1954 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

American college football season

1954 Minnesota Golden Gophers football

Conference| Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches| No. 20
Record| 7–2 (4–2 Big Ten)
Head coach|

* Murray Warmath (1st season)

MVP| Bob McNamara
Captain| Bob McNamara
Home stadium| Memorial Stadium

Seasons

<- 1953

1955 ->

1954 Big Ten Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team | W |  | L |  | T |  |  | W |  | L |  | T
No. 1 Ohio State $  | 7  | - | 0  | - | 0 |  |  | 10  | - | 0  | - | 0
No. 9 Wisconsin | 5  | - | 2  | - | 0 |  |  | 7  | - | 2  | - | 0
No. 15 Michigan | 5  | - | 2  | - | 0 |  |  | 6  | - | 3  | - | 0
Minnesota | 4  | - | 2  | - | 0 |  |  | 7  | - | 2  | - | 0
Iowa | 4  | - | 3  | - | 0 |  |  | 5  | - | 4  | - | 0
Purdue | 3  | - | 3  | - | 0 |  |  | 5  | - | 3  | - | 1
Indiana | 2  | - | 4  | - | 0 |  |  | 3  | - | 6  | - | 0
Michigan State | 1  | - | 5  | - | 0 |  |  | 3  | - | 6  | - | 0
Northwestern | 1  | - | 5  | - | 0 |  |  | 2  | - | 7  | - | 0
Illinois | 0  | - | 6  | - | 0 |  |  | 1  | - | 8  | - | 0

* $ - Conference champion

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1954 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1954 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Murray Warmath, the Golden Gophers compiled a 7–2 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 195 to 127.[1] The team finished the season ranked #20 in the final Coaches poll.

Halfback Bob McNamara received the team's Most Valuable Player award,[2] and was selected by the Football Writers Association of America (for Look magazine) as a first-team player on the 1954 College Football All-America Team.[3] He was also selected by the Associated Press as a first-team player on its 1954 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[4] Fullback John Baumgartner was named Academic All-Big Ten.[2]

Total attendance for the season was 347,555, which averaged to 57,925. The season high for attendance was against Iowa.[5]

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Opponent| Rank| Site| Result| Attendance

|
|
|
|
|

September 25| Nebraska*| |

* Memorial Stadium
* Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)

| W 19–7| 53,027
October 2| at Pittsburgh*| |

* Pitt Stadium
* Pittsburgh, PA

| W 46–7| 33,369
October 9| Northwestern| No. 18|

* Memorial Stadium
* Minneapolis, MN

| W 26–7| 53,663
October 16| Illinois| No. 11|

* Memorial Stadium
* Minneapolis, MN

| W 19–6| 63,339
October 23| at Michigan| No. 8|

* Michigan Stadium
* Ann Arbor, MI (Little Brown Jug)

| L 0–34| 83,060
October 30| Michigan State| |

* Memorial Stadium
* Minneapolis, MN

| W 19–13| 63,360
November 6| Oregon State| No. 14|

* Memorial Stadium
* Minneapolis, MN

| W 44–6| 48,702
November 13| No. 9 Iowa| No. 13|

* Memorial Stadium
* Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)

| W 22–20| 65,464
November 20| at No. 17 Wisconsin| No. 10|

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI (rivalry)

| L 0–27| 51,131

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

## Roster

[edit]

* Gino Cappelletti #15

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "1954 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
2. ^ a b Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), pp. 179–182[permanent dead link]
3. ^ "FWAA All America" (PDF). Football Writers Association of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
4. ^ "A.P. Lists 1954 All Big Ten Choices" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 23, 1954. p. 4.
5. ^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160[permanent dead link]

* v
* t
* e

Minnesota Golden Gophers football

Venues|

* Athletic Park (1892–1898)
* University of Minnesota Armory (1892–1898)
* Northrop Field (1899–1923)
* Memorial Stadium (1924–1981)
* Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (1982–2008)
* Huntington Bank Stadium (2009–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Iowa
* Michigan: Little Brown Jug
* Nebraska
* Penn State: Governor's Victory Bell
* Wisconsin

Culture & lore|

* Goldy Gopher
* Marching band
* Spirit squad
* "Minnesota Rouser"
* "Minnesota March"
* "Go Gopher Victory"
* "Minnesota Fight"
* "Our Minnesota"
* "Hail! Minnesota"
* "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
* Minnesota shift
* T formation
* Smith of Minnesota

People|

* Head coaches
* Statistical leaders
* NFL draftees
* Annual awards

Seasons|

* 1882
* 1883
* 1884–1885
* 1886
* 1887
* 1888
* 1889
* 1890
* 1891
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900
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* 1903
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* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
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* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
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* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
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* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
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National championship seasons in bold
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties
*[No.]: Number