The 1954 college football season was the 86th season of intercollegiate football in the United States. It saw three major college teams finish unbeaten and untied:
California played all three of the undefeated teams. They lost in week 1 to Oklahoma in Berkeley 27-13, they lost in week 3 to Ohio State in Columbus 21-13, and they lost in week 7 to UCLA in Berkeley 27-6.
Wisconsin fullback Alan Ameche won the Heisman Trophy, and Navy end Ron Beagle won the Maxwell Award. Individual statistical leaders in major college football included Arizona tailback Art Luppino with 1,359 rushing yards and 166 points scored, Oregon quarterback George Shaw with 1,536 yards of total offense, California quarterback Paul Larson with 1,537 passing yards, and California end Jim Hanifan with 44 receptions.
Small college teams with perfect seasons included Omaha (10–0 Tangerine Bowl champion), Juniata (three consecutive undefeated seasons), Trinity (CT) (consecutive perfect seasons), and Whitworth (part of a 21-game winning streak).
In the preseason poll released on September 13, 1954, No. 1 Notre Dame had the most points, although No. 2 Oklahoma had more first place votes (74 vs. 52). Rounding out the Top Five were defending champion No. 3 Maryland, No. 4 Texas and No. 5 Illinois. As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games.
September 18, No. 2 Oklahoma won at No. 12 California 27–13, and No. 3 Maryland won at Kentucky, 20–0. Notre Dame and Texas, No. 1 and No. 4, were preparing to meet at South Bend to open their seasons. Oklahoma replaced Notre Dame as No. 1 in the first regular poll. No. 7 Georgia Tech, which beat Tulane 28–0 in Atlanta, replaced Illinois in the Top Five. Defying high expectations, the Illini would lose their opener to Penn State, 14–12, and finish the season with a 1–8–0 record. The next poll: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Maryland, No. 4 Texas, and No. 5 Georgia Tech.
September 25 No. 2 Notre Dame hosted No. 4 Texas and won 21–0. No. 1 Oklahoma beat No. 20 Texas Christian (TCU) 21–16. No. 3 Maryland was idle, and No. 5 Georgia Tech lost to Florida, 13–12. Notre Dame took back over the top spot from O.U., and Texas, Maryland and Georgia Tech were replaced by No. 8 UCLA (32–7 over Kansas), No. 10 Wisconsin (52–14 over Marquette) and No. 11 Iowa (14–10 over No. 7 Michigan State). The poll: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Iowa, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Wisconsin.
In a Friday game, No. 4 UCLA beat defending national champion No. 6 Maryland 12–7. The next day, October 2, No. 1 Notre Dame was upset by No. 19 Purdue, 27–14. No. 2 Oklahoma which was idle, moved to the top as Notre Dame dropped to eighth. No. 3 Iowa defeated visiting Montana, 48–6, and No. 5 Wisconsin beat No. 13 Michigan State 6–0. The next poll: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 4 Iowa, and No. 5 Purdue.
October 9 No. 1 Oklahoma won its annual game in Dallas against No. 15 Texas, 14–7. No. 2 UCLA edged Washington 21–20. No. 3 Wisconsin beat No. 11 Rice 13–7. No. 4 Iowa lost to unranked Michigan, 14–13, and No. 5 Purdue was tied by No. 6 Duke, 13–13. No. 10 Ohio State, which had won at Illinois 40–7, entered the Top Five: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 Purdue.
October 16 No. 2 Wisconsin hosted No. 5 Purdue and won 20–6. No. 1 Oklahoma visited Kansas and annihilated it, 65–0, while No. 3 UCLA went one better in beating Stanford 72–0. No. 4 Ohio State beat No. 13 Iowa 20–14. No. 7 Ole Miss, which had beaten Tulane 34–7, entered the Top Five: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 Mississippi.
October 23 No. 2 Wisconsin faced its second high-ranked opponent in a week, visiting Big Ten rival and No. 4 Ohio State. OSU won, 31–14, to take the No. 1 spot. No. 1 Oklahoma beat Kansas State 21–0, and No. 3 UCLA beat Oregon State 61–0. No. 5 Mississippi lost to No. 7 Arkansas at Little Rock, 6–0. No. 9 Army, which had won 67–12 at Columbia, moved up. The next poll: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Arkansas, and No. 5 Army.
October 30 No. 1 Ohio State won at Northwestern, 14–7. No. 2 Oklahoma won 13–6 at Colorado.No. 3 UCLA won at California 27–6 and was given top billing in the next poll. No. 4 Arkansas won 14–7 at Texas A&M. No. 5 Army, which got to stay home, edged Virginia 21–20. No. 6 Notre Dame, which beat No. 15 Navy 6–0 in Baltimore, moved up. The next poll: No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Arkansas, and No. 5 Notre Dame.
