# 1943 college football season

The 1943 college football season was the 75th season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Played during World War II, the competition included schools from the Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Six Conference, the Southwestern Conference, and numerous smaller conferences and independent programs.
The teams ranked highest in the final Associated Press poll in December 1943:
* The Notre Dame Fighting Irish compiled a 9–1 and were ranked No. 1 in the final AP poll. They lost their final game of the season against No. 6 Great Lakes Navy. The Fighting Irish defeated two No. 2 ranked teams (Michigan and Iowa Pre-Flight) and two No. 3 ranked teams (Navy and Army).
* The Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks, led by head coach Don Faurot, compiled a 9–1 record, outscored opponents by a total of 277 to 98, and led the nation with 324.4 rushing yards per game. They ranked highest among the service teams.
* The Michigan Wolverines, led by head coach Fritz Crisler, compiled an 8–1 record and tied for the Big Ten championship. They outscored opponents by a total of 302 to 73. Their only loss was to No. 1 Notre Dame. The Wolverines led the Big Ten (and ranked fifth nationally) with an average of 363.2 yards per game of total offense. They also led the Big Ten (and ranked 10th nationally) by giving up 164.1 yards per game in total defense. Bill Daley rushed for 817 yards and led the nation with an average of 6.81 yards per carry.
* The Navy Midshipmen compiled an 8–1 record and outscored opponents by a total of 236 to 88. They ranked eighth nationally in total defense, giving up only 161.2 yards per game.
* The Purdue Boilermakers compiled a 9–0 record, tying with Michigan for the Big Ten championship and outscoring opponents by a total of 214 to 55. Guard Alex Agase was a consensus All-American. Fullback Tony Butkovich (who was later killed at the Battle of Okinawa in 1945) led the Big Ten and ranked third nationally with 833 rushing yards.
Quarterback Angelo Bertelli of Notre Dame won the Heisman Trophy, and halfback Bob O'Dell of Penn won the Maxwell Award. The statistical leaders for 1943 included Robert Hoernschemeyer of Indiana with 1,648 yards of total offense, Creighton Miller of Notre Dame with 911 rushing yards, Paul Rickards of Pittsburgh with 997 passing yards, Marion Flanagan of Texas A&M with 403 receiving yards, and Steve Van Buren of LSU with 98 points scored.
A number of universities suspended their football programs for the 1943 season, including Alabama, Auburn, Boston College, Duquesne, Florida, Fordham, Harvard, Kentucky, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Oregon State, Stanford, Syracuse, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Washington State, and William & Mary.

## Conference and program changes

| School | 1942 Conference | 1943 Conference |
| Creighton Bluejays | Missouri Valley | Dropped Program |
| Manhattan Jaspers | Independent | Dropped Program |
| Washington University in St. Louis Bears | Missouri Valley | Independent |

## September

September 17 Georgia beat Presbyterian College 25–7. The next day, September 18, Michigan won at Camp Grant, 26–0. Wisconsin lost to Marquette, 33–7, on its way to a 1–9–0 finish.
September 25 Ohio State lost to Iowa Pre-Flight 28–13. Michigan beat Western Michigan 57–6. Notre Dame won at Pitt, 42–0. Army beat Villanova 27–0, and Navy beat North Carolina Pre-Flight, 31–0. Georgia lost at LSU, 34–27. Tulsa beat SMU 20–7. Georgia Tech beat North Carolina 20–7.

