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1944 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team

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1944 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 26–12 vs. Georgia Tech
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
Record8–2 (0–1 MVC)
Head coach
Home stadiumSkelly Field
Seasons
← 1943
1945 →
1944 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Oklahoma A&M $ 1 0 0 8 1 0
Tulsa 0 1 0 8 2 0
Drake 0 0 0 7 2 0
  • $ – Conference champion

The 1944 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team represented the University of Tulsa during the 1944 college football season. In their fourth year under head coach Henry Frnka, the Golden Hurricane compiled an 8–2 record (0–1 against Missouri Valley Conference opponents) and defeated Georgia Tech in the 1945 Orange Bowl.

Tulsa was ranked No. 7 in the AP Poll after defeating Texas Tech (34–7) and Ole Miss (47–0), but then lost back-to-back games against Oklahoma State and Iowa Pre-Flight. Later in the season, Tulsa also defeated Arkansas (33–2) and the Miami Hurricanes (48–2).[1]

Center Felto Prewitt was selected as a first-team All-American by Football News,[2] and guard Ellis Jones was selected as a first-team All-American by Look magazine.[3]

Schedule

[edit]
DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 23North Texas Agricultural*W 47–612,000
October 7Kansas*
  • Skelly Field
  • Tulsa, OK
W 27–012,000[4]
October 14Texas Tech*No. 13
  • Skelly Field
  • Tulsa, OK
W 34–78,500–9,000
October 21vs. Ole Miss*No. 13W 47–08,000[5]
October 28Oklahoma A&MdaggerNo. 7
L 40–4612,063
November 4No. 7 Iowa Pre-Flight*
  • Skelly Field
  • Tulsa, OK
L 27–4718,000[6]
November 11Southwestern (TX)*
  • Skelly Field
  • Tulsa, OK
W 51–68,000
November 23Arkansas*
  • Skelly Field
  • Tulsa, OK
W 33–216,000
December 1at Miami (FL)*W 48–211,234
January 1, 1945vs. No. 13 Georgia Tech
W 26–1229,426[7]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[8]

Rankings

[edit]

The AP released their first rankings on October 9, the Golden Hurricane were ranked 13th.

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below
Week
Poll12345678Final
AP1313

After the season

[edit]

1945 NFL draft

[edit]

The following Golden Hurricane players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.[9][10]

Round Pick Player Position NFL club
3 27 Clyde Goodnight End Green Bay Packers
5 34 Al Kowalski Back Brooklyn Tigers
7 60 Glen Burgeis Tackle Chicago Bears
8 69 Ellis Jones Guard Boston Yanks
8 76 Toby Collins Tackle Green Bay Packers
19 194 Clyde LeForce Quarterback Detroit Lions
25 263 Nolan Luhn End Green Bay Packers
27 280 Dell Taylor Back Detroit Lions

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "1944 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  2. ^ ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. ESPN Books. 2005. p. 1196. ISBN 1401337031.
  3. ^ Hal Sayles (November 30, 1944). "Speaking of Sports". Abilene Reporter-News.
  4. ^ Edward D. Burks (October 8, 1944). "Tulsa Hurricane Blasts Kansas, 27 to 0". Tulsa World. p. Sports 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Big Tulsa 'Bowl' Veterans Smother Ole Miss 47 to 0". Clarion-Ledger. October 22, 1944. p. 12.
  6. ^ Sec Taylor (November 5, 1944). "Cadets Romp, 47-27". The Des Moines Register. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Tulsa batters Georgia Tech's Wrecks, 26–12". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. January 2, 1945. Retrieved October 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Tulsa Golden Hurricane Football Record & Fact Book 2022" (PDF). University of Tulsa. pp. 180–181. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  9. ^ "1945 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  10. ^ "Tulsa Drafted Players/Alumni". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.