bruins stayed #1 in UPI. Nothing changed the next week as both teams ended their season with impressive wins over their greatest rivals: Ohio State 21-7 over #12 Michigan and UCLA 34-0 over #7 Southern California. That ended their regular season seasons and UCLA’s season. Oklahoma blew out Nebraska 55-7 and beat Oklahoma State 14-0 to finish their season.

That set up a surrogate confrontation between Ohio State and UCLA. The Bruins had just crushed USC 34-0 and now Ohio State would play them in the Rose Bowl. Could they top that? No they couldn’t. They beat the Trojans decisively but in a driving rainstorm, 20-7. There was again no poll after the bowls. Would the difference in the two scores against USC have made a difference had there been one? We’ll never know. We could ask California, the greatest 5-5 team of all time. They lost to all three teams! (The other losses were by 6 to 6-4 Oregon and 2 to 8-4 USC.) Maybe we should also ask Kansas, who lost to both UCLA and Oklahoma. The following descriptions of these games are from “50 Years of College Football” by bob Boyles and Paul Guido, “Big Bowl Football” by Fred Russell and George Leonard, “The Buckeyes” by Wilbur Snypp “The Best Little Rivalry in Town” by Jody Brown and “College Football’s Greatest Teams” from The Sporting News.

Pappy Waldorf’s California team hosted Oklahoma in the opener for both teams on September 18. “the confident Golden Bears blundered their upset opportunity with a raft full of miscues but still trailed only 7-6 at halftime. QB Paul Larson converted fumble recovered at the Sooners’ 30 yard line into a TD run in the 2nd quarter but the Bears had to trade it for a 7 yard TD run by OU QB Gene Calume when the Bears booted a poor punt out of bounds at their own 33 yard line…..backbreaking Oklahoma TD came early in 3rd quarter as HB Buddy Leake pitched option pass from near his own goal line to end Max Boydston, who took it 87 yards to score. Larson and end Jim Hanifan, who would turn out to be nation’s most efficient battery, teamed on 16 yard TD in the fourth quarter after Sooners had salted it away at 21-6 on Leake’s 2 yard TD after linebacker Gene Mears fell on a fumble at Cal 25 yard line.” Oklahoma won 27-13.

Two weeks later the Golden Bears traveled to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes. “Ohio State DT Dick Helinski fell on a fumble by Cal HB Sebastian Bordonaro on game’s third day. And Howard “Hopalong” Cassidy whisked 26 yards to the score practically before Cal and buckled on its chinstraps. Cassidy followed another fumble recovery by linebacker Hubert Bobo with a sweep to set up a 17 yard play action pass from QB Dave Leggett to end Bill Michael for a 14-0 lead. QB Paul Larson kept the Bears in the game with a 68 yard kick-off return to set up Hal Norris’ TD plunge that sent Cal off the field trailing only 14-7 at halftime. Larson hit 3 straight passes in the third quarter and raced 13 yards only to fumble at the Ohio 5 yard line. But Cal end Jim Hanifan gobbled up the loose ball in the end zone for the touchdown. Larson missed the tying extra point and threw the interception to set up Cassidy’s clinching 29 yard TD bolt.” Ohio State won 21-13.

Four weeks alter Cal hosted UCLA. “Tailback Primo Villanueva was a major cog in UCLA’s 400 yard single wing offensive machine, scoring twice and tossing an 8 yard TD pass to wingback Johnny Herrmann in the 4th quarter. Villanueva dashed 40 yards to set up his own 3 yard TD at the end of an 8 play 75 yard march in the 1st quarter. His thrilling broken field dash of 26 yards provided the Bruins with a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. Cal QB Paul Larson set a Cal record with 25 completions for 280 yards. Larson led 62 yard scoring advance in the second quarter which was capped by HB Sammy Williams 7 yard trip around left end. The Bears lost fumble to kill promising marches at the Bruins 13 yard line in the 1st quarter and 3 yard line in the 3rd quarter….UCLA FB Bon Davenport launched himself for a short TD at the end of a 64 yard march in 4th quarter.” UCLA won 27-6. The Golden Bears had given a good account of themselves in each game but had come up short each time.

