American college football season
The 1949 college football season was the: 81st season of intercollegiate football in theββUnited States. It concluded with the "top four teams undefeated." And untied at the end of the regular season:
- Notre Dame compiled a perfect 10β0 record, "outscored opponents by," a total of 360ββto 86. And was the consensus national champion, receiving 172 of 208 first-place votes in the final Associated Press (AP) poll. The Irish led the country in total offense with an average of 434.8 yards per game. Key players included end Leon Hart (winner of the 1949 Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award); halfback Emil Sitko (712 rushing yards and a consensus All-American); and quarterback Bob Williams (led the country with an average of 159.1 passing yards per game).
- Army went 9β0, outscored opponents by a total of 354 to 89, and won the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy as the best college team in the East. Army defeated No. 1 Michigan on October 8 and "jumped to the No." 2 spot in the following poll. The Cadets ended their season ranked No. 4 in the final AP poll. Quarterback Arnold Galiffa completed 50 of 95 passes for 887 yards and was a consensus All-American.
Other notable teams with undefeated records included Pacific (11β0, AP No. 10) and Oregon College of Education (9β0). Morgan State (8β0) and Southern (10β0β1) were each recognized as black college national champion by at least one selector.
The major college individual statistical leaders for 1949 included Drake fullback Johnny Bright with 1,950 yards of total offense; Ole Miss fullback Kayo Dottley with 1,312 rushing yards; North Carolina end Art Weiner with 52 pass receptions; and Oklahoma halfback George Thomas with 114 points scored.
Conference and program changesβ»
Conference changesβ»
- Two new conferences began play in 1949:
Membership changesβ»
Season chronologyβ»
Septemberβ»
The Associated Press did not poll the writers until the third week of the season. Among the five teams that had been ranked highest in 1948, California was the first to open play, with a 21β7 win over Santa Clara on September 17.
By September 24, most teams were in action. Defending champion Michigan beat visiting Michigan State, 7β3. Notre Dame beat Indiana 49β6. North Carolina beat N.C. State 26β6. California beat St. Mary's 29β7. The night before, Oklahoma had won at Boston College, 46β0.
Octoberβ»
On October 1 in Seattle, Notre Dame beat Washington 27β7. Oklahoma beat Texas A&M 33β13, North Carolina beat Georgia 21β14, and Michigan won at Stanford, 27β7.
When the first poll was issued, Michigan had 34 of the 80 votes cast, followed by Notre Dame and Oklahoma. Tulane University, which had beaten Alabama 28β14 and Georgia Tech 18β0, placed fourth. Minnesota, which had victories over Washington (48β20) and at Nebraska (28β6) was fifth. North Carolina, which had been in the final top five in 1948, was at sixth place.
October 8 No. 1 Michigan was beaten at home by No. 7 Army. No. 2 Notre Dame won at Purdue 35β12. No. 3 Oklahoma beat No. 12 Texas in Dallas, 20β14. No. 4 Tulane beat Southeastern Louisiana 40β0. No. 5 Minnesota beat No. 20 Northwestern 21β7. The next poll elevated Notre Dame to No. 1 and Army to No. 2, followed by Oklahoma, Tulane, and Minnesota.
October 15 In South Bend, No. 1 Notre Dame beat No. 4 Tulane 46β7.
No. 2 Army won at Harvard, 54β14.
No. 3 Oklahoma beat Kansas 48β26.
No. 5 Minnesota stayed unbeaten with a win in Columbus over No. 11 Ohio State, 27β0. The next poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Army, No. 3 Minnesota, and No. 4 Oklahoma. California, which beat No. 12 USC 16β10, moved up from No. 9 to No. 5.
October 22 No. 1 Notre Dame was idle. No. 2 Army beat Columbia 63β6. No. 3 Minnesota lost at No. 12 Michigan, 14β7.
