TheNorth Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters represented theU.S. Navy pre-flight school at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in thecollege football seasons of1942,1943 and1944 during World War II. The North Carolina Pre-Flight School was established on February 1, 1942, by the Secretary of the Navy and opened that April.[1] The football team was later organized and competed against other military teams in addition to major college teams of the period. During their three years in existence, the Cloudbusters compiled an overall record of sixteen wins, eight losses and three ties (16–8–3).[2]
North Carolina Pre-Flight was coached by one ofNotre Dame's former "Four Horsemen" andFordham head coachJim Crowley in 1942 and went 8–2–1. The Cloudbusters were coached by formerBaylor head coachFrank Kimbrough in 1943 and went 2–4–1. In 1944, they were led byGlenn Killinger and went 6–2–1. The Cloudbusters were also known for having both futureCollege Football Hall of Fame inducteesJohnny Vaught andBear Bryant serve as assistant coaches in 1942 and 1944 respectively. Vaught went on to coach atOle Miss, and while there won the1960 national championship and compiled an overall record of 190 wins, 61 losses and 12 ties (190–61–12).[3] Bryant went on to coach atMaryland,Kentucky,Texas A&M andAlabama, and during his career won the1961,1964,1965,1973,1978 and1979 national championships and compiled an overall record of 323 wins, 85 losses and 17 ties (323–85–17).[4]
| 1942North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters football | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Independent |
| Ranking | |
| AP | No. 4 (APS) |
| Record | 8–2–1 |
| Head coach |
|
Seasons 1943 → | |
The 1942 Cloudbusters squad was led by formerFordham head coachJim Crowley.[5] Members of Crowley's staff included:Charles R. Soleau as backs coach, Ed Sosky as ends coach, and George McGaughey, N. J. Pierce andJohnny Vaught as line coaches.[5] The squad finished the season with an overall record of eight wins, two losses and one tie (8–2–1).
After the Cloudbusters opened the season with a 13–2 victory overCatawba, they traveled toBoston andshutoutHarvard, 13–0, before 7,000 fans.[6] After a tie againstGeorgia Pre-Flight and a victory againstNC State, the Cloudbusters lost their first game of the season againstBoston College 7–6.[7] Following their loss against the Eagles, they ran for 272 yards in a 34–0 victory overTemple before 20,000 fans inPhiladelphia.[8] The Cloudbusters would then only allow seven points over the next four games leading to their season finale against Crowley's former school,Fordham. Before 24,500 fans atYankee Stadium, the Cadets wereupset 6–0 in a defensive struggle with the only points of the game coming on aSteve Filipowicz touchdown run in the first half.[9]
| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 12 | vs.Catawba | Winston-Salem, NC | W 13–2 | ||
| September 26 | atHarvard | W 13–0 | 12,000 | [10] | |
| October 3 | atGeorgia Pre-Flight | T 14–14 | 7,500 | [11] | |
| October 10 | atNC State | W 19–7 | 10,000 | [12] | |
| October 17 | at No. 11Boston College | L 6–7 | 25,107 | ||
| October 23 | atTemple | W 34–0 | 20,000 | ||
| October 31 | atSyracuse | W 9–0 | 10,000 | ||
| November 7 | atGeorgetown | W 23–7 | 12,000 | [13] | |
| November 14 | atManhattan | W 17–0 | |||
| November 21 | at No. 13William & Mary | W 14–0 | 10,000 | [14] | |
| November 28 | atFordham | L 0–6 | 24,500 | ||
| |||||
Games against bothColgate andIowa Pre-Flight included in the original schedule were canceled by the end of the season.[5]
| 1943North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters football | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Independent |
| Record | 2–4–1 |
| Head coach |
|
| Home stadium | Kenan Memorial Stadium |
Seasons | |
The 1943 Cloudbusters squad was led by formerBaylor head coachFrank Kimbrough.[16] The squad finished the season with an overall record of two wins, four losses and one tie (2–4–1). The Cadets opened their 1943 season with a pair ofshutout losses. The first was a 31–0 loss toNavy before 12,231 atThompson Stadium inAnnapolis, Maryland, and the second was a 42–0 loss toDuke inDurham.[17][18] The Cloudbusters rebounded with a victory overCamp Davis only to lose their next two contests. The squad then finished the season with a tie againstCamp Lejeune and a 21–7 victory overNC State.[19]