The Bruins’ second game that year had been against Kansas, a 32-7 win in LA that I haven’t found a description of. The Sooners hosted the Jayhawks three weeks later and blew them away 65-0. I also don’t have a description of that but it wasn’t pretty. (Neither was UCLA’s 72-0 win over Stanford on the same day). I did find this highlight film of the OU-Kansas game here on You-Tube:

But the big comparison was UCLA and Ohio State vs. Southern California. The Trojans came into the UCLA game 8-1-0 and ranked #7. Their coach Jess Hill, was not awed by the Bruins: “We’re impressed by the fact that UCLA is considered the #1 team in the nation. But I’m from Missouri and so are my players. We will have to be shown.” One of the first things they saw was “a 48 yard air bomb from tailback Primo Villanueva to end Bob Heydenfeldt, who burned defender Linden Crow to make the reception.” That gave the Bruins a 7-0 lead but the Trojans fought hard and that was also the halftime score. USC seemed to have taken the momentum early in the third quarter when they drove to the UCLA 8 yard line. But Bruin Jim Decker stepped in front of a pass at the goal line intended for Leon Clarke and “sped the length of the field.” The 100 yard lightning bolt didn’t count, however as it was partially called back because of a clip that put the ball on the Trojan’s 23. “Then Ron Calabria popped up to intercept Villanueva’s pitch and the Bruins, too, came away empty handed.”

Then, very late in the third quarter, the dam burst. Bruin DB Johnny Hermann returned another interception 44 yards to the USC 22. Five plays later, fullback Bob davenport, the Sam “Bam” Cunningham of his era, made one of his patented leaps over the goal line form the 1 to make it 14-0. Hardeman Cureton knocked the ball from Jon Arnett’s hands on the kickoff and recovered the fumble USC 15. Two plays later Villanueva hit Terry DeBay with a 15 yard TD pass to make it 21-0. Sam Brown returned a punt 27 yards and Rommie Loudd caught an 8 yard TD from reserve QB Doug Bradley. The Trojans tried to respond and got to the UCLA 29 but were stopped. Another interception gave the Bruin reserves the ball on the Trojan 12”Two running plays lost 7 but then Brown hooked up with Bruce Ballard in the end zone and that added up to the final 34-0 count.”

UCLA held the Trojans to 5 yards rushing and out-gained them 260-108 with 5 interceptions thanks to their fabulous line of ends Bob Long and Rommie Loudd, tackles Jack Ellena and Hardeman Cureton, guards Jim Salisbury and Sam Boghosian and center John Peterson. Jess Hill, after the game, said “the Bruins richly deserved their #1 rating in the nation. Their line is very, very powerful, better defensively than offensively. They didn’t really march on us but defensively they certainly had us. But we weren’t doing badly until the dam broke.”

Now it was Ohio State’s turn – in the Rose Bowl. “An old song lyric goes: it never rains in southern California: it pours.” Both teams were in the rain but not singing in it. The mud was described as “ankle deep”. Woody Hayes was furious when the school’s bands were allowed to march on the already chewed up field at halftime. “They turned it into a quagmire. Eighty million people saw the bands march in the parade. Why did they have to march at halftime, so why did they have to march on that muddy field at the time? They shouldn’t have been permitted on the field. They don’t have any business ruining it when the game was the big thing. The bands are great and I am for them. But football comes first. If you don’t think so, put the bands in the Rose Bowl without the football teams and see how many people you draw.” Boyles and Guido report “This incident because the first example of Hayes failing to win friends among west coast fans and the sporting press.

