1941 Southeastern Conference football season

The 1941 Southeastern Conference football season was the ninth season of college football played by the member schools of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and was a part of the 1941 college football season. Mississippi State compiled an 8–1–1 overall record, with a conference record of 4–0–1, and was SEC champion. This also marked the first season without Sewanee after they withdrew from the SEC and demphasized collegiate athletics.^[1]

1941 Southeastern Conference football season
Sport	Football
Duration	September 20, 1941 – January 1, 1942 (1941-09-20 – 1942-01-01)
Number of teams	12
Champion	Mississippi State

1941 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 16 Mississippi State $	4	–	0	–	1			8	–	1	–	1
No. 18 Tennessee	3	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
No. 20 Alabama	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
No. 14 Georgia	3	–	1	–	1			9	–	1	–	1
No. 17 Ole Miss	2	–	1	–	1			6	–	2	–	1
Vanderbilt	3	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
LSU	2	–	2	–	2			4	–	4	–	2
Tulane	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Georgia Tech	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Florida	1	–	3	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Kentucky	0	–	4	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Auburn	0	–	4	–	1			4	–	5	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Results and team statistics

Conf. rank	Team	Head coach	Overall record	Conf. record	AP final	PPG	PAG
1	Mississippi State	Allyn McKeen	8–1–1 (.850)	4–0–1 (.900)	No. 16	19.1	5.5
2	Tennessee	John Barnhill	8–2–0 (.800)	3–1–0 (.750)	No. 19	18.2	7.3
3	Alabama	Frank Thomas	9–2–0 (.818)	5–2–0 (.714)	No. 20	23.9	7.7
4	Georgia	Wally Butts	9–1–1 (.864)	3–1–1 (.700)	No. 14	29.0	7.7
5	Ole Miss	Harry Mehre	6–2–1 (.722)	2–1–1 (.625)	No. 17	14.6	7.4
6	Vanderbilt	Red Sanders	8–2–0 (.800)	3–2–0 (.600)		26.0	8.9
7	LSU	Bernie Moore	4–4–2 (.500)	2–2–2 (.500)		11.9	9.3
8	Tulane	Red Dawson	5–4–0 (.556)	2–3–0 (.400)		24.4	10.6
9	Georgia Tech	William Alexander	3–6–0 (.333)	2–4–0 (.333)		9.1	14.4
10	Florida	Tom Lieb	4–6–0 (.400)	1–3–0 (.250)		14.9	9.7
11	Auburn	Jack Meagher	4–5–1 (.450)	0–4–1 (.100)		12.3	11.5
12	Kentucky	Albert D. Kirwan	5–4–0 (.556)	0–4–0 (.000)		16.8	17.1

Key
AP final = Rankings from AP sports writers. See 1941 NCAA football rankings
PPG = Average of points scored per game^[2]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game^[2]

Schedule

Index to colors and formatting
SEC member won
SEC member lost
SEC member tie
SEC teams in bold

Week Zero

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 20	Furman	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	W 32–6	12,000	[3]
September 20	Louisiana Tech	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	W 25–0	10,000	[4]
September 20	Randolph–Macon	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	W 26–0		[5]

Week One

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 26	Howard (AL)	Auburn	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL	W 13–0	9,000	[6]
September 26	Ole Miss	Georgetown	Griffith Stadium • Washington, DC	L 6–16	6,000	[7]
September 27	Southwestern Louisiana	Alabama	Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	W 47–6	6,000	[8]
September 27	Georgia	Mercer	Porter Field • Macon, GA	W 81–0	12,000	[9]
September 27	Vanderbilt	Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	W 3–0	17,000	[10]
September 27	Boston College	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 21–7	45,000	[11]
September 27	VPI	Kentucky	Manual Stadium • Louisville, KY	W 37–14	8,000	[12]
September 27	Holy Cross	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	L 13–19	25,000	[13]
September 27	Florida	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	MSS 6–0	13,000	[14]

