FANTASY COLLEGE FOOTBALL THRU THE AGES: 1940-1949

June 16th, 2006 by Daniel Freer

The Forties.

A time where the United States emerged from The Great Depression and became the dominant world power, economically and politically, after ridding the planet of the Nazi and Axis yokes in World War II. An era in which retired TV newsman Tom Brokaw described Americans as “The Greatest Generation”.

They were also pretty good football players, too, when not fighting for their country. In fact, the fantasy football player back in that era would have had to determine whether his top player from 1942 had been drafted by the US Armed Forces, or the NFL. Many college football players, like athletes in other sports, did not wait to be drafted instead marching themselves right down to their local recruiting office for the opportunity to take on Der Furher or Il Duce instead of Faurot’s Mizzou Split-T.

In the decade, schools exclusively ran the football, mostly from the single wing formation. And, schools did not have, per se, a designated QB…usually the top back on the team was also the main passer…although it was not unusual for more than one back to be involved as a passer. In our evaluation of QBs from this era, we will focus on backs who were the primary passers on their squads. Interesting to note that the top passers of this era were also the top backs and top defensive players (most players played both ways) on their teams.

Of course, with “running backs” playing QB, the passing game suffered. It was rare when anyone passed for over 1000 yards in a season, and, interceptions were quite common. Most passers threw an intercetion every 10 passes (in modern times such a ratio would get your scholarship yanked and a bus ride home to Mom and Dad). Receivers stats from the 1940s, naturally, would be a lot lower than in future generations.

Many of the top players of the decade were also the kicking specialists, so we omitted a seperate PK position. Field-goals were few and far between in this era.

So, sit back at your favorite drinking hole or soda fountain, play some Glenn Miller tunes, fool around with the dial on your big-box vacuum-tube AM radio, and get in the mood for some fantasy college football from the 1940s. And, ignore that “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline from later in the decade (I know we are 100% correct on that one).

QUARTERBACKS

Like we mentioned earlier, the quarterback was not exactly an established position in this era. We looked at the best passers, combined with other stats, to get our top fantasy QB for the decade.

Bob Fenimore – Oklahoma A&M

Honorable Mention: Frank Sinkwich, Georgia; “Bullet” Bill Dudley, Virginia

Fenimore gets the nod, but just slightly, over Sinkwich and Dudley. Fenimore was a four-year starter for the Aggies (who are better known in modern times as the Oklahoma State Cowboys). Oklahoma A&M, then a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, was a dominant Midwestern team in the mid-1940′s, going 17-1 in 1944-45. 1945 was Fenimore’s best season, rushing for 1048 yards, scoring 12 TDs, and passing for nearly 600…while leading the nation in all-purpose yards (nearly 200 per game)

Sinkwich, the 1942 Heisman winner, also put up some good stats, but lost out mainly because he shared the Bulldog backfield in 1941 with another great pre-Herschel back, Charlie Trippi, who took away some of the carries that would have gone to Sinkwich. Dudley, one of the all-time greats to don a Wahoo uniform, was unstoppable in the early 1940′s. If we could include his 1939 season in this decade, Dudley would have been the top QB.

RUNNING BACKS

The heart and soul of the wartime-era offense, many schools featured more than one decent back that could carry the ball. Great for their teams, but not great for fantasy players, because some of the best backs (including our #1 back) did not average 10 carries per game. Of course, the great teams of the 1940′s did not have to run their best backs 10 times per game, either.

Glenn Davis – Army

Rudy Mobley – Hardin-Simmons

Doc Blanchard – Army

Honorable Mention: Bob Steuber, Missouri; Charlie Trippi, Georgia; Wilton Davis, Hardin-Simmons

There is no argument that the top fantasy RB from this decade is also the top player of the decade. “Mr Outside” Glenn Davis rarely carried the ball more than 100 times a season, but still finished up as one of the nation’s leading rushers. In fact Davis scored 20 TDs in 1944 while only carrying the ball 58 times. Davis would finish his career at West Point with 59 TDs…still the record at USMA and would not be topped nationally for decades to come.

Few today outside of Abilene, Texas know about Hardin-Simmons University, who played major college-level sports until the 1980′s. The Cowboys had one of the most potent ground attacks of the decade, and no H-S back was better than Rudy Mobley. Mobley led the nation in rushing in 1942….participated in World War II….and came back in 1946 to lead the nation in rushing, again (scoring 16 TDs in both seasons). Although few remember the old Border Conference that H-S was a member of, this conference was not exactly a weakling (Texas Tech, Arizona State, Arizona, UTEP were members) and its members would later move on to the Pac-10, Big 12, the old SWC, and other conferences.

