1946 Penn State Nittany Lions football
ConferenceIndependent
Record6–2
Head coach
CaptainRed Moore, Bucky Walters
Home stadiumNew Beaver Field
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 Penn State Nittany Lions football team was an American football team that represented Pennsylvania State University as an independent during the 1946 college football season. In their 17th year under head coach Bob Higgins, the Nittany Lions compiled a 6–2 record and outscored opponents by a total of 192 to 48.[1][2]

Penn State halfback Maderak was selected by the International News Service as a second-team player on the 1946 All-Eastern football team.[3]

The team voted to cancel a scheduled game against the Miami Hurricanes rather than playing without African American players.[4]

Penn State was ranked at No. 24 in the final Litkenhous Difference by Score System rankings for 1946.[5]

The team played its home games in New Beaver Field in State College, Pennsylvania.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 5Bucknell
W 48–612,401[6]
October 12at Syracuse
W 9–010,000[7]
October 19Michigan Statedagger
  • New Beaver Field
  • State College, PA (rivalry)
L 16–1920,000[8]
October 26at Colgate
W 6–213,500[9]
November 2Fordham
  • New Beaver Field
  • State College, PA
W 68–010,305[10]
November 9Temple
  • New Beaver Field
  • State College, PA
W 26–013,356[11]
November 16at Navy
W 12–722,000[12][13]
November 23at Pittsburgh
L 7–1450,000[14]
November 29at Miami (FL)
canceled
  • daggerHomecoming

The scheduled game against the Miami Hurricanes was cancelled in early November by unanimous vote of the Penn State team.[4] Miami officials felt that Penn State fielding their African American players Wallace Triplett and Dennis Hoggard in Miami could have led to "unfortunate incidents",[15] and the team chose to cancel the game rather than playing without Triplett and Hoggard.[4] Miami reportedly invited Syracuse to replace Penn State. This invitation was promptly declined and rebuked in an editorial in The Daily Orange, titled "No Thanks, Miami".[16]

After the season

Main article: 1947 NFL Draft

The 1947 NFL Draft was held on December 16, 1946. The following Nittany Lions were selected.[17]

Round Pick Player Position NFL Club
7 53 Bill Smyth Defensive end Los Angeles Rams
16 140 Jeff Durkota Fullback Philadelphia Eagles
26 240 Larry Joe Back Chicago Cardinals
30 279 Joe Colone Back Washington Redskins

References

  1. ^ "1946 Penn State Nittany Lions Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  2. ^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1945-1949)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  3. ^ "Army Has Five On INS East 11". The Daily American. Somerset, Pennsylvania. December 3, 1946. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c "Football team stood against racism, broke barriers in 1946-47". psu.edu. February 14, 2006. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  5. ^ Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 15, 1946). "Rice Rated Fifth Best, Tennessee 12th by Lit". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. p. B4 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "State Defeats Bucknell by Big 48-6 Score". Sunday Call-Chronicle. Allentown, Pa. Associated Press. October 6, 1946. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "State Wins, 9-0, Over Syracuse". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 13, 1946. p. 2S – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Spartans Nip Lions, 19-16: Michigan State Springs Surprise". The Pittsburgh Press. Associated Press. October 20, 1946. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "State Wins, 6-2, Against Colgate". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pa. October 27, 1946. p. S2 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Nittany Lions Shear Rams' Wool, 68-0". Sunday News. New York, N.Y. Associated Press. November 3, 1946. p. 99 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Baumgartner, Stan (November 10, 1946). "Penn State Blanks Temple Eleven, 26-0". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pa. p. S1 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Craig E. Taylor (November 17, 1946). "Navy Eleven Loses To Penn State By 12-To-7 Score: Truman Sees Middies Suffer 7th Setback in Row at Annapolis". The Baltimore Sun. p. 33 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Truman Makes Bad Forecast on Navy Game: President's Luck in Football Parallels His Election Guesses". The Baltimore Sun. November 17, 1946. p. 32 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Chester L. Smith (November 24, 1946). "Panthers Hand Lions 14-7 Defeat: 50,000 See Abraham, Skladany Score for Pitt Win in Finale; Triumph Gives Panthers Three Victories, Five Losses and One Tie for Season". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Penn State-Miami U. Grid Game Is Latest Victim of 'Racial Problem'". The Gazette and Daily. York, Pennsylvania. AP. November 6, 1946. p. 25. Retrieved January 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  16. ^ "Syracuse Turns Down Miami Offer to Sub for Penn State". The Tribune. Scranton, Pennsylvania. November 13, 1946. p. 17. Retrieved November 29, 2020 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  17. ^ "1947 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.


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