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.
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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.
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September
The Associated Press did not poll the writers until the third week of the season. Among the teams that had been ranked in the top six at the end of 1944, only the two service academies (Army and Navy) as well as Ohio State, were still playing a regular schedule. Among the service teams that had ranked high in 1944, Randolph Field,
Bainbridge Naval, and Iowa Pre-Flight no longer played against college teams. Some service teams still remained in place, even after the end of World War II.
On September 15, Michigan beat Great Lakes Navy, 27–2. On September 22, Michigan lost to Indiana, 13–7. Minnesota beat Missouri, 34–0. In a Friday night game in Los Angeles, USC beat UCLA 13–6. September 29 Notre Dame beat Illinois 7–0, Army beat Louisville Field, 32–0, and Navy beat Villanova 49–0. USC won at California, 13–2, and Ohio State won at Missouri 47–6.
October
On October 6, Army beat Wake Forest, 54–0 and Navy beat Duke, 21–0. Ohio State beat Iowa 42–0. Minnesota won at Nebraska 61–7. Notre Dame won at Georgia Tech, 40–7. UCLA beat St. Mary's Pre-Flight, 26–14. The year's first AP Poll was led by No. 1 Army, No. 2 Navy, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 Minnesota.
October 13 At Yankee Stadium in New York, No. 1 Army beat No. 9 Michigan, 28–7. No. 2 Navy stayed unscored upon with a 28–0 win over Penn State. No. 3 Notre Dame beat Dartmouth, 34–0. No. 4 Ohio State beat Wisconsin, 12–0. No. 5 Minnesota beat Fort Warren, 14–0. The top five in the AP Poll remained the same.
October 20 No. 1 Army beat Melville PT Boats 55–13.
In Baltimore, No. 2 Navy beat Georgia Tech 20–6. No. 3 Notre Dame won at Pittsburgh, 39–9. No. 4 Ohio State lost to No. 9 Purdue, 35–13. No. 5 Minnesota defeated Northwestern, 30–7. The new top five was No. 1 Army, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Navy, No. 4 Purdue, and No. 5 Minnesota.
October 27 In New York, No. 1 Army beat No. 19 Duke 48–13. No. 2 Notre Dame beat Iowa 56–0. In Philadelphia, No. 3 Navy defeated No. 7 Penn, 14–7. No. 4 Purdue lost to unranked Northwestern, 26–14. No. 5 Minnesota lost to No. 12 Ohio State, 20–7. In Birmingham, No. 6 Alabama beat Georgia 28–14. No. 8 Indiana beat No. 14 Tulsa 7–2, to reach 5–0–1 and the No. 5 ranking behind Army, Notre Dame, Navy, and Alabama.
November
November 3 No. 1 Army beat Villanova, 54–0. No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 3 Navy, both 5–0–0, met in Cleveland, and played to a 6–6 tie. In Louisville, No. 4 Alabama defeated Kentucky, 60–19. No. 5 Indiana beat Cornell College of Iowa, 46–6, but dropped to sixth in the next poll. In Los Angeles, No. 8 St. Mary's beat No. 6 USC 26–0 and moved up to fifth place behind Army, Notre Dame, Alabama, and Navy.
November 10 No. 1 Army (6–0–0) and No. 2 Notre Dame (5–0–1) met for a showdown at Yankee Stadium, and it was no contest, with the Cadets winning 48–0. No. 3 Alabama was idle. In Baltimore, No. 4 Navy beat No. 7 Michigan 33–7. No. 5 St. Mary's beat Fresno State, 32–6. No. 6 Indiana won at No. 20 Minnesota, 49–0. The next poll was No. 1 Army, No. 2 Navy, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Indiana, and No. 5 St. Mary's.
November 17 In Philadelphia, No. 1 Army beat No. 6 Penn, 61–0.
No. 2 Navy defeated Wisconsin 36–7 in Baltimore. In Nashville, No. 3 Alabama beat Vanderbilt, 71–0. No. 4 Indiana won at Pittsburgh, 19–0. No. 5 St. Mary's lost to UCLA, 13–7. No. 7 Notre Dame won at Northwestern 34–7 and moved back up to No. 5, with the top four remaining the same.
November 24 No. 1 Army (8–0–0) and No. 2 Navy (7–0–1), both unbeaten, were idle as they prepared for the Army–Navy Game. No. 3 Alabama beat the Pensacola Naval Air Station, 55–6. No. 4 Indiana closed its season at 9–0–1 with a 26–0 win over No. 18 Purdue. In New Orleans, No. 5 Notre Dame beat Tulane, 32–6. The top five remained the same.