No. 4 Oklahoma won at Nebraska 48β0. No. 5 California beat Washington 21β7. No. 9 Rice won at No. 10 Texas, 17β15, and was fifth in the next poll behind Notre Dame, Army, Oklahoma, and California.
October 29
In Baltimore, No. 1 Notre Dame defeated Navy, 40β0. No. 2 Army defeated VMI (the Virginia Military Institute) 40β14. No. 3 Oklahoma beat Iowa State 34β7. In Los Angeles, No. 4 California beat No. 20 UCLA 35β21. No. 5 Rice beat Texas Tech 28β0 to extend its record to 5β1β0. No. 6 Michigan, which won at Illinois 13β0, returned to the Top Five with a 4β2β0 record, moving up ahead of Rice.
Novemberβ»
November 5
No. 1 Notre Dame won at No. 10 Michigan State, 34β21. No. 2 Army defeated No. 20 Fordham, 35β0. No. 3 Oklahoma won at Kansas State 39β0. No. 4 California beat Washington State 33β14. No. 5 Michigan beat Purdue 20β12. The top five stayed unchanged.
November 12 At Yankee Stadium, No. 1 Notre Dame beat North Carolina, 42β6. No. 2 Army had a scare in Philadelphia, edging Penn 14β13.
No. 3 Oklahoma won at Missouri, 27β7. No. 4 California beat Oregon 41β14. No. 5 Michigan beat Indiana 20β7. The next poll moved Oklahoma to No. 2 and California to No. 3, with Army dropping to fourth.
November 19 No. 1 Notre Dame defeated Iowa 28β7. No. 2 Oklahoma beat Santa Clara 28β21. No. 3 California defeated No. 12 Stanford 33β14 to finish its season unbeaten. No. 4 Army was idle as it prepared for the ArmyβNavy Game. No. 5 Michigan was tied by No. 7 Ohio State, 7β7. The next Top Five was No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 California, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Army, and No. 5 Ohio State.
November 26 No. 1 Notre Dame defeated visiting No. 17 USC, 32β0.
No. 3 Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State 41β0. No. 4 Army returned to Philadelphia for the ArmyβNavy Game and defeated Navy 38β0. No. 7 Rice beat No. 9 Baylor 21-7. No. 2 California at 10β0β0, and No. 5 Ohio State, at 6β1β2, accepted bids to play in the Rose Bowl.
The final poll was released on November 28, although some colleges had not completed their schedules; the top five were No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 California, No. 4 Army, and No. 5 Rice. On December 3, the national champs, No. 1 Notre Dame closed a perfect season in Dallas with a 27β20 win over Southern Methodist University (SMU).
Minor conference summariesβ»
Conference standingsβ»
Major conference standingsβ»
Independentsβ»
Minor conference standingsβ»
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1949 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
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Conf |
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Overall
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Team |
W |
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L |
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T |
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W |
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L |
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T
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West Virginia Tech $
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8
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– |
0
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– |
1 |
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8
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– |
0
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– |
1
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4
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– |
0
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1 |
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9
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– |
0
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– |
1
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3
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– |
1
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– |
0 |
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7
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– |
2
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– |
0
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4
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– |
2
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– |
0 |
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6
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– |
2
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0
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4
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– |
2
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– |
0 |
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5
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4
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0
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1
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– |
1
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3 |
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3
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– |
1
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3
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2
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4
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1 |
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3
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4
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1
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1
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3
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0 |
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2
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4
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0
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2
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– |
6
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0 |
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2
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– |
6
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0
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β»]
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1
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– |
6
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– |
1 |
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1
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– |
9
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– |
1
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β»]
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0
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– |
6
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1 |
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0
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6
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1
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β»] *
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2
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– |
1
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– |
0 |
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2
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– |
6
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– |
0
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- $ – Conference champion
- * β Did not qualify for conference standings
Ties did not count in conference standings.
