1941 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

1941 Vanderbilt Commodores football
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Record8–2 (3–2 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive schemeSingle-wing
CaptainJoe Atkinson
Home stadiumDudley Field
Seasons
← 1940
1942 →
1941 Southeastern Conference football standings
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

The 1941 Vanderbilt Commodores football team was an American football team that represented Vanderbilt University in the Southeastern Conference during the 1941 college football season. In their second season under head coach Red Sanders, the Commodores compiled an 8–2 record (3–2 in conference play) and outscored opponents by a total of 260 to 89.[1]

The highlight of the season was a defeat of seventh-ranked Alabama in a driving rainstorm in Nashville;[2] up to that time, only the second time in Commodore history where they defeated a ranked team. On November 9, Vanderbilt played the school's 439th game and defeated Georgia Tech, 14–7, for the 300th win in program history.

Two Vanderbilt players were selected by the Associated Press (AP) and the United Press (UP) as first-team players on the 1941 All-SEC football team: center Bob Gude (AP-1, UP-1) and fullback Jack Jenkins (AP-1, UP-1).[3][4][5]

Vanderbilt was ranked at No. 14 (out of 681 teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score System for 1941.[6]

The Commodores played their home games at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee.

  1. ^ "1941 Vanderbilt Commodores Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  2. ^ Alabama Crimson Tide 1941 Season Summary (PDF copy at www.rolltide.com)
  3. ^ "All-Southeastern Team Is Selected". The Odessa American. December 1, 1941. p. 8. Retrieved June 6, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ "Sinkwich, Nelson, Jenkins and Hapes Selected on All-Southeastern Eleven". The Palm Beach Post. December 2, 1941.
  5. ^ "Eight Teams Represented On UP Grid Squad". Bradford Evening Star. November 25, 1941. p. 12. Retrieved May 29, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 26, 1941). "Gophers Grid Kings Over 6-Year Span: Tennessee 2d, Pitt 3d Over Period Litkenhous Ratins Are Published". The Courier-Journal. p. Sports 4 – via Newspapers.com.