Ohio State scored after two second quarter USC fumbles. Jim Parker recovered the first one and a 69 yard drive resulted in a Dave Leggett one yard keeper. Leggett then recovered a a pitch-out that slipped through Jon Arnett’s hands at the Trojan 35. “Bobby Watkins smashed through tackle for 14 yards and on the next play caught a pass from Leggett for a touchdown. He grabbed the ball at the 7 and carried a couple of Trojans over the goal with him.”

The one bright spot for the home team was “the finest play of the game, the finest in all Rose Bowl history” according to Oliver Kueckle of the Milwaukee Journal. It was an 86 yard punt return by Aramis Dandoy. Paul Zimmerman wrote the Los Angeles Times: “There was little more than 5 minutes of the second quarter remaining when Dandoy cut loose with the most brilliant run the afternoon to put the Trojans within temporary striking distance. Hubert Bobo, back to kick, had to duck away from two charging Trojans and barely got the ball away. the punt was a line drive affair that went 55 yards before Dandoy fielded the dribbling ball on his 14. The Trojan eluded two on-rushing Buckeyes and fought his way to midfield where George Belotti, a 231 tackle, served up the key block. The fleet Trojan fid a neat job of eluding Bobo after that as he sped toward the end zone.”

That made it 14-7 at the half instead of 14-0 but it was to no avail. Neither team could make much headway on the chewed up field in the second half but the buckeyes managed a 77 yard drive in the fourth quarter, capped by a 9 yard pass from Leggett to Jerry Harkrader. The kick was blocked but Ohio State still won easily 20-7. They outgained the Trojans 370-206, with 305 of their yards coming on the ground.

Woody Hayes capped his complaints about the bands by making the case for his team as #1: “There are four and possibly five Big Ten teams I’d rate ahead of the Trojans”. Russell and Leonard report that “He chided the writers for not ranking his team higher in the pre-season forecasts.” They add: “Southern California coach Jess Hill was complimenting the conquerors at his press conference when someone relayed Hayes’ statement that four Big Ten teams could beat his Trojans. ‘Just say for me I’d like to play them on a dry field.’” When writers suggested that UCLA’s 34 point win over USC meant that they were better than the Buckeyes, Hayes also cited the field conditions: “My coaches who sat in the press box said we would have beaten USC by a higher score on a dry field. They thought our men would have gone a little farther on every play. Ohio State is definitely the #1 team in the nation. I don’t think UCLA could have lived up to that schedule of ours.“ Dick Hyland of the LA times, countered: “the UCLA Bruins could take them both in the same afternoon. If the Buckeyes are the best collegiate team in the country, then the United States Marine Corps is a bunch of sissies.” Bing Crosby tried to promote a post season match between not the Bruins and the Buckeyes but rather UCLA and Oklahoma, (since neither could be in a bowl game) but the NCAA denied permission for such a game. Maxwell Stiles of the Los Angeles Mirror suggested the “no repeat” rule be dumped. “We should play our champion each year or get out. If we can’t beat them with our best, we shouldn’t try to do it with our second best.”

I couldn’t find any video on this game but here are some images:

Buckeyes Rose Bowl Rewind: National championship glory in the mud of 1955

Flashback: Woody Hayes Secures His First National Championship With a 20-7 Win over USC in the 1955 Rose Bowl

Aramis Dandoy Running with the Football Pictures | Getty Images
 
COMPARISONS

I like to draw comparative score lines from each opponent to a (different) opponent of the other team.

Here is Ohio State vs. UCLA:

Ohio State was:
+28 over Indiana who was +28 over Pacific who was +13 over Idaho who was -41 under Oregon who was -41 under UCLA = +13 for UCLA
+8 over California who was -21 under UCLA = +13 for UCLA
+33 over Illinois who was -10 under Stanford who was -72 under UCLA = +49 for UCLA
+17 over Wisconsin who was +27 over Minnesota who was +38 over Oregon State who was -61 under UCLA = +21 Ohio State
+7 over Northwestern who was +13 over Iowa State who was +27 over Kansas who was -25 under UCLA = +22 for Ohio State
+22 over Purdue who was +31 over Missouri who was -61 under Maryland who was -5 under UCLA = +13 for UCLA
+14 over Michigan who was +14 over Washington who was -1 under UCLA = +27 for Ohio State
+13 over Southern California who was -34 under UCLA = +21 for UCLA
UCLA’s first opponent, San Diego Naval training Station, does not appear to have played any other collegiate teams and I could not find anything with military scores so there are only 8 connections, which total +39 for UCLA who won 5 of the 8 comparisons, (an average of +5) and the two games against common opponents.