December
December 1 In the second No. 1 and No. 2 matchup of the year, No. 1 Army (8–0–0) and No. 2 Navy (7–0–1) met at the Army–Navy Game in Philadelphia, with Army winning 32–13 to close a perfect season and a wire-to-wire No. 1 ranking. No. 3 Alabama defeated Mississippi State 55–13 and moved to No. 2 in the final poll with Navy falling to No. 3. Indiana had finished its season and remained at No. 4. No. 5 Notre Dame lost to the Great Lakes Navy team, 39–7. No. 6 Oklahoma A&M, which had finished the season 9–0–0 and accepted an invitation to the Sugar Bowl, rose to fifth in the final poll.
Bowl games
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For this article, major conferences defined as those including multiple state flagship public universities or a team ranked in the AP Poll.
Major conference standings
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Independents
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Minor conferences
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Minor conference standings
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The teams ranked highest in the final Associated Press poll in December 1945 were:
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Team leaders
Total offense
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Rank |
Team |
Games played |
Total plays |
Yards gained |
Yards per game |
1 | Army | 9 | 526 | 4164 | 462.7 |
2 | Alabama | 9 | 557 | 3795 | 421.7 |
3 | Oklahoma A&M | 8 | 496 | 3363 | 420.4 |
4 | St. Mary's | 8 | 502 | 2995 | 374.4 |
5 | Georgia | 9 | 575 | 3291 | 365.7 |
6 | LSU | 9 | 539 | 3269 | 363.2 |
7 | Notre Dame | 9 | 626 | 3180 | 353.3 |
8 | Maryland | 7 | 427 | 2433 | 347.6 |
9 | Indiana | 10 | 619 | 3254 | 325.4 |
10 | Yale | 9 | 648 | 2911 | 323.4 |
11 | Tennessee | 7 | 424 | 2260 | 322.9 |
12 | Colorado College | 8 | 462 | 2433 | 304.1 |
13 | Mississippi State | 8 | 542 | 2422 | 302.8 |
14 | Tulsa | 10 | 597 | 3021 | 302.1 |
15 | Minnesota | 9 | 609 | 2710 | 301.1 |
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Total defense
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Rank |
Team |
Games played |
Total plays |
Yards gained |
Yards per game |
1 | Alabama | 9 | 452 | 989 | 109.9 |
2 | Temple | 8 | 403 | 1005 | 125.6 |
3 | Holy Cross | 8 | 371 | 1131 | 141.4 |
4 | Mississippi State | 8 | 365 | 1191 | 148.9 |
5 | St. Mary's | 8 | 397 | 1236 | 154.5 |
6 | Tulsa | 10 | 491 | 1550 | 155.0 |
7 | Yale | 9 | 427 | 1441 | 160.1 |
8 | Tennessee | 7 | 368 | 1142 | 163.1 |
9 | Indiana | 10 | 536 | 1641 | 164.1 |
10 | Army | 9 | 515 | 1528 | 169.8 |
11 | Washington | 9 | 497 | 1535 | 170.6 |
12 | Texas | 10 | 541 | 1710 | 171.0 |
13 | Texas A&M | 10 | 544 | 1763 | 176.3 |
14 | Georgia | 6 | 309 | 1074 | 179.0 |
15 | Colgate | 6 | 310 | 1097 | 182.8 |
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Rushing offense
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Rank |
Team |
Games |
Rushes |
Yards gained |
Yards per game |
1 | Army | 9 | 424 | 3238 | 359.8 |
2 | LSU | 9 | 443 | 2705 | 300.6 |
3 | Alabama | 9 | 440 | 2679 | 297.7 |
4 | Oklahoma A&M | 8 | 383 | 2293 | 286.6 |
5 | Notre Dame | 9 | 451 | 2395 | 266.1 |