Another reason the Cadets at West Point were the dominant program of the 1940′s was Davis’s running mate, “Mr Inside” Doc Blanchard. Although Blanchard’s stats were not as great as his teammate’s, he did lead the nation in scoring in his Heisman-winning 1945 season (19 TDs, 115 pts) and put up double-digit TD totals in 1946. Blanchard finished his career at Army with 38 TDs, which no one outside of West Point got near.

Missouri’s Bob Steuber, running in Coach Don Faurot’s innovative Split-T formation, led the nation in scoring in 1942 and finished second in rushing that same year. Steuber’s 1941 season was not bad, either, finishing in the top ten in both categories. Charlie Trippi, like Rudy Mobley, had his college career interrupted by the war. Trippi’s best season was 1946, when he scored 14 TDs and finished 8th in rushing nationally with 744 yards. Speaking again of Mobley, his successor in the Hardin-Simmons backfield was a good one, too….Wilton Davis led the nation in rushing in 1947 and finished second in scoring. Davis’s 1948 season would have been as productive, but for some reason H-S played only 8 games that season….though Davis still averaged over 100 yards per game.

RECEIVERS

Not exactly a strong position in the 1940′s, good receivers were hard to find. Most “receivers” were really “ends” used more for blocking than pass-catching. Also, as mentioned earlier, passing games were not that developed, and it was rare for any team to pass more than 15 times per game or go through a game without being intercepted. Think of receivers in the 1940′s like you think of tight-ends today…..few produce and your league probably makes you play them each week.

Neill Armstrong – Oklahoma A&M

Reid Moseley – Georgia

Honorable Mention: Red O’Quinn, Wake Forest; Vito Regazzo, William & Mary

Not to be confused with the original moon-walker with the same name (though he later would coach the Chicago Bears), Neill Armstrong was a top receiver of the mid-40′s, leading the nation in receiving in 1943 and 1946, and finishing third in 1944. In three of his four seasons in Stillwater he was the main target for Bob Fenimore (our All-Decade Fantasy QB). If you were really, really wanting of a QB-WR hook-up from this era….the Fenimore-Armstrong combo was the closest to one.

Georgia’s Reid Moseley was also a top receiver in the mid-1940′s, leading the nation in receiving in 1944 and 1945. Moseley averaged over 21 yards per catch in the 1946 season…nice numbers for the times. Moseley, like Armstrong, were the two most consistent receivers of the decade.

Wake Forest end Johnny “Red” O’Quinn led the nation in receiving in 1948, led in TD catches with 7, and also finished 3d in receiving in 1946. His then-Southern Conference counterpart, William & Mary’s Vito Regazzo, led the nation with 15 TD catches in 1949.

DEFENSE

Since all teams in the 1940′s had their players play both ways, the teams with the best talent on offense often had the best talent on defense. The experts always state “you win with defense”, and the 1940′s were the poster-child for that statement. The top teams of the decade had the snot-knocking defenses…

Notre Dame

Honorable Mention: Army

In the late 1940′s, the Fighting Irish dominated college football, winning championships in 1946, 1947, and 1949. The 1946 squad gave up only 2.7 points and 141 yards per game…and held Army to a scoreless tie (modern defenses would struggle to keep Army’s Davis and Blanchard out of the end zone). The Domers 1949 squad featured the biggest Heisman winner still to date, end Leon Hart. At 6-5, 260, Hart, at the time was a Gulliver among Lilliputians. In the 1940′s, Notre Dame finished in the top ten in rushing defense five times….an important stat since most teams ran the ball almost exclusively.

Army had some great defenses, too, including the 1944 squad that held opponents under 4 points per game. In 1945 USMA would finish in the top ten in rushing and total defense.

FREAKY STAT

Fred Wendt of Texas Western (now UTEP, right) was another of the Border Conference’s top rushers. In 1948 Wendt rushed for 1570 yards, averaged 8.5 yards per carry, scored 20 TDs, and added 32 extra-points. In most fantasy leagues, this would be the best single-season performance of the decade. Two seasons earlier, Wendt finished second nationally in punting.

FANTASY PLAYER OF THE DECADE (The F-POD)

Glenn Davis, Army. His 59 career TDs were untouchable, and the only negative you can say about Davis was “Doc Blanchard in the same backfield.” “Mr Outside” would have been tops on your cheat sheets in the mid 1940′s.

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Tags: All-Decade

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