The 1958 college football season was the 90th season of intercollegiate football in the United States. LSU was the consensus national champion in college football.
Two other major college football teams also claim national championships:
Three small college teams also claimed national championships:
Army halfback Pete Dawkins won the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award as the best player in college football. Pacific fullback Dick Bass led all major college football players with 1,448 yards of total offense, 1,361 rushing yards, and 116 points scored.
On January 13, 1958, the eleven-man NCAA Rules Committee unanimously approved a resolution to allow teams to choose between kicking an extra point after a touchdown, or running or passing from the three-yard line for a two-point conversion. University of Michigan athletic director Fritz Crisler said at the meeting in Fort Lauderdale, "It's a progressive step which will make football more interesting for the spectators," adding that the rule "will add drama to what has been the dullest, most stupid play in the game."
In the preseason poll released on September 15, 1958, the Buckeyes of Ohio State University were the first place choice for 46 of 99 writers casting votes, followed by Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Michigan State and 1957's champion, Auburn. As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games.
Most teams did not begin play until September 27. On September 13, Kentucky beat Hawaii 51âÂÂ0 in a game in Louisville, and attempted the 2-point conversion, but without success. One of the first successful 2-point conversions in an NCAA game happened when Iowa State Teachers College hosted Bradley University at Cedar Falls, Iowa on September 13. Max Huffman carried the ball over twice on conversion attempts to give the Panthers of Iowa Teachers a 29âÂÂ12 win over the Braves. On September 20, No. 6 Mississippi and No. 8 Texas Christian were among the winners, beating Memphis State (17âÂÂ0) and Kansas (42âÂÂ0) respectively, but the Top Five schools had not yet started play. The poll for the five 0âÂÂ0 teams was No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2. Oklahoma, No. 3 Auburn, No. 4 Michigan State, and No. 5 Notre Dame.
September 27 No. 1 Ohio State narrowly beat No. 20 SMU at home, 23âÂÂ20, and fell to third in the next poll. No. 2 Oklahoma, on the other hand, rolled over visiting No. 13 West Virginia 47âÂÂ14, and rose to first place. No. 3 Auburn beat Tennessee in Birmingham, 13âÂÂ0, and No. 4 Michigan State beat California 32âÂÂ12. No. 5 Notre Dame beat Indiana 18âÂÂ0, but fell to 7th, while No. 8 Army, which beat South Carolina 45âÂÂ8, took the place of the Irish. The next poll: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Michigan State, and No. 5 Army.
October 4 No. 1 Oklahoma got past visiting Oregon, 6âÂÂ0, and dropped to second. No. 2 Auburn, which beat UT-Chattanooga 30âÂÂ8 at home, moved up to the top spot. No. 3 Ohio State beat Washington at home, 12âÂÂ7. No. 4 Michigan State played No. 16 Michigan to a 12âÂÂ12 tie, and fell to 9th. No. 5 Army beat Penn State 26âÂÂ0. No. 7 Notre Dame, which beat No. 17 SMU in Dallas, 14âÂÂ6, returned to the Top Five. The next poll: No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Army, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 Ohio State.
October 11 No. 1 Auburn won at Kentucky, 8âÂÂ0. No. 2 Oklahoma sustained a 15âÂÂ14 loss at Dallas in their annual meeting with the No. 16 Texas Longhorns. In South Bend, Indiana, the visiting No. 3 Army Cadets beat No. 4 Notre Dame, 14âÂÂ2, and were voted No. 1 in the next poll. No. 5 Ohio State won at Illinois, 19âÂÂ13. No. 6 Wisconsin, which beat Purdue 31âÂÂ6, and No. 9 Michigan State, which beat No. 10 Pittsburgh 22âÂÂ8, rose in the polls, to put three Big Ten schools in the top five. The next poll: No. 1 Army, No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Wisconsin, and No. 5 Michigan State.
On October 18 at West Point, New York, No. 1 Army beat Virginia 35âÂÂ6. No. 2 Auburn tied with Georgia Tech 7âÂÂ7 in Atlanta and fell in the polls. No. 3 Ohio State beat Indiana 49âÂÂ8. No. 4 Wisconsin lost to No. 13 Iowa at home, 20âÂÂ9, and No. 5 Michigan State began a five-game losing streak with a 14âÂÂ6 defeat at Purdue. The Spartans would finish the season with a 3âÂÂ5âÂÂ1 record after starting 2âÂÂ0âÂÂ1. No. 7 Texas (24âÂÂ6 over Arkansas) and No. 9 LSU (32âÂÂ7 over Kentucky) rose in the polls. The next poll: No. 1 Army, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Texas, and No. 5 Auburn.
October 25 For the top-ranked teams, a tie was only slightly better than a loss. No. 1 Army played to a 14âÂÂ14 tie against the Panthers at Pittsburgh, and No. 2 Ohio State tied with Wisconsin at home 7âÂÂ7. No. 3 LSU beat Florida 10âÂÂ7, and the win was enough to propel the Tigers to first place. No. 4 Texas lost to the Rice Owls in Houston, 34âÂÂ7. No. 5 Auburn beat Maryland at home, 20âÂÂ7. No. 7 Iowa, which beat Northwestern 26âÂÂ20, rose to 2nd in the next poll: No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 Army, No. 4 Auburn, and No. 5 Ohio State.
