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1945 Army Cadets football team

(Redirected from 1945 Army Black Knights football team)

The 1945 Army Cadets football team was an American football team that represented the United States Military Academy as an independent and considered to be among the greatest in collegiate history.

1945 Army Cadets football
Consensus national champion
Eastern champion
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
APNo. 1
Record9–0
Head coach
CaptainJohn Green
Home stadiumMichie Stadium
Seasons
← 1944
1946 →
1945 Eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Army   –   9 – 0 – 0
Franklin & Marshall   –   4 – 0 – 1
No. 20 Columbia   –   8 – 1 – 0
Temple   –   7 – 1 – 0
No. 16 Holy Cross   –   8 – 2 – 0
Tufts   –   4 – 1 – 0
No. 8 Penn   –   6 – 2 – 0
Yale   –   6 – 3 – 0
Massachusetts State   –   2 – 1 – 1
Harvard   –   5 – 3 – 0
Penn State   –   5 – 3 – 0
Cornell   –   5 – 4 – 0
Villanova   –   4 – 4 – 0
Boston College   –   3 – 4 – 0
Brown   –   3 – 4 – 1
Colgate   –   3 – 4 – 1
Princeton   –   2 – 3 – 2
NYU   –   3 – 4 – 0
Pittsburgh   –   3 – 7 – 0
Bucknell   –   2 – 5 – 0
Drexel   –   2 – 5 – 0
Dartmouth   –   1 – 6 – 1
Syracuse   –   1 – 6 – 0
Boston University   –   0 – 5 – 0
CCNY   –   0 – 8 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

In their fifth season under head coach Earl "Red" Blaik, the Cadets compiled a 9–0 record, shut out five of nine opponents (including a 48–0 victory over No. 2 Notre Dame and a 61–0 victory over No. 6 Penn), and outscored all opponents by a total of 412 to 46.[1] Army's 1945 season was part of a 32-game undefeated streak that included the entire 1944, 1945, and 1946 seasons.

In the final AP Poll released on December 2, Army was unanimously ranked No. 1 nationally with 1,160 points, more than 200 points ahead of No. 2 Navy.[2] The Cadets repeated as winners of the Dr. Henry L. Williams trophy for the AP national championship. Army also won the Lambert Trophy as the best football team in the east.[3]

All eight other contemporary NCAA-designated major selectors also recognized Army as the 1945 national champion, including the Boand System, Dunkel System, DeVold System, Helms Athletic Foundation, Houlgate System, Litkenhous Ratings, Poling System, and Williamson System. Army also garnered five retrospective selections by later major selectors Berryman (QPRS), Billingsley Report, College Football Researchers Association, and Sagarin Ratings;[4] the National Championship Foundation selected them as co-champions with Alabama.[4]

The team led the nation with an average of 462.7 yards of total offense per game, including 359.8 rushing yards per game.[5] The offense was led by backs Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis. Blanchard scored 114 points in 1945 and received both the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award as the best player in college football.[6][7][8] Davis rushed for 944 yards and led the nation with an average of 11.51 rushing yards per carry.[9]

Four Army players were consensus first-team picks on the 1945 All-America college football team: Blanchard; Davis; tackle Tex Coulter; and guard John Green.[10] In a departure from normal practice, the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) named all eleven Army starters as its All-American team for 1945.[11] Other notable players included quarterback Arnold Tucker (NEA) and end Hank Foldberg.

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.[12]

Schedule

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DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 29Personnel Distribution Command
W 32–09,000[13][14]
October 6Wake Forest
  • Michie Stadium
  • West Point, NY
W 54–010,000[15]
October 13vs. No. 9 MichiganNo. 1
W 28–770,000[16][17]
October 20Melville PT RaidersNo. 1
  • Michie Stadium
  • West Point, NY
W 55–13[18]
October 27vs. No. 19 DukeNo. 1
W 48–1342,287[19]
November 3VillanovaNo. 1
  • Michie Stadium
  • West Point, NY
W 54–012,000[20]
November 10vs. No. 2 Notre DameNo. 1
W 48–074,621[21]
November 17at No. 6 PennNo. 1
W 61–073,000[22]
December 1vs. No. 2 NavyNo. 1
W 32–13102,000[23]
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[24]

Rankings

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See also: 1945 NCAA football rankings

Army was the wire-to-wire No. 1 in the season's AP poll and won the Dr. Henry L. Williams Trophy.