## October

October 2 Michigan won at Northwestern 21–7. Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech 55–13. Army defeated Colgate 42–0, and Navy beat Cornell 46–7. The first AP poll of the season led off with No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Army, No. 4 Navy, and No. 5 Duke.
October 9 No. 1 Notre Dame beat No. 2 Michigan 35–21 in the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in the seven-year history of the AP poll. No. 3 Army registered another shutout, defeating Temple 51–0. In Baltimore, No. 4 Navy edged No. 5 Duke, 14–13. No. 6 Penn edged No. 14 Dartmouth 7–6. No. 7 Purdue went to 4–0–0 with a 19–0 win over Camp Grant. The next AP poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Army, No. 3 Navy, No. 4 Penn, and No. 5 Purdue.
October 16 No. 1 Notre Dame won at Wisconsin 50–0. No. 2 Army won at Columbia, 52–0. In four games, the Cadets had outscored their opponents 172–0. No. 3 Navy beat Penn State 14–6. No. 4 Penn beat the Lakehurst Naval Air Station 74–6. No. 5 Purdue beat Ohio State 30–7 at a game in Cleveland. Penn and Purdue swapped spots in the next AP poll, but Notre Dame, Army, and Navy remained the top three.
October 23 No. 1 Notre Dame beat Illinois 47–0. No. 2 Army yielded its first points, but won at Yale, 39–7. No. 3 Navy beat Georgia Tech 28–14 in Baltimore. No. 4 Purdue beat Iowa 28–7. No. 5 Penn won at Columbia, 33–0, but dropped from the Top Five. No. 7 USC stayed unbeaten, untied, and unscored upon with a 6–0 win over No. 6 Pacific, and the next poll raised the Trojans to No. 5 behind Notre Dame, Army, Navy, and Purdue.
October 30 In Cleveland, No. 1 Notre Dame beat No. 3 Navy, 33–6. In Philadelphia, No. 2 Army and No. 6 Pennsylvania played to a 13–13 tie. No. 4 Purdue won at Wisconsin, 32–0. No. 5 USC beat California, 13–0, for its sixth straight shutout. The next AP poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Army, No. 4 USC, and No. 5 Penn.

## November

November 6 At Yankee Stadium in New York, No. 1 Notre Dame beat No. 3 Army, 26–0. No. 2 Purdue won at Minnesota, 14–7. No. 4 USC lost at San Diego to the San Diego Navy team. No. 5 Penn lost to No. 7 Navy, 24–7. No. 6 Michigan beat Indiana 23–6. No. 8 Iowa Pre-Flight continued its unbeaten streak with a 46–19 win at Marquette on November 7, and became the first “service team” to ever reach the AP's Top Five, ranking No. 5 behind Notre Dame, Purdue, Navy, and Michigan.
November 13 No. 1 Notre Dame won at Northwestern 25–6. No. 2 Purdue was idle. No. 3 Navy won at Columbia 61–0. No. 4 Michigan beat Wisconsin 27–0. No. 5 Iowa Pre-Flight beat Camp Grant 28–13. The AP voters elevated Iowa Pre-Flight to No. 2 in the next poll, just in time for a showdown with No. 1 Notre Dame. No. 3 Purdue, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Navy rounded out the Top Five.
November 20 No. 1 Notre Dame edged No. 2 Iowa Pre-Flight, 14–13. No. 3 Purdue closed its season undefeated (9–0–0) with a 7–0 win at Indiana. No. 4 Michigan closed its season at 8–1–0 with a 45–7 win over Ohio State. No. 5 Navy was idle. No. 6 Duke closed its season at 8–1–0 with a 27–6 win over North Carolina and was raised to No. 5 in the next AP poll behind Notre Dame, Iowa Pre-Flight, Michigan, and Purdue.
November 27 No. 1 Notre Dame closed its season with a 19–14 loss to Great Lakes NTC, 19–14, but still finished No. 1 in the final rankings. Iowa Pre-Flight, which had stayed at No. 2 after its close loss to Notre Dame, beat Minnesota, 32–0, to finish at 9–1–0. No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Purdue, and No. 5 Duke had finished their seasons. No. 6 Navy closed its season with a 13–0 win over No. 7 Army in the Army–Navy Game, which took place at West Point. The Midshipmen rose to No. 4 in the final poll, behind Notre Dame, Iowa Pre-Flight, and Michigan. Purdue moved down to No. 5, Great Lakes NTC entered the poll at No. 6 after their upset of Notre Dame, and Duke slipped to No. 7.

