1945 army cadets football team
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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.
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. 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. 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.
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; the National Championship Foundation selected them as co-champions with Alabama.
The team led the nation with an average of 462.7 yards of total offense per game, including 359.8 rushing yards per game. 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. Davis rushed for 944 yards and led the nation with an average of 11.51 rushing yards per carry.
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. In a departure from normal practice, the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) named all eleven Army starters as its All-American team for 1945. 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.
Schedule
Rankings
Army was the wire-to-wire No. 1 in the season's AP poll and won the Dr. Henry L. Williams Trophy.
Personnel
= Players
=Shelton Biles, guard, Kingsport, Tennessee
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, Middlesboro, 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
=Earl Blaik (College Football Hall of Fame), head coach
Paul Amen, assistant coach
Andy Gustafson (College Football Hall of Fame), backfield coach
Herman Hickman (College Football Hall of Fame), line coach
Stu Holcomb, assistant coach
Harvey Jablonsky (College Football Hall of Fame), assistant coach
Bill Bevan, trainer
Awards and honors
= Team
=Dr. Henry L. Williams trophy, AP poll national champions
Litkenhous trophy, national champions
Lambert Trophy, best football team in the East
= Individual
=Doc Blanchard, Heisman Trophy
Doc Blanchard, Maxwell Award
Doc Blanchard, James E. Sullivan Award