Loading ...
« Future Pros: Chris Wells | Main | FANTASY COLLEGE FOOTBALL THRU THE AGES: 1960-1969 »
FANTASY COLLEGE FOOTBALL THRU THE AGES: 1950-1959
By Daniel Freer | June 5, 2008
The Fifties.
For fantasy college football players, it would have been an interesting time. A time where we liked Ike, drove big cars with huge tail-fins, and started to rock-n-roll a little. College football was still more popular than pro football (well, at least until the end of the decade) with top college players of the fifties having moves just as good as Elvis…
College football in the 1950s was much similar to the previous decade, although more schools handed out athletic scholarships, and, especially towards the end of the decade, platooning players on offense and defense became more common - the two-way player slowly was phased out.
We love the old Border Conference! We showed a lot of fantasy man-crushing for the old B-C in our 1940s review, and it grew even more in the 1950s. The Border Conference of 50 years ago was like the WAC, MAC, or Pac-10 of today - lots of offense and fantasy production
When compiling our list of top fantasy players of the decade, we could not decide whether to follow the format we used for the 1940s, or, base it more on modern times. We decided to use the same format for the 1950s as we did in the 1940s, since many of the top players were also the kicking specialists. Hence, we did not name a top kicker for this decade.
So, don’t be cruel….sit back and turn on your black-and-white Philco TV and watch your top fantasy players hound-dog the opposition. Of course, if you players choke you can dwell at Heartbreak Hotel.
QUARTERBACKS
Although the position was a little more defined compared to the 1940s, quarterbacks in the 1950s did not put up the great stats as they would in later decades. In fact, the QB position may have been weaker, fantasy-wise, compared to earlier decades as QBs did not run the football as much as their predecessors.
In fact, QBs actually passed more successfully (more yards, more TDs, fewer interceptions) in the early 1950s than they would later in the decade. Also, the INT-TD ratio of the decade was just as bad as in the 1940s….and the Pass Attempts-INT ratio of the decade was still around 10-1.
Obviously, defining the position more did not improve the quality of play much. If you had a decent fantasy QB in the 1950s, your fantasy team would automatically be tops in your league because the competition was sure to have a weak fantasy QB.
Babe Parilli - Kentucky
Honorable Mention: Charley Johnson, New Mexico State; Don Klosterman, Loyola-Marymount
In the early 1950s there was no QB better than Kentucky’s Babe Parilli. In arguably the finest season ever in Wildcat football history (10-1, SEC Champs, win over NCAA Champ Oklahoma in Sugar Bowl), Parilli threw 23 TD passes and completed over 56% of his tosses, while chucking only 12 INTs.
In 1951, Parilli tossed 19 TDs as he led the Wildcats to another New Years Day bowl win in the Cotton Bowl. The first of Bear Bryant’s (yes, he was coaching Kentucky at the time) outstanding college QBs, Parilli was the runaway top fantasy QB of the decade.
Arguably the best fantasy QB of the late 1950s was New Mexico A&M (now New Mexico State) QB Charley Johnson. Johnson, one of the top QBs in the Border Conference, tossed 18 TDs and only 8 INTs in 1959, leading the Aggies to an 8-win season and a bowl victory. Johnson, currently the head of the chemical engineering department at New Mexico State, played 15 seasons in the NFL.
Don Klosterman, better known in contemporary times as a front-office man for various NFL teams, was one of the better passers of the decade. His 1951 season was forgettable (9 TDs, 21 INTs), but his 1950 season was near-Parilli like, tossing 19 TDs and only throwing 11 picks. Although the LMU Lions were not, per se, big-time football of the times, they did play a number of major schools in the West Coast.
RUNNING BACKS
The depth at the RB position in the 1950s may not have been as great in comparison to modern times, there were enough good backs for every fantasy team to have at least one stud back. Although teams were throwing the ball more, the running game was still king. The best teams in college football still ran exclusively. The decade saw more 1000-yard season rushers than in previous eras.
Art Luppino - Arizona
Tommy McDonald - Oklahoma
Leon Burton - Arizona State
Honorable Mention: Bobby Reynolds, Nebraska; Ollie Matson, San Francisco; Howie Waugh, Tulsa
Arguably the top fantasy RB of the decade was Arizona’s Art Luppino (top). The Wildcat back led the nation in rushing in 1954 (1359 yards) and 1955 (1313 yards) and led the nation in scoring in 1954 (24 TDs, 22 PATs, 166 points)…..no one player scored more points in a season in the entire decade. The Border Conference star somehow was ignored by most All-American Team pickers, but he definitely was THE back fantasy players would have sold their souls to draft.
The dominant team of the 1950s, Oklahoma, had many fine backs, but no one was more consistent than Tommy McDonald. Known more today for the wild Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech he gave a few years ago, McDonald was more fantasy-friendly than other Sooner stalwarts Billy Vessels and Clendon Thomas because of his back-to-back 16 TD seasons in 1955 and 1956, while averaging nearly 7 yards per carry. McDonald enjoyed a fine NFL career playing mainly at wide-receiver.
One of the most consistent backs of the late 1950s was Arizona State’s Leon Burton. The Sun Devil back led the nation in rushing in 1957 (1126 yards) and scoring (16 TDs). In 1957 Burton was one the top scorers in the land (11 TDs, 76 pts) and avergaed almost 6 yards per carry. Arizona State was one of the top programs in the Border Conference at the time (10-0, 12th in 1957 final AP Poll) and few ran the ball better than the Sun Devils.