6 | Maryland | 7 | 345 | 1846 | 263.7 |
7 | Mississippi State | 8 | 443 | 2028 | 253.5 |
8 | Ohio State | 9 | 505 | 2133 | 237.0 |
9 | Colorado College | 8 | 366 | 1882 | 235.3 |
10 | Indiana | 10 | 484 | 2331 | 233.1 |
11 | Tennessee | 7 | 328 | 1631 | 233.0 |
12 | Duke | 8 | 375 | 1806 | 225.8 |
13 | Missouri | 9 | 476 | 2018 | 224.2 |
14 | Temple | 8 | 405 | 1791 | 223.9 |
15 | Tulsa | 10 | 449 | 2236 | 223.6 |
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Rushing defense
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Rank |
Team |
Games |
Rushes |
Yards gained |
Yards per game |
1 | Alabama | 9 | 320 | 305 | 33.9 |
2 | Tennessee | 7 | 231 | 385 | 55.0 |
3 | Temple | 8 | 296 | 520 | 65.0 |
4 | St. Mary's | 8 | 240 | 591 | 73.9 |
5 | Penn State | 8 | 295 | 634 | 79.3 |
6 | Yale | 9 | 300 | 721 | 80.1 |
7 | Army | 9 | 357 | 728 | 80.9 |
8 | Texas | 10 | 353 | 813 | 81.3 |
9 | Mississippi State | 8 | 256 | 670 | 83.8 |
10 | Tulsa | 10 | 353 | 850 | 85.0 |
11 | Colgate | 6 | 215 | 591 | 98.5 |
12 | Indiana | 10 | 393 | 1004 | 100.4 |
13 | Washington | 9 | 344 | 908 | 100.9 |
14 | California | 10 | 406 | 1023 | 102.3 |
15 | Detroit | 9 | 342 | 933 | 103.7 |
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Passing offense
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Rank |
Team |
Games |
Att. |
Compl. |
Int. |
Pct. Compl. |
Yards |
Yds/Game |
1 | St. Mary's | 8 | 150 | 74 | 16 | .493 | 1290 | 161.3 |
2 | Cornell | 9 | 207 | 95 | 17 | .459 | 1351 | 150.1 |
3 | Georgia | 9 | 159 | 71 | 17 | .447 | 1335 | 148.3 |
4 | Oklahoma A&M | 8 | 113 | 54 | 11 | .478 | 1070 | 133.8 |
5 | Wake Forest | 5 | 93 | 44 | 8 | .473 | 634 | 126.8 |
6 | Alabama | 9 | 117 | 71 | 4 | .607 | 1116 | 124.0 |
7 | SMU | 11 | 263 | 123 | 26 | .468 | 1310 | 119.1 |
8 | TCU | 10 | 190 | 87 | 19 | .458 | 1183 | 118.3 |
9 | Colgate | 6 | 94 | 46 | 8 | .489 | 694 | 115.7 |
10 | South Carolina | 7 | 103 | 44 | 14 | .427 | 808 | 115.4 |
11 | Kansas State | 8 | 174 | 62 | 20 | .356 | 921 | 115.1 |
12 | Yale | 9 | 138 | 69 | 15 | .500 | 1015 | 112.8 |
13 | Virginia | 6 | 77 | 32 | 5 | .416 | 682 | 112.0 |
14 | Texas | 10 | 154 | 67 | 16 | .435 | 1095 | 109.5 |
15 | Michigan State | 9 | 168 | 89 | 12 | .530 | 958 | 106.4 |
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Individual leaders
Total offense
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Rushing
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Rank |
Player |
Team |
Games |
Rushes |
Yds Gained |
Yds Lost |
Net Yds |
Avg Gain per Play |
1 | Bob Fenimore | Oklahoma A&M | 8 | 142 | 1119 | 71 | 1048 | 7.38 |
2 | Glenn Davis | Army | 9 | 82 | 980 | 36 | 944 | 11.51 |
3 | Ollie Cline | Ohio State | 9 | 171 | 933 | 2 | 931 | 5.44 |
4 | Walt Schlinkman | Texas Tech | 10 | 145 | 908 | 37 | 871 | 6.01 |
5 | Ed Cody | Purdue | 10 | 157 | 868 | 21 | 847 | 5.39 |
6 | Stan Kozlowski | Holy Cross | 9 | 186 | 916 | 75 | 841 | 4.52 |
7 | George Taliaferro | Indiana | 10 | 156 | 801 | 73 | 728 | 4.67 |
8 | Doc Blanchard | Army | 9 | 101 | 726 | 8 | 718 | 7.11 |
9 | Lowell Tew | Alabama | 9 | 88 | 737 | 22 | 715 | 8.13 |
10 | Linwood Sexton | Wichita | 8 | 120 | 762 | 55 | 707 | 5.89 |