November 6 No. 1 UCLA won at Oregon 41–0. No. 2 Ohio State beat visiting No. 20 Pittsburgh, 26–0. No. 3 Oklahoma won at Iowa State 40–0. No. 4 Arkansas, playing at Little Rock, beat No. 15 Rice 28–15, and No. 5 Notre Dame won at Penn, 42–7. The top five remained the same.
November 13 No. 1 UCLA had the week off, while No. 2 Ohio State won at Purdue 28–6 and got back the top rung. No. 3 Oklahoma beat Missouri 34–13. No. 4 Arkansas lost to No. 19 SMU, 21–14. No. 5 Notre Dame beat North Carolina, 42–13. No. 6 Army, which at won at Penn 35–0, came back to the Top Five: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 Army.
November 20 No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 12 Michigan 21–7. In Los Angeles, No. 2 UCLA beat its crosstown rival, No. 7 USC, 34–0. No. 3 Oklahoma beat Nebraska 55–7. No. 4 Notre Dame won at No. 19 Iowa 34–18. No. 5 Army had the day off, preparing for the Army-Navy game. The top five remained the same.
November 27 No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 UCLA had finished their seasons, both of them undefeated and untied. No. 3 Oklahoma also finished with a perfect record, winning its annual season-closer at Oklahoma A&M 14–0. No. 4 Notre Dame beat No. 17 USC 23–17. In Philadelphia, No. 5 Army was beaten by No. 6 Navy, 27–20. The AP's final top five were No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 Navy, although the Coaches Poll selected UCLA as its top team. Under normal circumstances the Buckeyes and Bruins would have met in the Rose Bowl for a national championship showdown, but the Pacific Coast Conference's short-lived "no-repeat" rule forced UCLA to stay home because they had played in the previous year's Rose Bowl.[2] Instead, Ohio State matched up with No. 17 USC, whom they defeated 20–7.
For this article, major conferences defined as those including at least one state flagship public university and the Ivy League.
AP ranked Ohio State as No. 1, while the UPI coaches' poll gave the top spot to UCLA. Both wire services' rankings were made at the end of the regular season, and were unaffected by the postseason bowl games. Ohio State and UCLA had two common opponents in 1954; Cal and USC. Ohio State defeated Cal 21–13 and USC 20–7, while UCLA defeated Cal 27–6 and USC 34–0.
The United Press International poll, taken from a panel of 35 coaches, had UCLA as the number one team beginning with the poll released on October 26. A rival to the AP poll, the UPI prefaced its release with the statement, "The men who know the game the best, the coaches themselves, voted UCLA to the top spot by the slender margin of seven points over Ohio State, the perfect record champions of the Big 10 Conference," [7] The UPI poll was a Top Ten, with a first place vote by a coach being worth 10 points, second worth 9 points, etc. With 350 being the maximum number of points, and 315 being the total for 35 second place votes, the panel was split on whether UCLA or Ohio State was the best team in the nation. The UPI Top Ten [8] Ohio State and UCLA had two common opponents in 1954; Cal and USC. Ohio State defeated Cal 21–13 and USC 20–7, while UCLA defeated Cal 27–6 and USC 34–0.
Other undefeated teams: Ashland, Carleton, Carnegie Tech, Hastings (NE), Hobart, Luther, Pennsylvania Military, Pomona, Southeastern Louisiana, Trinity (CT), Western Colorado, Worcester Tech
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
Source: [9][10]
The following players were the individual leaders in total offense among major college football players during the 1954 season:
1. George Shaw, Oregon, 1,536 yards
2. Paul Larson, California, 1,485 yards
3. Len Dawson, Purdue, 1,384 yards
4. Art Luppino, Arizona, 1,359 yards
5. Gary Glick, Colorado A&M, 1,269 yards
6. Ralph Guglielmi, Notre Dame, 1,257 yards
7. Bobby Freeman, Auburn, 1,132 yards
8. Pete Vann, Army, 1,097 yards
9. Lenny Moore, Penn State, 1,082 yards
10. Eagle Day, Ole Miss, 1,051 yards
[11]
The following players were the individual leaders in pass completions among major college football players during the 1954 season:
1. Paul Larson, California, 125 of 195 (64.1%), 1,537 yards, 8 interceptions, 10 touchdowns
2. George Shaw, Oregon, 91 of 196 (56.5%), 1,358 yards, 11 interceptions, 10 touchdowns
3. Len Dawson, Purdue, 87 of 167 (52.1%), 1,464 yards, 8 interceptions, 15 touchdowns
4. John Brodie, Stanford, 81 of 163 (49.7%), 937 yards, 16 interceptions, 2 touchdowns
5. Ken Ford, Hardin-Simmons, 78 of 146 (53.4%), 948 yards, 9 interceptions, 7 touchdowns
6. Bill Beagle, Dartmouth, 76 of 145 (52.4%), 867 yards, 10 interceptions, 5 touchdowns
7. David Dungan, Utah, 74 of 128 (57.8%), 862 yards, 4 interceptions, 5 touchdowns
8. Jack Stephans, Holy Cross, 73 of 149 (49.0%), 800 yards, 11 interceptions, 8 touchdowns
9. Mackie Prickett, South Carolina, 68 of 116 (58.6%), 682 yards, 9 interceptions, 1 touchdown
9. Ralph Guglielmi, Notre Dame, 68 of 127 (53.4%), 1,162 yards, 7 interceptions, 6 touchdowns
[12]
The following players were the individual leaders in rushing yards among major college football players during the 1954 season:
1. Art Luppino, Arizona, 1,359 yards on 179 carries (7.59 average)
2. Lenny Moore, Penn State, 1,082 yards on 136 yards (7.96 average)
3. Tommy Bell, Army, 1,020 yards on 96 carries (10.62 average)
4. Sam Pino, Boston University, 933 yards on 154 carries (6.06 average)
5. Dicky Moegle, Rice, 905 yards on 144 carries (6.28 average)
6. Dick Imer, Montana, 889 yards on 111 carries (8.01 average)
7. Joe Childress, Auburn, 836 yards on 148 carries (5.65 average)
8. John Bayuk, Colorado, 824 yards on 145 carries (5.68 average)
9. Fred Mahaffey, Denver, 813 yards on 143 carries (5.69 average)
10. Tom Tracy, Tennessee, 794 yards on 116 carries (6.84 average)
[13]
The following players were the individual leaders in receptions among major college football players during the 1954 season:
1. Jim Hanifan, California, 44 receptions, 569 yards, 7 touchdowns
2. John Stewart, Stanford, 36 receptions, 577 yards, 2 touchdowns
3. Jim Carmichael, California, 33 receptions, 420 yards, 2 touchdowns
4. Carl Brazell, South Carolina, 29 receptions, 241 yards, 1 touchdown
5. Jerry Mertens, Drake, 28 receptions, 495 yards, 4 touchdowns
5. Jim Pyburn, Auburn, 28 reception, 460 yards, 4 touchdowns
7. Andy Nacrelli, Fordham, 25 receptions, 493 yards, 2 touchdowns
7. Max Pierce, Utah, 25 receptions, 457 yards, 3 touchdowns
7. Larry Ross, Denver, 25 receptions, 378 yards, 4 touchdowns
7. Robert H. Dee, Holy Cross, 25 receptions, 236 yards, 2 touchdowns
[14]
The following players were the individual leaders in scoring among major college football players during the 1954 season:
1. Art Luppino, Arizona, 166 points (24 TD, 22 PAT)
2. Buddy Leake, Oklahoma, 79 points (9 TD, 25 PAT)
3. Tommy Bell, Army, 78 points (13 TD)
3. Lenny Moore,Penn State, 78 points (13 TD)
5. Fred Mahaffey, Denver, 73 points (12 TD, 1 PAT)
6. Dicky Moegle, Rice, 72 points (12 TD)
7. Harold "Rusty" Fairly, Denver, 70 points (9 TD, 16 PAT)
8. Carroll Hardy, Colorado, 68 points (9 TD, 14 PAT)
9. Bob Davenport, UCLA, 66 points (11 TD)
9. John Bayuk, Colorado, 66 points (11 TD)
9. Joe Miller, Cincinnati, 66 points (11 TD)
9. Bob McNamara, Minnesota, 66 points (11 TD)
9. Dick James, Oregon, 66 points (11 TD)
9. Earl Smith Jr., Iowa, 66 points (11 TD)
[15]
The following teams were the leaders in total offense in major college football during the 1954 season:
1. Army, 448.7 yards per game
2. Texas Tech, 422.3 yards per game
3. Arizona, 402.0 yards per game
4. Navy, 393.8 yards per game
5. Ole Miss, 386.8 yards per game
6. Notre Dame, 385.3 yards per game
7. Oklahoma, 382.7 yards per game
8. Denver, 371.8 yards per game
9. Boston University, 367.1 yards per game
10. UCLA, 366.6 yards per game
[16]
The following teams were the leaders in total defense in major college football during the 1954 season:
1. Ole Miss, 172.3 yards per game
2. Richmond, 174.4 yards per game
3. Clemson, 176.1 yards per game
4. Boston College, 184.6 yards per game
5. Oklahoma, 186.3 yards per game
6. West Virginia, 186.7 yards per game
7. Denver, 188.6 yards per game
8. UCLA, 189.8 yards per game
9. Navy, 190.4 yards per game
10. Cincinnati, 198.4 yards per game
[17]