In the finalLitkenhous Ratings, North Carolina Pre-Flight ranked 79th among the nation's college and service teams with a rating of 73.9.[20]
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 25 | atNavy | L 0–31 | 12,231 | |||
| October 2 | atDuke | L 0–42 | 6,179 | [21] | ||
| October 16 | 2:30 p.m. | Camp Davis | W 23–18 | [22][23] | ||
| October 23 | Georgia Pre-Flight |
| L 7–20 | 5,000 | [24] | |
| November 6 | Wake Forest | L 12–20 | 5,000 | [25] | ||
| November 13 | 2:30 p.m. | Camp Lejeune |
| T 14–14 | [26][27] | |
| November 25 | atNC State | W 21–7 | 3,000 | [28] | ||
| ||||||
The game againstVirginia Tech atVictory Stadium inRoanoke, Virginia included in the original schedule was canceled by the end of the season.[16]
| 1944North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters football | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Independent |
| Record | 6–2–1 |
| Head coach |
|
| Home stadium | Kenan Memorial Stadium |
Seasons ← 1943 | |
The 1944 Cloudbusters squad was led by head coachGlenn Killinger.[30] Members of Killinger's staff included:Glenn Presnell as backs coach,John Roning as ends coach, andBear Bryant as line coach.[31] The squad finished the season with an overall record of six wins, two losses and one tie (6–2–1).
The cadets opened the season with a 27–14 victory overCherry Point Marines, and the next weekupset national championship favoriteNavy before 10,000 fans atAnnapolis, Maryland.[32][33] In the victory over the Midshipmen,Otto Graham threw alateral pass toFrank Aschenbrenner who ran it 55-yards for the game-winning score.[33] The next week, the squad defeatedDuke, 13–6, for a second consecutive upset.[34] As a result of these upsets, the Cloudbusters earned the No. 2 ranking in the firstAP Poll of the1944 season.[35]
After being held to a tie againstVirginia, the Cloudbusters rebounded with a 3–0 victory overGeorgia Pre-Flight after Buell St. John connected on a shortfield goal with only seven seconds remaining in the game.[36][37] After a victory overJacksonville NAS, the cadets suffered their first loss of the season in a 49–20 loss againstBainbridge NTS.[38] The Cloudbusters responded the following week with a 33–18 victory over Georgia Pre-Flight, with Graham throwing for three touchdowns and running for one in the contest.[39] The cadets then finished the season with a loss againstCamp Peary.
In the finalLitkenhous Ratings, North Carolina Pre-Flight ranked 40th among the nation's college and service teams and seventh out of 28United States Navy teams with a rating of 93.3.[40][41]
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 24 | 2:30 p.m. | Cherry Point Marines | W 27–14 | 8,000 | [42][43][44] | ||
| September 30 | 2:30 p.m. | atNavy | W 21–14 | [45] | |||
| October 7 | atDuke | W 13–6 | 19,000 | [46] | |||
| October 14 | atVirginia | No. 2 | T 13–13 | 9,000 | [47] | ||
| October 21 | Georgia Pre-Flight | No. 10 |
| W 3–0 | [48][49] | ||
| October 28 | 3:30 p.m. | atJacksonville NAS | No. 9 |
| W 14–13 | [50][51] | |
| November 5 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 12Bainbridge | No. 8 |
| L 20–49 | [52][53] | |
| November 11 | at Georgia Pre-Flight | No. 16 | W 33–18 | [54] | |||
| November 18 | 2:30 p.m. | Camp Peary | No. 18 |
| L 7–19 | [55][56] | |
| |||||||
| Week | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Final |
| AP | 2(24) | 10 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 18т | 20 | — | — |
The 1945 Cloudbusters squad was to have been led by head coachBear Bryant.[57][58] However, Bryant never served as the head coach at Carolina after the Navy dropped the football program there in August 1945.[57] Bryant took the head coaching position withMaryland, and 14 players he coached at the Pre-Flight School enrolled to play for him at Maryland after they were discharged from the service.[59]
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