Ranking movements
Legend: ( ) = First-place votes
Week
Poll12345678Final
AP1 (86)1 (90)1 (101)1 (91)1 (86)1 (91)1 (81)1 (80)1 (116)

Personnel

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Players

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  • Shelton Biles, guard
  • Doc Blanchard (College Football Hall of Fame), fullback, Bishopville, South Carolina, 6', 208 pounds
  • Roland Catarinella, guard
  • Bobby Chabot
  • Tex Coulter, tackle, San Antonio, Texas, 6'3", 220 pounds
  • Glenn Davis (College Football Hall of Fame), Claremont, California, 5'9", 170 pounds
  • Hank Foldberg, end, Dallas, Texas, 6'1", 195 pounds
  • Herschel E. Fuson, Middlesburg, Kentucky, 6'1", 215 pounds
  • Arthur L. Gerometta, guard, Gary, Indiana, 5'10", 190 pounds
  • John Green (College Football Hall of Fame), guard and captain, Shelbyville, Kentucky, 5'8-1/2", 190 pounds
  • Shorty McWilliams, halfback, Meridan, Mississippi, 5'11", 175 pounds
  • Albert M. Nemetz, tackle, Prince George, Virginia, 6', 190 pounds
  • Dick Pitzer, end, Connellsville, Pennsylvania, 6'1", 195 pounds
  • Barney Poole (College Football Hall of Fame), end, Gloster, Mississippi
  • Arnold Tucker (College Football Hall of Fame), quarterback, Miami, Florida, 5'9", 175 pounds

Coaches

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Awards and honors

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Team

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Individual

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References

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  1. ^ "1945 Army Black Knights Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  2. ^ "Army Unanimous Choice as Top Team in AP's Final Poll". Abilene Reporter-News. December 4, 1945. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Army Lambert Winner". The Boston Globe. December 4, 1945. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b 2020 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. July 2020. pp. 112–114. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  5. ^ W.J. Bingham, ed. (1946). The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1946. A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 30.
  6. ^ "Uconn Ace Crowned New Scoring Champ". The Cincinnati Enquirer. December 3, 1945. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Trophy Given To Blanchard". Arizona Republic. December 4, 1945. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Blanchard Also Wins Maxwell Club Award". The Boston Globe. December 4, 1945. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ W.J. Bingham, ed. (1946). The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1946. A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 34.
  10. ^ "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 8. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  11. ^ Harry Grayson (November 27, 1945). "Army's And Nea's 1945 All American Chosen: Men Hail From Nine States". Olean Times Herald. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ Jimmy Powers (September 30, 1945). "Army Roughs Fliers, 32-0; Davis, M'Williams Score 2". New York Daily News. p. 69 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Karl Ruby (September 30, 1945). "Army Punctures Comets' Scrappy Line for 32-0 Win". The Courier-Journal. p. IV-3 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Dick Young (October 7, 1945). "Army Eleven Levels Wake Forest by 54-0". New York Daily News. p. 25C – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Jack Smith (October 14, 1945). "Army Outspeeds Wolves, 28-7; Davis, Blanchard Run 70 Yds". New York Daily News. p. 76 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Michigan Extends Army in 28-7 Loss". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. October 14, 1945. p. 33 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Dick Young (October 21, 1945). "Army Beats PT's, 55-13, After Trailing in 1st, 0-13". New York Daily News. p. 77 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Dick Young (October 28, 1945). "Army Rips Duke, 48-13, On Long Dashes at PG". New York Daily News. p. 73 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Army Subs Sink Villanova, 54-0; Doc, Glenn Get 2". New York Daily News. November 4, 1945. p. 25C – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Gene Ward (November 11, 1945). "Army Whips Notre Dame, 48-0". New York Daily News. p. 88 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Morrow, Art (November 18, 1945). "73,000 See Army's Power Batter Penn, 61-0; Davis and Blanchard Both Score 3 Times". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pa. p. S1 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Jerry Nason (December 2, 1945). "Navy Goes Down With Guns Blazing Before Army, 32-13: Blanchard and Davis Score 5 Touchdowns". The Boston Sunday Globe. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ DeLassus, David. "Army Yearly Results: 1945–1949". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  25. ^ Litkenhous Ratings Championship trophy (Trophy plaque). Hollingsworth/Manning Hall, University of Mississippi: Litkenhous Ratings. July 18, 2013. Retrieved April 5, 2023. The Difference By Score System
  26. ^ "NCAA College Football Awards - ESPN".
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