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1951 Boston University Terriers football team

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1951 Boston University Terriers football
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
APNo. 16
Record6–4
Head coach
Home stadiumFenway Park
Seasons
← 1950
1952 →
1951 Eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Bucknell   –   9 – 0 – 0
No. 6 Princeton   –   9 – 0 – 0
Susquehanna   –   6 – 0 – 0
Trenton State   –   6 – 0 – 0
Northeastern   –   6 – 0 – 1
No. 19 Holy Cross   –   8 – 2 – 0
Carnegie Tech   –   6 – 2 – 0
Hofstra   –   6 – 2 – 1
Cornell   –   6 – 3 – 0
No. 16 Boston University   –   6 – 4 – 0
Temple   –   6 – 4 – 0
Columbia   –   5 – 3 – 0
Villanova   –   5 – 3 – 0
Fordham   –   5 – 4 – 0
Franklin & Marshall   –   5 – 4 – 0
Penn   –   5 – 4 – 0
Penn State   –   5 – 4 – 0
Syracuse   –   5 – 4 – 0
Buffalo   –   4 – 4 – 0
Colgate   –   4 – 5 – 0
Dartmouth   –   4 – 5 – 0
Drexel   –   3 – 4 – 0
Harvard   –   3 – 5 – 1
Boston College   –   3 – 6 – 0
Yale   –   2 – 5 – 2
Pittsburgh   –   3 – 7 – 0
Geneva   –   2 – 5 – 0
Army   –   2 – 7 – 0
Brown   –   2 – 7 – 0
NYU   –   1 – 7 – 0
Tufts   –   0 – 7 – 2
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1951 Boston University Terriers football team was an American football team that represented Boston University as an independent during the 1951 college football season. In its fifth season under head coach Aldo Donelli, the team compiled a 6–4 record and outscored their opponents by a total of 299 to 157.[1] Although they finished with four losses, all 4 of which were to opponents who finished unranked , defeated only one opponent that was ranked at the time of the game (No. 16 Pacific (CA), which finished 6–5 and unranked), defeated no opponents who finished ranked, defeated no opponents that finished with a winning percentage above .600 other than 7–3 William & Mary, and defeated just one opponent (2-8 Oregon) who was in a major conference at the time and just one other opponent (Louisville) which is in FBS today, the Terriers still managed to secure a spot on the final AP Poll, just shy of the top 15. This was largely due to two first place votes that were granted to the team, becoming only the second team to receive first place votes in the final poll with a winning percentage of .600 or worse, the first being 5–4–1 Holy Cross in 1942. The 1951 Boston team is considered by James Vautravers, a college football historian who analyzes past AP polls, to be the worst team to ever finish ranked in an AP Poll.[2] The team was ranked at No. 54 in the 1951 Litkenhous Ratings.[3]

To date, they are the most recent team that joined Division I-AA/FCS after it was formed in 1978 (excluding teams that were dropped later either voluntarily or due to rule changes) to be ranked in an AP Poll, as no team since the AP Poll allowed FCS teams to be ranked in 2007 has ever been ranked, despite some receiving votes.

Schedule

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 22at William & Mary
L 25–3410,000[4]
September 29at Penn State
L 34–4015,536
October 6at Louisville
W 39–710,000[5]
October 132:00 p.m.Camp Lejeune
W 16–05,900[6][7][8]
October 19No. 16 Pacific (CA)
  • Fenway Park
  • Boston, MA
W 27–12
October 27at Temple
L 13–2010,000[9]
November 3NYU
  • Fenway Park
  • Boston, MA
W 52–65,000[10]
November 10Oregon
  • Fenway Park
  • Boston, MA
W 32–6[11]
November 17Wichita
  • Fenway Park
  • Boston, MA
W 39–68,442[12]
November 24Syracuse
  • Fenway Park
  • Boston, MA
L 19–2610,148[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "1951 Boston University Terriers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  2. ^ "Fixing the 1951 AP Poll".
  3. ^ "Vols Top Final 1951 Litkenhous Ratings". The Nashville Banner. December 14, 1951. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "W-M beats Boston, 34–25". The Knoxville Journal. September 23, 1951. Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Brown, Jimmy (October 6, 1951). "Southpaw Agganis Paces Boston U. To 39-7 Win Over U.L." The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. 5, section 2. Retrieved December 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  6. ^ Fitzgerald, Tom (October 13, 1951). "Agganis On Spot Today". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 4. Retrieved June 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  7. ^ Fitzgerald, Tom (October 14, 1951). "B. U. Turns Back Camp Lejune, 16-0; Kastan Scores Twice, Gains 95 Yards". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 43. Retrieved June 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  8. ^ Fitzgerald, Tom (October 14, 1951). "B. U. (continued)". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 44. Retrieved June 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  9. ^ O'Gara, Frank (October 27, 1951). "Temple Tops Boston U. for 5th in Row, 20-13". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pa. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Fitzgerald, Tom (November 4, 1951). "B.U. Buries N.Y.U., 52-6; Kastan Runs 76, 57 Yards for Scores". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Mass. p. 44 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Holbrook, Bob (November 11, 1951). "B. U. Routs Oregon, 35-6, Behind Agganis, Kastan". Daily Boston Globe. p. C55.
  12. ^ Birtwell, Roger (November 18, 1951). "Agganis and Gastall Lead B. U. Over Wichita, 39 to 6". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 56. Retrieved June 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  13. ^ "Syracuse Grid Team Tests Terriers at Fenway Park". The Christian Science Monitor. Boston, MA. November 23, 1951. pp. 4, 15.
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