| 1945 college football season | ||
|---|---|---|
| First AP No. 1 of season | Army[1] | |
| Number of bowls | 8 | |
| Champion(s) | Army, (AP), Oklahoma A&M (AFCA) | |
| Heisman | Doc Blanchard, (fullback, Army) | |
| ||
The 1945 college football season was the 77th 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 Southwest Conference, and numerous smaller conferences and independent programs. The season followed the end of World War II in August 1945, though many college players remained in military service.
Army was the unanimous No. 1 choice by all 116 voters in the final AP poll and was rated as national champion by all nine contemporary title selectors.[2] The undefeated 1945 Army team was one of the strongest of all time, as during World War II, loose player transfer rules allowed service academies to assemble many of the nation's best players.[3]
In 2016 a committee of former Baylor coach Grant Teaff, Georgia's Vince Dooley, and Texas A&M's R. C. Slocum awarded Oklahoma A&M an American Football Coaches Association championship title for 1945, upon OSU's application for the recognition.[4][5][6]
The year's statistical leaders included halfback Bob Fenimore of Oklahoma A&M with 1,641 yards of total offense and 1,048 rushing yards, quarterback Al Dekdebrun of Cornell with 1,227 passing yards, and end Reid Moseley of Georgia with 662 receiving yards.
- ^ "October 8, 1945 AP Football Poll". CollegePollArchive.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- ^ 1995 NCAA Football Records Book. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 1995. pp. 54–58. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
- ^ Connelly, Bill (December 10, 2016). "What made 1945 Army the greatest college football team of all time". SBNation. Vox Media, LLC. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
World War II gave the service academies competitive edges, and the Cadets took maximum advantage, producing perhaps the most dominant season of college football possible.
- ^ Marshall, Kendrick (October 18, 2016). Written at Stillwater, Oklahoma. "AFCA member explains why OSU awarded 1945 national championship". Tulsa World. Tulsa, Oklahoma. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
- ^ Fornelli, Tom (October 13, 2016). "Why Oklahoma State has been named college football's 1945 national champion". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
After gathering all the pertinent information and doing our due diligence, it is the pleasure of our Blue Ribbon Commission of coaches to officially recognize Oklahoma State's 1945 championship season with the AFCA Coaches' Trophy.
- ^ Tramel, Berry (August 23, 2017). "Why is Oklahoma State on an island with the retroactive titles?". Daily Oklahoman. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
The AFCA did not convene a panel of historians ... Instead, the AFCA opened the process up for proposals. It invited schools to nominate teams they felt were deserving. Then a committee would vote yea or nay on said team – the AFCA acknowledged it could hand out multiple awards for the same season [from 1922 to 1949].