Week Two

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 4	South Carolina	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA (rivalry)	W 34–6	17,000	[15]
October 4	Southwestern (TN)	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS	W 27–0	4,500	[16]
October 4	Tennessee Tech	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	W 42–0	8,000	[17]
October 4	Chattanooga	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	W 20–0	10,000	[18]
October 4	Tampa	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	W 46–6		[19]
October 4	Kentucky	Washington & Lee	Wilson Field • Lexington, VA	W 7–0	3,000	[20]
October 4	Tennessee	Duke	Duke Stadium • Durham, NC	L 0–19	45,000	[21]
October 4	LSU	Texas	Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX	L 0–34	18,000	[22]
October 4	Mississippi State	Alabama	Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	MSS 14–0	20,000	[23]
October 4	Auburn	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA (rivalry)	TUL 32–0	35,000	[24]

Week Three

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 10	Ole Miss	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	T 14–14	25,000	[25]
October 11	Dayton	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	W 26–0	30,000	[26]
October 11	Howard (AL)	Alabama	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	W 61–0	6,000	[27]
October 11	Louisiana Tech	Auburn	Auburn Stadium • Auburn, AL	W 34–0	8,500	[28]
October 11	Tulane	Rice	Rice Field • Houston, TX	L 9–10	25,000	[29]
October 11	Notre Dame	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	L 0–20	31,000	[30]
October 11	Villanova	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	L 0–6	> 20,000	[31]
October 11	Mississippi State	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	T 0–0	30,000	[32]
October 11	Vanderbilt	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY (rivalry)	VAN 39–15	11,000	[33]

Week Four

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 18	Georgia	No. 20 Columbia	Baker Field • New York, NY	W 7–3	27,000	[34]
October 18	Ole Miss	Holy Cross	Fitton Field • Worcester, MA	W 21–0	22,000	[35]
October 18	Rice	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	W 27–0	25,000	[36]
October 18	North Carolina	No. 17 Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 52–6	33,000	[37]
October 18	Kentucky	Xavier	Xavier Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	W 21–6	11,000	[38]
October 18	Florida	Maryland	Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD	L 12–13	7,500	[39]
October 18	SMU	Auburn	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	L 7–20	12,000	[40]
October 18	No. 4 Alabama	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	ALA 9–2	37,000	[41]
October 18	Georgia Tech	No. 18 Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN (rivalry)	VAN 14–7	15,000	[42]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Five

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 25	Union (TN)	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	W 56–7	14,000	[43]
October 25	Cincinnati	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	W 21–6	7,000	[44]
October 25	Princeton	No. 15 Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	W 46–7	14,000	[45]
October 25	West Virginia	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	W 18–6	7,000	[46]
October 25	Georgia	Alabama	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	ALA 27–14	23,000	[47]
October 25	Ole Miss	No. 10 Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA (rivalry)	OM 20–13	45,000	[48]
October 25	Florida	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	LSU 10–7	20,000	[49]
October 25	Auburn	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	GT 28–14	20,000	[50]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Six

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 1	No. 17 Mississippi State	Southwestern (TN)	Crump Stadium • Memphis, TN	W 20–6		[51]
November 1	No. 17 Ole Miss	Marquette	Marquette Stadium • Milwaukee, WI	W 12–6	7,500	[52]
November 1	No. 4 Duke	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	L 0–14	28,000	[53]
November 1	Tennessee	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	TEN 13–6	30,000	[54]
November 1	Kentucky	No. 15 Alabama	Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	ALA 30–0	11,000	[55]
November 1	Auburn	Georgia	Memorial Stadium • Columbus, GA (rivalry)	UGA 7–0	17,000	[56]
November 1	Tulane	No. 10 Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	TUL 34–14	22,000	[57]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Seven

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 8	Howard (AL)	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	W 28–6	4,000	[58]
November 8	Sewanee	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN (rivalry)	W 20–0	5,000	[59]
November 8	No. 15 Mississippi State	Auburn	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	MSS 14–7	11,000	[60]
November 8	No. 13 Alabama	No. 14 Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	ALA 19–14	50,000	[61]
November 8	Florida	Georgia	Municipal Stadium • Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	UGA 19–3	21,000	[62]
November 8	No. 16 Ole Miss	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	OM 13–12	28,000	[63]
November 8	Kentucky	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	GT 20–13	15,000	[64]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Eight

