1952 College Football National Championship

Michigan State 1952

Michigan State's Season

In 1951, Michigan State had outscored their opponents 270-114, and this season they improved that on both ends, 312-84 against a tougher schedule. They had the top rushing defense in the country this season, 83.9 yards per game.

They found themselves down 13-0 in their opener at rival Michigan (5-4, unranked), but Tom Yewcic was sent in at quarterback and he rallied the team to a 27-13 win, hitting 7 of 14 passes for 171 yards. Yewcic remained at quarterback for the rest of the season, and broke the school record with 941 yards passing, albeit with a weak 43.2% completion rate. He was a better punter, and that would get him a 6 year career in the pros.

Michigan State took the top slot in the next AP poll, and then they hit the road again for game 2, playing Oregon State (2-7) in Portland in front of 22,000 fans. OSU had upset them in 1949, given them a tough game in 1951 (6-0), and this year the pesky Beavers fought MSU to their closest game of the year. In the opening quarter, Yewcic hit a 50 yard pass to halfback Billy Wells that put the ball on the OSU 11, and then Yewcic threw an 8 yard touchdown pass to end Paul Dekker. Yewcic threw another touchdown pass in the next quarter to make it 14-0, but OSU came out of halftime fighting. They fumbled away 3 scoring chances, then finally connected on a 39 yard pass to set up a 1 yard touchdown plunge late in the 3rd quarter. In the final quarter, Michigan State halfback Don McAuliffe fumbled the ball away at his own 44, and OSU drove to a 20 yard touchdown pass to tie the game up at 14-14.

Michigan State woke up and drove 72 yards, but fullback Evan Slonac, who had kicked both extra points, missed a field goal. Michigan State next got the ball on their own 33 with 3 minutes left, and drove to the Oregon State 8 yard line on the strength of 3 big pass completions. With 7 seconds left, senior fullback Gene Lekenta was given a shot at a 22 yard field goal. He missed, but OSU was offside, and Lekenta hit the game winner from 17 yards out on the game's last play. It was his first college field goal, and he had only kicked one in high school. You can see highlights of the game here.

The close game knocked Michigan State out of the top spot in the next AP poll, taken over by Wisconsin, but Wisconsin lost their next game 23-14 at Ohio State, while Michigan State pummeled Texas A&M (3-6-1) 48-6. Yewcic threw for 202 yards. That put the Spartans back at #1, where they remained for the rest of the season. Michigan State was even more impressive over their next 2 games, stomping 7-3 Syracuse 48-7 and 7-2-1 Penn State 34-7. I have Syracuse ranked #14 for 1951, Penn State #16.



Michigan State's only other close game of the season came the next week at Purdue (4-3-2, #20) in front of 49,000 fans (the game pictured above). It started well enough: a bad Purdue punt gave MSU the ball at the Purdue 28, and they drove to a touchdown in 5 plays, halfback Don McAuliffe plunging over from the 2. Late in the quarter, MSU recovered a Purdue fumble, and drove to a 7 yard Yewcic touchdown in 9 plays, and it was 14-0. But Purdue battled back in the 2nd half. They blocked an MSU punt and hit a 34 yard pass to set up a touchdown, closing the gap to 14-7. In the final quarter, Michigan State drove to the Purdue 20, but they missed a field goal. Purdue took over and drove to the Michigan State 9 through the air, but an interception ended the threat and kept MSU perfect for the season.

Michigan State totaled 273 yards of offense, 197 on the ground, and Purdue had 224, 193 through the air. Michigan State next visited Indiana (2-7) and cruised 41-14, bringing them to their biggest game of the year, hosting Notre Dame.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame had struggled early in the season, tying at Penn (4-3-2, #19) in their opener and losing 22-19 to Pittsburgh (6-3, #17) at home in game 3. But between those games, they won 14-3 at Texas (9-2, #7), and after the Pitt loss, they won 26-14 over Purdue (4-3-2, #20), 17-6 over Navy (6-2-1, #15), and 27-21 over Oklahoma (8-1-1, #4). That's 6 rated teams in 7 games, and now they were headed to East Lansing to take on #1 Michigan State the week after upsetting previously unbeaten Oklahoma. 52,000 attended.

Michigan State came into this game averaging 475 yards of offense per game, but they were held to just 169 this day, and Notre Dame substantially outgained them with 297. However, Notre Dame fumbled 7 times and lost all 7, and tossed an interception as well, and the Spartans drubbed them 21-3. Representative of the game, in the picture above you can see Notre Dame quarterback Tom Carey powering through a nice hole in the middle; but he fumbled the ball at the end of the run, and Michigan State recovered.