## Conference standings
### Major conference standings

1943 Big Six Conference football standings :
| 1943 Big Six Conference football standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T Oklahoma $ 5 –0 –07 –2 –0 Missouri 3 –2 –03 –5 –0 Iowa State 3 –2 –04 –4 –0 Kansas 2 –3 –04 –5 –1 Nebraska 2 –3 –02 –6 –0 Kansas State 0 –5 –01 –7 –0 $ – Conference champion | 1943 Big Ten Conference football standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T No. 5 Purdue + 6 –0 –09 –0 –0 No. 3 Michigan + 6 –0 –08 –1 –0 No. 9 Northwestern 5 –1 –06 –2 –0 Indiana 2 –3 –14 –4 –2 Minnesota 2 –3 –05 –4 –0 Illinois 2 –4 –03 –7 –0 Ohio State 1 –4 –03 –6 –0 Wisconsin 1 –6 –01 –9 –0 Iowa 0 –4 –11 –6 –1 + – Conference co-championsRankings from AP Poll | 1943 Missouri Valley Conference football standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T No. 15 Tulsa $ 1 –0 –06 –1 –1 Oklahoma A&M 0 –1 –03 –4 –0 $ – Conference championRankings from AP Poll |
| 1943 Mountain States Conference football standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T Colorado $ 2 –0 –05 –2 –0 Utah 0 –2 –00 –7 –0 Denver 0 –0 –02 –5 –0 $ – Conference champion | 1943 Pacific Coast Conference football standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T USC $ 5 –0 –08 –2 –0 California 2 –2 –04 –6 –0 No. 12 Washington 0 –1 –04 –1 –0 UCLA 0 –4 –01 –8 –0 $ – Conference championRankings from AP Poll | 1943 Southeastern Conference football standings vteConf.Overall Team W L W L  No. 13 Georgia Tech $ 3 –0 –08 –3 –0 LSU 2 –2 –06 –3 –0 Tulane 1 –1 –03 –3 –0 Georgia 0 –3 –06 –4 –0 Vanderbilt 0 –0 –05 –0 –0 $ – Conference championSeven other SEC schools did not field a team due to World War II.Rankings from AP Poll |
| 1943 Southern Conference football standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T No. 7 Duke $ 4 –0 –08 –1 –0 Maryland 2 –0 –04 –5 –0 South Carolina 2 –1 –05 –2 –0 Wake Forest 3 –2 –04 –5 –0 North Carolina 2 –2 –06 –3 –0 Richmond 1 –1 –06 –1 –0 Clemson 2 –3 –02 –6 –0 VMI 2 –3 –02 –6 –0 NC State 1 –4 –03 –6 –0 Davidson 0 –3 –00 –5 –0 $ – Conference championRankings from AP Poll | 1943 Southwest Conference football standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T No. 14 Texas $ 5 –0 –07 –1 –1 Texas A&M 4 –1 –07 –2 –1 Rice 2 –3 –03 –7 –0 SMU 2 –3 –02 –7 –0 TCU 1 –4 –02 –6 –0 Arkansas 1 –4 –02 –7 –0 $ – Conference championRankings from AP Poll |

