1959 Syracuse Orangemen football team

1959 Syracuse Orangemen football
Consensus national champion Eastern champion Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 23–14 vs. Texas
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	11–0
Head coach	Ben Schwartzwalder (11th season)
Captain	Gerhard Schwedes^[1]
Home stadium	Archbold Stadium
Seasons ← 1958 1960 →

1959 NCAA University Division independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 1 Syracuse		–		11	–	0	–	0
No. 12 Penn State		–		9	–	2	–	0
Oregon		–		8	–	2	–	0
Rutgers		–		6	–	3	–	0
Detroit		–		6	–	4	–	0
Holy Cross		–		6	–	4	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		6	–	4	–	0
Oklahoma State		–		6	–	4	–	0
No. 20 Pittsburgh		–		6	–	4	–	0
Washington State		–		6	–	4	–	0
Boston College		–		5	–	4	–	0
Pacific (CA)		–		5	–	4	–	0
Air Force		–		5	–	4	–	1
Navy		–		5	–	4	–	1
Army		–		4	–	4	–	1
No. 17 Notre Dame		–		5	–	5	–	0
Boston University		–		4	–	5	–	0
Florida State		–		4	–	6	–	0
San Jose State		–		4	–	6	–	0
Texas Tech		–		4	–	6	–	0
Dayton		–		3	–	7	–	0
Marquette		–		3	–	7	–	0
Oregon State		–		3	–	7	–	0
Colgate		–		2	–	7	–	0
Idaho		–		1	–	9	–	0
Villanova		–		1	–	9	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1959 Syracuse Orangemen football team represented Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York during the 1959 NCAA University Division football season. Led by eleventh-year head coach Ben Schwartzwalder, the independent Orangemen were undefeated and won the school's only national championship in football, topping the rankings by wide margins in the final polls in early December.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

They met fourth-ranked Texas in the Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas on New Year's Day. They led 15–0 at halftime and 23–6 after the three quarters. Texas scored midway through the fourth quarter to draw to 23–14, but there was no further scoring, and Syracuse gained its first bowl win.^[6] Unranked at the start of the season, Syracuse finished with an 11–0 record with five shutouts, and outscored its opponents 413–73.

Notable players included sophomore running back Ernie Davis, winner of the Heisman Trophy in 1961 and the first selection of the 1962 NFL Draft. In the Cotton Bowl Classic, he scored the first two touchdowns and threw a pass to Gerhard Schwedes for the third.^[6] Davis was helped by an offensive line that included unanimous first team All-American guard Roger Davis.

The team was named national champion by AP, Billingsley, Boand, DeVold, Football News, Football Research, Football Writers, Helms, Litkenhous, NCF, NFF, Poling, Sagarin (ELO-Chess), UPI, and Williamson,^[7] leading to a consensus national champion designation.

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Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	Kansas		Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY	W 35–21	25,000	^[8]
October 3	Maryland	No. 20	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY	W 29–0	30,000	^[9]
October 10	vs. Navy	No. 12	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA (Oyster Bowl)	W 32–6	31,700	^[10]
October 17	Holy Cross	No. 8	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY	W 42–6	30,000	^[11]
October 24	West Virginia	No. 6	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY	W 44–0	35,000	^[12]
October 31	at Pittsburgh	No. 5	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 35–0	25,761	^[13]
November 7	at No. 7 Penn State	No. 4	New Beaver Field University Park, PA	W 20–18	32,800	^[14]
November 14	Colgate	No. 1	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY	W 71–0	31,000	^[15]
November 21	at Boston University	No. 1	Boston University Field Boston, MA	W 46–0	22,000
December 5	at No. 17 UCLA	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 36–8	46,436	^[16]
January 1, 1960	vs. No. 4 Texas	No. 1	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	W 23–14	75,504	^[6]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[1]

Game summaries

Kansas

Maryland

Vs. Navy

Holy Cross

West Virginia

At Pittsburgh

At Penn State

Colgate

At Boston University

At UCLA

Vs. Texas (Cotton Bowl Classic)

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Syracuse	7	8	8	0	23
Texas	0	0	6	8	14

Date: January 1
Location: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX
Game attendance: 98,202
Television network: CBS

^[17]

1960 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Roger Davis	Guard	1	7	Chicago Bears
Gerhard Schwedes	Running back	4	47	Baltimore Colts
Bob Yates	Tackle	7	84	New York Giants
Dave Baker	End	17	204	New York Giants

^[18]

References

^ ^a ^b 2017 Syracuse football media guide. pg. 148
^ "Orange win grid crown". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 8, 1959. p. 18.
^ "Syracuse runs off with title". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. December 8, 1959. p. 34.
^ "Syracuse tops final grid poll by wide margin". Bend Bulletin. (Oregon). UPI. December 8, 1959. p. 2.
^ "Syracuse is voted national champion by coaches board". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). UPI. December 8, 1959. p. 23.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Syracuse tops Texas, 23–14". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 2, 1960. p. 6.
^ 2017 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. July 2017. p. 113. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
^ "Midnight strikes for KU gridders 35–21". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). September 26, 1959. p. 1.
^ "Syracuse thumps Maryland, 29 to 0". Richmond Times-Dispatch. October 4, 1959. Retrieved January 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Navy stopped by Syracuse". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 11, 1959. p. 3B.
^ Sheehan, Joseph M. (October 18, 1959). "Orange Conquers Holy Cross, 42-6". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. p. S1.
^ "Syracuse breezes over WVU, 44–0". Pittsburgh Press. October 25, 1959. p. 1, sec.7.
^ Smith, Chester L. (November 1, 1959). "Syracuse smothers Pitt, 35–0". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1, sec.7.
^ Smith, Chester L. (November 8, 1959). "Syracuse wins 'big one,' 20–18". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1, sec.7.
^ "Syracuse wins, 71–0, takes Cotton Bowl offer". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. November 15, 1959. p. 25.
^ "Syracuse easy 36–8 winner". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 6, 1959. p. 6.
^ "LIFE at the 1960 Cotton Bowl: 'Battle of the Hard-Noses'". Time. January 2, 2014. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
^ "1960 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved January 11, 2020.

v t e 1959 Syracuse Orangemen football—consensus national champions
Art Baker Al Bemiller John Brown Ernie Davis Roger Davis Dick Easterly Tom Gilburg Ron Luciano Fred Mautino Gerhard Schwedes Bob Yates Maury Youmans Head coach: Ben Schwartzwalder Assistant coach: Jim Shreve

v t e Syracuse Orange football
Venues	Star Park (1889–1894) Old Oval (1895–1906) Archbold Stadium (1907–1978) Giants Stadium (1979) Rich Stadium (1979) Schoellkopf Field (1979) JMA Wireless Dome (1980–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Boston College Colgate Penn State Pittsburgh UConn West Virginia
Culture & lore	Otto the Orange Alma Mater "Down the Field" Marching band The Express: The Ernie Davis Story Scandal Syracuse Sports Network Highest-scoring game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders All-Century Team
Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e College football national champions (poll era)
1936–1949	1936: Minnesota (AP) 1937: Pittsburgh 1938: TCU 1939: Texas A&M 1940: Minnesota 1941: Minnesota 1942: Ohio State 1943: Notre Dame 1944: Army 1945: Army (AP) / Oklahoma A&M (Coaches) 1946: Notre Dame 1947: Notre Dame 1948: Michigan 1949: Notre Dame
1950s	1950: Oklahoma (AP, Coaches) 1951: Tennessee 1952: Michigan State 1953: Maryland 1954: Ohio State (AP) / UCLA (FWAA, Coaches) 1955: Oklahoma 1956: Oklahoma 1957: Auburn (AP) / Ohio State (Coaches, FWAA) 1958: LSU (AP, Coaches) / Iowa (FWAA) 1959: Syracuse (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF)
1960s	1960: Minnesota (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ole Miss (FWAA) 1961: Alabama (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ohio State (FWAA) 1962: USC 1963: Texas 1964: Alabama (AP, Coaches) / Arkansas (FWAA) / Notre Dame (NFF) 1965: Alabama (AP, FWAA) / Michigan State (Coaches, FWAA, NFF) 1966: Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF) / Michigan State (NFF) 1967: USC 1968: Ohio State 1969: Texas
1970s	1970: Nebraska (AP, FWAA) / Texas (NFF, Coaches) / Ohio State (NFF) 1971: Nebraska 1972: USC 1973: Notre Dame (AP, FWAA, NFF) / Alabama (Coaches) 1974: Oklahoma (AP) / USC (FWAA, NFF, Coaches) 1975: Oklahoma 1976: Pittsburgh 1977: Notre Dame 1978: Alabama (AP, FWAA, NFF) / USC (Coaches) 1979: Alabama
1980–1991	1980: Georgia 1981: Clemson 1982: Penn State 1983: Miami (FL) 1984: BYU 1985: Oklahoma 1986: Penn State 1987: Miami (FL) 1988: Notre Dame 1989: Miami (FL) 1990: Colorado (AP, FWAA, NFF, USAT/CNN) / Georgia Tech (Coaches) 1991: Miami (FL) (AP) / Washington (Coaches, FWAA, UPI/NFF)

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