November 1 No. 1 LSU beat No. 6 Ole Miss 14âÂÂ0. No. 2 Iowa won at Michigan, 37âÂÂ14. No. 3 Army crushed Colgate, 68âÂÂ6. No. 4 Auburn won 6âÂÂ5 at Florida. In Columbus, No. 5 Ohio State was upset by visiting No. 11 Northwestern, 21âÂÂ0. The next poll was: No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 Army, No. 4 Northwestern, and No. 5 Auburn.
November 8 No. 1 LSU beat Duke 50âÂÂ18. No. 2 Iowa won at Minnesota 28âÂÂ6. No. 3 Army beat the No. 13 Rice Owls in Houston, 14âÂÂ7. No. 4 Northwestern lost at Madison to No. 7 Wisconsin, 17âÂÂ13. No. 5 Auburn beat Mississippi State 33âÂÂ14 at home. The next poll was: No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 Army, No. 4 Auburn, and No. 5 Wisconsin.
November 15 No. 1 LSU beat Mississippi State at Jackson 7âÂÂ6. No. 2 Iowa lost at home to No. 16 Ohio State 38âÂÂ28. No. 3 Army beat Villanova 26âÂÂ0. No. 4 Auburn met the Georgia Bulldogs halfway in Columbus, Georgia, and won 21âÂÂ6. No. 5 Wisconsin won 31âÂÂ12 at Illinois. No. 6 Oklahoma, which beat Missouri 39âÂÂ0, rose to 4th. The next poll was: No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 Army, No. 4 Oklahoma, and No. 5 Wisconsin.
November 22 In New Orleans, the No. 1 LSU Tigers crushed Tulane 62âÂÂ0, scoring 56 points in the second half, to close their season 10âÂÂ0âÂÂ0. They would face the Clemson Tigers in the Sugar Bowl. Behind them were the No. 2 Auburn Tigers, who beat Wake Forest at home 21âÂÂ7. No. 3 Army was idle as it prepared for the annual Army-Navy game. No. 4 Oklahoma crushed Nebraska 40âÂÂ7. No. 5 Wisconsin beat Minnesota to close its season at 7âÂÂ1âÂÂ1. No. 6 Iowa, which beat No. 15 Notre Dame 31âÂÂ21, returned to the Top Five: No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Iowa, and No. 5 Army.
On November 29 No. 2 Auburn defeated Alabama 14âÂÂ8 in Birmingham to finish its season at 9âÂÂ0âÂÂ1, but they were on probation for recruiting violations and ineligible for a bowl game. No. 3 Oklahoma won at Oklahoma State 7âÂÂ0. The Sooners (who had not lost a conference game since 1946) won the Big 7 title and headed to the Orange Bowl. In Philadelphia, No. 5 Army beat Navy, 22âÂÂ6, to finish its season 8âÂÂ0âÂÂ1.
The final AP Poll was released on December 1, and the No. 1 LSU Tigers, at 10âÂÂ0âÂÂ0, won the AP Trophy with 130 of the first place votes. The other 73 votes were spread among 12 schools, including No. 2 Iowa (17), No. 3 Army (13), No. 4 Auburn (9), No. 5 Oklahoma (10), No. 6 Air Force (2), No. 7 Wisconsin (13), No. 8 Ohio State (3), and No. 9 Syracuse (1). LSU finished the 1958 season as the only undefeated and untied team in college football. Army, Air Force, and Auburn were also undefeated but they each had one game that ended in a tie. The United States Air Force Academy football team, nicknamed the Falcons, had a 9âÂÂ0âÂÂ1 record in only their second year of playing college football, and accepted a bid to face No. 10 Texas Christian in the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma was the only team to beat a top 10 team in all of the bowl games when they defeated number 9 Syracuse in the Orange Bowl.
Thursday, January 1, 1959
Notably, the Tangerine Bowl initially extended a bid to Buffalo. However, when the bowl organizers told the school that its two black players would not be allowed to play, the team unanimously voted to turn down the bid. The Bulls did not appear in a bowl game until a half century later, in 2008.
Final polls were released in the first week of December.
In 1958, United Press International (UPI) conducted a "small college" coaches' poll for the first time. Mississippi Southern, which had beaten NC State and VPI en route to a 9âÂÂ0 record, was ranked first from start to finish.
United Press International (coaches) final poll<br> Published on December 4
The top teams in the NAIA football rankings were as follows:
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
Source:
For the year 1958, the NCAA recognizes six published All-American teams as "official" designations for purposes of its consensus determinations. The following chart identifies the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans and displays which first-team designations they received.
The following players were the individual leaders in total offense during the 1958 season:<br>
Major college
Minor college
The following players were the individual leaders in pass completions during the 1958 season:<br>
Major college<br>
Minor college<br>
The following players were the individual leaders in rushing yards during the 1958 season:<br> Major college
Minor college
The following players were the individual leaders in scoring during the 1958 season:<br>
Major college<br>
Minor college<br>
The following teams were the leaders in total offense during the 1958 season:<br>
Major college
The following teams were the leaders in rushing offense during the 1958 season:<br>
Major college
The following teams were the leaders in passing offense during the 1958 season:<br>
Major college
The following teams were the leaders in total defense during the 1958 season:<br>
Major college<br>
The following teams were the leaders in rushing defense during the 1958 season:<br>
Major college
The following teams were the leaders in passing defense during the 1958 season:<br>
Major college