1955 Maryland State Hawks football team

1955 Maryland State Hawks football
CIAA champion
ConferenceCentral Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record9–0 (7–0 CIAA)
Head coach
Seasons
← 1954
1956 →
1955 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Maryland State $ 7 – 0 – 0 9 – 0 – 0
No. 12 Delaware State 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 1 – 0
No. 13 Morgan State 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 2 – 0
Winston-Salem State 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 2 – 0
No. 7 North Carolina A&T 4 – 1 – 2 4 – 1 – 3
No. 14 Virginia State 4 – 1 – 3 4 – 2 – 3
No. 9 North Carolina College 3 – 1 – 2 4 – 1 – 2
Shaw 4 – 2 – 2 4 – 3 – 2
Bluefield State 5 – 2 – 1 7 – 2 – 1
St. Augustine's 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Hampton 4 – 6 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Howard 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Johnson C. Smith 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 4 – 0
Virginia Union 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Saint Paul's (VA) 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 6 – 0
Lincoln (PA) 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 7 – 0
West Virginia State 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 7 – 0
Fayetteville State 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from the Pittsburgh Courier.[1]

The 1955 Maryland State Hawks football team was an American football team that represented Maryland State College (now known as University of Maryland Eastern Shore) in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) during the 1955 college football season. In their eighth season under head coach Vernon McCain, the team compiled a 9–0 record (7–0 against conference opponents), won the CIAA championship, and shut out seven of nine opponents.

At the end of the season, the team was ranked No. 2 among the nation's black college football teams by the Pittsburgh Courier. Maryland State earned a 23.55 rating, three points behind No. 1 Grambling (26.42) due to the fact that Grambling had played a tenth game.[2][3]

Key players included sophomore back Johnny Sample who went on to play 11 seasons in the National Football League and American Football League.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 17at Virginia UnionNorfolk, VAW 20–0
September 23at Hofstra*Hempstead, NYW 19–13
October 1at HamptonHampton, VAW 6–0
October 8Fayetteville StatePrincess Anne, MDW 44–6
October 15at North Carolina A&T
W 6–012,000
October 22North Carolina CollegedaggerPrincess Anne, MDW 6–04,000
October 29Wilkes*Princess Anne, MDW 45–0
November 5at Delaware StateDover, DEW 3–0
November 19ShawPrincess Anne, MDW 17–0
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming

After the season

Main article: 1956 NFL draft

The 1956 NFL Draft was held on January 17–18, 1956. The following Hawks were selected.[4]

Round Pick Player Position NFL Club
6 71 Sherman Plunkett End Cleveland Browns
20 233 Darrell Glover Tackle Philadelphia Eagles

References

  1. ^ "Final National Football Rating". The Pittsburgh Courier. December 10, 1955. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Final National Football Rating". The Pittsburgh Courier. December 10, 1955. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Maryland State Refuses Bowl". The Salisbury Times. November 28, 1955. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "1956 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.