Here is Ohio State vs. Oklahoma:

Ohio State was:
+28 over Indiana who was -6 under Missouri who was -21 under Oklahoma = +1 for Oklahoma
+8 over California who was -14 under Oklahoma = +6 for Oklahoma
+33 over Illinois who was -13 under Minnesota who was +12 over Nebraska who was +4 over Kansas State who was -21 under Oklahoma = +15 for Oklahoma
+6 over Iowa who was -16 under Notre Dame who was +12 over Southern Methodist who was +18 over Kansas who was -65 under Oklahoma = +45 for Oklahoma
+17 over Wisconsin who was +6 over Rice who was +6 over Texas who was -7 under Oklahoma = +22 for Ohio State
+7 over Northwestern who was +13 over Iowa State who was -40 under Oklahoma = +20 for Oklahoma
+26 over Pittsburgh who was +14 over Nebraska who was -48 under Oklahoma = +8 for Oklahoma
+22 over Purdue who was +31 over Missouri who was -23 under Kansas who was -35 under Oklahoma State who was -14 under Oklahoma = +19 for Oklahoma
+14 over Michigan who was +14 over Washington who was +1 over Utah who was -13 under Colorado who was -7 under Oklahoma = +9 for Ohio State
+13 over Southern California who was -13 under Texas Christian who was -5 under Oklahoma = +5 Oklahoma
The Sooners win 8 of the 10 comparisons by a total of 88 points, (an average of +9) So much for strength of schedule.

Let’s do UCLA vs. Oklahoma:
(Throw out San Diego Navy)

UCLA was
+25 over Kansas who was -65 under Oklahoma = +40 for Oklahoma
+5 over Maryland who was +61 over Missouri who was -21 under Oklahoma = +45 for UCLA
+1 Washington who was +1 over Utah who was -13 under Colorado who was -7 under Oklahoma = +18 for Oklahoma
+72 Stanford who was -4 under Washington State who was -26 under Texas who was -7 under Oklahoma = +35 for UCLA
+61 Oregon State who was -20 under Nebraska who was -48 under Oklahoma = +7 for Oklahoma
+21 California who was -14 under Oklahoma = +7 for UCLA
+41 Oregon who was -1 under Utah who was +7 over Wyoming who was -8 under Oklahoma State who was -14 under Oklahoma = +25 for UCLA
+34 Southern California who was -13 under Texas Christian who was -5 under Oklahoma = +16 for UCLA
The Bruins win 5 of the 8 comparisons by a combined 63 points, (an average of 8 points).

Overall Oklahoma won 11 comparisons, UCLA 10 and Ohio State 5. But UCLA won both their comparisons and was ahead on points +237 to +192 for Oklahoma and +108 for Ohio State. Wasn’t that fun?

Vs. Ranked Teams, (as they were ranked at the time they played them – they get 1-25 points for the ranking of the team they played and then the point differential of the game added to that.):

Ohio State
- beat #18 California 21-13 = +16 points
- beat #13 Iowa 20-14 = +19 points
- beat #2 Wisconsin 31-14 = +41 points
- beat #20 Pittsburgh 26-0 = +32 points
- beat #12 Michigan 21-7 = +28 points
- beat#17 Southern California 20-7 = +22 points
TOTAL: +158 points

UCLA
- beat #6 Maryland 12-7 = +25 points
- beat #7 Southern California 34-0 = +53 points
TOTAL: +78 points

Oklahoma
- beat #12 California 27-13 = +28 points
- beat #20 Texas Christian 21-16 = +11 points
- beat #15 Texas 14-7 = +18 points
TOTAL: +57 points

The Buckeyes finished third in the overall comparison of scores above but were clearly the best against ranked teams. Keep in mind that the Big Ten was the most prestigious conference at this time and an unranked Big Ten team might have been better than an unranked Pacific Coast or Big Eight team. But there was also a tendency to rank Big Ten teams more highly than those in other conferences to begin with.

