1946 Army Cadets football team

1946 Army Cadets football
National champion (6 selectors)
Eastern champion
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
APNo. 2
Record9–0–1
Head coach
CaptainDoc Blanchard, Glenn Davis
Home stadiumMichie Stadium
Seasons
← 1945
1947 →
1946 Eastern major college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Army   –   9 – 0 – 1
Penn State   –   6 – 2 – 0
Boston College   –   6 – 3 – 0
Holy Cross   –   6 – 4 – 0
NYU   –   5 – 3 – 0
Villanova   –   6 – 4 – 0
Colgate   –   4 – 4 – 0
Syracuse   –   4 – 5 – 0
Pittsburgh   –   3 – 5 – 1
Temple   –   2 – 4 – 2
Merchant Marine   –   4 – 7 – 0
Bucknell   –   3 – 6 – 0
Fordham   –   0 – 7 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1946 Army Cadets football team was an American football team that represented the United States Military Academy as an independent during the 1946 college football season. In their sixth season under head coach Earl "Red" Blaik, the Cadets compiled a 9–0–1 record and outscored opponents by a total of 263 to 80.[1] Army's 1946 season was part of a 32-game undefeated streak that included the entire 1944, 1945, and 1946 seasons.

Army was ranked No. 1 for most of the season in the AP Poll. However, in the final poll issued on December 2, Notre Dame jumped to No. 1 with 1,730 points, and Army was bumped to No. 2 with 1,659 points.[2] Army was recognized as the 1946 national champion by the Billingsley Report, College Football Researchers Association, and Houlgate System, and as co-national champion with Notre Dame by the Boand System, Helms Athletic Foundation, and Poling System.[3] For the third consecutive year, Army also won the 1946 Lambert Trophy as the best football team in the east.[4]

The 1946 Army vs. Notre Dame football game at Yankee Stadium, a matchup of the top two in the rankings, is regarded as one of college football's Games of the Century; it ended in a scoreless tie.[5]

Halfback Glenn Davis won the Heisman Trophy, and three Army players were selected as consensus first-team players on the 1946 All-America college football team: Davis; fullback Doc Blanchard; and end Hank Foldberg.[6]

  1. ^ "1946 Army Black Knights Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  2. ^ "Notre Dame Replaces Army as Football 'Team of Year': Irish End Ahead of Cadets in AP's Poll". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. December 3, 1945. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ 2020 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. July 2020. pp. 112–114. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  4. ^ "Army Voted Lambert Memorial Trophy Third Straight Grid Year". The Whittier News. December 6, 1946. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Whittingham, Richard (2001). "6". Rites of Autumn: The Story of College Football. New York: The Free Press. pp. 148–183. ISBN 0-7432-2219-9. It was surely the game of the year, and many have said it was the college football game of the century
  6. ^ "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 8. Retrieved October 21, 2017.