11 | Ben Bendrick | Wisconsin | 9 | 142 | 723 | 42 | 681 | 4.80 |
12 | Gene Knight | LSU | 9 | 85 | 709 | 30 | 679 | 7.99 |
13 | Cal Rossi | UCLA | 6 | 95 | 700 | 21 | 679 | 7.15 |
14 | Dick Conners | Northwestern | 9 | 116 | 685 | 14 | 671 | 5.78 |
15 | Camp Wilson | Tulsa | 10 | 138 | 679 | 17 | 662 | 4.80 |
16 | Lynn Chewning | VMI | 9 | 129 | 707 | 62 | 645 | 5.00 |
17 | Harper Davis | Mississippi State | 9 | 122 | 710 | 66 | 644 | 5.28 |
18 | Bill Canfield | Purdue | 10 | 143 | 654 | 25 | 629 | 4.40 |
19 | Curtis Kuykendall | Auburn | 10 | 132 | 692 | 76 | 616 | 4.67 |
20 | Guy Brown | Detroit | 9 | 82 | 649 | 39 | 610 | 7.44 |
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Passing
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Rank |
Player |
Team |
Games |
Att. |
Compl. |
Int. |
Pct. Compl. |
Yds. |
1 | Al Dekdebrun | Cornell | 9 | 194 | 90 | 15 | .464 | 1227 |
2 | Leon Joslin | TCU | 10 | 142 | 69 | 11 | .486 | 955 |
3 | Jerry Niles | Iowa | 9 | 179 | 63 | 15 | .352 | 872 |
4 | Herman Wedemeyer | St. Mary's | 8 | 103 | 59 | 5 | .573 | 1040 |
5 | Jack O. Price | Baylor | 11 | 125 | 59 | 16 | .472 | 708 |
6 | Harry Gilmer | Alabama | 9 | 88 | 57 | 3 | .648 | 905 |
7 | Arthur Dakos | Yale | 9 | 109 | 56 | 10 | .514 | 723 |
8 | Bob DeMoss | Purdue | 10 | 117 | 55 | 12 | .470 | 742 |
9 | Russ Reader | Michigan State | 9 | 90 | 53 | 5 | .589 | 613 |
10 | Hotsinger | Georgia Tech | 9 | 116 | 49 | 9 | .422 | 682 |
11 | Bob Thomason | VMI | 9 | 114 | 46 | 10 | .404 | 593 |
12 | Gray | Oregon State | 9 | 92 | 41 | 12 | .446 | 359 |
13 | Nick Sacrinty | Wake Forest | 5 | 81 | 40 | 5 | .494 | 578 |
14 | Doak Walker | SMU | 5 | 65 | 38 | 4 | .585 | 387 |
15 | Ben Raimondi | Indiana | 10 | 84 | 37 | 3 | .440 | 593 |
16 | Howard Maley | SMU | 11 | 79 | 36 | 6 | .456 | 288 |
17 | Evans | Penn | 8 | 68 | 35 | 6 | .515 | 517 |
18 | Y. A. Tittle | LSU | 9 | 76 | 35 | 9 | .461 | 414 |
19 | Hardey | Texas Tech | 10 | 67 | 33 | 7 | .493 | 427 |
20 | Wolff | Pittsburgh | 9 | 83 | 33 | 9 | .398 | 499 |
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Receiving
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Rank |
Player |
Team |
Games |
Receptions |
Receiving Yards |
1 | Reid Moseley | Georgia | 10 | 31 | 662 |
2 | Gene Wilson | SMU | 11 | 31 | 311 |
3 | Steve Contos | Michigan State | 9 | 31 | 285 |
4 | Hub Bechtol | Texas | 10 | 25 | 389 |
5 | O'Conner | St. Mary's | 8 | 23 | 373 |
6 | Bill Canfield | Purdue | 10 | 23 | 314 |
7 | Joiner | Baylor | 11 | 21 | 319 |
8 | Paul Walker | Yale | 9 | 21 | 277 |
9 | Jones | Kentucky | 6 | 19 | 369 |
10 | Mason | TCU | 10 | 19 | 218 |
11 | Seymour Kuppersmith | NYU | 7 | 19 | 207 |
12 | Neill Armstrong | Oklahoma A&M | 8 | 18 | 316 |
13 | Steiner | Alabama | 9 | 18 | 315 |
14 | Page | SMU | 11 | 18 | 234 |
15 | Cordeiro | St. Mary's | 8 | 17 | 346 |
16 | Morris | Northwestern | 9 | 16 | 301 |
17 | Pierce | Baylor | 11 | 16 | 183 |
18 | R. Anderson | Oregon | 9 | 15 | 290 |
19 | Ryan | St. Mary's | 8 | 15 | 276 |
20 | Cash | Tulane | 9 | 15 | 260 |
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Scoring
More information Rank, Player ...