Point Differential Rankings:
(If you beat a team by more than anybody else did or tied a team that won all of its other games or lost to a team that beat everybody they played by the smallest margin, you get a ‘1’. If one team did better, you get a ‘2’. If two teams did better, you get a ‘3’, etc. then you average it out. Major college opponents only- no small colleges or service teams.)


Ohio State
- beat Indiana by 28 points. No one did better: 1 point
- beat California by 8 points. Oklahoma beat them by 14 and UCLA by 21: 3 points
- beat Illinois by 33. No one did better: 1 point
- beat Iowa by 6 points. Notre Dame beat them by 16: 2 points
- beat Wisconsin by 17 points. No one did better: 1 point
- beat Northwestern by 7 points. Minnesota beat them 19 and Notre Dame by 21: 3 points
- beat Pittsburgh by 26 points. Minnesota beat them 39 points and Notre Dame by 33: 3 points
- beat Purdue by 22 points. No one did better: 1 point
- beat Michigan by 14 points. Army beat them by 19: 2 points
- beat Southern California by 13 points. UCLA beat them by 34: 2 points.
That’s 19 points in 10 games or a PDR of 1.90. They were the best team 4 of their major college opponents played.

UCLA
- beat Kansas by 25 points. Colorado beat them by 27 as did Iowa State. Oklahoma beat them by 65 and Oklahoma State by 35: 5 points.
- beat Maryland by 5 points. No one did better: 1 point.
- beat Washington by 1 points. Michigan beat them by 14, Baylor by 27, Stanford by 6, Oregon by 19, California by 21, Southern California by 41 and Washington State by 19: 8 points
- beat Stanford by 72 points. No one did better: 1 point.
- beat Oregon State by 61 points. No one did better: 1 point.
- beat California by 21 points. No one did better: 1 point.
- beat Oregon by 41 points. No one did better: 1 point.
- beat Southern California by 34 points. No one did better: 1 point.
That’s 19 points in 8 games = 2.38 PDR but 1.00 in their last 5 games. They were the best team 6 of their major college opponents played.

Oklahoma
- beat California by 14 points. UCLA beat them by 21: 2 points
- beat Texas Christian by 5 points. Arkansas beat them by 7, Rice by 6 and Southern Methodist by 15: 4 points.
- beat Texas by 7 points. Notre Dame beat them by 21 and Arkansas by 13: 3 points.
- beat Kansas by 65 points. No one did better: 1 point.
- beat Kansas State by 21 points. Missouri beat them by 28 and Colorado by 24: 3 points
- beat Colorado by 7 points. Nebraska beat them by 14: 2 points
- beat Iowa State by 40 points. No one did better: 1 point.
- beat Missouri by 21 points. Purdue beat them by 31 and Maryland by 61: 3 points
- beat Nebraska by 48 points. No one did better: 1 point.
- beat Oklahoma State by 14 points. No one did better: 1 point.
That’s 21 points in 10 games = 2.10 PDR. They were the best team 4 of their major college opponents had played.