### Independents

1943 Eastern college football independents records :
| 1943 Eastern college football independents records vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T Boston College   –  4 –0 –1 Franklin & Marshall   –  7 –1 –0 Dartmouth   –  6 –1 –0 Rochester   –  6 –1 –0 No. 11 Army   –  7 –2 –1 Holy Cross   –  6 –2 –0 Tufts   –  6 –2 –0 No. 20 Penn   –  6 –2 –1 Brown   –  5 –3 –0 Villanova   –  5 –3 –0 Colgate   –  5 –3 –1 Penn State   –  5 –3 –1 Bucknell   –  6 –4 –0 Cornell   –  6 –4 –0 Harvard   –  2 –2 –1 Yale   –  4 –5 –0 Pittsburgh   –  3 –5 –0 Temple   –  2 –6 –0 CCNY   –  1 –3 –1 Princeton   –  1 –6 –0 Carnegie Tech   –  0 –4 –1 Columbia   –  0 –8 –0 Rankings from AP Poll | 1943 Midwestern college football independents records vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T Michigan State Normal   –  2 –0 –0 DePauw   –  5 –0 –1 No. 1 Notre Dame   –  9 –1 –0 Miami (OH)   –  7 –2 –1 Western Michigan   –  4 –2 –0 Bowling Green   –  5 –3 –1 Marquette   –  3 –4 –1 Central Michigan   –  2 –3 –0 Ohio Wesleyan   –  4 –6 –0 Xavier   –  1 –6 –0 Wayne   –  0 –3 –0 Rankings from AP Poll | 1943 Southern college football independents records vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T No. 4 Navy   –  8 –1 –0 Miami (FL)   –  5 –1 –0 West Virginia   –  4 –3 –0 North Texas Aggies   –  3 –4 –1 Virginia   –  3 –4 –1 Texas Tech   –  4 –6 –0 Tennessee Tech   –  1 –5 –0 Sewanee   –  0 –3 –0 Rankings from AP Poll |
| 1943 Western college football independents records vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T No. 18 Colorado College   –  7 –0 –0 New Mexico A&M   –  4 –0 –0 No. 19 Pacific (CA)   –  7 –2 –0 Nevada   –  4 –1 –1 New Mexico   –  3 –2 –0 Saint Mary's   –  2 –5 –0 San Francisco   –  1 –7 –0 Rankings from AP Poll | 1943 military service football records vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T No. 17 Bainbridge   –  7 –0 –0 Bunker Hill NAS   –  6 –0 –0 Greensboro   –  4 –0 –0 Memphis NATTC   –  2 –0 –0 No. 2 Iowa Pre-Flight   –  9 –1 –0 No. 10 March Field   –  9 –1 –0 No. 8 Del Monte Pre-Flight   –  7 –1 –0 Randolph Field   –  9 –1 –1 Georgia Pre-Flight   –  5 –1 –0 No. 6 Great Lakes Navy   –  10 –2 –0 Lubbock AAF   –  5 –1 –0 Ottumwa NAS   –  5 –1 –0 Camp Davis   –  8 –2 –0 Sampson NTS   –  7 –2 –0 San Diego NTS   –  7 –2 –0 Keesler Field   –  3 –1 –0 Wright Field   –  1 –0 –1 Camp Lejeune   –  6 –2 –1 Fort Riley   –  6 –2 –1 Kearns Field   –  5 –2 –0 Fort Knox   –  4 –2 –0 Cherry Point Marines   –  4 –2 –1 Alameda Coast Guard   –  4 –2 –1 Fort Douglas   –  4 –2 –1 300th Infantry   –  5 –3 –0 176th Infantry   –  4 –3 –0 Blackland AAF   –  4 –3 –0 Fort Sheridan   –  4 –3 –0 Fort Warren   –  4 –3 –0 Norman NAS   –  4 –3 –0 Charleston Coast Guard   –  5 –4 –0 Salt Lake AAB   –  4 –3 –2 124th Infantry   –  2 –2 –0 Camp Kilmer   –  2 –2 –0 Camp Lee   –  5 –5 –0 Logan Navy   –  2 –2 –0 Spokane Air Service   –  2 –2 –0 Camp Edwards   –  4 –5 –0 Curtis Bay Coast Guard   –  4 –5 –0 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight   –  3 –4 –1 Jacksonville NATTC   –  3 –4 –0 Richmond AAB   –  4 –6 –1 Atlantic City NAS   –  2 –3 –0 North Carolina Pre-Flight   –  2 –4 –1 Patterson Field   –  2 –4 –1 Bowman Field   –  2 –4 –0 Kirtland Field   –  1 –2 –0 Lakehurst NAS   –  2 –4 –0 Camp Grant   –  2 –6 –2 Lowry Field   –  1 –3 –0 Fort Monroe   –  3 –7 –0 Daniel Field   –  2 –7 –0 Camp Gordon   –  1 –4 –0 South Plains AAF   –  1 –4 –0 Greenville AAB   –  1 –5 –0 Ward Island Marines   –  1 –5 –0 Bryan AAF   –  1 –6 –0 Pocatello AAB   –  0 –3 –0 Norfolk Fleet Marines   –  0 –9 –0 Rankings from AP Poll |

