The 1941 college football regular season was the 73rd season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Competition included schools from the Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Six Conference, the Southern Conference, the Southwestern Conference, and numerous smaller conferences and independent programs.
The teams ranked highest in the final Associated Press poll in December 1941 were:
Minnesota halfback Bruce Smith won the 1941 Heisman Trophy, and Virginia halfback Bill Dudley won the 1941 Maxwell Award. The season's statistical leaders included Frank Sinkwich of Georgia with 1,103 rushing yards, Bud Schwenk of Washington University in St. Louis with 1,457 passing yards, Hank Stanton of Arizona with 820 receiving yards, and Bill Dudley with 134 points scored.
In the four major bowl games, No. 2 Duke lost to PCC champion Oregon State in the Rose Bowl, No. 6 Fordham defeated No. 7 Missouri in the Sugar Bowl, No. 14 Georgia defeated unranked TCU in the Orange Bowl, and No. 20 Alabama defeated No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies in the Cotton Bowl. The Rose Bowl was moved from Pasadena, California, to Durham, North Carolina, due to security concerns on the West Coast following the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor.
September 20 Tennessee beat Furman 32âÂÂ6 and Boston College beat St. Anselm, 78âÂÂ0.
September 27 In Seattle, defending champion Minnesota beat Washington 14âÂÂ6, while in New Orleans, Boston College fell to Tulane, 21âÂÂ7. Stanford beat Oregon 19âÂÂ15, Michigan beat Michigan State 19âÂÂ7, Texas won at Colorado, 34âÂÂ6 and Duke beat Wake Forest 43âÂÂ14. Tennessee was idle
October 4 Minnesota was idle. Tennessee lost at Duke, 19âÂÂ0. In New York, Fordham beat SMU 16âÂÂ10. Elsewhere, it was Stanford over UCLA 33âÂÂ0, Michigan over Iowa 6âÂÂ0, Northwestern beating Kansas State 51âÂÂ3 and Texas defeating LSU 34âÂÂ0.
October 11 Minnesota beat Illinois 34âÂÂ6, Northwestern beat Wisconsin 41âÂÂ14, and Michigan beat Pittsburgh 40âÂÂ0. In Baltimore, Duke beat Maryland 50âÂÂ0, while in Dallas, Texas beat Oklahoma 40âÂÂ7. Fordham won at North Carolina 27âÂÂ14. Stanford lost at Oregon State 10âÂÂ0. In the poll that followed, Minnesota was ranked No. 1, followed by Texas, Duke, Fordham, and Northwestern.
On October 16, the penalty flag was used for the first time in the 1941 Oklahoma City vs. Youngstown football game in Youngstown, Ohio.
October 18 No. 1 Minnesota beat Pittsburgh 39âÂÂ0. No. 2 Texas defeated Arkansas 48âÂÂ14. No. 3 Duke beat visiting Colgate 27âÂÂ14. In Ann Arbor, No. 6 Michigan beat visiting No. 5 Northwestern 14âÂÂ7. No. 7 Navy beat Cornell 14âÂÂ0 in Baltimore. The next poll featured No. 1 Minnesota, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Duke, and No. 5 Navy. Fordham dropped from No. 4 to No. 6 despite a 27âÂÂ0 defeat of West Virginia.
October 25 The biggest game of the year took place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as No. 1 Minnesota defeated No. 3 Michigan, 7âÂÂ0. No. 2 Texas beat Rice 40âÂÂ0. No. 4 Duke won at Pittsburgh 27âÂÂ7. No. 5 Navy and Harvard played to a 0âÂÂ0 tie. No. 6 Fordham beat TCU 28âÂÂ14, while No. 9 Texas A&M won at Baylor 48âÂÂ0, to reach 5âÂÂ0âÂÂ0. In the vote that followed, Minnesota received 60 first place votes, and Texas received 53. When the points were tallied, they both had 1,161 points and were tied for No. 1. Fordham, Duke, and Texas A&M rounded out the top five.
November 1 In Dallas, No. 1 Texas beat No. 20 SMU 34âÂÂ0, while in Minneapolis, the other No. 1, Minnesota, edged No. 9 Northwestern 8âÂÂ7. In New York, No. 3 Fordham defeated Purdue 17âÂÂ0, and in Atlanta, No. 4 Duke won at Georgia Tech 14âÂÂ0. In Little Rock, No. 5 Texas A&M beat Arkansas 7âÂÂ0. Texas was alone at No. 1 the following week, followed by Minnesota, Fordham, Duke and Texas A&M, all unbeaten and untied.
November 8 No. 1 Texas and Baylor played to a 7âÂÂ7 tie. No. 2 Minnesota beat Nebraska 9âÂÂ0. No. 3 Fordham lost at Pittsburgh 13âÂÂ0. No. 4 Duke won at Davidson 56âÂÂ0. No. 5 Texas A&M beat SMU 21âÂÂ10. No. 7 Notre Dame beat No. 6 Navy 20âÂÂ13 in Baltimore and moved into fifth place behind Minnesota, Texas, Duke, and Texas A&M.
November 15 No. 1 Minnesota won at Iowa 34âÂÂ13. No. 2 Texas lost to Texas Christian (TCU) 14âÂÂ7. No. 3 Duke beat North Carolina 20âÂÂ0. In Houston, No. 4 Texas A&M beat Rice 19âÂÂ6. No. 5 Notre Dame won at No. 8 Northwestern 7âÂÂ6. No. 7 Michigan, which beat Columbia 28âÂÂ0, moved up to No. 5 behind Minnesota, Texas A&M, Duke, and Notre Dame.
November 22 No. 1 Minnesota closed its season with a 41âÂÂ6 win over Wisconsin in Minneapolis. No. 2 Texas A&M was idle as it prepared for its Thanksgiving game. No. 3 Duke won its season closer at N.C. State 55âÂÂ6 to get a bid to PasadenaâÂÂs Rose Bowl. No. 4 Notre Dame beat USC 20âÂÂ18. No. 5 Michigan closed its season with a 20âÂÂ20 tie against No. 14 Ohio State. The top four remained the same, but No. 6 Duquesne (which had finished its season at 8âÂÂ0âÂÂ0) replaced Michigan at No. 5.
On Thanksgiving Day No. 2 Texas A&M lost to No. 10 Texas 23âÂÂ0. The top five in the final AP Poll were No. 1 Minnesota, No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Texas, and No. 5 Michigan.
December 2 the Houlgate System published its "final selections" ranking Minnesota first, Navy second, and Alabama No. 3.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7 called into question whether Southern California would be safe from a Japanese attack on New Year's Day. On December 15, bowl officials and U.S. Army officers met in San Francisco and decided to hold the game at Duke's stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
The following were the scoring leaders for 1941.