1951 Washington Huskies football team

1951 Washington Huskies football
ConferencePacific Coast Conference
Record3–6–1 (1–5–1 PCC)
Head coach
CaptainTed Holzknecht
Home stadiumHusky Stadium
Seasons
← 1950
1952 →
1951 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Stanford $ 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
No. 17 UCLA 4 – 1 – 1 5 – 3 – 1
No. 12 California 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
USC 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
No. 18 Washington State 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Oregon State 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Washington 1 – 5 – 1 3 – 6 – 1
Oregon 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
Idaho 0 – 3 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1951 Washington Huskies football team was an American football team that represented the University of Washington during the 1951 college football season. In its fourth season under head coach Howard Odell, the team compiled a 3–6–1 record, finished in seventh place in the Pacific Coast Conference, and outscored its opponents by a combined total of 273 to 218.[1]

Ted Holzknecht was the team captain. The team featured fullback Hugh McElhenny, who would go on to become a member of the NFL Hall of Fame.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendance
September 22Montana*No. 8
W 58–736,987
September 29at Minnesota*No. 8
W 25–2050,634
October 6USCNo. 12
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
L 13–2043,747
October 13vs. Oregon
W 63–630,414
October 20No. 8 Illinois*No. 20
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
L 20–2753,760
October 27No. 11 Stanford
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
L 7–1448,343
November 3Oregon State
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
L 14–4033,327
November 10at California
L 28–3746,000
November 17at No. 18 UCLA
T 20–2031,597
November 24No. 17 Washington State
L 25–2751,221
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

USC

USC at Washington
1 234Total
• Trojans 7 607 20
No. 12 Huskies 7 006 13
Cover of the program for the November 3 game against Oregon State College.
See also: 1951 USC Trojans football team

The highlight of the 1951 contest came in the fourth quarter when Hugh McElhenny returned a punt from Des Koch for 100 yards, running past Frank Gifford on his way to the end zone.[2]

NFL draft selections

Two University of Washington Huskies were selected in the 1952 NFL draft, which lasted 30 rounds with 360 selections.[3]

= Husky Hall of Fame[4]
Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Hugh McElhenny Running back 1st 9 San Francisco 49ers
Don Heinrich Quarterback 3rd 35 New York Giants
Heinrich did not play in 1951 due to a shoulder injury,[5][6][7] then led the Huskies in 1952.[8]
Due to military service, his first season with the Giants was in 1954.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Washington Yearly Results (1950-1954)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  2. ^ Eskenazi, David. "Wayback Machine: McElhenny's 100-yard return". SportpressNW. Rudman, Steve. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  3. ^ "1952 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  4. ^ "The Husky Hall of Fame". gohuskies.com. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  5. ^ "Don Heinrich injured". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). Associated Press. September 9, 1951. p. 54.
  6. ^ "Huskies dump Montana 58-7". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. September 23, 1951. p. 8.
  7. ^ "Huskies batter Grizzles, 58-7". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 23, 1951. p. 14.
  8. ^ "Don Heinrich earns pass title as Huskies edge WSC 33-27". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 30, 1952. p. 10.
  9. ^ "N.Y. grid Giants sign ex-Husky Don Heinrich". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 5, 1954. p. 11.