Streaks: Oklahoma was in the second year of their legendary 47 game winning streak. 1954 was the first of three straight perfect seasons. The Sooners set a national record by scoring in their 90th consecutive game: they would extend the streak 123 games before Notre beat them 7-0 to end both streaks in 1957. They won the national championship in the other two. UCLA has had a lot of good teams but rarely been near the top of the standings. Easily their greatest era was under Coach Red Sanders from 1952-55, during which they went 34-5-0 and wound up as high as #6, #5, #1 and #4. Their losses were by 2 points to USC, 1 point to Stanford, 8 to Michigan State in the Rose Bowl, 7 to Maryland and 3 to Michigan State in the Rose Bowl again. They had a 9 game winning streak from 1951-52, and 10 from 1954-55. But they never got a long historical streak going. The 1954 Ohio State team was Woody Hayes’ first national title contender. There would be many more but until the late 60’s he didn’t tend to have them in consecutive years. The Big Ten was too tough to allow for long streaks. Michigan had beaten them in the last game of 1953. They then went 10-0 in 1954 and beat Nebraska in their 1955 opener. But then Stanford upset them 6-0 to end their streak at 11 games. Their next title contender would be in 1957, then 1961, then 1968, etc.

Team Stats:

UCLA had the #5 rushing offense with 286 yards per game and the #1 rushing defense with 73 yards per game. They were #10 in total offense with 367ypg and #8 in total defense with 190 ypg. They led the country in both scoring offense with 41 ppg and defense with 4 ppg. Oklahoma had the #4 rushing offense with 296 ypg and the #2 rushing defense with 87 ypg. They had the #7 total offense with 383 ypg and the #5 total defense with 186 ypg. They were 7th in scoring offense with 30.4ppg and 3rd in scoring defense with 6.2 ppg. Ohio State was 5th in scoring defense with 7.6 ppg but not in any of the other Top Tens.

What was said about them:

Ohio State: Woody Hayes was never shy about promoting his team, even if it meant denigrating others. He said that 4-5 Big Ten teams could have beaten his Rose Bowl opponent, USC. “I don’t think UCLA could have stood up to that schedule of ours. Ohio State is definitely #1 in the nation.” He did admit “You have to be lucky to go undefeated” but that could apply to his opponents as well. Dick Hyland of the LA Times angrily countered that “UCLA could take both Ohio State and USC in the same afternoon” and that “if Ohio State is the best team in the country, then the US Marine Corps is a bunch of sissies.”

UCLA: Primo Villaneuva: “When we would break down the film, they were just pretty to watch. When two guards would pull out, shoulder to shoulder, in step like soldiers marching, it was a thing of beauty…There’s a picture that hangs in the athletic department that shows our two guards pulling. The quarterback, the fullback and myself on a sweep and we’re all in step. All of us have our right feet on the ground at the same time. It was an illustration of power and teamwork. I think that tells it all.” USC head coach Jess Hill: “the Bruins deserve their #1 rating in the nation. After they beat Maryland, America’s #1 team a year ago, I said they deserved to be ranked #1 and I’ve never changed my mind.”

Oklahoma: Jim Weeks in “The Sooners: A Story of Oklahoma Football”: The 1954 Sooners…did not start the fabulous winning streak. They did not end it. And, unlike their successors, they did not win a mythical national championship. Forecasts called for uncertainty for Oklahoma football in 1954. Six starters returned from the 1953 team but vital depth would have to be provided by unproven sophomores, (who would go 31-0)…and it was during 1954 that a certain feeling arose among Sooner fans: It was not a question of whether Oklahoma would win. The question concerned by what margin they would win.” Weeks tells a story of George Cross, the president of the university, inviting the newly chosen Chancellor of Nebraska, Clifford Hardin, to watch the game between the two schools in his booth. “Cross recalled Hardin saying “I know we’re not going to win this ballgame but I hope that we are just not humiliated.”. Cross told him that he hoped so, too. It was only 7-7 after the first quarter and “Hardin said he already felt better about the game.” As the score mounted Cross “just sat there literally praying that we wouldn’t score again. Bud played everyone he had but it didn’t matter. All the conversation had died down. There was nothing I could think of to say that wouldn’t have sounded silly. And of course, there was nothing Hardin could think of to say…It was the worst game I ever sat through.” Oklahoma won 55-7. Bud Wilkinson: “If anyone had told us before the season began that we would go through all-victorious, I’d have thought they were crazy. But our 1954 team had a world of fight and was always able to show a little more of it than the other team when the going became tough and the chips were down. That’s the mark of a champion.”