Rank |
Player |
Team |
Points |
TD |
PAT |
FG |
1 | Walt Trojanowski | Connecticut | 132 | 22 | 0 | 0 |
2 | Fowler | Arkansas Tech | 129 | 20 | 9 | 0 |
3 | Doc Blanchard | Army | 115 | 19 | 1 | 0 |
4 | Ross | Wiley | 114 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
5 | Glenn Davis | Army | 108 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
6 | Harry Ghaul | Miami (FL) | 100 | 13 | 22 | 0 |
7 | Bass | Tennessee A&I | 96 | 14 | 12 | 0 |
8 | Lou Kusserow | Columbia | 90 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
9 | Stan Koslowski | Holy Cross | 87 | 12 | 15 | 0 |
10 | Greene | Catawba | 84 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
11 | Bob Pfohl | Merchant Marine | 83 | 13 | 5 | 0 |
12 | Jones | Virginia State | 77 | 11 | 11 | 0 |
13 | Bob Fenimore | Oklahoma A&M | 72 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
13 | Ed Cody | Purdue | 72 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
13 | Ragan | Redlands | 72 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
13 | Montgomery | Florida A&M | 72 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
17 | Herman Wedemeyer | St. Mary's | 71 | 9 | 17 | 0 |
17 | Cromer | Colorado State | 71 | 10 | 11 | 0 |
19 | Fred Grant | Alabama | 66 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
19 | Lowell Tew | Alabama | 66 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
19 | Gene Rossides | Columbia | 66 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
19 | Goode | Texas A&M | 66 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
19 | Brown | Virginia | 66 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
19 | Boswell | Oberlin | 66 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
19 | Perry | Compton | 66 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
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Longest plays
Longest punts (including roll)
1. Witherspoon, Florida N&I vs. Knoxville - 82 yards
2. Stabler, Charleston Teachers vs. Macomb Teachers - 80 yards
3. Lewis, Texas College vs. Wiley - 76 yards
4. Pattee, Kansas vs. Marquette - 75 yards
4. Perry, Southern vs. Langston - 75 yards
4. Pass, Johnson C. Smith vs. North Carolina College - 75 yards
Longest rushing plays
1. Fleming, Montana State vs. Faragut Navy - 95 yards
1. Engraham, Florida A&M vs. Tuskegee - 95 yards
3. Montgomery, Florida A&M vs. Moorhouse - 92 yards
4. Aschenbrenner, Great Lakes vs. Michigan State - 90 yards
4. Faunce, Minot Teachers vs. Winnipeg Bombers - 90 yards
Longest forward-pass plays
1. Green to Robinson, West Virginia State vs. Virginia State - 100 yards
2. Gray to Fuqua, Vanderbilt vs. LSU - 87 yards
3. Corlett to Fisher, Johnson C. Smith vs. Shaw - 85 yards
4. Powell to Edmonston, California vs. St. Mary's - 83 yards
5. Wieche to Hoover, Miami (OH) vs. Bowling Green - 82 yards
Longest interception runbacks
1. Needs, Oklahoma vs. Kansas State - 100 yards
1. Joiner, Baylor vs. TCU - 100 yards
1. Howard, Iowa State vs. Kansas State - 100 yards
1. Turner, NC State vs. Duke - 100 yards
1. Pfohl, Merchant Marine vs. Ursinus - 100 yards
Longest punt runbacks
1. Goode, Texas A&M vs. Ellington Field - 98 yards
2. Morris, Colorado vs. Utah - 95 yards
3. Robinson, Pittsburgh vs. Michigan State - 87 yards
4. Welch, SMU vs. Blackland AFB - 85 yards
5. Robinson, Pittsburgh vs. Penn State - 84 yards
Longest kickoff runbacks
1. McCandless, Marin JC vs. Santa Rosa - 100 yards
2. Howard, Iowa State vs. Kansas State - 96 yards
3. Talliaferro, Indiana vs. Minnesota - 95 yards
4. Miller, Indiana vs. Nebraska - 94 yards
5. Kishbaugh, Bloomsburg Teachers vs. East Stroudsburg Teachers - 92 yards
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