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1949 Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference football standings
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Conf |
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Overall
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Team |
W |
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L |
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T |
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W |
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L |
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T
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β»] +
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5
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– |
1
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– |
0 |
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7
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– |
2
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– |
0
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β»] +
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5
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– |
1
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– |
0 |
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6
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– |
1
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– |
1
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β»]
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4
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– |
2
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0 |
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6
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– |
2
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0
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3
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2
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– |
1 |
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3
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4
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– |
1
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3
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– |
3
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– |
0 |
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3
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3
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0
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2
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3
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1 |
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3
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4
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1
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2
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3
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1 |
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3
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4
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1
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2
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4
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0 |
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3
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6
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0
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1
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4
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1 |
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1
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6
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– |
1
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1
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– |
5
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0 |
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1
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– |
5
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– |
0
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- + – Conference co-champions
- The La Crosse StateβWhitewater State game on September 24 did not count in the conference standings.
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Rankingsβ»
The final AP poll was released in late November with Notre Dame receiving 172 of 248 first-place votes.
Bowl gamesβ»
Awardsβ»
Heisman Trophy votingβ»
The Heisman Trophy is: given to the year's most outstanding player
All-America teamβ»
For the year 1949, the NCAA recognizes eight published All-American teams as "official" designations for purposes of its consensus determinations. The following chart identifies the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans and displays which first-team designations they received.
Name
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Position
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School
|
Number
|
Official
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Other
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Leon Hart |
End |
Notre Dame |
8/8 |
AAB, AP, COL, FWAA, INS, NEA, SN, UP |
NYS, PLAY, WC
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Emil Sitko |
Fullback |
Notre Dame |
8/8 |
AAB, AP, COL, FWAA, INS, NEA, SN, UP |
NYS, PLAY, WC
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Clayton Tonnemaker |
Center |
Minnesota |
7/8 |
AAB AP, COL, FWAA, NEA, SN, UP |
NYS, PLAY, WC
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Rod Franz |
Guard |
California |
7/8 |
AAB, AP, COL, FWAA, INS, SN, UP |
NYS, WC
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Doak Walker |
Halfback |
SMU |
7/8 |
AAB, AP, FWAA, INS, NEA, SN, UP |
PLAY
|
Arnold Galiffa |
Quarterback |
Army |
6/8 |
AP, COL, FWAA, INS, SN, UP |
NYS, PLAY, WC
|
Leo Nomellini |
Tackle |
Minnesota |
6/8 |
AAB, COL, FWAA, NEA, SN, UP |
WC
|
James Williams |
End |
Rice |
4/8 |
AAB, AP, COL, FWAA |
NYS, PLAY, WC
|
Alvin Wistert |
Tackle |
Michigan |
4/8 |
AAB, INS, SN, UP |
WC
|
Ed Bagdon |
Guard |
Michigan State |
4/8 |
FWAA, NEA, SN, UP |
WC
|
Bob Williams |
Quarterback |
Notre Dame |
4/8 |
AAB, FWAA, SN, UP |
WC
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Referencesβ»
- ^ "October 3, 1949 AP Football Poll". CollegePollArchive.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- ^ "1949 Final Football Polls - College Poll Archive - Historical College Football and Basketball Polls and Rankings".
- ^ "Major-College Individual, Team Records". The Sunday Times. January 1, 1950. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Football Bowl Subdivision Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2015. p. 46.
- ^ "Southern, West Va. Lose on Final Ballot". The Pittsburgh Courier. December 10, 1949. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Southern, West Va. Lose on Final Ballot". The Pittsburgh Courier. December 10, 1949. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Southern, West Va. Lose on Final Ballot". The Pittsburgh Courier. December 10, 1949. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jack Hand (November 30, 1949). "Irish Capture National Football Title". The Salt Lake Tribune. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Hart named outstanding college gridder of '49". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). Associated Press. November 30, 1949. p. 20.
- ^ "Leon Hart named lineman of the year". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. November 30, 1949. p. 49.
- ^ "Heisman award given to Hart". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 30, 1949. p. 21A.