Richard Vautravers sees it as split title between Ohio State and UCLA but would vote for the Buckeyes if had to pick only one. He feels Oklahoma’s schedule and their performance against the best teams on it was too weak to rank them with the other two:
1954 College Football National Championship

Of the NCAA approved selectors, AP, Berryman, Boand, DeVold, Football Research, Helms, INS, National Championship Foundation, Poling and Williamson chose Ohio State #1. UCLA was the choice of Billingsley, Dunkel, Football Research, (a tie), Football Writers Association, Helms, (another tie), Litkenhous, and the National Championship Foundation and UPI, (still another tie). That’s 10 for Ohio State and 8 for UCLA, none for Oklahoma.

The non-NCAA approved selectors I found on the internet all picked Ohio State #1: Time Travel, Dolphin, Howell, Sorenson, Taylor, (tied with UCLA), Vautravers, (Ditto), Waits and Wilson. With the ties, that’s 8-2 for the Buckeyes.

Builly Libby, author of “Championships of College Football” and Robert Leckie, who wrote “the Story of Football”, both had it as a split championship between Ohio State and UCLA. Libby notes that Oklahoma was ”sophomore-studded” and “just hitting their stride”.

The College Football Data Warehouse has selectors I can’t even find:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160331143022/http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/national_championships/yearly_results.php?year=1954
I count 30 picking Ohio State, 16 UCLA and just one choosing Oklahoma.

The sources that have full rankings have these as the top 5 teams of 1954:
AP: Ohio State, UCLA, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Navy
UPI: UCLA, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Navy
Time Travel: Ohio State, Notre Dame, UCLA, Oklahoma, Wisconsin
Howell, (who usually doesn’t like Midwestern teams): Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, UCLA, Maryland
Sorenson: Ohio State, Notre Dame, UCLA, Wisconsin, Oklahoma
Vautravers: Ohio State, UCLA, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Navy
Waits: Ohio State, UCLA, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Oklahoma
Wilson: Ohio State, UCLA, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Oklahoma
Square Gear: Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame. U of Miami, UCLA
On the basis of 5 points for 1st, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th and 1 for 5th, the combined standings are: Ohio State 44 points, UCLA 30, Notre Dame 26, Oklahoma 22, Wisconsin 5, Navy and Miami 2 and Maryland 1

(Notre Dame wound up 9-1 and would be in this group and doing very well in the comparisons except for that 13-27 loss to Purdue. They would have made a strong fourth member of a 4 team playoff.)

It’s important to note that the Bruins were #1 in both the AP and UPI polls until they had a bye week in week 9. That’s when Ohio State was moved up to #1 in the AP polls despite the fact that their opponent that week was unranked. If the Bruins had played that week, they might have retained the #1 spot in both polls.
 
THE PLAYERS

Awards
: Wisconsin’s Alan Ameche won the Heisman with 1,068 votes but Oklahoma’s center Kurt Burris was second with a very creditable 838, ahead of Ohio State’s Howard Cassidy with 810. Jack Ellena, UCLA’S tackle, was their highest vote getter at #7 (193). Cassidy would win the 1955 Heisman with a dominating 2,219 votes and also won the Heisman’s rival, the Maxwell Award. Oklahoma had Bo Bolinger, a guard at #9 with 148 points. In 1956 two Sooner sophomores from 1954, halfback Tommy McDonald and Jerry Tubbs, a center-linebacker and sometime fullback, were #3-#4 with 973 and 724 votes, (both ahead of #5 Jim Brown). Jim Parker, the big Buckeye tackle was #8 with 248 votes. Jim won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s top lineman that year. McDonald won the Maxwell that year.

All-Americans: For Ohio State Cassidy was an AA in 1954-55 and Parker in 1956. For Oklahoma, Burris and end Max Boyston were AA in 1954, Bolinger in ’55 and McDonald and Tubbs in ’56. For UCLA, Ellena was a 1954 AA, as was his tackle mate, Hardeman Cureton in 1955.