### Minor conferences

| Conference | Champion(s) | Record |
| Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association | No champion | — |
| California Collegiate Athletic Association | No champion | — |
| Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association | Morgan State College | 5–1–1 |
| Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| Far Western Conference | No champion | — |
| Indiana Intercollegiate Conference | DePauw Earlham | 2–0 |
| Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| Lone Star Conference | No champion | — |
| Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association | No champion | — |
| Nebraska College Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| New Mexico Intercollegiate Conference | No champion | — |
| North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| North Dakota College Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| Ohio Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| Pacific Northwest Conference | No champion | — |
| Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference | No champion | — |
| Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | Tuskegee | 5–1–1 |
| Southwestern Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| State Teacher's College Conference of Minnesota | No champion | — |
| Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference | No champion | — |
| Washington Intercollegiate Conference | No champion | — |
| Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference | No champion | — |

### Minor conference standings

1943 Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings :
| 1943 Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T Morgan State $ 2 –0 –05 –0 –0 North Carolina A&T 2 –0 –04 –0 –0 Virginia State 2 –2 –05 –2 –0 Hampton 2 –2 –02 –4 –0 Johnson C. Smith 1 –3 –05 –4 –0 West Virginia State 0 –2 –00 –2 –0 $ – Conference champion | 1943 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T Northern Illinois State 1 –0 –04 –1 –1 Illinois State Normal 1 –0 –06 –2 –1 Western Illinois 0 –2 –01 –6 –0 Eastern Illinois 0 –0 –00 –0 –0 Southern Illinois 0 –0 –00 –0 –0 | 1943 Middle Three Conference football standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L TW L T Lafayette + 3 –1 –04 –1 –0 Rutgers + 3 –1 –03 –2 –0 Lehigh 0 –4 –00 –5 –1 + – Conference co-champions |

## Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
| Player | School | Position | Total |
| Angelo Bertelli | Notre Dame | QB | 648 |
| Bob Odell | Penn | HB | 177 |
| Otto Graham | Northwestern | HB | 140 |
| Creighton Miller | Notre Dame | HB | 134 |
| Eddie Prokop | Georgia Tech | HB | 85 |
| Hal Hamburg | Navy | HB | 73 |
| Bill Daley | Michigan | FB | 71 |
| Tony Butkovich | Purdue | FB | 65 |
| Jim White | Notre Dame | OT | 52 |

## Bowl games

| Bowl game | Winning team | Winning team | Losing team | Losing team |
| Rose Bowl | USC | 29 | No. 12 Washington | 0 |
| Sugar Bowl | No. 13 Georgia Tech | 20 | No. 15 Tulsa | 18 |
| Orange Bowl | LSU | 19 | Texas A&M | 14 |
| Cotton Bowl Classic | No. 14 Texas | 7 | Randolph Field | 7 |
| Sun Bowl | Southwestern (TX) | 7 | New Mexico | 0 |

## Statistical leaders
### Team leaders
#### Total offense

| Rank | Team | Games played | Total plays | Yards gained | Yards per game |
| 1 | Notre Dame | 10 | 734 | 4180 | 418.0 |
| 2 | Iowa-Pre-Flight | 10 | 583 | 3929 | 392.9 |
| 3 | Washington | 4 | 250 | 1499 | 374.8 |
| 4 | Duke | 9 | 566 | 3299 | 366.6 |
| 5 | Michigan | 9 | 582 | 3269 | 363.2 |
| 6 | Army | 10 | 639 | 3545 | 354.5 |
| 7 | Texas | 8 | 498 | 2814 | 351.8 |
| 8 | Tulsa | 7 | 425 | 2379 | 339.9 |
| 9 | Georgia | 9* | 593 | 2969 | 329.9 |
| 10 | Holy Cross | 8 | 587 | 2628 | 323.5 |
(*) One game not reported

#### Total defense

| Rank | Team | Games played | Total plays | Yards gained | Yards per game |
| 1 | Duke | 9 | 405 | 1095 | 121.7 |
| 2 | Tulsa | 7 | 383 | 881 | 125.9 |
| 3 | Penn State | 9 | 439 | 1176 | 130.7 |
| 4 | Texas A&M | 9 | 488 | 1178 | 130.9 |
| 5 | Holy Cross | 8 | 371 | 1104 | 138.0 |
| 6 | Texas | 8 | 357 | 1110 | 138.8 |
| 7 | Army | 10 | 521 | 1525 | 152.5 |
| 8 | Navy | 9 | 499 | 1451 | 161.2 |
| 9 | USC | 8 | 413 | 1299 | 162.4 |
| 10 | Michigan | 8* | 460 | 1313 | 164.1 |
(*) One game not reported