Nebraska’s Bobby Reynolds owned the 1950 season, rushing for over 1300 yards and leading the nation in scoring (22 TDs, 25 XP, 157 pts)…..production Husker backs will not see until the Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne eras. The San Francisco Dons were blessed with the talent of Ollie Matson, whose 1951 season was praiseworthy (1566 yards, 21 TDs….both tops in the nation). Matson would later become one of the top NFL RBs of the decade. Tulsa’s Howie Waugh was one of the top yard-gainers of the early 1950s…..rushing for 1118 yards in 1951 and 1372 yards in 1952 (tops in the land that season). Somehow, Waugh never led his team in TDs even though he was the Golden Hurricanes feature back.
RECEIVERS
This position was not much better in the 1950s than in the 1940s. Teams threw more, but did not put up much more yardage….and still threw a lot of INTs. It was not unusual for a receiver to have more interceptions while playing defense than receptions on offense.
One school, Stanford, placed many of its receivers in the top 10 nationally per season throughout the decade, and thus fill our 2 WR spots. Having QBs like John Brodie (though a better pro QB than college QB) and a more pass-minded offense sure helps.
Like in the previous decade, fantasy players in the 1950s are not going to be focusing much on receivers
Bill McColl - Stanford
Chris Burford - Stanford
Honroable Mention: Fred Snyder, Loyola-Marymount; Paul Maguire (TE), The Citadel
Bill McColl was Stanford’s top receiver of the early 1950s, hauling in 7 TD passes and just over 4 catches per game in 1951. In the previous season McColl caught 4 TDs and nearly 4 balls per game….modest stats in modern times, but, McColl was arguably the most consistent receiver of the time.
The Indians (remember they did not become the Cardinal until the 70s) would produce another consistent receiver down on The Farm in Chris Burford. Burford led the nation in receiving in 1959 with 61 catches, nearly 800 yards receiving, and 6 TDs. The previous season Burford finished 3d overall in receiving, though only scored 2 TDs.
Loyola-Marymount QB Don Klosterman needed someone to throw to, and his top receiver in 1950 was Fred Snyder, who hauled in 9 TDs…..one of the highest TD reception totals of the decade. Known to many as one of the color anyalysts on ESPNs NFL Sunday Night telecasts, Paul Maguire was a pretty good football player, too. Playing tight-end for The Citadel, Maguire caught 10 TD passes in 1959….freaky numbers at that time for a TE.
DEFENSE
Ahhh….the class of the 1950s. There were so many great defenses from this era that picking one all-decade defense was difficult. Every season in the 1950s would have provided most fantasy players with an excellent defense, and a good one for a reserve.
As the decade started to phase out two-way players, no fantasy position saw immediate results like defense. Defensive specialization freed up good defenders from having to worry about offensive side of the ball, and kept defenders fresh for their turn on the field.
Georgia Tech
Honorable Mention: Oklahoma, Auburn, Ole Miss
The SEC in the 1950s was dominant on defense, and no one was more consistent than Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets (remember they were in the SEC, not ACC, during the decade), led by All-American linemen Hal Miller and Larry Morris, enjoyed one its finest eras under coach Bobby Dodd……finishing 2d overall on defense in 1952 (undefeated that season, #2 in final AP Poll) and led the nation in scoring defense in 1956 and 1957. Throughout the 1950s Georgia Tech finished in the top ten nationally in most defensive categories each season.
The most dominant team of the decade, Oklahoma, had their share of awesome defenses. The Sooners finished most seasons ranked in the top 10 nationally, and its 1956 squad (NCAA Champs that year) gave up a measly 5.4 points per game….only Georgia Tech and their 4.6 per game was better that season.
Shug Jordan’s Auburn Tigers parlayed its 1957 National Championship squad with a slobber-knocking defense….giving up only 28 points the whole season….and just 7 points to SEC foes. Although Ole Miss allowed the most memorable college football TD of the decade (LSUs Billy Cannon and his punt return in 1959) they led the nation in scoring defense that season allowing only 2.1 points per game.
FREAKY STAT
There was a reason former Texas coach Darrell Royal reportedly once said: “Three things happen when you pass the ball, and two of them are bad”…..he saw the passing games of the 1950s! No one epytomized the struggle in passing the football more than Georgia QB Zeke Bratkowski. Bratkowski was considered one of the top QBs in college football during the decade, even though he could not tell teams apart on the field.
In 1951, Bratkowski threw 248 times, 6 for TDs, but 29 INTs. Two years later, Bratkowski almost equaled his 1951 performance, tossing 23 INTs in 224 pass attempts.
Stats like that in modern times would get a QB executed at half-time of the Homecoming game, but it did not scare off the NFL. Bratkowski spent a number of years in the NFL, notably as a backup to Bart Starr on the Green Bay Packers in the 1960s.
FANTASY PLAYER OF THE DECADE (F-POD)
Although Babe Parilli was so far ahead of his comtemporaries as a fantasy QB, the F-POD of the 1950s goes to another Wildcat, Arizona back Art Luppino. No one player comes close to the two-year totals put up by Luppino, and, in an era where the running game and running back still dominated, Luppino was the lion king among the big cats. At least Parilli has some solace in that his UK Wildcat teams were more prominent nationally than Luppino’s UA Wildcat teams whereas Arizona was just a mid-level Border Conference squad in the Luppino years
Topics: College Football, Daniel Freer |
Comments are closed.