Pros:

Ohio State:
John Borton, QB, played for the 1957 Browns.
Dick Brubaker, end, played for the 1955and 1957 Cardinals and the 1960 Bills. (3 seasons)
Howard Cassidy played for the Detroit Lions 1956-61, the Browns and Eagles in 1962 and was back with the Lions in 1963 (8 seasons)
Dave Leggett, QB, played for the 1955 Chicago Cardinals. There are references to his playing for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders of the CFL but the most I could find on that was that he had a try-out in 1957 and did not make the rosters. They are talking about Dave at the 24:10 mark of this NFL films video, even though that’s not his picture that they show:
This is Dave:
https://www.amazon.com/Leggett-Autographed-State-Buckeyes-Photograph/dp/B01LWZ3HBB
Raul “Bill” Michael, a guard, played for the 1957 Steelers
Bob Myers, tackle, played for the 1955 Colts
Jim Parker played for the Colts from 1957-67 (11 seasons)
Bobby Watkins, halfback, played for the Bears from 1955-57 and the Cardinals in 1958. (4 seasons)
Thurlow “Tad” Weed, kicker, played for the 1955 Steelers.
That’s 8 players who played a total of 31 seasons, (3.9 seasons per player).

Oklahoma:
Max Boydston, end played for the Cardinals from 1955-58, the Hamilton Tiger Cats in 1959, the Dallas Texans, (now the Kansas City Chiefs) in 1960-61 and the Oakland Raiders in 1962. (8 seasons).
Billy Pricer, fullback, played for the 1957-60 Colts (as Ameche’s back-up), and the 1961 Texans. (5 seasons)
Jimmy Harris, who took over as starting QB midway through the 1954 season and went 25-0, played defensive back for the Eagles (1957), the Rams (1958), the Texans (1960) and the Cowboys (1961) (4 seasons)
Jerry Tubbs was linebacker for the 1957-58 Cardinals, the 1958-59 49ers and the 1960-67 Cowboys. (11 seasons)
Tommy McDonald because a wide receiver for the Eagles (1957-63), the Cowboys (1964), the Rams (1965-66), the Falcons (1967) and the Browns (1968). (12 seasons).
That’s 5 players who played a total of 40 seasons, (8 seasons per player)

UCLA:
Jack Ellena played guard and tackle for the 1955-56 Rams (2 seasons)
Jim Salisbury played guard for the 1955-56 Lions and the 1957-58 Packers. (4 seasons)
Bob Long played linebacker for the 1955 Rams, the 55-59 Lions, the 60-61 Rams and the 1962 Cowboys. (8 seasons)
Johnny Hermann was a running back, split end and defensive back for the 1956 Colts and Giants.
Don Shinnick played linebacker for the Baltimore Colts from 1957-1969 (13 seasons)
That’s 5 players who played a total of 28 season ( (5.6 seasons per player)

So you’ve got Ohio State, champion of the most prestigious conference, (and with the most boisterous coach). Oklahoma, champion of the weakest conference, (but with the most gentlemanly coach), and UCLA with their best ever team, (and a coach who wasn’t inducted into the Hall of Fame until 38 years after he died because we has with a prostitute when it happened). The Buckeyes were #1 with the writers. The Bruins were #2 with them but only because of a bye week and they were #1 with the coaches. Oklahoma was #3 in both polls but would be #1 in both the next two years with largely the same team. Were they that much worse as sophomores than they were as juniors? The Buckeyes were the most popular choice of all the other selectors and had the best record against ranked teams and the lowest point differential ranking against their opponents, (low being good). They also had the most future pros. The Bruins have the edge in comparative scores and stats. The Sooners have the longest winning streak, (ever) and their players had the best performance in the awards and played the most years in the pros.

You can only pick one team…

Who is #1 for 1954?
 

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