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 15	Tennessee	No. 18 Boston College	Alumni Field • Chestnut Hill, MA	W 14–7	32,000	[65]
November 15	Centre	Georgia	Ponce de Leon Park • Atlanta, GA	W 47–6	5,000	[66]
November 15	Tulane	NYU	Yankee Stadium • Bronx, NY	W 45–0	10,000	[67]
November 15	Florida	Miami (FL)	Burdine Stadium • Miami, FL (rivalry)	W 14–0	31,731	[68]
November 15	Southwestern (TN)	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	W 33–19	8,000	[69]
November 15	No. 13 Mississippi State	No. 10 Duquesne	Forbes Field • Pittsburgh, PA	L 0–16	31,483	[70]
November 15	Georgia Tech	No. 9 Alabama	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	ALA 20–0	25,000	[71]
November 15	Auburn	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	T 7–7		[72]
November 16	Vanderbilt	Louisville	duPont Manual Stadium • Louisville, KY	W 68–0	4,000	[73]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Nine

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 22	Millsaps	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	W 49–6		[74]
November 22	Dartmouth	No. 20 Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	W 35–0	> 18,000	[75]
November 22	Arkansas	No. 15 Ole Miss	Crump Stadium • Memphis, TN (rivalry)	W 18–0	10,000	[76]
November 22	Auburn	Villanova	Shibe Park • Philadelphia, PA	W 13–0	12,000	[77]
November 22	Tennessee	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY (rivalry)	TEN 20–7	14,000	[78]
November 22	No. 7 Alabama	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	VAN 7–0	12,000	[79]
November 22	Georgia Tech	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	FLA 14–7	15,000	[80]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Ten

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 28	No. 18 Alabama	Miami (FL)	Burdine Stadium • Miami, FL	W 21–7	26,000	[81]
November 28	No. 16 Clemson	Auburn	Auburn Stadium • Auburn, AL (rivalry)	W 28–7	12,000	[82]
November 29	No. 14 Mississippi State	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS (rivalry)	MSS 6–0	28,000	[83]
November 29	No. 12 Vanderbilt	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	TEN 26–7	30,000	[84]
November 29	No. 20 Georgia	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	UGA 21–0	31,000	[85]
November 29	LSU	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA (rivalry)	LSU 19–0	50,764	[86]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Eleven

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
December 6	No. 16 Mississippi State	San Francisco	Kezar Stadium • San Francisco, CA	W 26–13	25,000	[87]
December 20	UCLA	Florida	Fairfield Stadium • Jacksonville, FL	L 27–30	8,000	[88]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Postseason

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
January 1, 1942	No. 20 Alabama	No. 9 Texas A&M	Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	W 29–21	38,000	[89]
January 1, 1942	TCU	No. 14 Georgia	Burdine Stadium • Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	W 40–26	38,000	[90]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

All-conference players

For the complete All-SEC selections, see 1941 All-SEC football team.

The following players were recognized as consensus first-team honors from the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) on the 1941 All-SEC football team:

• Holt Rast, End, Alabama (AP-1, UP-1)
• Ernie Blandin, Tackle, Tulane (AP-1, UP-1)
• Homer "Larry" Hazel Jr., Guard, Ole Miss (AP-1, UP-1)
• John Wyhonic, Guard, Alabama (AP-1, UP-1)
• Bob Gude, Center, Vanderbilt (AP-1, UP-1)
• Jimmy Nelson, Halfback, Alabama (AP-1, UP-1)
• Frank Sinkwich, Halfback, Georgia (AP-1, UP-1)
• Jack Jenkins, Fullback, Vanderbilt (AP-1, UP-1)

All-Americans

For the complete All-America selections, see 1941 College Football All-America Team.