It was 0-0 at the half, and Notre Dame scored first with a field goal, set up by Michigan State's only fumble of the game at their own 11 early in the 3rd quarter. Later in the quarter, Michigan State linebacker Dick Tamburo recovered a fumble at the Notre Dame 13, a holding penalty put it at the 1, and halfback Don McAuliffe scored the easy touchdown for a 7-3 lead. Two plays after the ensuing kickoff, MSU safety Jim Ellis recovered a fumble at the Irish 16, but the Spartans were held. Notre Dame gave it right back on their next play, Dick Tamburo recovering at the Irish 21 (he recovered 3 fumbles on the day). A holding penalty put the ball at the Irish 1 again, and McAuliffe scored another easy touchdown, bumping the lead to 14-3.

Notre Dame halfback Johnny Lattner, who won the Maxwell Award this season and the Heisman in 1953, got loose for a 37 yard run to the MSU 33 early in the 4th quarter. He threw a pass to the 11, but Notre Dame was stopped a foot short of a first down at the MSU 2 yard line. Michigan State's last touchdown came late, a 24 yard run by fullback Evan Slonac on the first play after Jim Ellis intercepted an Irish pass. You can see a few highlights from the game here.

Notre Dame finished the season 7-2-1, their incredibly difficult schedule concluding with a huge 9-0 win over 10-1 Southern Cal (#5). The Irish were ranked #3 in the final AP poll.

Michigan State's finale was much less exciting, a 62-13 rout of 3-5-1 Marquette.

Georgia Tech 1952

Georgia Tech had long been a power team in the South. Hall of Fame coach John Heisman went 102-29-7 here 1904-1919, winning the South's first MNC in 1917. That team is among the greatest of all time, outscoring opponents 491-17. Hall of Fame coach William Alexander took the reins next and went 134-95-5 at Tech 1920-1944, winning 8 conference titles and another MNC in 1928. Alexander was followed by another Hall of Famer, Bobby Dodd (pictured at left).

Dodd is actually one of only 3 men who have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. He was a quarterback at Tennessee 1928-1930, going 27-1-2 as a starter, and before he had even graduated, he accepted a position as assistant coach to Bill Alexander at Georgia Tech. He went 165-64-8 as head coach 1945-1966, and he was the athletic director 1950-1976. The highlights were an 11-0-1 finish in 1951 and 12-0 this season, and those are the only 2 SEC titles he won. More importantly, this year he became Georgia Tech's 3rd straight coach to win an MNC. Those 3 coaches presided over 63 years of Georgia Tech football, remarkable stability. It hasn't been like that at all for Tech since Dodd retired

Georgia Tech's Season

Georgia Tech opened the season with a 54-6 rout of cupcake 3-5-1 Citadel, and then, much like Michigan State, they had to kick a late field goal to win their 2nd game 17-14. Georgia Tech was ranked #2 and was a 20 point favorite, hosting a Florida team that had gone 5-5 the previous season. 32,000 fans attended. Florida scored a touchdown in the opening quarter, Tech tied it in the 2nd, Florida scored another touchdown in the 3rd, and Georgia Tech tied it again in the 4th quarter. Pepper Rodgers kicked the field goal that won the game. Florida ended up being stronger than expected this season, finishing 8-3, and I have them ranked #12 for 1952.

Georgia Tech then cruised through their next 6 games, the only notable win coming 28-7 at 8-2 Duke (#13). Their 9th bout was Georgia Tech's game of the year, hosting Alabama (the game pictured below). Georgia Tech was ranked #2, Alabama #12, and the game was nationally televised. Alabama was the last team that had beaten Georgia Tech, back in 1950. 40,000 attended.



Alabama kicked a 35 yard field goal in the opening quarter for a 3-0 lead. They recovered a fumble at the GT 21, and drove to the Tech 1 yard line, but they were held on downs there in the game's biggest moment. Georgia Tech scored a touchdown on a 9 yard run in the 2nd quarter to take the lead, and ultimately the game, 7-3. The 4th quarter saw plenty of offense but no points. Georgia Tech drove to the Alabama 23, where they fumbled the ball away. Alabama then drove 64 yards to the GT 13, where they were stopped on downs. Georgia Tech then drove to the Alabama 30, where the game ended.

Georgia Tech outgained Alabama 270 yards to 168, neither team completing more than 2 passes. Alabama finished 10-2, crushing Maryland (7-2, #11) 27-7 the next week, then dismembering Syracuse (7-3, #14) 61-6 in the Orange Bowl, and I have the Tide ranked #8 for 1952.

Tech finished the regular season with a 30-0 win over Florida State (1-8-1) and a 23-9 win at rival Georgia (7-4, #18).

The Sugar Bowl

Michigan State vs. Georgia Tech

Awards Ceremony

Grading the Selectors