#### Rushing offense

| Rank | Team | Games | Rushes | Yards gained | Yards per game |
| 1 | Iowa Pre-Flight | 10 | 481 | 3244 | 324.4 |
| 2 | Notre Dame | 10 | 625 | 3137 | 313.7 |
| 3 | Duke | 9 | 487 | 2660 | 295.6 |
| 4 | Michigan | 9 | 508 | 2648 | 294.2 |
| 5 | Washington | | | 1170 | 292.5 |
| 6 | Army | | | 2568 | 256.8 |
| 7 | Texas | | | 2016 | 252.0 |
| 8 | Minnesota | | | 2202 | 244.7 |
| 9 | Navy | | | 2165 | 240.6 |
| 10 | Holy Cross | | | 1876 | 234.5 |

#### Scoring

1. Duke - 37.2 points per game 2. Notre Dame - 34.0 points per game 3. Tulsa - 33.6 points per game 4. Michigan - 33.6 points per game 5. Del Monte Pre-Flight - 31.5 points per game 6. Texas - 30.8 points per game 7. Army - 29.9 points per game 8. March Field - 29.2 points per game 9. Colorado College - 28.4 points per game 10. Richmond - 27.9 points per game 11. Iowa Pre-Flight - 27.7 points per game 12. Penn - 27.6 points per game

### Individual leaders
#### Total offense

| Rank | Player | Team | Games | Plays | Total Yds |
| 1 | Robert Hoernschemeyer | Indiana | 10 | 355 | 1648 |
| 2 | Eddie Prokop | Georgia Tech | 10 | 269 | 1440 |
| 3 | Johnny Cook | Georgia | 10 | 307 | 1368 |
| 4 | Stan Kozlowski | Holy Cross | 8 | 252 | 1226 |
| 5 | James Hallmark | Texas A&M | 9 | 265 | 1080 |
| 6 | Jim Lucas | TCU | 8 | 258 | 1031 |
| 7 | Glenn Davis | Army | 10 | 144 | 1028 |
| 8 | Steve Van Buren | LSU | 8 | 186 | 1007 |
| 9 | Derald Lebow | Oklahoma | 9 | 192 | 951 |
| 10 | Bill Maceyko | Cornell-Sampson | 10 | 181 | 930 |

#### Rushing

| Rank | Player | Team | Games | Rushes | Net Yds | Avg Gain per Play |
| 1 | Creighton Miller | Notre Dame | 10 | 151 | 911 | 6.03 |
| 2 | Steve Van Buren | LSU | 8 | 150 | 847 | 5.65 |
| 3 | Tony Butkovich | Purdue | 9 | 142 | 833 | 5.87 |
| 4 | Bill Daley | Michigan | 9 | 120 | 817 | 6.81 |
| 5 | Stan Kozlowski | Holy Cross | 8 | 161 | 784 | 4.87 |
| 6 | Eddie Bray | Illinois | 10 | 117 | 738 | 6.31 |
| 7 | Jim Mello | Notre Dame | 10 | 137 | 704 | 5.14 |
| 8 | Ernie Parks | Ohio State | 9 | 161 | 693 | 4.30 |
| 9 | Dean Sensanbaugher | Ohio State | 9 | 150 | 677 | 4.51 |
| 10 | Joe Kane | Penn | 9 | 104 | 671 | 6.45 |

#### Passing

| Rank | Player | Team | Games | Att. | Compl. | Int. | Pct. Compl. | Yds. |
| 1 | Paul Rickards | Pittsburgh | 9 | 178 | 84 | 20 | .472 | 997 |
| 2 | Frank Dancewicz | Notre Dame | 10 | 153 | 68 | 12 | .444 | 989 |
| 3 | Cashion | Texas A&M | 11 | 113 | 59 | 12 | .522 | 852 |
| 4 | Bob Waterfield | UCLA | 10 | 136 | 55 | 19 | .404 | 901 |
| 5 | Al Dekdebrun | Cornell | 9 | 121 | 53 | 13 | .438 | 648 |