TheNotre Dame Fighting Irish compiled a 9–1 and were ranked No. 1 in the final AP poll. They lost their final game of the season against No. 6Great Lakes Navy. The Fighting Irish defeated two No. 2 ranked teams (Michigan and Iowa Pre-Flight) and two No. 3 ranked teams (Navy and Army).
TheIowa Pre-Flight Seahawks, led by head coachDon Faurot, compiled a 9–1 record, outscored opponents by a total of 277 to 98, and led the nation with 324.4 rushing yards per game. They ranked highest among the service teams.
TheMichigan Wolverines, led by head coachFritz Crisler, compiled an 8–1 record and tied for the Big Ten championship. They outscored opponents by a total of 302 to 73. Their only loss was to No. 1 Notre Dame. The Wolverines led the Big Ten (and ranked fifth nationally) with an average of 363.2 yards per game of total offense. They also led the Big Ten (and ranked 10th nationally) by giving up 164.1 yards per game in total defense.Bill Daley rushed for 817 yards and led the nation with an average of 6.81 yards per carry.
TheNavy Midshipmen compiled an 8–1 record and outscored opponents by a total of 236 to 88. They ranked eighth nationally in total defense, giving up only 161.2 yards per game.
ThePurdue Boilermakers compiled a 9–0 record, tying with Michigan for the Big Ten championship and outscoring opponents by a total of 214 to 55. GuardAlex Agase was a consensus All-American. FullbackTony Butkovich (who was later killed at theBattle of Okinawa in 1945) led the Big Ten and ranked third nationally with 833 rushing yards.
September 17 Georgia beatPresbyterian College 25–7. The next day,September 18, Michigan won at Camp Grant, 26–0. Wisconsin lost to Marquette, 33–7, on its way to a 1–9–0 finish.
September 25 Ohio State lost to Iowa Pre-Flight 28–13. Michigan beat Western Michigan 57–6. Notre Dame won at Pitt, 42–0. Army beat Villanova 27–0, and Navy beat North Carolina Pre-Flight, 31–0. Georgia lost at LSU, 34–27. Tulsa beat SMU 20–7. Georgia Tech beat North Carolina 20–7.
October 2 Michigan won at Northwestern 21–7. Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech 55–13. Army defeated Colgate 42–0, and Navy beat Cornell 46–7. The first AP poll of the season led off with No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Army, No. 4 Navy, and No. 5 Duke.
October 9No. 1 Notre Dame beatNo. 2 Michigan 35–21 in the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in the seven-year history of the AP poll.No. 3 Army registered another shutout, defeating Temple 51–0. In Baltimore,No. 4 Navy edgedNo. 5 Duke, 14–13. No. 6 Penn edged No. 14 Dartmouth 7–6. No. 7 Purdue went to 4–0–0 with a 19–0 win over Camp Grant. The next AP poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Army, No. 3 Navy, No. 4 Penn, and No. 5 Purdue.
October 16No. 1 Notre Dame won at Wisconsin 50–0.No. 2 Army won at Columbia, 52–0. In four games, the Cadets had outscored their opponents 172–0.No. 3 Navy beat Penn State 14–6.No. 4 Penn beat the Lakehurst Naval Air Station 74–6.No. 5 Purdue beat Ohio State 30–7 at a game in Cleveland. Penn and Purdue swapped spots in the next AP poll, but Notre Dame, Army, and Navy remained the top three.
October 23No. 1 Notre Dame beat Illinois 47–0.No. 2 Army yielded its first points, but won at Yale, 39–7.No. 3 Navy beat Georgia Tech 28–14 in Baltimore.No. 4 Purdue beat Iowa 28–7.No. 5 Penn won at Columbia, 33–0, but dropped from the Top Five. No. 7 USC stayed unbeaten, untied, and unscored upon with a 6–0 win over No. 6 Pacific, and the next poll raised the Trojans to No. 5 behind Notre Dame, Army, Navy, and Purdue.
October 30 In Cleveland,No. 1 Notre Dame beatNo. 3 Navy, 33–6. In Philadelphia,No. 2 Army and No. 6 Pennsylvania played to a 13–13 tie.No. 4 Purdue won at Wisconsin, 32–0.No. 5 USC beat California, 13–0, for its sixth straight shutout. The next AP poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Army, No. 4 USC, and No. 5 Penn.
November 6 At Yankee Stadium in New York,No. 1 Notre Dame beatNo. 3 Army, 26–0.No. 2 Purdue won at Minnesota, 14–7.No. 4 USC lost at San Diego to the San Diego Navy team.No. 5 Penn lost to No. 7 Navy, 24–7. No. 6 Michigan beat Indiana 23–6. No. 8 Iowa Pre-Flight continued its unbeaten streak with a 46–19 win at Marquette on November 7, and became the first “service team” to ever reach the AP's Top Five, ranking No. 5 behind Notre Dame, Purdue, Navy, and Michigan.
November 13No. 1 Notre Dame won at Northwestern 25–6.No. 2 Purdue was idle.No. 3 Navy won at Columbia 61–0.No. 4 Michigan beat Wisconsin 27–0.No. 5 Iowa Pre-Flight beat Camp Grant 28–13. The AP voters elevated Iowa Pre-Flight to No. 2 in the next poll, just in time for a showdown with No. 1 Notre Dame. No. 3 Purdue, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Navy rounded out the Top Five.
November 20No. 1 Notre Dame edgedNo. 2 Iowa Pre-Flight, 14–13.No. 3 Purdue closed its season undefeated (9–0–0) with a 7–0 win at Indiana.No. 4 Michigan closed its season at 8–1–0 with a 45–7 win over Ohio State.No. 5 Navy was idle. No. 6 Duke closed its season at 8–1–0 with a 27–6 win over North Carolina and was raised to No. 5 in the next AP poll behind Notre Dame, Iowa Pre-Flight, Michigan, and Purdue.
November 27No. 1 Notre Dame closed its season with a 19–14 loss to Great Lakes NTC, 19–14, but still finished No. 1 in the final rankings.Iowa Pre-Flight, which had stayed at No. 2 after its close loss to Notre Dame, beat Minnesota, 32–0, to finish at 9–1–0.No. 3 Michigan,No. 4 Purdue, andNo. 5 Duke had finished their seasons. No. 6 Navy closed its season with a 13–0 win over No. 7 Army in theArmy–Navy Game, which took place at West Point. The Midshipmen rose to No. 4 in the final poll, behind Notre Dame, Iowa Pre-Flight, and Michigan. Purdue moved down to No. 5, Great Lakes NTC entered the poll at No. 6 after their upset of Notre Dame, and Duke slipped to No. 7.
1.Duke - 37.2 points per game 2.Notre Dame - 34.0 points per game 3.Tulsa - 33.6 points per game 4.Michigan - 33.6 points per game 5.Del Monte Pre-Flight - 31.5 points per game 6.Texas - 30.8 points per game 7.Army - 29.9 points per game 8.March Field - 29.2 points per game 9.Colorado College - 28.4 points per game 10. Richmond - 27.9 points per game 11.Iowa Pre-Flight - 27.7 points per game 12.Penn - 27.6 points per game
^abW.J. Bingham, ed. (1944).The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1944. A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 69.
^W.J. Bingham, ed. (1944).The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1944. A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 70.
^abW.J. Bingham, ed. (1944).The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1944. A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 72.
^W.J. Bingham, ed. (1944).The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide including the Official Rules 1944. A.S. Barnes and Company. p. 73.
