1944 Ottumwa Naval Air Station Skyers football team

The 1944 Ottumwa Naval Air Station Skyers football team represented Ottumwa Naval Air Station (Ottumwa NAS), located near Ottumwa, Iowa, during the 1944 college football season. Led by second-year head coach Jimmy Kitts, the Skyers compiled a record of 3–4. The team's roster included Bob Steuber.^[1]

1944 Ottumwa Naval Air Station Skyers football
Conference	Independent
Record	3–4
Head coach	Jimmy Kitts (2nd season)
Home stadium	Ottumwa High School Stadium
Seasons ← 1943 1945 →

1944 military service football records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Randolph Field			–					11	–	0	–	0
No. 5 Bainbridge			–					10	–	0	–	0
No. 18 Fort Pierce			–					9	–	0	–	0
No. 13 Norman NAS			–					6	–	0	–	0
No. 6 Iowa Pre-Flight			–					10	–	1	–	0
No. 16 El Toro Marines			–					8	–	1	–	0
Hondo AAF			–					7	–	1	–	0
Bunker Hill NAS			–					6	–	1	–	0
Lincoln AAF			–					6	–	1	–	0
Blackland AAF			–					7	–	1	–	1
Keesler Field			–					8	–	1	–	2
No. 17 Great Lakes Navy			–					9	–	2	–	1
No. 10 March Field			–					7	–	2	–	2
Third Air Force			–					8	–	3	–	0
North Carolina Pre-Flight			–					6	–	2	–	1
Atlantic City NAS			–					5	–	2	–	0
Camp Peary			–					5	–	2	–	0
Tonopah AAF			–					5	–	2	–	0
Daniel Field			–					7	–	3	–	0
No. 20 Second Air Force			–					10	–	4	–	1
San Francisco Coast Guard			–					4	–	2	–	1
Ellington Field			–					6	–	3	–	2
Amarillo AAF			–					5	–	3	–	0
Alameda Coast Guard			–					4	–	2	–	2
Coronado Amphibious			–					2	–	1	–	1
Olathe NAS			–					4	–	2	–	2
Selman Field			–					4	–	2	–	2
Galveston AAF			–					5	–	3	–	2
Fleet City			–					6	–	4	–	1
Jacksonville NAS			–					4	–	3	–	0
San Diego NTS			–					4	–	3	–	1
Camp Beale			–					5	–	4	–	0
Lubbock AAF			–					5	–	4	–	0
Fort Warren			–					5	–	4	–	1
Fort Monroe			–					5	–	5	–	0
Klamath Falls Marines			–					2	–	2	–	1
Maxwell Field			–					5	–	5	–	0
Minter Field			–					3	–	3	–	0
No. 19 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight			–					4	–	4	–	0
Fourth Infantry			–					3	–	4	–	2
Georgia Pre-Flight			–					4	–	5	–	0
Third Infantry			–					4	–	5	–	0
Bergstrom Field			–					3	–	4	–	0
Ottumwa NAS			–					3	–	4	–	0
Camp Lee			–					3	–	5	–	0
Cherry Point Marines			–					3	–	6	–	0
Chatham Field			–					2	–	8	–	1
Sampton NTS			–					2	–	7	–	0
Miami NTC			–					2	–	8	–	0
Bryan AAF			–					1	–	7	–	0
Fairfield-Suisun AAB			–					1	–	7	–	0
Richmond AAB			–					0	–	10	–	1
Camp Ellis			–					0	–	5	–	0
South Plains AAF			–					0	–	8	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

In the final Litkenhous Ratings, Ottumwa NAS ranked 50th among the nation's college and service teams and 11th out of 28 United States Navy teams with a rating of 87.5.^[2][3]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 24		at Iowa State Prison	Fort Madison, IA	W 52–0		[4][5]
October 1		at Camp Ellis	Camp Ellis, IL	W 45–7	8,000–10,000	[6][7]
October 7		at Bunker Hill NAS	Naval Air Station Bunker Hill Bunker Hill, IN	L 13–14		[8]
October 15	2:00 p.m.	at Lincoln AAF	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	L 2–15	10,000–12,000	[9][10][11]
October 22	2:00 p.m.	Camp Ellis	Ottumwa High School Stadium Ottumwa, IA	W 33–0	7,000	[12][13][14]
October 29	2:00 p.m.	Bunker Hill NAS	Ottumwa High School Stadium Ottumwa, IA	L 0–13	8,500	[15][16][17][18]
November 12		Lincoln AAF	Ottumwa, IA	L 0–39		[19][20][21]
All times are in Central time

References

1. "Iowa Prison Team Is Ottumwa Navy's Opponent, Sept. 24". The Daily Times. Davenport, Iowa. United Press. September 18, 1944. p. 18. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
2. Litkenhous, E. E. (December 10, 1944). "Big Ten Circuit Repeats As King of College Leagues". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City Utah. p. 8B. Retrieved April 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
3. Litkenhous, E. E. (December 17, 1944). "Army, Randolph Field One-Two in Final Litkenhouse Ratings". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. 4, section 2. Retrieved April 15, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
4. "Skyers Play Prisoners in Grid Opener". Des Moines Sunday Register. Des Moines, Iowa. September 24, 1944. p. 4S. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
5. "Skyers Wallop Prison, 52 To 0". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. September 25, 1944. p. 10. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
6. "Bob Steuber Rides Again--Skyers, 45-7". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. October 2, 1944. p. 12. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
7. "Steuber Helps Ottumwa Win". Iowa City Press-Citizen. Iowa City, Iowa. October 2, 1944. p. 9. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
8. "Bunker Hill Eleven Beats Iowans, 14-13". The Muncie Sunday Star. October 8, 1944. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Grid War At Stadium". The Lincoln Star. Lincoln, Nebraska. October 14, 1944. p. 8. Retrieved April 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
10. "Brady scores twice to sink Navy Skyers". Lincoln Journal. Lincoln, Nebraska. October 16, 1944. p. 9. Retrieved April 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
11. McBride, Gregg (October 16, 1944). "Lincoln Wings Rock Ottumwa Tars". Morning World-Herald. Omaha, Nebraska. p. 9. Retrieved April 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
12. "Ottumwa Navy Team To Meet Camp Ellis Gridders on Sunday". The Daily Times. Davenport, Iowa. Associated Press. October 20, 1944. p. 28. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
13. Taylor, Sec (October 23, 1944). "Skyers Shell Camp Ellis, 33–0". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. p. 9. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
14. Taylor, Sec (October 23, 1944). "Stolen Flips Nip Soldiers' Late Thrusts; Skyers--- (continued)". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. p. 10. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
15. "Bunker Hill Seeks No. 3 Over Skyers". The Des Moines Register. October 29, 1944. p. L5 – via Newspapers.com.
16. Barron, Abe (October 30, 1944). "Skyers' Drives Fizzle, 13 to 0". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. p. 9. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
17. Barron, Abe (October 30, 1944). "Skyers--- (continued)". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. p. 10. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
18. "Bunker Hill Tars Trip Skyers, 13-0, In Sunday Contest". The Daily Times. Davenport, Iowa. Associated Press. October 30, 1944. p. 16. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
19. "Skyers Prepare For Grid Finale". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. November 6, 1944. p. 10. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
20. "Wings set for Skyer Exhibition". Lincoln Sunday Journal and Star. Lincoln, Nebraska. November 12, 1944. p. 2B. Retrieved April 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
21. "Wings romp over Ottumwa gridders by 39-0 count". Lincoln Journal. Lincoln, Nebraska. November 13, 1944. p. 11. Retrieved April 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .