1951 Army Cadets football team

1951 Army Black Knights football

Conference

Independent

1951 record

2-7

Head coach

Red Blaik

Offensive coordinator

Vince Lombardi

Offensive scheme

T Formation

Defensive coordinator

Murray Warmath

Home stadium

Michie Stadium

Seasons

« 1950

1952 »

The 1951 Army Black Knights football team represented the United States Military Academy. Led by head coach Red Blaik, the team finished with a record of 2-7. The Black Knights offense scored 116 points, while the defense allowed 183 points.

1 Offseason
2 Honor code violation
3 Regular season
- 3.1 Schedule
4 See also
5 References

Offseason

In the offseason, Blaik was still agitated by the loss Army suffered to Navy in 1950. In addition, he was upset over the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur. Sam Galiffa, who was part of the 1949 team, was now a decorated aide to General Matthew Ridgway. Galiffa arranged for members of the Army coaching staff to come to Japan and visit the troops. ^[1] Vince Lombardi and Doug Kenna first visited Tokyo and conducted several football clinics for the troops stationed there. Although defensive coordinator Murray Warmath helped the discharged players relocate to other schools, it would be his last year at Army. He would leave at the end of the season to become the head coach for Mississippi State.^[2]

Honor code violation

A massive honor code academic violation was revealed in the spring of 1951. There were accusations that football players were distributing unauthorized academic information. ^[3]This was reported to Colonel Paul Harkins on April 2. It was later revealed that Red Blaik’s son, Bob was part of the honor code violation. ^[4] On August 3, the violations were announced and several athletes were implicated in the scandal. ^[5]

Joseph P. Kennedy spoke to assistant coach Doug Kenna, and he helped pay the way for several discharged players to attend Notre Dame. ^[6] Bob Blaik left Army for Colorado College. ^[7] Of the players that were discharged, three went on to careers in the National Football League: Al Pollard, Gene Filipski and Ray Malavasi. Malavasi would eventually become head coach of the Los Angeles Rams. ^[8]

Regular season

The makeshift team that was assembled had no involvement in the honor violation, but they were still a painful reminder of it. After losing several games to Ivy League schools, Army defeated Columbia for its first win. The team received a congratulatory note from General Douglas MacArthur.^[9]

In Week 6 of the season, the Cadets played Frank Gifford and his USC Trojans squad. The game was played at Yankee Stadium.^[10] Before the Army-Navy game, the Cadets had a record of 2 wins and 6 losses. This was Coach Blaik’s worst record as a head coach at Army.^[11] In the Army-Navy game, Navy would score two touchdowns before Army even ran an offensive series.

Schedule

Date	Site
September 29	at Villanova	Michie Stadium • West Point, New York	L 7-21
October 6	at Northwestern		L 14-20
October 13	at Dartmouth	Michie Stadium • West Point, New York	L 14-28
October 20	at Harvard		L 21-22
October 27	at Columbia		W 14-9
November 3	at USC	Yankee Stadium • Bronx, New York	L 6-28
November 10	at The Citadel	Michie Stadium • West Point, New York	W 27-6
November 17	at University of Pennsylvania		L 6-7
December 1	vs. Navy		L 7-42
*Non-conference game.

^[12]

References

^ When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p.118 , Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p.131, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p.120, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p.123, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p.130 , Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p.131, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p.131, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p.132, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p.138, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p.139, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p.139, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York, NY, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ http://cfreference.net/cfr/school.s?id=82&season=1951

Army Black Knights football

Venues	Michie Stadium (1924–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Navy Commander-in-Chief's Trophy (Air Force, Navy) Notre Dame AT&T Corps Classic (Texas A&M)

Culture & lore	"On Brave Old Army Team"

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 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

National championship seasons in bold