Three SEC players were consensus first-team picks on the 1941 College Football All-America Team:^[91]

• Holt Rast, End, Alebama (AAB, INS, LIB, SN, NW, UP)
• Ernie Blandin, Tackle, Tulane (CO, LIB, NEA, NW, UP)
• Frank Sinkwich, Halfback, Georgia (AAB, AP, LIB, SN, UP)

Other SEC players receiving All-American honors from at least one selector were:

• John Wyhonic, Tackle, Alabama (LIFE-3)
• Bob Gude, Center, Vanderbilt (CP-3)
• Jimmy Nelson, Halfback, Alabama (AP-3; NEA-3; CP-3)
• Jack Jenkins, Halfback, Vanderbilt (AP-3)
• Merle Hapes, Fullback, Ole Miss (NEA-2)

Head coaches

Records through the completion of the 1941 season

Team	Head coach	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	SEC record
Alabama	Frank Thomas	11	111–24–6 (.809)	85–15–5 (.833)	42–10–4 (.786)
Auburn	Jack Meagher	8	68–59–4 (.534)	42–33–9 (.554)	23–22–7 (.510)
Florida	Tom Lieb	2	56–44–4 (.558)	9–11–0 (.450)	3–6–0 (.333)
Georgia	Wally Butts	3	19–11–2 (.625)	19–11–2 (.625)	5–4–2 (.545)
Georgia Tech	William Alexander	22	109–87–15 (.552)	109–87–15 (.552)	22–30–5 (.430)
Kentucky	Albert D. Kirwan	4	18–16–3 (.527)	18–16–3 (.527)	3–12–3 (.250)
LSU	Bernie Moore	7	59–34–6 (.626)	47–22–3 (.674)	24–15–2 (.610)
Mississippi State	Allyn McKeen	3	39–9–2 (.800)	26–3–2 (.871)	11–2–2 (.800)
Ole Miss	Harry Mehre	4	90–42–7 (.673)	31–8–1 (.788)	22–18–3 (.547)
Tennessee	John Barnhill	1	8–2–0 (.800)	8–2–0 (.800)	3–1–0 (.750)
Tulane	Red Dawson	6	36–19–4 (.644)	36–19–4 (.644)	16–13–3 (.547)
Vanderbilt	Red Sanders	2	11–8–1 (.575)	11–8–1 (.575)	4–7–1 (.375)

1942 NFL draft

The following SEC players were selected in the 1942 NFL draft:^[92]

Round	Overall Pick	Player name	School	Position	NFL team
1	8	Merle Hapes	Ole Miss	Fullback	New York Giants
2	14	Lloyd Cheatham	Auburn	Back	Chicago Cardinals
3	21	Rufus Deal	Auburn	Back	Washington Redskins
5	33	Ernie Blandin	Tulane	Tackle	Philadelphia Eagles
6	46	Harley McCollum	Tulane	Tackle	Washington Redskins
6	48	Bob Glass	Tulane	Back	New York Giants
7	51	John Butler	Tennessee	Back	Pittsburgh Steelers
9	73	Ray Graves	Tennessee	Center	Philadelphia Eagles
9	79	Noah Langdale	Alabama	Tackle	Green Bay Packers
10	90	Noah Mullins	Kentucky	Back	Chicago Bears
12	107	Jim Thibaut	Tulane	Back	Brooklyn Dodgers
14	122	Tom Greene	Georgia	Tackle	Cleveland Rams
14	123	John Wyhonic	Alabama	Guard	Philadelphia Eagles
14	130	Bob Gude	Vanderbilt	Center	Chicago Bears
15	132	Ike Peel	Tennessee	Back	Cleveland Rams
17	160	Don Edmiston	Tennessee	Tackle	Chicago Bears
18	168	Junie Hovious	Ole Miss	Back	New York Giants
18	170	Holt Rast	Alabama	End	Chicago Bears
19	174	Jimmy Nelson	Alabama	Back	Chicago Cardinals
22	198	Milt Hull	Florida	Tackle	New York Giants